Features / Music

Most of you are still recovering from Fest, but let’s not forget that Red Scare had a little fest of their own for their 10th Anniversary show. Maybe you were cool enough to catch both, maybe you missed out on one. Either way, we’ll be covering both so you can … Read more

Hey folks, Toby here, and the SPB team asked me to provide some insights about some stuff from our catalog now that Red Scare is (you gotta be shittin’ me?!) twenty years old. Specifically a “memory or modern take” on some past releases, and they picked some doozies, so let’s … Read more

Refused are fucking alive, but they’re still fucking mysterious. I’ll never forget that late Sunday night in winter 1999 when I saw the premiere of “New Noise” on MTV’s 120 Minutes. (Back then that show was the way to find out about cool bands before everyone else.) My father, who … Read more

  I told my little sister that Tuesday night that Elliot Smith had killed himself. I couldn't say I was surprised when she responded with a "Who's that?" Yet, I had a gleam of hope that in some way, she would understand what had happened, that she would be as shocked … Read more

Today we lost Erik Peterson, the frontman and mastermind behind anarcho-punk act Mischief Brew. I had met Erik on a handful of occasions. I covered a couple of his Toronto shows when he was in town, and caught him headlining an outdoor concert in Tompkins Square Park the last time … Read more

Alright. Full disclosure: While the moniker Iron & Wine blipped here and there on my radar and your humble narrator thinking that it would not be the worst name for a band anchored in the unsägliche genre that has become known as Neofolk, I had never actually listened to Sam … Read more

It’s third weekend in September and for the second year in a row I’m waiting at Downsview station. Downsview is Toronto’s Northern most subway stop. While technically still in the city, it’s a forty-minute schlep from the downtown core, which is basically an impossible journey to any self-respecting urbanite. I’m … Read more

We had such a blast at Riot Fest 2019 that we want to share our favorite moments and also give you recommendations for how you can recreate and/or relive those moments for yourself! Summer’s definitely over, but that doesn’t mean life has to be a total bummer. Check out our … Read more

The bus I'm on smells terrible: a mixture of body odour, cheap beer, and anticipation. It's filled to the brim with concert goers, mostly teenagers, but also a handful of adults who are dressed like teenagers. We're on our way to the Toronto leg of Riot Fest. This is the … Read more

It's been an interesting year thus far. There's been some disappointing records, some exciting new ones, some dismal follow ups and jaw dropping singles. We've seen bizarre new medical discoveries and more terrorism threats. But above all, we've seen Scene Point Blank post features late. Quite why this is the … Read more

It's that happy time again - Scene Point Blank's fashionably late midyear feature. If you're a regular reader of the site, you should know what to expect by now; if you're new to the site, this feature is generally where we spout statistics and lists for several pages at our … Read more

It's that special time again - SPB's legendary mid-year feature! If you're a newcomer to the site, this feature is essentially a review of the year so far, comprising various lists and articles, and of course, our staff's top 5 for 2007 thus far. Read on to learn reasons why … Read more

Overall Scene Point Blank Top Five (So Far) Propagandhi Dinosaur Jr. Isis Coalesce Dear Landlord Bob's picks 1. Coalesce - Ox Coalesce prove that bands do not have to go soft as they get older nor do "reunion" records always have to be terrible. Ox is everything Coalesce fans could … Read more

As of July first, the year 2004 is halfway over. You try to recall your New Year's resolutions, and realize you can't even remember what they were. You glide into bed because all that thinking made you tired. What do you find under your sheets? The ScenePointBlank staff! We're here … Read more

7/9 - Boris, Torche, and Clouds @ First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA If Boris played everything off of Amplifier Worship I'd be extremely upset to have missed it. I'm missing this show because I'll be in an airport in D.C. about to fly to Europe. 7/16 - Mewithoutyou Maps … Read more

Where has the time gone? We're already halfway through 2011, and we've already experienced the Rapture (not the New York hipster band, but the apocalyptic religious end-of-days), the controversy of Beyoncé headlining Glastonbury festival, and the death of Osama bin Laden. It's been a climactic year. Luckily, the next impending … Read more

In time-honoured tradition, here's our list of the best records released this year so far, plus some tasty extras: best EPs, albums we missed last year, best hip-hop albums and mixtapes, and of course, the records we're anticipating for the upcoming half of the year. Read on for more on … Read more

It barely seems like yesterday that we compiled our list of the best of 2012, but already the year 2013 is half finished, leaving in its wake some of the best albums of the last twelve months. Here the SPB team have compiled the best of these records, sorted by … Read more

How has your 2014 been so far? Team knocked out of the World Cup yet? Still not gotten around to listening to the new Lawrence Arms record? Don't worry: SPB has got you covered. There are still six whole months left to go with this year, and our handy lists … Read more

That's right: this year is already half empty. Or half full. Something like that? Metaphors aside, we at SPB have distilled the best music of the year so far into a delicious glass that you can sniff at delicately, taste a sip and pontificate over whether Faith No More's comeback … Read more