“Don’t tell me how to make a record. I was in Nirvana. I was in the greatest rock and roll band of the ’90s. We changed the course of rock music. … Give me a carton of Marlboros. Fuck you, man, I was in Nirvana, you asshole. I’m on RCA, dammit. Don’t you know who I am? I’m a millionaire.”
–Dave Grohl of Nirvana (and Foo Fighters, and Queens of the Stone Age, and Them Crooked Vultures, and Mondo Generator, and Sound City Players, and Backbeat Band, and Scream).
Happy Birthday, Dave Grohl!
Posted in Comedy with tags Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Mondo Generator, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Scream, Sound City Players, Them Crooked Vultures on 01/14/2026 by Kurt OrzeckShearling’s Elizabeth A. Carver Finds Glimmers of Hope in America’s Decline
Posted in Interviews, Videos with tags Elizabeth A. Carver, Shadrach Tuck, Shearling on 01/14/2026 by Kurt OrzeckPraise be the wind
And the filth on it’s back
Paint the inside of my hallow body in holy mural
Like a gunshot wound crater
Like a Rothko
Like a fox pissing in a ditch
Her lungs inundated
She will try to cut the back of the wind she rides
Singing out…
Elizabeth A. Carver’s “I Commit to You God”
Consider for a moment how many songs and albums musicians create every single day or every single year. To put a twist on an the oft-used idiom, “finding a needle in a haystack” is almost laughable compared to finding musical gems in today’s infinite galaxy of songs (largely because the vast majority of them can be streamed or purchased for free).
But to cop from another cliché, great music can still bubble to the surface, if it’s remarkably captivating, if the artist takes pride in their craft and if they work hard enough chiseling it to perfect. Oh, and there’s that small matter of working hard too. Even amid the Internet Apocalypse, which continues to be sold to us as a means allowing every musician of however negligible quality to “make it big,” there are still glimmers of hope that transcend the terrible, trendy trappings of the modern era and give us hope that maybe, just maybe, every facet of creative endeavors isn’t rigged.
Continue readingRock and Roll Rebus #13
Posted in Fun And Games on 01/13/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
From the Vault: Are My Morning Jacket Clones of The Big Lebowski?
Posted in Essays with tags Jim James, My Morning Jacket on 01/13/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Bad Penny’s Top 10 Most Popular Stories of 2025
Posted in Album Reviews, Lists, Reviews with tags At the Gates, Brokedowns, Dark Tranquillity, Death Pose, In Flames, Indecline, Nightrage, Psychic Pigs, Softcult, the Jesus Lizard on 01/13/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
The title of this post tells it all. But some of the bands on “The Bad Penny’s Top 10 Most Popular Stories of 2025” might surprise you.
1. The 20 Best Scandinavian Melodic Death Metal Bands of All Time
3. Friends of The Bad Penny Share Their Top 10 Lists of 2025 Best Albums
5. Pet Sounds #76: Cat Lovers Psychic Pigs Named Their Band as a Derogatory Slur Jabbing the Police
Continue readingGift’s ‘Illuminator (Deluxe)’: Two Cent Review for Treble’s 10 Best Psychedelic LPs of 2025
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Gift on 01/12/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Giving Illuminator a very deep listen reveals that Gift wants to share their dream of a beautiful, cosmic world with you, the listener. Read my review of the record as part of my “10 Best Psychedelic Albums of 2025” installment of my 13th Floor column for Treble.
Continue readingTwo Cent Review: Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Psychocandy’ Reissue
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags The Jesus and Mary Chain on 01/12/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
With the shoegaze revival presumably hitting its zenith, the time couldn’t be more ripe for the release of the 40th anniversary commemorative edition of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s debut album, Psychocandy. Read my reviews of the reissue on Post-Trash.
On Tyranny: An Epic Conversation With Anarchist Art Collective and Cursive Collaborators INDECLINE About Fascism And How You Can Fight It
Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, Cursive, fascism, Indecline, MAGA, On Tyranny, tyranny on 01/12/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
The Bad Penny is embarrassed to admit that we only discovered INDECLINE, an American Anarchist art collective whose work has had tremendous impact on the underground and even the mainstream, for more than 20 years. We caught wind of the group, whose members wish to remain anonymous, after they collaborated with Cursive for their video “The Avalanche of Our Demise,” which the Tim Kasher-led indie-rock band released last month. Upon further investigation into INDECLINE, it became obvious that they would be a boon to On Tyranny, for they would certainly introduce new ideas and perspectives in the series we launched roughly a year ago.
And boy did they ever. Formed in 2001, the decentralized group of musicians, graffiti artists and others have fearlessly devoted themselves to bringing attention to the evils of capitalism, the death of democracy in America – and, on a more positive note, how we can build a better society. INDECLINE’s most prominent works of public art include statues of Donald Trump in the buff, glued to sidewalks; and their “Ku Klux Klowns” installation that served as a response to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
We could expound a great deal further on INDECLINE’s history and accomplishments, but much of that information is covered in the longest, boldest and most informative installment in our On Tyranny series. So, without further ado, here is the epic conversation
Continue readingCoilguns’ ‘Lost Love’ EP: Two Cent Review for Treble’s 10 Best Psychedelic LPs of 2025
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Coilguns on 01/11/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Coilguns’ Lost Love EP 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? Read my review of the short-player as part of my “10 Best Psychedelic Albums of 2025” installment of my 13th Floor column for Treble.
Continue readingVile Apparition’s ‘Malignity’: Two Cent Review for Post-Trash’s Best 50 LPs of 2025
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Vile Apparition on 01/11/2026 by Kurt Orzeck
Vile Apparition’s Malignity is so terrifying that you’ll immediately run through your home to make sure your kids are safe before you realize you don’t actually have any. This is only the second record by Vile Apparition, but it’s unimpeachable proof that these guys already know damn well what they’re doing. Go to Post-Trash to read my full review of Vile Apparition’s Malignity as part of the outlet’s “Year in Review: The Best of 2025” roundup.
Continue reading
