Features / Music

In the days leading up to the three-day Fun Fun Fun Fest, weather forecasters were calling for yet another weekend of torrential rain in and around Austin. Strange, as, after going precipitation free for the majority of the previous three months, the weekend of the US Formula 1 Grand Prix … Read more

The task of summing up a well-organized European festival is large enough, especially since I dislike festivals to begin with. So I’ll leave you with one day, and one interpretation, namely, my own. Whether you like music festivals or not shouldn’t send you running from fear of crowds, and social … Read more

Nahko Bear is a multi-instrumental, multi-talented, musician born in Portland, Oregon. Nahko’s songs are categorized as world fusion, and while those words are generally a meaningless catch-all for anything slightly outside Western music, for the singer and his collective Medicine for the People, the term applies. Nahko is of Apache, … Read more

Twenty years is a long time – much longer than many relationships last. So it’s an accomplishment when a band can stick together through life and social changes. DeeCracks, a poppy punk band from Austria, threw a two-day festival last year and released a 28-track retrospective to mark their anniversary … Read more

Welcome to the latest installment of our new feature, The Guest List! We're flipping the script on our "Set List" feature and asking artists to give their own “Top 5" on a number of topics. For this instalment, we turned to Adam Carson of AFI. With their 11th studio album, … Read more

Formed about one year ago, Massive Nightmares started life first as a trio and now a quartet. The band members (Tom Ciesluk, Myke Doyle, Alex Heinz, and Pat Lavalle) have played in a variety of bands previously, including Great Lakes USA, No Trigger, Save Ends, and David New Joy. That … Read more

Panopticon may be more widely known as a "metal" band - I use that term loosely because Panopticon is a lot more than the black metal base genre it derives from - yet founder Austin Lunn finds his inspiration from many different genres, punk and hardcore being one aspect of … Read more

In celebration of a legendary music venue, we've asked some of the staff to reminisce about the bests shows they've seen there. Here are Jon and Jenn's top five shows held at the Glass House: Jon Halperin Glass House Booker I only went two years before I found five of … Read more

The idea of a "viking funeral," in which a fallen warrior's remains are set out to sea and then set on fire, is somewhat of a tricky thing to explain to someone. Things only get further complicated when you find yourself explaining how, in this instance, the fallen's mile-long penis … Read more

To go alongside our Halloween feature, "The Horror", SPB presents a list of some staff writers' favorite Halloween-inspired tracks, proving that there's more to bloody, gory music than The Misfits or psychobilly bands. Read on for some chilling song selections. Jon Ink & Dagger - Cut Throat Tactics What better … Read more

In hindsight, Halo Of Flies is one of the labels responsible for dragging me into dark hardcore music. I was already into metal of all kinds and was into stuff like youth crew and got into more and more diverse hardcore bands until I got into the underground world where … Read more

Charlie: 01. Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place 02. The Blood Brothers - Burn Piano Island Burn 03. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It in People 04. Spiritualized - Amazing Grace 05. Mogwai - Happy Songs For Happy People 06. Pelican - … Read more

In the 20 years since Ipecac Records spewed its way into the public consciousness, it has achieved the impossible. It has continued to make money for its artists and the label itself without sacrificing its mission or values, remaining quite possibly the most consistent label in terms of quality releases … Read more

It’s hard to state the impact Kill Rock Stars has over its thirty year history. While long-associated with the Riot Grrl movement, the label is much more than that, with a diverse roster covering punk to singer-songwriter to impossible-to-classify experimentation. Besides introducing influential artists like Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney and Elliott … Read more

Providing a welcome alternative to not only the blast of insanity that South by Southwest brings but also the increasingly-crowded shitstorm that is the Austin City Limits Festival, Austin, Texas’ Psych Fest was founded by members of the rock group The Black Angels in 2008, bouncing around between locations in … Read more

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears Image The Gaslight Anthem Of Montreal Perry Farrell LA Riots Gang Gang Dance Lou Reed The Chicago streets outside Grant Park 2009's Lollapalooza kicked off Friday, August 7th in downtown Chicago's rain-soaked Grant Park. Festivalgoers included the predictable assortment of Chicago hipsters, glass-eyed stoners, … Read more

It’s been three very long years since SPB hit The Fest. Well, it all changes this year – we’re also getting our first taste of Pre-Fest, already in its fifth iteration. With a lineup of something like a million of our favorite bands (Iron Chic, Hot Water Music, Toys That … Read more

The Fest is a fascinating piece of DIY culture. Not only has it grown into a mega-event of 400+ bands, comedians, wrestlers, and other forms of entertainment, but it’s continued year after year for 17 years. Keep in mind that few bands last more than a couple years, and that … Read more

Beginning in 1997 and becoming a staple of James Madison University and the surrounding community, MACRoCk is back after a year on hiatus. Having served as a stage for acts such as Fugazi, Converge, Sufjan Stevens, and countless other bands, MACRoCk has always served as a means of exposure for … Read more

Leatherface never achieved the success they deserved. In the late '80s and early '90s, the UK punk band created a sound - marked by gravely vocals, killer riffs, and an underlining pop sensibility - that earned them a cult following in Britain. While the band never broke North America, they … Read more