Just a couple of months after ‘90s indie-rock/post-hardcore legends Shudder to Think announced four autumn concerts for later this year, Monday brought even more seismic news: Craig Wedren and his band of misfits – well, they used to be in their younger years; now they’re matured into very fine gentlemen – are putting out their first record in an eyeball-bursting three decades.
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Well, try this one on for size: Five days ago, we published the Venezuela installment of The Bad Penny‘s new series in which we touch base with a seasoned musician from a non-U.S. country to get real-life recommendations (as opposed to artificially generated ones from Spotify) about the best bands in that artist’s homeland. Diego Ramirez, frontman of heavy garage-rock band Joudy, cultivated the list for that edition of the series, and one of the artists he deemed exceptional is another heavy garage-rock band Niño Nuclear. (If you don’t know about Ramirez’s harrowing escape from Venezuela due to rampant violence, be sure to read the story and watch the accompanying video interview in this edition of The Bad Penny’s On Tyranny series.)
While Niño Nuclear relocated to Santiago, Chile, in 2019, the band left an indelible mark on the country where they were born – but are thriving even more so now. After hearing Ramirez talk glowingly about the members of the group – including guitarist/bassist Frank Pereira; Mechu and Julio, who both provide vocals and play guitar; bassist Fernando and drummer Leo – we thought what better musician to enlighten us about the top 10 best bands in Chile for the latest edition in our series.
Here are los seleciónes de Señor Frank:
Some bands – especially hypocritical ones that refer to themselves as “punk” or “hardcore” – have the audacity to blaspheme those traditions by lamely copping out with “we don’t do politics” as an excuse.
Baltimore’s Angel Du$t – who would burn retinas if they were any hotter right now – are not one of those cowardly bands.
In the latest edition of On Tyranny (published without that header on Post-Punk), we interviewed Justice Tripp – the band’s mainstay member and lead vocalist – who does not mince words. Ever.
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Deliberately or not, Maria BC broadened their horizons and engaged with the world in a way the artist hadn’t done before with Marathon, an album that teems with more sincerity and human emotion than the past two releases. Those records were certainly noteworthy, but Marathon felt like a truer work of art in that it recognized, if not empathized — an action that is actually very difficult to accomplish, even though marketing companies recklessly overuse and thus distort its meaning — with Americans and the hardships they are currently experiencing.
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Last month, we had the distinct pleasure to exclusively premiere a new video by Be Decent, an instructively named neo-ska quartet from Brooklyn, in anticipation of the September 18 release date for their debut record, Now’s the Time. That video was for another instructively titled song, “You Better Work.”
Well, lightning does indeed strike twice, as we’re getting double the pleasure and double the fun with a second exclusive video premiere, this time for another prized selection from Now’s the Time: “Come Sweetly.”
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It seemed inevitable from the moment that Brandi Carlile walked onstage to perform a massive benefit concert in the wake of the ICE-provoked melees that occurred in Minneapolis six months ago that her performance would be historic. Now the soaring singer-songwriter is helping solidify the importance and magnitude of the show by making it available for free on YouTube for all to see.
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Prolific garage rocker Ty Segall unpacks his collaborative new LP Chrome, a record distinct in that it features him performing with a fresh new band featuring another one of today’s most revered garage-rock revivalists, Mikal Cronin.
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With Made Flesh, it’s as if Untitled With Drums managed to turn their much weaker last album inside-out. This is not a raging album from start to finish. But the band has managed to make their songs’ quieter moments beatific instead of morose, and the loud passages replete with exaltation instead of cumbersome. (For the record, while some critics have pointed to other ‘90s bands as comparable to Untitled With Drums, it’s really the loud/quiet dichotomy that most closely aligns them with that era.)
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