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On Tyranny: Punk Legend/College Professor Roy Stein Warns Artists of Authoritarian Rules Like Trump

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , on 10/18/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

As Americans welcome or resist a strain of authoritarianism the likes of which none of us have seen before, Roy Stein, J.D. — drummer for punk band Jet Black Berries and a four-decade professor at Nazareth University’s School of Business and Leadership – participates in the most educational installment of The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series.

Stein talks about how living in a constant state of fear affects creative activity, the scourge of “hate addiction” and how artists can survive — and even thrive — in Authoritarian America. Jet Black Berries just released a remastered and sequenced LP, Sundown on Venus [Definitive Edition], which came out during the era when Ronald Reagan was president and punk musicians were grappling with a different, then-new form of conservative government.

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On Tyranny: Mekons’ Tom Greenhalgh Disses Ed Sheeran, Gives ‘Big Ups’ to Susan Sarandon for Opposing Right Wing

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/17/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

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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The Visionaries: Curran Reynolds Talks About Spreading Peace and Love in Dark Times With ‘Body Stuff 5’ LP in Rare Chat

Posted in Features, Interviews, The Visionaries, Videos with tags , , , , , on 10/16/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“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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On Tyranny: Tech Worker’s Fury at AI, Tech Bros’ Fascist Nihilism Led Him to Launch Existential Prog-Metal Band

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/14/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“These days, it’s more anger than fear in my mind,” tech worker-turned existential-prog-metal band frontman Patrick Grønbæch Christensen shares in an interview with The Bad Penny that took place this morning. “I take great pride in the acts and process of creation. Programming [is] a creative exercise. But that’s being taken away from a lot of us now [thanks to AI].”

In a rare interview with the Danish vocalist of Only Human, which just formed last year and quickly signed to extreme-metal standard bearers Season of Mist, Christensen talks transparently about how he resorts to his band to channel his fury toward techno-fascism. He also uses the cleverly named Only Human to educate the masses about the dangers that humanity faces as AI continues to develop without sufficient guardrails.

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On Tyranny: Brand-New Norwegian Post-Punks The Ape Are No-Holds-Barred When It Comes to Fighting Fascism

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , on 10/13/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Heard of Norway band The Ape? Yeah, we hadn’t either, until we caught wind of them a few months ago. And when those winds blow in your neck of the woods, you’ll hear about the post-punks quickly as well.

The reason we’re starting this article with a focus on the Oslo band’s obscurity is because they’re already getting a big push on the strength of three singles that are not available, even though the full-length that will presumably contain them won’t be out until an undetermined release date next year, courtesy ofLoyal Blood Records.

The Ape consists of vocalist/drummer Johan Fredrik Bolli, guitarists Simen Trippestad and Johannes Amble, and bassist Kristian Leonhardsebn.

Some may interpret The Ape’s newbie status as a sign of weakness, that they haven’t amassed enough life experiences and that they’re too young to know what they’re talking about. Those critics are dead wrong, as proven by The Bad Penny‘s interview with the gang less than a month ago. Not only do they have their heads on straight, they’re astute about the political climate across the world, and thus earned themselves a spot as the last participants in our ongoing On Tyranny series.

Read it for yourself.

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Pet Sounds #95: London Queer Indie-Pop Duo SassyHiya Adore Their Kitty’s Sassy Antics

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , on 10/13/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Cooped up in a flat in South London, partners Kathy Wright (vocals, guitar)) and Helen Skinner (vocals, bass) decided too take the big plunge around 2014 and embrace another member of their modest family: a cat adoringly and uniquely named Crayon. While the indie-pop group has made no secret of their biggest fan and booster, they recently reached out to The Bad Penny to rave about their lovely little companion. Trust us, both their remarks and the song SassyHiya pale in comparison to the smoosh-ability of their priceless feline.

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On Tyranny: Maria BC Reflects on ICE’s Minnesota Murders as Trump’s Vigilante Goon Squad Still Goes Unchecked and Terrorizes American Communities

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/12/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

About a month ago, AllMusic rolled out our interview with Maria BC that mostly revolved around Marathon, an album that teems with more sincerity and human emotion than their past two releases, as it addressed Americans and the hardships they are currently experiencing. So as to focus on the trials and tribulations of the “average American,” we mostly avoided discussion of Trump, even though the majority of U.S. citizens are finally waking up to the reality that he is the source of so many of the country’s seemingly intractable problems.

Today, following the much-needed and frankly long-overdue “Power to the People” music festival/ extravaganza that Tom Morello hosted earlier this month, we bring you an excerpt from our interview with Maria BC that was left on the cutting-room floor but nevertheless deserves to be heard and read by those who care about the survivability of democracy; how Americans treat each other regardless of legal status; and what it will take for us to finally put a stop to the lawless, sociopathic atrocities that ICE is inflicting upon citizens, legal immigrants and other residents of the so-called “greatest nation on earth.”

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Top 10 Best Chinese Metal Bands, According to Homegrown Heathens Dehumanizing Itatrian Worship

Posted in Features, Interviews, Lists, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/12/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

When we launched what we’re unofficially calling The Bad Penny Passport earlier this year, we never would’ve imagined we’d get a submission from a Chinese heavy metal band listing what they consider to be the top 10 bands of their ilk who also hail from their country. (Frankly, we didn’t think we’d score one from a Russian musician either.) But thanks to the devoted efforts of one of our closest allies, Jon Asher of Asher Media Relations, the truly unlikely came to fruition. Think of it as our version of Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy gambit.

Lots more info on Dehumanizing Itatrian Worship – a brutal slamming death metal group founded in 2014 – is below. But first, let’s take a look at what they consider to be the top 10 best metal bands in their homeland of China.

1. Tumourboy

One of my favorite Chinese thrash metal bands. Some punk influence makes the songs really aggressive; I lean toward fast riffs, and the arrangement and vocals are both well done. 

2. Zuriaake

This is probably one of the most famous black metal bands in China. Perfect fusion of black metal and Eastern aesthetics.

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Favorite Films: Radio Karma Dig ‘Evil Dead,’ ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,’ Multiple Tim Burton Flicks, ‘Stopmotion’

Posted in Favorite Films, Features, Interviews, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/11/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Welcome to the latest installment in our Favorite Films series, in which we chat up musicians about the movies they treasure the most. Today we host Radio Karma, a power-pop/rock project led by lyricist/songwriter Richard Rossi and multi-instrumentalist Joe Giddings, who was previously a member of Star Collector and has his own solo material to boot. Radio Karma recently released a three-song EP, We Were Gods, which we’ll tell you more about in the near future. But as it’s the weekend, when we bring you new installments of Favorite Films, we’re rolling out this part of our conversation with the gentlemen first.

Enjoy learning about Rossi’s and Giddings’ most treasured movies … we can virtually guarantee at least a couple of them will be new to you.

Joe Giddings’ Favorite Films

Evil Dead (1981): “I watched that in the theater 13 or 14 times. I started doing call-outs during the movie, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In one scene, the lady’s being dragged across the floor, drenched and covered in blood. And you see her from top to bottom, and there’s barely any blood on her. So there’s a continuity [issue] there, and as that’s happening, I’m yelling, “Got a tough stain?” which at the time was [a commonly used phrase in laundry detergent] commercials. Everybody in the theater cracked up. (2:45) Apart from that silliness, I appreciated the practical effects, the stop motion and the comedy that was involved.”

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On Tyranny: Burner Vocalist Scolds ‘Rage Bait’ Addicts for Using Misogyny, Charlie Kirk to Divide Us

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/10/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Roughly five years after their inception in London, post-metal unit Burner are quickly drawing the attention of fans of heavy music who have big hearts and big brains. Vocalist and lyricist Harry Nott recently checked in with The Bad Penny after last month’s release of Burner’s second full-length, No One Is Coming to Save Us (anyone else notice the Send Help reference?).

Nott’s prerogative could not be clear: to combat the cycles of violence and hate that all of us need to break in order to progress toward a more hopeful future across the world as authoritarianism continues to gain a foothold virtually everywhere. “We’re going through this horrible, horrible game where [social media] engagement is becoming this … end goal, and the means are just continuously being justified [to promote] rage bait and reactionary, racist content and stuff that is purposefully inciting hate of a certain people or harmful stereotypes,” the consummately articulate Nott says.

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