The timing of Alan di Perna’s bio on Oakland’s favorite pop punks is a little ill-timed. The hardcover coffee table book is well-researched, impressively chronicled and features everything from pics of programs and old tour posters to t-shirts and rare flyers. But the book leaves the Green Day story in early 2012, just as the band is going into the studio to record what would be an ambitious three-album project…
Though the UK ska band Madness may always be trapped in 1982 for many of their U.S. fans, thanks to the wildly popular “Our House,” the two-tone group has continued to build up their resume since reuniting in the early 90’s. Though the success has mainly been limited to Europe (they were tapped to play the closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics along with a number of festivals), the…
For anyone who’s ever carried around the “Woe Is Me” banner, bitching about how boring your job is or how much your back hurt, blah, blah, blah. Take an hour and a half and watch the powerfully engaging High Ground and then you’ll realize what struggle and perseverance really looks like. The documentary profiles 11 wounded vets from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts (along with the mother of one soldier killed overseas)…
There is no getting around the fact that British novelist Danny Wallace is going to be compared to Nick Hornby. A lot; which is a disservice to both writers, each talented and possessing a knack from writing sympathetic, slightly flawed character. Both write compelling fiction set around young men living in the UK and struggling to make sense of relationships with the opposite sex… wait, maybe there is a connection…
There was no escaping Peter Gabriel’s seventh album in the mid-80’s. Released in May of 1986, you could not turn on Top 40 Radio, and for some songs college radio as well, any given day without hearing “Sledgehammer,” “Red Rain,” “Big Time,” “Don’t Give Up” or “Mercy Street”. And MTV? The phenomenally creative videos for “Sledgehammer” and “Big Time” were like porn for the channel that at one time actually…
It’s become cliché at this point to grouse that Hollywood doesn’t make good movies anymore. And yes, judging by the superhero/sequel-obsessed box office results from the past couple of years that argument can reasonably be made. And then along comes a movie like Your Sister’s Sister, which totally deflates the argument that good films no longer find their way out of Hollywood. Absolutely beautiful in its scripting, casting and acting,…
I’m a parent and I can admit I want it to stop. Please don’t post any more pics of your kids on Facebook. Seriously, no one but you cares about these preciously little snowflakes. That is, unless you are willing to take some staging tips from Troy Osinoff, Internet entrepreneur and author of My Bad Parent. This paperback collection from the blogger behind MakeADare.com, BanThis.com and Disqy.com, features a slew…
The concept behind The Road Most Traveled is wonderful in its simplicity, but nonetheless entertaining: a collection of mostly punk and indie musicians and behind the scenes folks (drivers, tour managers, booking agents, etc.) offering advice for surviving the road as a touring band (think smelly vans with rusted out holes in the floor and not top 40, we’ve-hit-it-big-time buses). The collection, with contributions from more than 100 (including members of…
There are shelves bulging under the weight of Springsteen coffee table books, so was there really a need for one more? Well, as Streets of Fire proves, absolutely. This book of beautiful black and white photos and accompanying essays, were all taken by Eric Meola at the tail end of Springsteen’s legal battle with his former manager – keeping the singer out of the studio for a year – through…
The reason Bill O’Reilly is so annoyed by comic actor Stephen Colbert is because he has managed to not only pull-off a perfect homage to the conservative blowhard, but found a way to be incredibly successful at it, with a popular talk show on Comedy Central, a DVD and a series of books. This summer Colbert and his crew even managed to make a poke fun at the absurdity of…
First off, how is there not another band so far named The Kicks? Secondly, the latest full length from The Kicks is unabashed melodic rock just begging for a stadium. The Nashville band cites everyone from Queen and Aerosmith, Springsteen and the Foo Fighters as influences, but in addition they also sound a bit like (and this in no way is intended as a slam or to be ironic)…
Released in 1987, Document was the first in a series of Scott Lilt-produced album by Athens’s favorite sons that took them from the heroes of college radio to the one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Their relationship with Litt would continue for the next five records. Thanks to the folks at EMI, who now own the IRS Records’ catalogue, Document is getting the anniversary treatment. Though…
To get this out of the way up front, I think many of these stories in Davy Rothbart’s collection of essays are a tad bit exaggerated at best, certainly not a first for non-fiction writing (see James Frey, JT LeRoy, Margaret Seltzer and a slew of other recent authors). But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Rothbart is a fantastic storyteller and My Heart is an Idiot is…
The British band Roxy Music never really achieved mass success in the U.S., but like The Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart, they have become one of those bands indie art rockers need to name check in ticking off influences lest they be shamed as musical poseurs. But listening back on their catalogue, you can’t help but be impressed by the bands creativity. Fronted by Bryan Ferry and at one time…
It’s taken a few years, but I am finally able to accept that “World Punk” is a legitimate genre. Thanks to bands like World Inferno/Friendship Society, Gogol Bordello, and most importantly Firewater, I realize this is far more than a novelty, but a full on movement, building on what punk bands like The Clash were evolving to in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Firewater’s latest, International Orange, is a…
In his heartbreaking final book Mortality, published after he died of cancer, writer Christopher Hitchens – best known for his books and columns about religion and God (self-described as an antitheist) – documents his final months of life. The book begins with Hitchens on tour promoting his best-selling Hitch 22 getting sick in New York and rushed to an ER where he is shortly diagnosed with cancer. Equal parts frustrating…
“Pickers” Mike Wolfe and his buddy Frank Fritz drive across the country, mainly the south and California, looking to buy hidden antiques crammed in dusty garages, basements and attics in the fourth installment of this popular History Channel reality show. Though still entertaining, this duo starts to grate this time around (most likely thanks to weasely Fritz), as you realize the duo is likely taking advantage of these small town…
Break out the leather and metal studs because Screaming for Vengeance, the Revolver of heavy metal, is finally getting a proper re-release for its 30th anniversary. The 1982 album, the eighth for metal royalty Judas Priest , found the band topping their last great record British Steel, finding a solid balance between writing catchy, accessible songs while still keeping the dangerous metal kids happy (well, relatively happy. Those kids…
Unless you called Spokane, WA home in the early 80’s you’ve likely never heard of a single band that appears in the quirky indie documentary about the local punk scene in the middle of nowhere Pacific Northwest. Hell, even if you lived your entire life in Spokane you’ve probably never heard of these bands and that’s part of the appeal. Spokanarchy! Takes a look back at the tiny punk rock…
There are bookshelves crammed with tomes about the origins of punk rock and just as many, if not more, about how hip-hop first began. It’s refreshing then that Will Hermes, a long time music critic, manages to cover both genres as well as disco, salsa, jazz and other aspects of the music world from his unique perspective growing up in New York in the mid 70’s. Love Goes to Buildings…