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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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Industrial/EBM/Darkwave Artist Corpse Dust Amped to Spread ‘Suffer’ at First Boise Appearance Tonight

Posted in Concert Previews, Interviews with tags , , , , on 10/18/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“I had to do a hard reset and decide if I wanted to build this project back up again. I’m really happy I did.”

-Corpse Dust

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Industrial/EBM/darkwave artist Corpse Dust is currently spreading his music around the country with Chicago psych-doom quartet REZN and Toronto post-hardcore unit lowheaven. Tonight, the three amigos descend on the Shrine Social Club in Boise, with roughly 10 shows left.

All three acts have had banner years, with Corpse Dust continuing to ride a wave of momentum after the strong reception of his LP, Suffer, in March. We hit up the artist from Asheville, North Carolina, who generously provided some insights into the album and tour, how Hurricane Helene – which happened roughly a year ago – affected his project, and how he much he enjoys introducing his music to new audiences.

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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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Austin Psych/Doom Trio The Well Are Well on Their Way for a Bloody Good Time in Boise Tonight

Posted in Concert Previews, Interviews with tags , , , , , on 10/16/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
credit: Sandy Carson

Being a doom band doesn’t require one to have a doom-and-gloom outlook on life, and yesterday afternoon, Austin’s The Well proved that fact during a phone interview in anticipation of their concert at Boise’s Neurolux tonight.

“We are surrounded by desert, open space, and then beautiful cliffs and mountains in the distance,” bassist Lisa Alley as the trio traversed their way through Utah en route to a gig in Salt Lake City. “Hawkwind would be a good soundtrack to this.”

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Rat Utopia Experiment Ready to Infest and ‘Lobotomize’ Boise Tonight at the Shredder

Posted in Concert Previews, Interviews with tags , , , , on 10/15/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

The Rat Utopia Experiment, a female-fronted “circus” punk-rock band from Tacoma, Washington, are storming into Boise this evening with a vengeance. They’ll be holing up at The Shredder for what is sure to be an overstimulating performance, and it’s basically a given that the band will bust out performances of the two songs from their June 7-inch, “Lobotomize Me” and “Three-Banded Armadillo.”

Fronted by lead vocalist Phia Lane, the outlandish outfit – which paints their faces to aptly resemble clowns – also features bassist/vocalist Francis Green, guitarists Maddox Mullins and Drix Drixolle, and drummer Christian Montemayor. The Bad Penny checked in with the band on Thursday as they drove en route to Boise.

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Ex-Unsane Bassist Prioritizes Focus on Genocide in Gaza Versus Drama With Past Bandmates on Baratro’s New LP

Posted in Interview Transcripts, Interviews with tags , , , , , , , , , on 10/14/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

The 200-year-old sonnet known as “Ozymandias” returned to the public discourse this year when Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly referenced it to Trump – who was, probably for the best, apparently oblivious to the gist of the story. In essence, “Ozymandias” is an allusion to a once-powerful but increasingly irrelevant superpower unaware that it is being overtaken by a younger rival empire with momentum on its side.

For fear of sounding grandiose, “Ozymandias” could perhaps be applied as well to two interrelated bands, one of which achieved significant popularity in its heyday but now appears to be sputtering; and the other a relatively young upstart group that could very well position itself to eclipse its elder relative.

The bands in question are Unsane and Baratro, which are both cut from the same cloth – noise-rock. For lack of a better term, the connective tissue between the groups is one Dave Curran, who played bass in Unsane from 1994 to 2000; and then again when Unsane reactivated, from 2003 to 2018. For those allergic to math, that’s a lot of mileage for a musician to commit to a band – 22 years – even if Curran wasn’t a founding member of his former outfit.

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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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