From the Vault: Lou Barlow Opens Up About Opening For Dinosaur Jr.

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , on 09/20/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

It is no longer possible to be antisocial. Because, if you could, Lou Barlow wouldn’t be on Twitter.

That’s right, the guy who couldn’t get out of his own head for most of his life is now having trouble getting back into it.

In an age when everyone’s modus operandi seems to be spilling their thoughts onto social-networking sites as frequently and quickly as possible, it seems that introspection has gone out the window. And Barlow, indie rock’s prince of pondering, agrees.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about that,” he recently told IndiePit, replying with an amusing choice of words. “The time that I would spend in the past – just writing in a journal, let’s say – I now spend going on Facebook and doing 10 blurbs to people. Everything becomes, ‘Oh yeah, I gotta keep in touch with this person.’

“I like that I’m able to connect with people now and it doesn’t have to be on the phone – which I have a real hard time with,” he told us via telephone, “but at the same time, I was realizing, ‘Wow, you know, I haven’t really sat down to do a lot of journals,’ where I was just writing stuff off the top of my head that I can use later or that just helps me sort through. But after a year of touring, I think there will be plenty of isolation. I have to reclaim that part of my life.”

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On Tyranny: Morrissey Cancels US Shows Due to ‘Credible Threat’

Posted in News, On Tyranny with tags on 09/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Go to The Bad Penny’s On Tyranny hub for more installments in this series.

On Tyranny: 10 Great Protest Records by Refused, Lamb of God, PJ Harvey, Divide and Dissolve, More

Posted in Lists, On Tyranny with tags , , , , , , , , , on 09/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

How you likin’ Authoritarian America now? To all the conservative “disrupters” out there, The Bad Penny hopes this is what you were wishing for – and (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) that the wave of tyrannical terror sweeping the nation doesn’t drown you in its wake.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you; after all, we launched this On Tyranny franchise in December. But rather than subject you to “I told you so examples” from our 25-part series, we’ll instead suggest some of our favorite contemporary protest records that you can serve as your soundtrack for the weekend. Here goes, in chronological order:

Refused‘s The Shape of Punk to Come (1998)

System of a Down’s Toxicity (2001)

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Favorite Films: Point Break 2 Frontman Cops to His Guilty-Pleasure Movies: ‘Mortal Kombat,’ ‘Terror,’ ‘Elvis,’ More

Posted in Favorite Films, Features, Guilty Pleasures, Interviews, Lists with tags , , , , , , , on 09/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Earlier this month saw a new release by Point Break 2 – no, not a sequel to the immortal 1991 surfing-undercover-cop-thriller-pseudohomoerotic-unintentional-comedy-action masterpiece starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, but rather a fresh record by a band using that amusing name as its moniker. Featuring members of Brooklyn indie bands These Are Powers and The Flag including Ted McGrath, Point Break 2’s self-titled EP dropped on Naturally Records.

McGrath originally assembled Point Break 2 to bide his time while The Flag’s second LP was in the works. But he hit it off so well with Flag bandmate Ryan Crozier, Jason Robira of Sunwatchers, Fixtures’ Kris Liakos and Billy Bouchard (Ice Balloons, Dancehall Crashers) that they decided to formalize Point Break 2 as a full-fledged project.

And how could they not, with a fuzzy, skronky song as infectious as lead single “Hall of Justice”?

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From the Vault: Country Music That Doesn’t Blow – Sweet Tea, Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band

Posted in Essays, Videos with tags , , , , on 09/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
The Heartless Bastards

We like country too. Yes, really. Well, sometimes. When it’s good. Because a lot of it isn’t. Then again, a lot of music in a lot of genres isn’t good. On the other hand, a lot of music in a lot of genres is good. Weird how that works.

Moving on.

We’re having a kanipshin after hearing the new project by Alex Maas of the Black Angels and self-described Heartless Bastard Erika Wennerstrom. It’s called Sweet Tea and sounds sweet as can be: Get converted by this touching live cover of Tim Harden’s “If I Were a Carpenter”:

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Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #11

Posted in Features, Fun And Games on 09/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Solution here.

For previous rebuses (rebi? Reba?), give these a go:

Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #10
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #9
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #8
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #7
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #6
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #5
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #4
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #3
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #2
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #1

Pet Sounds #62: Wolves Bassist Is Obsessed With His … You Guessed It: His Cat

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , on 09/18/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Earlier this month, post-rock and post-metal heathens Wolves dropped their latest record, which is self-titled but features snarky artwork referring to the effort as This Is a Record Called Self-Titled by a Band Called Wolves. Issued through Ripcord Records (whose mascot features a cat’s face), it finds the five-piece gnawing at the confines of genre with a ferocity that commands a feral-like instinct to pay attention on both carnal and cerebral levels.

Wolves, founded in 2016, consist of Mark Howes (vocals, guitar); Andrew “Beard” Rodger (guitar, vocals); Ryan Tyrrell (guitar, vocals); Andy Price (bass, vocals); and Robbie Tewelde (drums). They’re based throughout the Coventry in the Midlands County of England. If you just overlooked the fact that four of the five dudes contribute vocals, you won’t when you hear their seismic onslaught of a sound, which will reel in fans of Dillinger Escape Plan hook, link and sinker:

Incidentally, it’s not just Ripcord that’s obsessed with cats; so are the musicians who comprise Wolves. And many of their names are equally colorful and hilarious. Among Tewelde’s cats is Pharrell Williams, Howes’ cat is named Chairman Meow, (nicknamed “The Chairman” or “Mr. Bitey”). Price has one too, and in celebration of Wolves’ new, certifiably and quantifiably insane beast of a record, we invited him to participate in the latest edition of our long-running series, Pet Sounds.

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From the Vault: Exclusive – Russian Circles’ Track-By-Track Tour of Geneva

Posted in Features with tags on 09/18/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Maybe the guys in Russian Circles were told that too many times by their moms. ‘Cause they’re certainly not the types to open their traps.

The Chicago cell is just about ready to introduce to the world the third Russian Circles record, Geneva – and like its predecessors, the heady adventure is vocal-free. Fortunately, though, we got guitarist Mike Sullivan to pipe up to us about the record.

Relaxed and genial, Sullivan quickly allayed our suspicions that social awkwardness might be behind Russian Circles’ speechless approach to heavy rock. We’re pretty sure he isn’t a hermit, even if he is in a band. Well, pretty sure.

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From the Vault: Inside the Label – Ipecac Recordings

Posted in Features, Inside The Label with tags , , , , , , , on 09/18/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

You know a label is cool when it doesn’t even bother keeping track of how many records it sells. And while such slackerish business practices would seem to spell doom for any label, Ipecac Recordings is puking in the face of its naysayers as the company founded by Mike Patton and Greg Werckman blows out 10 candles this year.

“We don’t really count record sales that well,” Werckman sheepishly admitted to IndiePit in a recent chat. “For Mike and I … we’ve only been around 10 years, but man, we’ve done these records. And the records we’re proudest of are definitely not always the ones that sell the most. It’s just cool to work with so many talented people.”

Lest ye doubt the merit of Werckman’s word, try on for size the Melvins, Isis, Peeping Tom and Queens of the Stone Age – just a small nibble of the big cookie that is the Ipecac Recordings oeuvre.

“We have a foundation of artists who have been around for a while and have a built-in fanbase,” Werckman says of the aforementioned acts. “It would’ve been pretty hard for us to fail completely. … We have a base of Mike Patton’s projects since Faith No More – that’s a pretty strong fanbase. And then, right off the bat, we had the Melvins, who have a good, strong fanbase. The one band we’ve been able to grow and establish a fanbase with is Isis. And then Josh Homme, a good friend of ours from Queens of the Stone Age” who is a constant co-conspirator.

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Timo Ellis Lauds Gojira’s Joe Duplantier as ‘Genius,’ Discloses Autism Diagnosis

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , , , , , on 09/18/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

What do Gojira, Yoko Ono and Money Mark have in common? A man named Timo Ellis, with whom they and a litany of other music legends have collaborated over the years. As prolific as Stephen King, Ellis is a pro at dozens of instruments and boasts tenure with a vast array of bands, including his own projects Netherlands and OOMASOOMA. On October 10, he will roll out El Bronco Blanco, the third collection of material by the latter affair. It succeeds Endless Future and Delireal, an EP that was released in August.

The self-described “genre-fluid” Ellis recently granted The Bad Penny an exhaustive examination of his artistic mind and endeavors, some of the tricks to his trade, and an honest account of his experiences working with a slew of musicians. (He also disclosed that a new Netherlands record is on the way.)

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