1. “Heart-Shaped Box”
2. “In Bloom”
Nirvana’s 10 Best Videos, Ranked
Posted in Lists, Videos with tags Nirvana on 09/20/2025 by Kurt OrzeckFrom the Vault: Everclear’s Art Alexakis Recounts Every Detail of ‘Santa Monica’ While Revisiting the Place That Inspired the Hit Song
Posted in Interviews with tags Art Alexakis, Everclear, Santa Monica on 09/20/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Fifteen years ago, yours truly – while serving as Editor of Santa Monica Patch, a hyper-local news website owned by AOL – was fortunate enough to rope in Art Alexakis, frontman for hit-single machine Everclear, for a special interview. The premise? Our conversation would revolve entirely around the alt-rock band’s biggest song, “Santa Monica,” and be conducted as we walked along Palisades Park, which overlooks the setting where the song took place and what inspired him to write it.
For such a seemingly simple, radio-friendly song, Alexakis revealed that there was a genuine, heartbreaking story behind it. He spared nary a detail about “Santa Monica” during our 90-minute journey together; while the song’s lyrics consist of about 300 words, our conversation – presented in its entirety here, for posterity’s sake – totaled more than 5,100 words.
Everclear completists and pop fans curious about the stories behind some of the best-known hits in the past three decades, prepare for a quasi-extension course revolving around a single song and taught by one of the best alt-rock lyricists of the ’90s. We’re rolling it out in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Sparkle and Fade, on which “Santa Monica” appears; the 15th anniversary of our interview with Alexakis; and as Everclear tour into early November in commemoration of the former anniversary.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Malist Maestro Fights Russian Monarchs With New Project Crimson Crown
Posted in Interviews, On Tyranny with tags Crimson Crown, Malist, Ovfrost, The Collector, tyranny, Ukraine on 09/20/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Inside Moscow, a once-US adversary that appears to be becoming more of an ally thanks to Donald Trump’s hero-worship of its dictatorial leader Vladimir Putin, is a man waging his own war against the same type of authorial rule that is taking hold in the U.S. If you’re acquainted with The Bad Penny’s On Tyranny series, in which we interview musicians who previously or are currently living under authoritarian regimes, you should be familiar with him: Ovfrost, an inspired young artist whose primary project Malist is recognized far beyond the borders of Russia thanks to its excellence in rebelling against tyranny, war and isolation with seething, searing and superiorly executed black metal.
As brave as the uncompromising music that Ovfrost unleashes with enviable proficiency practically every year with Malist, the longhaired prodigy graciously spoke with us candidly and without fear in 2023 and 2024 in opposition to his country’s invasion of Ukraine. During those conversations, he inspired the continuation of our On Tyranny series while many other rock critics and outlets began shirking away from the topics of tyranny, fascism and authoritarianism as Trump strengthened his grip on the U.S. and continued finding new ways to establish a unitary executive, i.e. making himself a king in these United States. As Putin keeps setting an example for Trump’s takeover, Ovfrost is setting an example for us on how to combat those anti-democratic efforts.
With Ovfrost’s courage in mind — keep in mind he lives a solitary existence, sans security detail, and is creating and even starting to perform live some of the most anti-establishment music on the planet — we sought his counsel for the third year in a row on how to deal with forces of evil that few of us would have imagined could effectively take over America. This time around, however, the music project of Ovfrost that we also focused on was his newer affair Crimson Crown — which, as you will soon learn, is even more brazen in its message to crush monarchic rule.
Continue readingFrom the Vault: Lou Barlow Opens Up About Opening For Dinosaur Jr.
Posted in Interviews with tags Dinosaur Jr., J Mascis, Lou Barlow, Sebadoh 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.”
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Morrissey Cancels US Shows Due to ‘Credible Threat’
Posted in News, On Tyranny with tags Morrissey on 09/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
On Tyranny: 10 Great Protest Records by Refused, Lamb of God, PJ Harvey, Divide and Dissolve, More
Posted in Lists, On Tyranny with tags Chat Pile, clipping., Divide and Dissolve, Fugazi, IDLES, Kishi Bashi, Lamb of God, PJ Harvey, Refused, System of a Down on 09/19/2025 by Kurt OrzeckHow 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)
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 Maximum Overdrive, Megalopolis, Mortal Kombat, Point Break 2, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Flag, The Terror, These Are Powers 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”?
From the Vault: Country Music That Doesn’t Blow – Sweet Tea, Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band
Posted in Essays, Videos with tags Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst, Heartless Bastards, Mystic Valley Band, Sweet Tea on 09/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
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”:
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 Pet Sounds, Wolves 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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