Archive for Dez Dare

Big Takeover #96: Michael Gira and Todd Trainer Interviews, Bernie/AOC Rally Coverage, More

Posted in Album Reviews, Essays, Features, Interviews, Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 06/05/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

The special 45th anniversary edition of The Big Takeover, one of the oldest and last-surviving punk-rock magazines, is now available here. The special issue features more contributions from yours truly than every before–and they’re exclusively featured in the magazine:

• a deep conversation with Michael Gira of Swans
• my second feature with drummer Todd Trainer, stemming from the first interview he gave after the passing of his beloved Shellac bandmate Steve Albini
• a dispatch from a “Fighting Oligarchy” event in Idaho that featured Built to Spill, Bernie Sanders and AOC (and drew national attention)
• my reviews of new releases by Airport 77s, Dez Dare, Librarians With Hickeys, Mdou Moctar, mssv, Onsetter, Pleasure Pill, Plight, Royal Chant and Unstable Shapes

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Dez Dare Never Gets Led Astray. His Pets, on the Other Hand …

Posted in Interviews with tags , on 03/15/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

One of the most genuinely lovable and universally adored figures in independent music across the world, Dez Dare (a.k.a. Darren Smallman) recently humbled The Bad Penny by participating in the latest installment of our Pet Sounds series on New Noise‘s website. Check out the bulk of our conversation here:

Pet Sounds #30: Dez Dare Needs an Ark

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Guilty Pleasures: Dez Dare Digs Grand Funk Railroad, More

Posted in Features, Guilty Pleasures, Lists with tags on 01/12/2023 by Kurt Orzeck

Dez Dare is up to something. Scratch that: psych/punk/garage vet Dez Dare is always up to something. 

Starting on the first day of this year, the indefatigable U.K.-based punk-rock vet posted five cryptic Instagram posts piquing fans’ interest. Each post alluded to a big announcement that Dez — a.k.a. Darren Smallman — plans to make imminently.

Dez promises “records a plenty + weird videos + odd touring + a slick new website” in the posts.

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