Belzebong: Psycho Las Vegas Preview

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , , on 07/23/2022 by Kurt Orzeck

For obvious reasons, most “desert rock” bands shun the phrase “stoner rock.” Even though many musicians overindulge from time to time, the phrase itself can be confining for any band that wants to grow.

Poland’s Belzebong — due to play Saturday, August 20 — are a red-eyed exception to this rule. Not only did the band members incorporate a pot reference into their moniker, but guitarist Alky Dude openly talked about his infatuation with pot (almost as much as he enjoys talking about music).

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Beats Antique: Psycho Las Vegas Preview

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , , on 07/22/2022 by Kurt Orzeck

Curveballs, outliers, anomalies, non-genre … whatever you choose to call them, at least a few bands that aren’t categorized as “heavy rock” slip onto the bill at the annual Psycho Las Vegas. Recent years featured performances by indisputably non-metal artists like Monophonics, Polyrhythmics, Thievery Corporation and GZA, for example.

This year’s Psycho installment, happening August 19-21 — or August 18-21, if you count Thursday’s pre-event pool party — will be no different. Next to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and various members of Wu-Tang Clan, the biggest out-of-the-box artist is probably Beats Antique, an Oakland outfit entrenched in experimental world fusion.

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Church of the Cosmic Skull: Psycho Las Vegas Preview

Posted in Interviews with tags , , on 07/21/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Church of the Cosmic Skull

On a lineup loaded with a litany of must-see bands, Church of the Cosmic Skull will still stand out among the rest at Psycho Las Vegas 2022. Not only is the British psychedelic-rock group coming to the U.S. for the first time, but the septet will probably be the only ones dressed in all white among a sea of acts clad in black.

Frontman Brother Bill generously spoke with The Bad Penny this week about the band’s excitement to end its 14-date Stateside tour at the Psycho festival on Saturday, August 20. He also revealed which artists are on his list of must-see Psycho participants, what the Church of the Cosmic Skull’s mission constitutes — and to which temptation his ensemble might succumb in Las Vegas.

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The Gaslamp Killer: Psycho Las Vegas Preview

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , , on 07/20/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
The Gaslamp Killer

So far, we’ve previewed this year’s Psycho Las Vegas festival with profiles on Witch Mountain (playing with their “reunion lineup”) and Yakuza (fronted by Psycho mainstay Bruce Lamont). But what would a musical festival be without a top-notch DJ, especially a festival lasting three days (four if you include the Thursday pre-party)?

Helping cap off the festival on Sunday, August 21 — technically the wee hours of Monday, August 22, for you hairsplitting types — will be The Gaslamp Killer playing a rock-centric set. Originally from San Diego but now based in Los Angeles, the DJ spoke with The Bad Penny last week about how psyched he is to play at Psycho.

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Yakuza: Psycho Las Vegas Preview

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , , on 07/19/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Yakuza

In a mere 30 days, the 2022 edition of America’s best heavy-music festival, Psycho Las Vegas, will kick off once again. Stationed for the first time at Resorts World, we’re counting down the days until the throw-down begins with a series of profiles focusing on this year’s participants.

Yesterday we cut the ribbon on our 2022 preview series with an epic conversation involving Witch Mountain’s co-founder/drummer, Nathan Carson. His band will celebrate its 25th birthday at Psycho Las Vegas with a special performance featuring former vocalist Uta Plotkin and fill-in bassist/engine-“ear” Billy Anderson.

Today we unveil another stimulating (and lengthy) interview we recently conducted, this time with Bruce Lamont. The saxophone/singer’s avant-garde jazz-metal fusion band, Yakuza, are commemorating their own anniversary (of sorts) this year: Ten years have elapsed since the release of their last studio album, Beyul.

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Witch Mountain: Psycho Las Vegas Preview

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , on 07/18/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Witch Mountain’s “reunion lineup”: (L-R) drummer/co-founder Nathan Carson, “engine-ear”/bassist Billy Anderson, vocalist Uta Plotkin and frontman/co-founder Rob Wrong
(Photo credit: James Rexroad)

In just one month — 31 days, to be precise — the most anticipated heavy-music festival in the U.S. will kick off once again. Stationed for the first time at Resorts World, the fest is headlined by Mercyful Fate, Suicidal Tendencies and Emperor, the latter being one of the major bands set to play last year but forced to reschedule due to COVID-related complications.

Now in its sixth year, the festival appears to be reverting back to its roots with a lineup concentrated more on metal and less on indie rock, into which territory it ventured in 2019 and 2021. There are exceptions, of course — Warpaint, the Black Angels, Allah-Las and various members of the Wu-Tang Clan among them — but, by and large, attendees will once again gamble with the threat of going deaf.

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Blue Heron: Breaking Bad-Asses

Posted in Interviews with tags , , , , on 07/18/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Blue Heron performing at their record-release party on July 8, 2022

“In the absence of genuine leadership, they’ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They’re so thirsty for it, they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.” -Lewis Rothschild (Michael J. Fox), The American President

Twenty-five years ago — shortly after the demise of Palm Desert, California’s Kyuss roughly 10 hours to the west — a new oasis of low-end heavy rock began to form in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The year 1997 saw the birth of MeteorCity Records, a label devoted to sludge, psych, drone and doom. The label quenched the thirst of hard-rock fans thirsty for more thunderous, bottom-heavy rock beyond what they found on Man’s Ruin Records (which collapsed in 2001).

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Top 10 Songs With the Same Titles as Great Novels

Posted in Lists, What You Readin' For? with tags , , , , , , , , , on 07/07/2022 by Kurt Orzeck

1. “1984” by David Bowie (book by George Orwell)

2. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica (book by Ernest Hemingway)

3. “The Right Stuff” by New Kids on the Block (book by Tom Wolfe)

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Artwork Poll: The Mars Volta Vs. Khold

Posted in Polls with tags , , , on 07/06/2022 by Kurt Orzeck

In what was a refreshing gust of good news for a change, The Mars Volta — entrants on the top 10 list of the Bad Penny’s favorite albums of the 2000s — announced their reunion last month. Shortly thereafter, Norway’s unholy terrors, Khold, dropped one of the best metal records of the year so far.

What do those events have in common, you ask?

Terrifying bald men.

This is not a poll about whether The Mars Volta or Khold is a better band. That would be silly. Instead, this poll targets a far more fascinating question: Which of the two dudes depicted on the bands’ album art would make you pee your pants faster if you encountered him in person — or, even worse, were stuck with him in a confined space … forever?

The Mars Volta’s De-Loused in the Comatorium album cover

(By the way, ever notice the terrified kid standing in the doorway in the distance? Haha, this album cover rules.)

Khold’s Svartsyn album cover

Please vote! We really don’t care!

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Every Song by Tim Heidecker’s Dekkar, Ranked

Posted in Comedy, Lists with tags , , , , on 07/05/2022 by Kurt Orzeck

1. “Empty Bottle“: The hit song that broke the band like a broken lantern. That dared us to check out life on the dark side but then stuffed us with everything good and light. With this timeless and unparalleled gem, Tim, Axiom and Manuel drained us of everything — and filled us up again.

2. “Empty Bottle (Acoustic)“

3. “Empty Bottle (1.5 Remastered Edition)“

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