On Tyranny: Deaf Club Guitarist Denounces Trumpists for Taking ‘Pride’ in Racism, Sexism

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , on 10/16/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

In the latest installment of On Tyranny, Brian Amalfitano (Deaf Club, ACxDC) criticizes the right wing in America for abusing free speech to further their racist, sexist, anti-immigrant and fascist aims—including, shockingly, in quarters of the punk-rock underground. Amalfitano also provides insight into Deaf Club‘s newly released album, We Demand a Permanent State of Happiness (Southern Lord), what nihilism means in the guitarist’s point of view and how it might take longer than a generation to undo the catastrophic damage that the Trump regime continues to inflict upon America.

Following our Wednesday night conversation, Amalfitano touched base again with The Bad Penny to share sentiments expressed by a hero of his and of this website, Kurt Cobain: “If any of you, in any way, hate homosexuals, people of a different color or women, please do this one favor for us — leave us the fuck alone.”

Additionally, Newsweek reported Thursday that the Trump administration indeed may double it’s “bailout” of Argentina to $40 billion, while the cost of extending the Obamacare subsidies that is apparently at the heart of the U.S. government shutdown would amount to about $35 billion for the next fiscal year. (Meanwhile, the same Congressional budget resolution has already granted $29 billion in new funding for ICE, swelling its budget to a size greater than the national military of all but 15 to 20 countries.)

Check out The Bad Penny‘s 43-part On Tyranny series, which The Bad Penny launched in the spring, here. Recent installments include interviews with Cosmic Reaper, MyVeronica, Planet on a Chain, Necrofier, Cheap Perfume, Bobby Conn and many more.

On Tyranny: Cosmic Reaper’s Frontman Says ‘This Is a Class War … We Can Take the Power Back’

Posted in Features, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , , , on 10/15/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

The honorable Thad Collis, guitarist and vocalist for surging doom-metal squad Cosmic Reaper from Charlotte, North Carolina, blasts the oligarchy and warns that the metal underground will not be spared in Authoritarian America if we all don’t act immediately to stop the Trump regime. The band’s new album, Bleed the Wicked, Drown the Damned (Heavy Psych Sounds), is already a contender for best metal album of the year. Buy it here. Check out The Bad Penny‘s 42-part On Tyranny series, launched roughly around March, here.

Bitchin Bajas’ ‘Inland See’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 10/14/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

This writer’s interpretation of Bitchin Bajas’ Inland See is that, by using wordplay in its title, the essence of the record is a gentle but assured suggestion to look inside yourself, accept who you are—foibles and all—and arrive at a place of acceptance where the sensation is akin to floating, without moving any of your muscles, above a warm and serene body of water. From there, you re-enter the earthly womb and become reborn: not as an entirely new person, but as the person you are and were always meant to be. Don’t you see? Read my review of Bitchin Bajas’ Inland See on Treble.

Scratch Acid and Suckling’s Brett Bradford: The Definitive Interview

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , on 10/08/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Read the interview to end all interviews with woefully underrated Brett Bradford, guitarist for Scratch Acid and frontman for Suckling. Check out previously unpublished photos of Bradford with his Scratch Acid bandmates, including David Yow, in my extensive feature for Post-Trash.

Irk’s ‘Seeing House’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 10/04/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Irk are here to remind us of that fact, to pester us with the truth that fear-inducing art forms make us feel alive more than any other varieties. Art can make us laugh, but that reaction quickly dissipates. Art can thrill us, but only the duration of the piece of work ends. Art can make us weep, remind us of what love and sex feel like, but that affecting manipulation ends seconds after the observer of art concludes their experience with it. Read my full review Irk’s Seeing House on Post-Trash.

On Tyranny: MyVeronica’s Mia Lin Says ‘True Meaning of Punk’ Is ‘To Speak Out’

Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , on 10/03/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Mia Lin of L.A. DIY guitar band MyVeronica engages in a stimulating conversation about the impetus of real punk-rock artists meeting the moment and calling out authoritarianism and discrimination when they see it. We caught up earlier this week, following the early August release of Farewell Skylines, their split EP with Friend’s House.

Continue reading →

Jonathan Richman ‘Votes Yes’ on Boise, Returns to Kick Off Tour Tonight

Posted in Interviews with tags on 10/03/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Jonathan Richman (credit: Driely S.)

To enter the genteel, childlike and joyous world of Jonathan Richman is, in many ways, to embrace the essence of the music-listening experience: true escapism in a world crafted by a master creator of art and fantasy. Formerly of Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, the singer/songwriter returns to Boise tonight after gracing Treefort Music Fest with a buoyant and jovial set on a sunny afternoon in March 2017.

Richman returns to the City of Trees tonight to perform at Shrine Social Club to embark upon a fall tour in support of his album Only Frozen Sky Anyway, released July 4 via Blue Arrow Records. The Bad Penny recently caught up with the legend to talk about why he “votes yes” on Boise, the favorite concerts he’s ever attended – and why, surprisingly, he doesn’t think now is the right time for hope.

Continue reading →

Deathcore Squad Signs of the Swarm See the World in a Whole New Light

Posted in Interviews with tags on 10/03/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Signs of the Swarm frontman David Simonich and drummer Bobby Crow explain how the band’s latest album, To Rid Myself of Truth, confronts personal adversity and evolves sonically to be their most progressive project in the last decade. Read my story on Knotfest.com.

On Tyranny: David Cross Scolds ‘Heroes’ Louis CK, Bill Burr for Playing Saudi Arabia Comedy Fest

Posted in Comedy, Features, News, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags , , on 10/02/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Well, at least someone in the now-ludicrously successful world of comedy is standing up for human rights. David Cross, in a Monday newsletter to his fans, expressed disappointment that many of his peers are performing for the “depraved, awful people” attending the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, whose authoritarian leadership mandates observance of Sharia law and carries out mass executions despite condemnation by international human-rights groups.

Notably, Cross pointed out the hypocrisy of comedians who regularly bemoan so-called “cancel culture” for participating in a comedy festival staged by a royal family that bans free speech in the country they rule. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman infamously directed the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in October 2018.

The Riyadh Comedy Festival began Friday and concludes a week from today. Other participants include Dave Chappelle, Aziz Ansari, Jimmy Carr, Russell Peters, Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson, Tom Segura, Andrew Schulz, Bobby Lee, Sam Morril, Jo Koy, Gabriel Iglesias and Kevin Hart, among others.

Burr said on his Monday Morning Podcast that at least the festival’s attendees were “happy,” and called performing at the festival “one of the top three best experiences I’ve had,” according to Rolling Stone.

Continue reading →

Igorrr’s ‘Amen’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 10/02/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Can a musician prove over the course of a single record that he is a genius? In most cases no, but Igorrr’s Amen makes the case that it’s not out of reach for Frenchman Gautier Serre. Read my review via Spectrum Culture.