Wand frontman Cory Hanson’s fourth solo outing confronts American grift culture with hope and a communal spirit, as his backing players seem to prevent him from turning inward and catastrophizing. Read my full review at FLOOD.
Cory Hanson’s ‘I Love People’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Cory Hanson on 08/11/2025 by Kurt OrzeckThanks to Treble for New Psychedelia Column
Posted in Uncategorized with tags psychedelia, Treble on 08/06/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
It is with great delight that I can now share with you, dear readers, that I’ll be spearheading a new quarterly column on psychedelia albums for Treble. Of course, I’ll post announcements about new editions of the series on this here Bad Penny website, as soon as they’re published. Read more abut Treble‘s new series here.
Pet Sounds #59: Flummox’s Love for Their Pets Is Unwavering
Posted in Interviews with tags Alyson Blake Dellinger, Flummox on 08/05/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
When The Bad Penny caught up with Flummox front woman Alyson Blake Dellinger in April via video chat, she was in her comfort zone: Hanging out with her cats and wearing a cat ears headband in solidarity with her feline friends. The Nashville-area multi-instrumentalist was clearly in her happy place, but her smile was set to grow even bigger come Friday, with the release of the latest album by her bizarro heavy-rock/psych/funk/jam band, Southern Progress.
The experimental band describes itself as creators of “genre-fluid sounds for the strange & nocturnal,” and that couldn’t be more evident than on their fifth studio record. It’s Flummox’s second for Needlejuice, the label whose first release–the 2017 album Polygondwanaland by similar-minded King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard–put it on the map. For their own part, Flummox have blazed their own trail as a queer/transfemme quintet to be reckoned with. Dellinger–who plays bass and piano, in addition to providing vocals–launched the band in 2012.
But while we could go on and on abut the band, we know why you clicked into this story: to see heartwarming pics of the band members’ many pets
Continue readingRock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #5
Posted in Fun And Games on 08/05/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Solution here.
For previous rebuses (rebi? Reba?), give these a go:
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #4
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #3
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #2
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rebus #1
Zaq Baker Finds Self-Worth Amid Mental Health Struggles, Writing First Novel
Posted in Features, Interviews, What You Readin' For? with tags Zaq Baker on 08/05/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
“There’s a lot of danger in saying ‘I feel better now,’ because I [wrote a novel or recorded an album]. There’s like a tenuousness to that, especially in music. [Those feelings of pride] have an arc that goes down eventually.” -Zaq Baker
Continue readingNuclear Daisies’ ‘First Taste of Heaven’: Two Cent Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Nuclear Daisies on 08/04/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
The club-ready breakbeats and unrelenting experimentation on Nuclear Daisies’ second LP, First Taste of Heaven, serve as a deafening clarion call for humanity to get its act together before it’s too late. Read my FLOOD review.
Kayo Dot Meticulously Dots All the I’s, Crosses All the T’s on Fierce New LP
Posted in Interviews with tags Kayo Dot on 08/04/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Kayo Dot may be a blip on the radar when it comes to the universe of music, but for those enough to see and identify the avant-garde metal from Boston, they are a North Star of artistic brilliance. They occupy a throne among metal’s noblemen. They are intellectual to the core, a fact of which listeners are reminded with each stroke of musical brilliance that emanates from their collective strength as true artists.
Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under Reason (Prophecy Productions), released Friday, proves these statements of fact through and through. It’s a strong and focused artistic statement, executed with precision, and full of innovative ideas that go far beyond what most metal bands are even attempting right now. That alone is a lot to be proud of.
Every Kayo Dot album aims to explore new artistic concepts and technical approaches—it’s the best way to grow both as an artist and as a human being. That commitment to evolution is central to the goals of this and all of their other previous records.
Vocalist, guitarist, bass guitarist, keyboardist, instrumentalist and fire-breathing lion tamer Toby Driver spoke with The Bad Penny recently about the heart and soul of Kayo Dot, and why this year is a celebration of sorts for a decades-old yet still remarkably relevant record by the blisteringly brilliant band.
Hulk Hogan, We’ll Never Forget You—Or Why You Chose Wrestling Over Singing
Posted in Comedy with tags Hulk Hogan on 08/03/2025 by Kurt OrzeckAnd, to prove that Hulk Hogan, never for a second, was Definitely Was Not a Racist – no-ifs-ands-or-butts-about-it – there was this:
Dear Hulkster, make the heavens sing for all eternity, brother. And don’t forget to take your vitamins because word on the street has it that they can extend your life for decades to come.
Oh, wait ….
Spinal Tap Get the Last Laugh in Mockumentary Sequel
Posted in Comedy with tags Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, Spinal Tap on 08/02/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
We thought another Spinal Tap reunion would never happen. Well, we were pretty sure. Whatever the case, such reckless reasoning should’ve confined us to an inescapable Hell Hole for the rest of our wretched lives. Lives that cnly experience a brief respite from ceaseless, agonizing misery when a mischievous sprite throws on This Is Spinal Tap before the firebreathing sentries catch wind of it.
Anyone even tangentially familiar with dry, British wit should’ve seen from a few kilometers away that Nigel, David and Derek – all Americans, let the record show – could maybe muster yet one more victory lap (their fifth, by our count), despite their their brittle bones. (Guest and McKean are 77 years old, while Shearer is four years their senior.)
Tool’s 68 Songs, Ranked From ‘Invincible’ to ‘Disgustipated’
Posted in Lists, Reviews with tags Adam Jones, Danny Carey, Maynard James Keenan, Tool on 08/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Because I said so. Order never subject to change.
1. “The Grudge”
2. “Invincible”
3. “The Patient”
4. “Sober”
The Bad Penny (beta) 