Loren

For many years now, Scene Point Blank has taken the opportunity as the year ends to formally "pass the mic" to our friends on the other side of the mostly-imaginary divide between listeners and artists. This year is no exception as we ask a bunch of bands, artists and labels to tell us about their 2025. What music did they … Read more

Pure Joy The 23rd FEST in Gainesville, Florida recently wrapped up. Scene Point Blank has been to the majority of them over the past two decades, beginning at FEST 5. I've personally attended roughly half of them. And at FEST 23, I saw 44 bands in 3 days (an even 50 if you count the pre-shows I attended). I took … Read more

FEST 23 takes place later this month, from Oct. 24-26 in Gainesville, FL. Something like a billion bands are driving, flying, canoeing, and snowshoeing to the festival from across the country -- many of them for the first time and many come back to play nearly every year. Scene Point Blank has traveled to “over half” of them (we’ve lost … Read more

Are you ready for The Fest!? While we’re pretty sure you’re already counting down days until your trek to Gainesville, FL, we’ve got some Fest games for you to play, including a few samples from this year’s performers. Click here to play FEST LIBS -- like a fill-in-the-blanks word game about all things Fest! We have 8 different options to … Read more

The less I say about 2025 the better. Well, except to say that Scene Point Blank's 2025 Year End coverage is in development so, actually, I'll be talking about the year a lot. Search/Play/Repeat is a sporadic playlist feature that's just about sharing music though, instead of hitting some topical … Read more

It's been a while since I put another playlist up. I actually had this 99% done a couple of months ago, but everything went haywire and the list went on hold. This edition of Search/Play/Repeat is a quick play, running about 30 minutes in total. Enjoy! Read more

Visual Learner, BlackDots, City Mouse, Couch Potato Massacre Cloudland Theater Minneapolis, MN May 7, 2025 I’m embarrassed that I haven’t covered any shows at Cloudland for SPB previously. It’s a relatively new addition to the Minneapolis scene and a welcome addition that feels as much like a community space as … Read more

Sometimes I get all introspective and ask myself why I do this. Not very often, but the answer is always because I like music. It's that simple. I like to discover new stuff and I like to share it. Every year, the staff at Scene Point Blank sink a ton … Read more

London based punk band Rifle has announced their self-titled debut album, out next week on Jan. 16 via Year0001, followed by a show at Moth Club on March 28. The band just shared a single, "Worthless," featuring The Chisel. Says the band: "Worthless" is one of the first times we’d … Read more

2026 brings some exciting news, in that A Wilhelm Scream will return with their sixth album next month. The record is to be titled Cheap Heat, out officially on Feb. 27 via Creator-Dstructor Records. It was produced and mixed by guitarist/vocalist Trevor Reilly at thAnchor End Studio, then mastered by … Read more

First released in 2011, Seahaven's Winter Forever is 15 this year and the band is marking the occasion with a winter tour that will feature the album played in its entirety. An exclusive vinyl variant will be sold on tour. Something old, something new The band also just released WF15 … Read more

Better Lovers, the band featuring Greg Puciato (vocals), Jordan Buckley (guitar), Will Putney (guitar, producer), Steve Micciche (bass), and Clayton "Goose" Holyoak (drums), will make their Australian debut in 2026, with support coming from Split Chain and Blind Girls -- plus local support in Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne, Belgrave and … Read more