Less than three weeks ago, The Bad Penny connected with our favorite new rocksteady/punk band Big Special, who famously played their first headlining gig at Dublin Castle in 2023 and haven’t looked back since. Now playing for crowds running as high as 2,300 attendees and the like at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, they’re still pushing their second album, the consummately wryly titled National Average, which came out July 4.
Continue readingArchive for the Features Category
On Tyranny: With Authoritarian Takeover Now Complete in U.S., ‘We’re Just Focusing on Survival,’ Queer Artist Nic Pugh of Midniter Says
Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags Midniter, Nic Pugh, SugarTank! Records on 10/27/2025 by Kurt Orzeck“It’s just too much,” kindhearted musician Nic Pugh says on Monday, Oct. 27, in the latest installment of The Bad Penny‘s increasingly popular “On Tyranny” series. In it, musicians open up about how they are damaged, targeted and made to feel unwelcome in Authoritarian America.
While mostly disconnected from politics in the past, the artist behind indie-electronic pop project Midniter explains how he arrived at the decision to speak his mind about Authoritarian America. It’s no easy task, with Trump and Steve Bannon’s “flood the zone” theory of controlling the U.S. media now in its 10th month.
“Right now, I don’t feel like there’s necessarily a benefit for me having an interview other than the fact that I just feel I need to do it,” the queer indie electronic artist/singer/songwriter notes. Pugh’s efforts to raise awareness about social issues goes beyond making music; he founded SugarTank! Records with Nic Holman, who are in the riot-grrrl-inspired quartet Dreamboat. The label’s primary goal is to support and celebrate LGBTQ+ artists and allies in the artists’ hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Continue readingMemento: Jawbox Letter Proves They Were the Truest ‘Sweethearts’ of ’90s Indie Rock
Posted in Essays, Exclusives, Features, Mementos with tags Bill Barbot, J. Robbins, Jawbox, Kim Coletta on 10/27/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
For a band that titled arguably its best album For Your Own Special Sweetheart (1994), Jawbox may themselves be the sweetest post-hardcore band of the ’90s.
On the fateful Friday night of Nov. 22 in 1996, excitement for the weekend got into the heads of three students – including yours truly – and ousted any semblance of logic as punishment. When we learned that the J. Robbins-led Jawbox had plans to play a gig at Mabel’s in Champaign, a city located two hours south of Chicago.
Continue readingFrom the Vault – Inside The Label: I’m Better Than Everyone Records
Posted in Features, Inside The Label, Interviews with tags Beaten Back to Pure, Deadbird, Down, eyehategod, Hail!Hornet, I'm Better Than Everyone Records], Phil Anselmo, Samothrace, US Christmas on 10/26/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
“It was something new,” label founder Karim Khan said. “[Everything] caught me by surprise. And from [that] record, I discovered bands like Eyehategod”
—
In last week’s chapter of Inside the Label, we put our high beams on Bloodshot Records, a ‘print founded 15 years ago by two people whose combined previous record label experiences amounted to basically nothing. Nan Warshaw and Rob Miller’s labor was one of love, derived from a sheer and uncompromising appreciation for independent music (rowdy, beer-soaked independent music, in particular).
But while neither Warshaw nor Miller had worked at a label before, they had at least served some time in the industry: Warshaw with promoting artists and shows, and Miller with music production.
Continue readingFavorite Films: Heavy Heavy Low Low Vocalist Lists His Favorite Flicks as Halloween Creeps Closer
Posted in Favorite Films, Interviews, Lists, Reviews with tags An American Werewolf in London, David Lynch, Halloween, Heavy Heavy Low Low, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Night of the Living Dead, No Country for Old Men, Robbie Smith, The Coen Brothers on 10/25/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
It’s not uncommon for an actor to form or join a band – after all, it takes a certain gene to drive a person to be at the center of attention as much as they possibly can. But this past summer, when we caught up with vocalist Robbie Smith of sasscore squad Heavy Heavy Low Low, we learned that the inverse isn’t necessarily as common.
Sure, he enjoys fronting the band from San Jose, California, and writing and recording their songs – which are so unhinged and berserk that even Guantanamo Bay couldn’t restrain or temper them. Nonetheless, Smith also enjoys stepping away from the physical intensity of the band’s concerts to focus on an artistic endeavor he may value even more than crafting music: filmmaking.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Off-Duty Cop Reportedly Pepper-Sprays Teen at Turnstile Concert
Posted in Features, News, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, fascism, On Tyranny, police brutality, Turnstile, tyranny on 10/24/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
This will come as no surprise for those of us who have already reckoned with the fact that the U.S. is now controlled by an authoritarian regime, but an apparent deputy recently pepper-sprayed an attendee at a Turnstile concert in Richmond, Virginia.
The alleged incident, captured on body-cam footage, shows an off-duty deputy from the Richmond Sheriff’s Office pepper-spraying a teen, according to The Richmonder. The individual apparently jumped onto the concert stage at Turnstile’s encouragement during the last song of their set.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Ultra-Rich Corporate CEO Stands With Bad Bunny in Super Bowl Flap
Posted in News, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, Bad Bunny, censorship, diversity, NFL, On Tyranny, Super Bowl, trump, tyranny on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
To most, it will seem incongruous that this website is cover footballing to any extent. Or applaud an American citizen whose net worth hovers in the $250 million range. But because the sport is caught between a pop mega-star and a hard right-wing contingent in the U.S., we find it fitting to salute NFL Commissioner (aka CEO) Roger Goodell for backing up Bad Bunny at a Super Bowl press conference this morning.
That’s not to mention that we previously covered the Latin hip-hop star’s decision to avoid touring the U.S. for fear of ICE raiding his concerts. And the fact that Trump, Kristi Noem and other sycophantic, bigoted trolls in the White House are unabashedly trying to limit free speech or even make it a crime. Ergo, the uproar over Bad Bunny’s scheduled performance at America’s most-watching sporting event should be made aware to musicians of all stripes.
Continue reading
The Bad Penny (beta) 