Less than three weeks ago, The Bad Penny connected with our favorite new rocksteady/punk band Big Special, who famously played their first headlining gig at Dublin Castle in 2023 and haven’t looked back since. Now playing for crowds running as high as 2,300 attendees and the like at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, they’re still pushing their second album, the consummately wryly titled National Average, which came out July 4.
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On Tyranny: Off-Duty Cop Reportedly Pepper-Sprays Teen at Turnstile Concert
Posted in Features, News, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, fascism, On Tyranny, police brutality, Turnstile, tyranny on 10/24/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
This will come as no surprise for those of us who have already reckoned with the fact that the U.S. is now controlled by an authoritarian regime, but an apparent deputy recently pepper-sprayed an attendee at a Turnstile concert in Richmond, Virginia.
The alleged incident, captured on body-cam footage, shows an off-duty deputy from the Richmond Sheriff’s Office pepper-spraying a teen, according to The Richmonder. The individual apparently jumped onto the concert stage at Turnstile’s encouragement during the last song of their set.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Ultra-Rich Corporate CEO Stands With Bad Bunny in Super Bowl Flap
Posted in News, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, Bad Bunny, censorship, diversity, NFL, On Tyranny, Super Bowl, trump, tyranny on 10/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
To most, it will seem incongruous that this website is cover footballing to any extent. Or applaud an American citizen whose net worth hovers in the $250 million range. But because the sport is caught between a pop mega-star and a hard right-wing contingent in the U.S., we find it fitting to salute NFL Commissioner (aka CEO) Roger Goodell for backing up Bad Bunny at a Super Bowl press conference this morning.
That’s not to mention that we previously covered the Latin hip-hop star’s decision to avoid touring the U.S. for fear of ICE raiding his concerts. And the fact that Trump, Kristi Noem and other sycophantic, bigoted trolls in the White House are unabashedly trying to limit free speech or even make it a crime. Ergo, the uproar over Bad Bunny’s scheduled performance at America’s most-watching sporting event should be made aware to musicians of all stripes.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Grasshopper Lies Heavy Guitarist/Vocalist Preps for ‘Dealing With the Fallout of New American Fascism’ Till He Dies
Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, fascism, On Tyranny, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, tyranny on 10/21/2025 by Kurt Orzeck[Subscribe to The Bad Penny by clicking the “New Subscription” box in the upper-righthand corner of this page.]
“Just existing here in a red state is an act of resistance.”
-The Grasshopper Lies Heavy’s James Woodard
Of all the artists we’ve invited to participate (and who have accepted to be) in The Bad Penny‘s ongoing series On Tyranny, probably no other musician has been more clear, direct and uncompromising than James Woodard, guitarist/vocalist for post-metal/doom/sludge chaos agents The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. The band from San Antonio, Texas, is now in its 20th year but is showing no signs of crying uncle, as a listen of their upcoming record, HEAVY, both purports to be and actually is.
Just as with the album, which will arrive Nov. 14 on Learning Curve Records, our conversation with Woodard about Authoritarian America isn’t for the faint of heart. But you know what else isn’t, sadly? What is happening in the country so many of us claim to be proud of. So, as the right likes to say, put your big-boy pants on and read the unvarnished truth, straight from the mouth of a metal madman who makes total sense.
Continue readingOn Tyranny: Gunshy’s Matt Arbogast Shares No Kings 2 Dispatch From Protest’s Chicago Hotbed
Posted in Features, Interviews, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags Asian Man Records, authoritarianism, Clash, fascism, Gunshy, Joe Strummer, Matt Arbogast, No Kings, No Kings 2, On Tyranny, tyranny on 10/20/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
“This is what Joe Strummer prepared us for.”
-The Gunshy’s Matt Arbogast
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Yesterday, The Bad Penny had the privilege of catching up with alt-folk artist Matt Arbogast of the Gunshy a day after he participated in No Kings 2 in his hometown of Chicago, the epicenter of the latest round of anti-Trump, anti-fascist protests. We were initially scheduled to only speak about his project’s new record, Hurricane Umbrellas, which will hit stores on Dec. 5.
Indeed, we dug into the record, and we’ll bring you those parts of the interview in the coming weeks. But with No Kings 2 on the brain, we’re first delivering Arbogast’s first-hand account of the protest in which he and his family participated on Saturday – a protest that amassed 7 million participants nationwide, making it the largest social mobilization in American history.
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