The Bad Penny (beta)

Maria BC’s Marathon Tour of the US Comes to a Close; Talks Trump in Unreleased Interview

Posted in Interviews, News with tags Anohni, Kendrick Lamar, Maria BC, trump on 08/25/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

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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Exclusive Video Premiere: Be Decent’s ‘Come Sweetly’

Posted in Exclusives, Interviews, Videos with tags Be Decent, exclusive on 08/25/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

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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On Tyranny: Brandi Carlile’s ‘Concert for Minneapolis’ Is Now Free to Watch on YouTube

Posted in Features, News, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags activism, authoritarianism, Brandi Carlile, fascism, ICE, immigration, On Tyranny, protest, trump, tyranny on 08/24/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

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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Ty Segall Pitched an ‘Insane’ Musical Tragicomedy About a Clown to Tim Heidecker, but It Didn’t Fly

Posted in Interviews with tags Tim Heidecker, Ty Segall, White Fence on 08/24/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

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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On Tyranny: Think Your Band Has It Rough? Meet Ukraine’s Season of Melancholy, Staying United Amid Russia’s Bombardment of Kiev

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny, Videos with tags authoritarianism, fascism, goth, Kiev, On Tyranny, Russian invasion, Season of Melancholy, tyranny, Ukraine, war on 08/24/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Some bands break up after it’s discovered that the bassist slept with the guitarist’s girlfriend. Some bands break up because the drummer wants to go in more of a doom director, whereas the lead guitarist is intransigent over the group staying true to its thrash roots.

Season of Melancholy – who hail from Kyiv, Ukraine – aren’t breaking up anytime soon, even though when The Bad Penny caught up with them on Saturday, Russia had rained hellfire on their environs with bombs. The smoke was still clearing when three members of the group, which refers to themselves as “romantic metal,” caught up with us to talk about music, war, brotherhood, unity, strength, courage and survival. We’re not talking any of that Pete Hegseth bullshit about “real men” and “high-T”: The musicians who comprise Season of Melancholy are braver than everyone watching this video put together.

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Untitled With Drums’ ‘Made Flesh’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Untitled With Drums on 08/24/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

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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Hardcore-Punk Word Search

Posted in Fun And Games with tags hardcore, hardcore punk, hardcore puzzle, hardcore word search, puzzle, word search on 08/23/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Twenty hardcore-punk bands. One puzzle. All you need is your sword (pencil) and shield (eraser). Happy hunting. Click “Continue reading” for the link that will direct you to the answer key.

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10 Best Free Bandcamp Downloads #19: Coilguns, Candy 66, Dennis Tatú, La Seguridad Nacional, ostraca, Plasm, Throes

Posted in Lists, MP3s with tags Black Marrow, Caiatus, Candy 66, Coilguns, Dermis Tatú, La Seguridad Nacional, Milked, ostraca, Plasm, Throes on 08/23/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Welcome to the 19th installment of The Bad Penny‘s Bandcamp Freebie series, in which we handpick our favorite free songs on the platform and dish them up for your consumption. Are we gonna get out of this thing alive, dear readers? Let’s not think of that, shall we, even though I just asked you.

Ladies and gentlemen, we entreat you with our latest batch of free music of the highest quality. (And the lowest price.) Not as many full-lengths time around as in recent editions past. But we think you’ll survive. All 10 titles featured here are free. And yes, you ARE welcome.

(Note: If you’re financially capable of supporting any of these artists and/or labels, please consider doing so.)

1. Coilguns’ “Carbon Magic” and “Peace Trader“

Coilguns’ Lost Love EP (which I reviewed for Treble) served as the soundtrack to 2025: a hellishly bad acid trip. If love is the most precious thing life has to offer, what could be more terrifying than the prospect that we have abandoned it for good — or even worse, that it has abandoned us? The Swiss post-metal punks put that EP up for free, and now they’ve done the same with these two new songs, released in June and April, respectively.

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The Visionaries: Norway’s Heave Blood & Die Will Choke You Into Submission With ‘Burnout & Codes’

Posted in Interviews, Videos with tags Heave Blood and Die on 08/23/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

The goal of this interview was to ask as many factually incorrect questions, and yours truly succeeded. But Norway post-punk shoegazers Heave Blood & Die took it all in stride, probably due to the adrenaline rush they were still feeling after the recent deluxe release of their first album “Burnout Codes.” Enjoy this charming, low-key conversation with Heave Blood & Die guitarist/vocalist Karl Løftingsmo Pedersen and kayboadist Marie Sofie Langeland Mikkelsen.

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