The 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.
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‘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 OrzeckDoppelgängers: Robert Plant and Pink Mountaintops’ Stephen McBean
Posted in Doppelgängers, Features with tags Led Zeppelin, Pink Mountaintops, Robert Plant, Stephen McBean on 06/02/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
I mean, kinda, right?
Pet Sounds #87: Silver Liz’s Dachshund Mix Milo Is Pure Gold
Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags Pet Sounds, Silver Liz on 05/30/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Eleven years ago, Carrie and Matt Wagner met each other in central Pennsylvania, fell in love, moved to Chicago and founded an experimental pop duo named Silver Liz. It was a pretty busy 12-or-so months, especially because Carrie was studying at Second City Conservatory. The two got married as well, but their lives weren’t complete until another addition to their family entered the picture: Milo.
Led Zeppelin Officially Broke Its Post-Breakup Vow — and Set a Ticket-Sales Record
Posted in Features with tags Ahmet Ertegun, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant on 05/30/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
When Led Zeppelin’s founding drummer, John Bonham, died due to an alcohol overdose in 1980, the classic-rock band broke up, and its three surviving members vowed to never reunite. Guitarist Jimmy Page, vocalist Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones did so informally a few times, mostly for tribute events.
But it wasn’t until a 2007 concert celebrating the life of music executive Ahmet Ertegun – who signed Led Zeppelin to his Atlantic Records – that Page, Plant and Jones played a full set for the first time in almost three decades. The show was so historic, and demand to attend it was so high (with 20 million ticket requests tallied), that Led Zeppelin set a new Guinness World Record.
Pet Sounds #86: Black Heart Procession Leader’s Love for His Cats Can’t Be Beat
Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags Black Heart Procession, Pall Jenkins, Pet Sounds, Solid Brass Records, Three Mile Pilot on 05/29/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
The Black Heart Procession was the most funereal, and one of the most entrancing, bands on revered Chicago indie-rock label Touch and Go Records’ roster during its heyday in the 1990s. That they fell under the umbrella of “indie rock” was evidence that the term didn’t really signify a sound as much as an ethos, that being the prioritization of art in song craft and the value of musicians’ creative freedom over corporate control.
Founded and led by Pall Jenkins – who could’ve used “Bearer” as his stage surname had he wanted to put a fine point on his aesthetic – the band’s recorded material was as darkly contemplative and emotionally wrought as that of Nick Cave. At The Black Heart Procession’s live performances, Jenkins often dressed in all black but wore a battery-powered beating red heart as a corsage-like flourish to his attire.
Continue reading‘Send Help’: An Analysis of the Eye-Gouging Scene(s) in Sam Raimi’s Breakaway Horror-Comedy Hit
Posted in Essays, Favorite Films, Features with tags Dylan O'Brien, horror, movies, Rachel McAdams, Sam Raimi, Send Help on 05/26/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Just two weeks ago, we raved about the best movie of the year so far, Sam Raimi’s Send Help. But just as we can’t stop rewatching the deliriously entertaining horror-thriller-with-a-smile, we keep finding more in-jokes (or Easter eggs, if you prefer) with each subsequent viewing.
The most obvious one is the golfing motif, which is not unlike the collectible coin/button storytelling device that Raimi used in his last great horror-comedy, Drag Me to Hell. (The Bad Penny still maintains the latter flick is the better of the two discussed here.) Just as the coin/button completed the narrative circle of Drag Me to Hell with a sinister smirk, Raimi similarly introduces the golf club and brief discussions about golf at the very beginning and very end of Send Help.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Ratboys Blast Trump Administration as a ‘Fucking Psychotic Regime’
Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, fascism, ICE, immigration, On Tyranny, Ratboys, trump, tyranny on 05/26/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
An aspiring authoritarian regime typically silences dissent gradually over the course of its rule over a country and its populace. But the inverse appears to be occurring with the Trump administration. In yet another sign that the autocratic ambitions of the president and his goons – particularly White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President J.D. Vance – are backfiring, more and more artists are publicly denouncing them and their sociopathic ambitions.
In doing so, artists are challenging not only the federal government’s threats of Soviet-style retribution (blacklists, harassment, even imprisonment) but contemporary music fans who bemoan entertainers for voicing their political opinions; a corporate music industry that profits from encouraging their clients to remain politically agnostic, anodyne and antiseptic; and supplicating media moguls, editors and publishers in a shrinking and increasingly conservative-dominated field.
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The Bad Penny (beta) 