Mia Lin of L.A. DIY guitar band MyVeronica engages in a stimulating conversation about the impetus of real punk-rock artists meeting the moment and calling out authoritarianism and discrimination when they see it. We caught up earlier this week, following the early August release of Farewell Skylines, their split EP with Friend’s House.
Continue readingArchive for the Features Category
On Tyranny: MyVeronica’s Mia Lin Says ‘True Meaning of Punk’ Is ‘To Speak Out’
Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags Mia Lin, MyVeronica on 10/03/2025 by Kurt OrzeckOn Tyranny: David Cross Scolds ‘Heroes’ Louis CK, Bill Burr for Playing Saudi Arabia Comedy Fest
Posted in Comedy, Features, News, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags Bill Burr, David Cross, Louis CK on 10/02/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Well, at least someone in the now-ludicrously successful world of comedy is standing up for human rights. David Cross, in a Monday newsletter to his fans, expressed disappointment that many of his peers are performing for the “depraved, awful people” attending the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, whose authoritarian leadership mandates observance of Sharia law and carries out mass executions despite condemnation by international human-rights groups.
Notably, Cross pointed out the hypocrisy of comedians who regularly bemoan so-called “cancel culture” for participating in a comedy festival staged by a royal family that bans free speech in the country they rule. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman infamously directed the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in October 2018.
The Riyadh Comedy Festival began Friday and concludes a week from today. Other participants include Dave Chappelle, Aziz Ansari, Jimmy Carr, Russell Peters, Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson, Tom Segura, Andrew Schulz, Bobby Lee, Sam Morril, Jo Koy, Gabriel Iglesias and Kevin Hart, among others.
Burr said on his Monday Morning Podcast that at least the festival’s attendees were “happy,” and called performing at the festival “one of the top three best experiences I’ve had,” according to Rolling Stone.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Donald Trump Is More Insane Than the Craziest Musicians Ever, From Elvis to Kanye
Posted in Essays, Features, Lists, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags Captain Beefheart, Daniel Johnston, Donald Trump, Elvis, GG Allin, Kanye West, Keith Moon, Lil Wayne, Roky Erickson, Syd Barrett on 10/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Consider the following:
1. Michael “Pras” Michel, one-third of the Fugees, was convicted in April 2023 on 10 counts related to falsifying business records. Donald Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
2. Syd Barrett, guitarist and co-founder of Pink Floyd, allegedly took LSD every morning and locked his girlfriend in a room for three days. Donald is allegedly sending individuals who may or may not be documented U.S. citizens to gulags in El Salvador and is publicly urging Americans to not take Tylenol.
3. Keith Moon, drummer of The Who, admitted to accidentally running over his friend and bodyguard with his car. Moon, who was allegedly drunk at the time of the incident, publicly apologized for the tragedy. Donald Trump proudly and remorselessly declared that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
Continue readingFrom the Vault: Inside The Label – Prosthetic Records
Posted in Features, Inside The Label with tags All That Remains, Beneath the Massacre, Lamb of God, Prosthetic, Scale the Summit, Skeletonwitch, The Acacia Strain on 09/30/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
As far as the music industry is concerned, the Apocalypse has arrived. All that remains of major labels is their smoldering, blackened skeletons; elsewhere, chaos reigns, with only the very fittest gritting out a way to survive.
But across this bloody battlefield, Prosthetic Records is one of the few labels standing tall. Some way, some how, metal is continuing to sell in this chilly climate: Mastodon and Killswitch Engage, for example, recently cracked the Billboard 200 top 10 with ease. Chalk it up to loyal fans, to kids who want to invest in more than just an invisible file – or maybe to knuckle-draggers who scratch their head at the word “torrent.”
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Weakened Friends’ Secret to Battling MAGA? Community Involvement
Posted in Features, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, Donald Trump, MAGA, On Tyranny, tyranny, Weakened Friends on 09/28/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
“As someone who is a queer individual, my safety came from a lot of people dying and protesting and fighting for my rights to feel safe. … I’m willing to have a boot on my neck for the people that I love and care about. I’m here for the fight.”
–Sonia Sturino
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Only about 69,500 people live in Portland, Maine, which is one of the least-populous states in the U.S. (and is the only one in the Lower 48 to share a border with just one other state). But let’s drop the Cliff Clavin act and get to the most salient fact of interest to you, dear reader of The Bad Penny: Portland is home to one of the most red-hot indie-rock bands in the Northeast: Weakened Friends.
Led by impossible-not-to-love married multi-instrumentalists Sonia Sturino (who has a green card) and Annie Hoffman, this year marks the 10th anniversary since Weakened Friends cranked out their first release: The crunchy, power-chord song “Won Yet,” which proved from the git-go that the group had the sharpest of ears for melody, harmony and chorus. In a mere 12 days, the sumptuous songsmiths will unveil Feels Like Hell on the inimitable Don Giovanni records.
When The Bad Penny caught wind of the topics that Weakened Friends address on their third record – resisting the temptation to succumb to “deep nihilism in the face of global capitalism” and instead refuse self-censorship and embrace the freedom to speak out, we quickly invited them to participate in our ongoing On Tyranny series – and both Sturino and Hoffman merrily obliged.
We staged a video chat with them about three weeks ago, as we all hunkered down in our kitchens (theirs is far more decorative than mine) to share our thoughts and feelings about the state of the U.S., and the impact Authoritarian American is having on musicians.
Continue readingPet Sounds #68: Temple of Love Open Their Hearts to Fulci the Cat
Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags Austin Pets Alive!, cats, Destroyer of Light, Fulci’s Eyes, Pet Sounds, Temple of Love, Witchcryer on 09/28/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Lest you think Austin, Texas, is only comprised of psych-rock bands these days, The Bad Penny brings you Temple of Love, a goth-rock/dark-wave band whose debut, Songs of Love and Despair, drops November 7 on Reptile House. Fans of The Black Angels and Killing Joke, take note.
Husband-and-wife duo Steve Colca and Suzy Bravo incepted Temple of Love way back in 2018, intending it to be a “pet” recording project all their own. But the two musicians – who hail from touted doom bands Destroyer of Light and Witchcryer, respectively – decided to aim for loftier ambitions after their 2019 demo earned them heaps of praise.
Consisting of guitarist/vocalist Colca, vocalist Bravo, drummer Patrick Pascucci and bassist Joseph Maniscalco, there’s also an honorary member of the band: Colca and Bravo’s beloved black cat, Fulci. We’ll have plenty more to say about Temple of Love and their maiden release in the future, but first, let’s give the hat-wearin’, snow-bearin’, self-brushin’ Fulci some affection and attention.
Continue readingPet Sounds #67: Miracle Blood Draw Love From Their Guinea Pigs, Cats
Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags Miracle Blood on 09/27/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Noise punks Miracle Blood are road dogs – but it’s cats (and two guinea pigs who sadly passed away) that are the Boston-area band’s animal spirits. Guitarist/vocalist Andrew Wong, bassist Garrett Young and drummer Anthony Bollitier, in a rare break between playing gigs, were game to talk about their love for their furry friends as part of The Bad Penny‘s ongoing Pet Sounds series.
Miracle Blood’s latest album, Hello Hell, came out in November via esteemed label Nefarious Industries. But it’s their past releases that are littered – pun very much intended – with references to creatures of various sorts. There’s their August 2022 song “Pomeranian,” and then three double-single releases from 2019 on which animals are featured on their pastel covers: “Roses”/”Nurses,” “Swollen/Sentinel” and “Bloom/Polite and Calm.”
We chatted up Miracle Blood about their animal fixation, and here’s what they had to say. Or purr.
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