Oathbound, Seattle’s most promising progressive-metalcore band, are ready to finally make their big smash with the March 6 release of Colors in Grey (Eclipse), their debut LP. Three of the band members – Taylor Harper (guitar), Steve Schwarz (bass) and Travis Morlan (drums) – generously devoted a chunk of their Friday night to participate in the latest edition of Favorite Films, one of The Bad Penny‘s ongoing series.
And we couldn’t have had more fun with the spirited, genuinely good fellas. For proof, watch the video of our lively and loose conversation.
If you watch only one installment among the 112 we’ve published so far in this series about artists responding to fascism, make sure it’s this one featuring Low Cut Connie. The rock musician’s impressive intelligence, history of engaging in protests and fearless bravery in speaking truth to power raise him to oracle status. Most Americans are confused, afraid and paralyzed by the federal government’s unconscionable, vicious and deadly assaults by a paramilitary force that answers only to Donald Trump. Low Cut Connie is calm, focused and clear-eyed about fighting fascism with unflinching strength and unwavering compassion simultaneously.
With all the horrifying, nauseating, apocalypse-seeming terrors the Trump administration and U.S. federal government is unleashing on not only the rest of the world but its own citizens, we often forget that actions and developments that occur in America reverberate an radiate far beyond our shores.
To that end, we touched base with our friends Justin Greaves and Belinda Kordic from self-described “macabre rock” band Crippled Black Phoenix to discuss the political, cultural and moral rot that is corroding the U.S., the U.K. and even Sweden. thanks in part, although not exclusively, a certain president of a certain country trying to shape.
“It’s Handmaid’s fucking Tale, isn’t it?” an understandably upset Kordic remarks as we begin discussing the loaded subject (which, by the way, is no longer about political disagreements between left and right but rather a moral battle between right and wrong).
Minneapolis’ Products Band are as stylistically sinuous as their moniker is amorphous. Pulling primarily from R.E.M.’s best art-rock material, the crunchiness of Pavement and the Replacements’ dalliances with punk, Products Band have no qualms about dipping their toes in just about any body of water – or pool of liquid, for that matter. Those statements are verifiable on the quartet’s second full-length, Some Sudden Weather (Solid Brass), which came out in October 2023.
Products Band consists of Jo Kellen (guitar, vocals, synths), Konner Johnson (drums, percussion, synths), Alex Hanson (guitars, vocals, piano) and Jack Woolsey (bass, vocals). Woolsey and Johnson jumped at the opportunity to participate in the one and only –or at least extensive – online series in which musicians gush over their pets.
In the 81st edition of Pet Sounds, we learned a little bit about the music that Products Band produces – and we learned an awful lot about bassist/vocalist Wooley’s two pets: Casper, a gray cat that is 7.5 year old; and Disney, a 5-year-old black cat. To answer questions you probably have already, Disney the cat isn’t sponsored by Mickey Mouse’s mega-corporation, and Casper is indeed friendly but not a ghost. Whoa, ghost cats … now that’s a great idea for a movie.
Strapped for cash but hungry for great music? The Bad Penny is here to help. Well, musicians and Bandcamp are the ones actually doing the heavy lifting, but we’re saving you some precious time by curating the best freebies we came across on the site since the last edition of this series. So here’s a rundown of 10 rad songs, albums and EPs – most of them released last month – that The Bad Penny decided to share because we love you.
(Note: If you’re financially capable of supporting any of these artists and/or labels, please consider doing so.)
From the Bandcamp description: “4Rooms is the improv session recorded live by Aidan Baker (Nadja) and Wario Pianesi (Mrs Bhutan) in Berlin at Hinterraum on Oct. 24, 2024. Mastered by Riccardo Gamondi at unSalice studio.”
2. Nadja – Seemannsgarn (Church In Session) (January 2026)
This is an ambient/drone live track that Nadja performed with Leah Buckareff on bass guitar and Aidan Baker on electric guitar and drum machine, They recorded the 42-minute song in a church in Berlin.
Creativity is the driving force in the musical works created by Philadelphia punk-rocker Devin McKnight (a.k.a. Maneka). He recently checked in with The Bad Penny to talk about Trump’s Authoritarian America and the fear that is sweeping across the country (and even the world). McKnight shares one of the more positive outlooks in The Bad Penny’s “On Tyranny” series. “My North Star is that It can’t get to the point where it’s crushing artists’ creativity, because it is that outlet that we’ve seen over and over again can bring people together,” he says.
It’s true and well-known that most Americans don’t know the nitty-gritty of government and politics. But we can distinguish between what is moral and not, and for that reason, we must fight for what we believe is right. VTB make a case for that claim — which every American should know –– during part of an interview The Bad Penny conducted on Wednesday with the grungy alt-rock-with-a-smattering-of-noise-and-post-punk.
Welcome to the 80th installment of The Bad Penny‘s Pet Sounds series. We have a very special one for you today, because the pet owner who graciously participated has had such an immense impact on hardcore punk and screamo, the genres might have gone in different directions were it not for him.
The gent in question is one Tom Schlatter, a major character in the proverbial book of hardcore music. Since 1997, he has served as a member of, or otherwise collaborated with, 16 bands as a guitarist, bassist and drummer. His loyalty and integrity were tested when one of those bands, Saetia — which formed in broke up in October 1999 two and a half years after they formed.
Lucky for Schlatter — and the screamo community, Saetia reassembled in 2022 and, last year, released its first song in 26 years, much to the delight of punk-rockers listeners (especially those who were sold on the band in the first place, a quarter-century prior). Two more songs followed, and an EP should be on the way.
So, how did he handle all that turbulence, not to mention the pivotal roles he played in a plethora of other acts? Well, with pets, of course; they make everything better. Schlatter has more than most — two cats and two dogs — but, as he told The Bad Penny, he wouldn’t want it any other way. He explained why (and divulged a whole lot more) in an email we received on Friday.
Feliz cumpleaños to Office actor and folk musician Creed Bratton, who turns 83 years old today. (Yes, that really is his age.) Creed (real name William Charles Schneider) portrayed a psychologically troubled but hilarious social misfit who occasionally popped his head out from his cubicle to uproarious effect.
The Bad Penny found it fitting to give Creed some love and attention because he’s also an honest-to-God musician. He made his recording debut in 1966, playing guitar for the Grass Roots on their album Were You When I Needed You. Nine years later, after making many more LPs with Grass Roots, he devoted almost his artistic energies on making solo material – and taking a stab ata professional acting. It’s widely considered that Creed was the most bizarre and perhaps side-splitting characters on The Office. His tenure with the series ended when The Office itself closed its doors in 2013.
In this edition of On Tyranny, Erin Walter – frontwoman of Austin power-pop punks Parker Woodland – discusses the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to build a slew of new detention centers (some call them concentration camps) across the country. Walter is particularly knowledgable on the subject, having protested at the South Texas Family Residential Center, which recently housed 5-year-old ICE detainee Liam Ramos and his father (they were released earlier this week).
The singer/activist also reveals what led her band to cover the Clash’s “Police on My Back,” which Parker Woodland released as a single roughly a week ago. Proceeds from sales of that song and its B-side, “Get Me to the Show,” are benefitting the Texas Civil Rights Project. The single is available on Parker Woodland’s Bandcamp page, which also contains copious information about the band and its releases.
The Bad Penny (beta) 