“We’ve blown up? That’s news to me!” Porcelain guitarist/vocalist Steve Pike professes in a recent video chat, although it’s hard to discern where his comments and on the sarcasm meter. Along with the Austin post-hardcore band’s drummer Eli Deitz, they check in to talk about their surprise success, Porcelain’s just-released Today’s Minor Victories, and talk with loose lips about the Smashing Pumpkins and Young Widows. Read a substantial portion of my interview with Pike and Deitz via FLOOD.
“I had to do a hard reset and decide if I wanted to build this project back up again. I’m really happy I did.”
-Corpse Dust
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Industrial/EBM/darkwave artist Corpse Dust is currently spreading his music around the country with Chicago psych-doom quartet REZN and Toronto post-hardcore unit lowheaven. Tonight, the three amigos descend on the Shrine Social Club in Boise, with roughly 10 shows left.
All three acts have had banner years, with Corpse Dust continuing to ride a wave of momentum after the strong reception of his LP, Suffer, in March. We hit up the artist from Asheville, North Carolina, who generously provided some insights into the album and tour, how Hurricane Helene – which happened roughly a year ago – affected his project, and how he much he enjoys introducing his music to new audiences.
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Celebrating their 50th year as a band in 2026, Leeds-bred post-punk icons The Mekons have maintained a streak of anti-authoritarianism dating back to their first studio full-length, The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen, which was released in 1979 – the same year Margaret Thatcher rose to become prime minister. Along with Gang of Four, The Clash and other British bands that formed a united front against the right-wing scourge that dominated the country at the time, The Mekons have never held back in challenging the powers that be and espousing their left-wing beliefs.
The band featuring Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh (both vocalists/guitarists) and Sally Timms (also vocals) among many other members are still fighting the good fight today, and have not relented in their sharp criticism of the elite class that is dominating the world like never before, at least not in recent memory. Proof can be found in last year’s Horror, the latest studio album released by the now-Chicago-based group; as well as their dub revisitation of that record released in June: Horrorble (Mekons vs. Tony Maimone in Dub Conference.
The Bad Penny recently had the great privilege to usher Greenhalgh into our On Tyranny series, in which musicians speak out about the threats that fascism and authoritarianism pose to artists, how they can respond and what younger bands can learn from the experiences and wisdom of veteran groups. Below is our email interview with the gracious Greenhalgh.
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We typically bring you monthly roundups of the best videos we come across – and you seem to like ’em, as they comprise one of the more popular series on The Bad Penny. But lately we’ve noticed an increasing number of artists going full throttle and making longer, more fully realized (and presumably more expensive) short films to accompany their music. Here are the best 10 we’ve found in recent months:
1. Deafheaven‘s “Hunter” (released 10.9.26)
2. Caspian‘s “A Great Fire” (released 10.16.26)
“When I was young, I was broke and moving around a lot, discovered drugs and alcohol at an early age and went hard down that rabbit hole – but I’ve always had hope and inspiration,” musician/publicist/renaissance man Curran Reynolds opens up in a rare interview about his life.
“I’ve experienced some very dark times and some challenges for sure,” he continues. “But one thread that’s carried me through my whole life [is] knowing the joy of creation, working on projects and creating something out of nothing. That’s always been in me.”
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Being a doom band doesn’t require one to have a doom-and-gloom outlook on life, and yesterday afternoon, Austin’s The Well proved that fact during a phone interview in anticipation of their concert at Boise’s Neurolux tonight.
“We are surrounded by desert, open space, and then beautiful cliffs and mountains in the distance,” bassist Lisa Alley as the trio traversed their way through Utah en route to a gig in Salt Lake City. “Hawkwind would be a good soundtrack to this.”
This is a special year for instrumental post-rock behemoths Caspian. Not only does it mark 20 years since the recording of the Massachusetts band’s debut, The Four Trees, but today sees the release of a new album (released on Wax Bodega) that they named after themselves. More than five years in the making, the sixth album by Caspian – featuring Philip Jamieson (guitar and synth), Calvin Joss (guitar), Jonny Ashburn (guitar), Jani Zubkovs (bass) and Justin Forrest (drums) – marks the longest stretch between studio releases in the band’s career.
Here’s a taste from Caspian’s new release:
The Bad Penny recently touched base to pick the brains of Caspian – born and bred in Beverly, Massachusetts – on what they consider to be the top 10 bands hailing from their home state. (The band member that vouched for each act is listed in parenthesis.) Conspicuously absent from the list is Converge, but we’ll let that slide since they ranked Mission of Burma above Aerosmith.
(For their own part, Caspian came in at #5 on The Bad Penny‘s recently crafted list of best instrumental bands.)
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@ – Autosmile LP (4AD)
Amakiya – Archetype (Spaceflight)
Angèle – Instinct (GGL)
Antania – The Unholy 33 (Agronauta)
Ashe – The Girl of Your Dreams (Atlantic)
Avalanches – No Bad Memories (featuring Mike Patton, Panda Bear) (Interscope/Capitol)
Badvril – Lethal (Share It Must)
James Barrett – Now That I’ve Seen the Light (OK Sweet)
Billboard Style – Pull of the Moon (Good English)
Body Stuff – 5 (The Chain)
• The Visionaries: Curran Reynolds (ex-Today Is the Day) Talks About Spreading Love With Body Stuff Band in Rare Chat
The organizers of Treefort Music Fest, Boise’s biggest annual music event announced the initial lineup on Thursday, and it’s a promising and diverse crop of artists. The extravaganza will take place from March 31 through April 4.
Here’s the first wave in alphabetical order:
Alex Amen
All Them Witches
