Archive for the News Category

At Boise Gig, Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst Recalls Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch Doing Him a Solid

Posted in Concert Reviews, News, Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , on 09/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Bright Eyes commander Conor Oberst shared a heartfelt and formative memory with the crowd that packed the Treefort Music Hall to see his ensemble perform tonight.

About halfway through Bright Eyes‘ 20-song set, Oberst recalled that his prior band Commander Venus opened for their idols, Built to Spill, when the latter band performed in Oberst’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. He noted that he was only 14 years old at the time.

Oberst then recounted that when Bright Eyes played to an empty Neurolux in Boise when they were starting out, he received a note from that city’s hometown hero, Built to Spill leader Doug Martsch, on which he had written his home phone number an invitation for Oberst’s band to crash at his house for the night.

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Thanks, Mudvayne, for Making This Week Even Shittier

Posted in Comedy, News with tags , on 08/29/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

This week alone:

• RFK Jr. effectively sentenced millions of Americans to potentially die thanks to his contested decision to roll back critical, effective vaccines that (sigh) do not have microchips or tiny aliens in them.

• Trump announced plans to expand the U.S. military presence (i.e. martial law) into Seattle and Portland, in addition to L.A., Chicago and D.C.

• Another preventable school shooting resulted in the deaths of Catholic children in Minnesota and inflicted trauma on an indeterminate number of kids and families.

• ICE unlawfully arrested a bunch of firefighters in Washington while they battled a blaze.

• ICE detained Kilmar Abrego Garcia again, apparently with plans to send him to human-rights-abuse-lovin’ Uganda instead of a gulag in El Salvador this time.

• Israel killed five more journalists in yet another bombing in Gaza.

And to cap it all off, now we have to tolerate the return of Mudvayne. That’s right: fucking Mudvayne.

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RIP Brent Hinds of Mastodon (and, for a Fleeting Moment, ‘Game of Thrones’

Posted in News with tags , , on 08/20/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Poll: Can Punk-Rock Fans Back ICE Detentions?

Posted in News, Polls with tags , , , on 07/29/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Opinion | What do masked ICE agents have to hide?

RIP Ozzy Osbourne, Voice of Heavy Metal, Prince of Darkness, Biter of Bat Heads, Cooker of Eggs

Posted in News, Videos with tags on 07/22/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

The Lion’s Daughter Go Out With a Roar, Donate Dough From Last Show to Animal Rescue

Posted in News with tags , on 07/11/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

St. Louis’ progressive/blackened sludge metal band The Lion’s Daughter were adamant that their farewell performance would barely resemble the inescapably dire mood that characterizes most bands’ sayonara shows. Read my New Noise feature that reveals intimidating frontman Rick Giordano’s surprising soft spot for animal rescue.

Supergloom Shimmy Closer to Debut LP With New Single ‘Shimmer,’ Accompanying Video

Posted in Exclusives, News, Videos with tags on 07/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Private eyes are stereotyped for sticking close to, but not scaring off, their target until the person reaches their ultimate destination. Similarly, The Bad Penny continues to monitor the activity of supergloom as the shoegazing LA newcomers inch closer to realizing their first full-length record.

Earlier this year–on April Fools Day, to be precise–we introduced you to supergloom around the time they released “sideFX,” the first single from their still-untitled debut. The heady, cleverly named song exemplified what would become their maiden release. We touched base with supergloom toward the end of April, at which point they let The Bad Penny exclusively unveil a new song, “Kingfisher.”

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Exclusive Album Premiere: Wipes’ ‘Wipes’

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews, News with tags on 05/21/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Wipes are declaring Don’t Tell My Parents with the new LP that the noise-punk band will issue through Hex Records on Friday. But The Bad Penny is telling everyone we know about the righteously rambunctious by exclusively presenting a stream of the entire album today.

Not to be confused with Wipers, the influential Portland post-punk band that both Nirvana and the Melvins covered, the rather similar-sounding Wipes are still in their toddler years and hail from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Wipes carry the heavily distorted torch previously held by Wipers but are even more committed to making exuberant, off-kilter noise.

The band released new cuts “Social Mask” and “Stone Eater” earlier this year. Now, check out Don’t Tell My Parents in its entirety:

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Exclusive: Miracle Blood Are in for a Bloody Good Time With Epic Tour

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews, My City Rules, News with tags , on 05/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Noise punks Miracle Blood are ready to bring the ruckus with an ambitious tour starting July 11 in Buffalo, NY, running through August 2 in Washington DC.

The Beantown badasses are also on the docket for the fifth edition of the ultra-underground Caterwaul Fest in Minneapolis on May 26. In between Caterwaul and the onset of their summer trek, the band will hit up Portsmouth, New Hampshire (June 13); Troy, New York (June 24); and Boston (June 28).

Miracle Blood certainly aren’t allergic to playing live, and this new jaunt will be their most extensive one to date.

“Play new material in front of crowds to kind of see what’s landing right and what maybe needs a little bit more work,” cofounder/guitarist/vocalist Andrew Wong told The Bad Penny.

With so many upcoming engagements, it’s patently obvious that Miracle Blood–who tout themselves as “gnarly noise-punk for the weird at heart”–are on fi-yah. If noise-punk isn’t your jam, give Miracle Blood a shot nonetheless, as they meld their music with mathcore as well.

Expect scenes like this to unfold frequently during Miracle Blood’s upcoming gigs:

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Exclusive Track Premiere: Supergloom’s ‘Kingfisher’

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews, News with tags on 04/22/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Supergloom and The Bad Penny are getting super wicked excited about the upcoming release of their debut album, due this fall, and today we have the good fortune to unveil a new song, “Kingfisher,” from what is shaping up to be a dizzyingly delicious record.

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