Released just a few months after the more metal-leaning Love Is Not Enough, Converge course-correct by balancing the scales with hardcore on their second LP of 2026.
Continue readingTwo Cent Review: Converge’s ‘Hum of Hurt’
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Converge on 06/05/2026 by Kurt OrzeckBoston Stoner/Fuzz-Rock Band Gozu Gunning for a ‘Delicious’ Turnout at First Boise Show Ever Tonight
Posted in Concert Previews, Interviews with tags Gozu on 06/05/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
“If you find it making you feel sexy, aloof and a touch sensitive, get your loose ass off your couch and come enjoy some music made for the soul.”
-Gozu frontman Marc Gaffne
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Sixteen years after their formation in Boston, stoner-doom metal band Gozu are finally swinging through Boise tonight for the first time ever. The Metal Blade maniacs are riding a wave of momentum after last month’s release of the band’s sixth album, which is named – you guessed it – VI. Distinguished by copious amounts of guitar-leading, ’70s-sounding riffs, Gozu relish grooves. And even though much of their material is of the doom variety, the band is all about having fun, especially when playing live.
Guitarist/vocalist Marc Gaffne indicated as such when he touched base with The Bad Penny today to get us – and you – wicked psyched for what Gozu have in store for their show at the Shredder tonight.
Continue readingRestless Spirit Ready to Rouse Boise Tonight With Their Metal Mayhem
Posted in Concert Previews, Interviews with tags Restless Spirit on 06/05/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
“Some dude came up to Jon while he had his shirt off and started licking him. I think the guy was yelling about doing it, so we were like, ‘OK, don’t talk about it, be about it,’ and he did it. It was insane.”
-Restless Spirit, recalling one of their crazier shows.
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Desert rock, stoner metal, prog and psych rock … Restless Spirit touch almost all the heavy-music bases on the self-titled album they released last month through Magnetic Eye. For further proof, Boise metalheads have the chance to witness the trio from Long Island up close and personal at The Shredder tonight.
As Restless Spirit’s recent interview with The Bad Penny indicates, guitarist/vocalist Paul Aloisio, drummer Jon Gusman and bassist Marc Morello don’t put up with bullshit. That comes through in both communicating with the band members and their honest and direct music, which isn’t fueled by anger as much as authenticity.
What follows is our full interview with the band ahead of their gig tonight.
Continue readingPet Sounds #88: PR Legend Rey Roldan Is the Proud Owner of Dogs That Murder Pillows
Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags Pet Sounds, Rey Roldan, Reybee on 06/05/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Rey Roldan is one of the most prominent, amiable and successful publicists in the world of independent music – and he has the résumé to prove it. Now in its 22nd year, his company Another Reybee Production, Inc. boasts a stellar roster that includes The Alarm, Butthole Surfers, The Cranberries, Gipsy Kings, Candy Whips, Shonen Knife, Pansy Division and loads more prestigious artists.
Roldan doesn’t just represent musicians, though – he also takes care of two rescue dogs (Cillian, a 3-year-old Australian Cattle Dog; and Saoirse, an 11-month-old Australian Cattle Dog); as well as a 24-year-old Sun Catfish of the horabagrus brachysoma species. In between working tirelessly as the president of Reybee, Roland granted us some time to talk about his pets.
Continue readingTop 5 Best New Releases Out Today: Converge, Death Cab for Cutie, of Montreal, The Creem, SLIFT
Posted in New Releases with tags Converge, Creem, Death Cab for Cutie, Jacob Bannon, Kurt Ballou, Mike Stroud, Nick Thorburn, Of Montreal, SLIFT, Unicorns on 06/04/2026 by Kurt OrzeckOn Tyranny: Emperor X Contends That Arts Communities Need Heterodoxy During Global Political Realignment
Posted in Essays, Features, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, Chad Randall Matheny, Emperor X, fascism, On Tyranny, trump, tyranny on 06/04/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Gifts come in all shapes and sizes. But The Bad Penny has never received nor published any piece of writing as remotely profound, thoroughly researched, detailed, brilliant, educational and exceptional as a dissertation-style thought piece/ intellectual analysis of this website’s On Tyranny series that Berlin-based American singer/songwriter Chad Randall Matheny, a.k.a. Emperor X, recently sent us. In his comprehensive analysis, Matheny discusses the connection that On Tyranny has to the broader worldwide trend that the educator and noise-pop provocateur refers to as “The Global Political Realignment” that is currently underway.
Before you dig into Matheny’s masterpiece, this seems like an appropriate time and place to tell readers of this website, and specifically On Tyranny, that maintaining it has been and continues to be a tremendous challenge. While I will elaborate on the story of the series at another time – truly, what Emperor X has created here is worthy of your attention more so than any other post on this website – publicists, musicians, friends and family members have recommended I halt or even terminate this series amid the growing threat of fascism in the U.S.
[Emperor X’s new album, Unified Field, will be issued by Bar/None and available for purchase starting June 26. Rest assured that The Bad Penny will cover the release heavily. Read more about Emperor X on his website; and his Instagram, Facebook and Bandcamp accounts.]
Continue readingDoppelgängers: ‘WTF’ Podcast Host Marc Maron and Joy Thieves’ James Scott
Posted in Comedy, Doppelgängers, Features with tags James Scott, Joy Thieves, Marc Maron, podcast, What the Fuck?, WTF on 06/03/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Our last edition of Doppelgängers was maybe a little bit of a stretch, but you will lose the argument if you say you don’t see the resemblance between comedian and former What the Fuck?‘ podcast host Marc Maron and Joy Thieves producer James Scott.
Continue reading10 Best Portuguese Heavy Bands Ever, According to Portugal’s Own Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell
Posted in Interviews, Lists, Videos with tags Bizarra Locomotiva, Desire, Fernando Ribeiro, Gaerea, Heavenwood, Ibéria, Moonspell, Tarantula, The Coven, Thormenthor, Thragedium on 06/03/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
First we unveiled our list of the top 20 melodic death metal bands from Sweden in mid-December. The preponderance of popularity encircling that list led us to release a “10 Best Finnish Melodeth Bands Ever” rundown several months later. Around the same time, we interviewed red-hot Finnish hard-rockers the Feral Kids, and they gave us their own list of the best metal bands that Finland has ever produced. And just two days ago, Prime Creation chimed in with their list of Sweden’s top heavy metal bands.
It was at that point that we came to our senses: Top 10 lists are all the rage these days, and that fine and dandy – but the people putting together those lists should be the ultimate authorities on what they’re ranking. Ergo, we have reached out to bands from foreign lands to learn directly from them which musical acts from their home countries really belong on GOAT lists.
The latest edition in our series, which targets Portugal, should have the word “Ultimate” with a capital “U” attached to it. That’s because the musician who put together this top 10 list is, by leaps and bounds, the most talented and iconic metal musician in the history of his country. Like most leaders of metal bands – or at least melodic death metal bands, or at least melodic death metal bands hailing from Europe – Moonspell vocalist Fernando Ribeiro is sweet to the core, extremely smart, musically gifted and charismatic.
The Bad Penny is grateful for having interviewed Ribeiro three times now, as he reminds us of the good fortune we have to live in the present moment (and all the more time we have to listen to music, my dear). Ribeiro’s list of the 10 best heavy metal bands in Portuguese seems just about perfect, save one crucial error: Moonspell, the country’s greatest contribution to metal, isn’t on it. So if you had any doubts as to whether Ribeiro is one humble, rad dude, they’ve no evaporated.
Now let’s enjoy Ribeiro’s guided tour through the history of metal bands that Portugal has produced, shall we?
1. Gaerea – Loss (2026)
Gaerea is the pride of Portugal. A band from another cosmos, with such taste and personality that defies the gods. Their private concept of pain and release keeps getting more and more to the point and Loss just cristalizes that beautiful yet heart-wrenching tension.
Vocalist for Ohio Mainstream Rock Band ENMY Says ‘We Always Feel Like the Outsider’
Posted in Concert Previews, Interviews with tags Brady Reis, ENMY on 06/03/2026 by Kurt OrzeckRoughly one month ago, The Bad Penny caught up with mainstream-rock band ENMY, which consists of four guys who live in Cincinnati, Ohio. (ENMY isn’t to be confused with the now-shuttered British music publication NME, even though pronouncing their letters in succession leads to the same result.
“We’re kind of in the same vein as Linkin Park, Korn and Limp Bizkit, who all spell their band names wrong,” vocalist Brady Reis disclosed. “So, it’s like, the people who are into those bands will make the connection that we overlap with them a bit.”
Continue reading‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Could’ve Parodied Lots More Nirvana Songs After Spoofing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’
Posted in Comedy, Features, Videos with tags Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Weird Al, Weird Al Yankovic on 06/03/2026 by Kurt OrzeckThe Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Queen, The Police, R.E.M. and dozens more artists (except Coolio) were cool with, and sometimes even flattered by, “Weird Al” Yankovic parodying their songs. But perhaps no musician was more delighted by the comical accordion player and singer parodying one of his songs than Kurt Cobain.
Continue reading
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