Ted Nugent makes being a dick look easy. But make no mistake, he works hard at it all day every day.
Q&A: With Tara Murtha, Bobbie Gentry Expert
BY COLE NOWLIN Bobbie Gentry’s 1967 hit “Ode to Billie Joe” — an eerie, genre-transcendent ballad of suicide and forbidden love– is the quintessential riddle wrapped in an enigma. The enduring mysteries of the song have befuddled listeners and sparked debate ever since it’s release. What was thrown over the bridge? Why did Billie Joe kill himself? Even more mysterious and intriguing than the song was the musician behind it, Bobbie Gentry. Gentry enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom, enjoying roughly a decade in the limelight, before she gradually retreated from the public eye, eventually disappearing altogether. Where is […]
How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Love The Sonics
BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT As a buzz went through social media and the Philadelphia rock scene in the days leading up to The Sonics’ Sunday night appearance at the TLA, I found myself feeling shamefully out of step. It seemed all of my friends would be there, all of my friends, that is, beside my quartet of fellow rock ‘n roll curmudgeons. I wanted to post some holier-than-thou thought on the matter, but that wouldn’t have been cool, not even by my standards. I wanted to pick up the phone and bitch to my friend Anthony, but he […]
COMMENTARY: In Disparity We Trust
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY Guess what country you’re in: 20% of income goes to the top 1%; nearly 50% of income growth goes to the top 1%. Here’s a hint: 0.1% of the population control as much wealth as the poorest 90%. I know, you had it figured it out before you got to the semicolon. So, let me ask you this, did these little factoids at least raise an eyebrow? I admit that they may not have shocked me, but they damn sure stirred my undivided attention. As a matter of fact, I’m thinking their disclosure ought to […]
TONITE: Soothe The Savage Soul
It’s 1985, I’m a college radio DJ in the hinterlands of Pennsyltucky, about to go on the air. As per my usual ritual, I cover my eyes and reach into the shelf of vinyl behind me. I pull out the above LP. I don’t even need to listen to it, I can tell by the cover it’s going to be fucking awesome. (Or to quote the captain of the boat to Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now: “My orders say I’m not supposed to know where I’m taking this boat, so I don’t! But one look at you, and I […]
BEING THERE: Decibel Mag Tour @ Union Transfer
Photo by DYLAN LONG The Decibel Magazine Tour made its Philadelphia stop this past Saturday at a packed-to-the-brim Union Transfer, as hardcore and metal fans flocked from far and wide to experience the likes of Vallenfyre, Pallbearer, Converge, and At The Gates. Each band brought a unique sound to the table, all while sharing the communal staples of headbang-inducing riffs and sympathy for the devil. Salem, Mass. hardcore heads Converge exploded onto the stage as openers for At The Gates, but it’s fair game to say that these guys stole the show. Vocalist Jacob Bannon spent the set in a […]
Win Tix To See The Legendary Sonics @ The TLA!
Artwork by AKIKO KATO The Sonics were just four teens from the Pacific Northwest at the dawn of the ‘60s making some of the most primitive and primal rock n’ roll ever committed to wax, and in the process almost singlehandedly invented garage, punk, grunge and metal. Everyone from the Cramps, Dead Boys and Bruce fucking Springsteen to the White Stripes, Nirvana and Mudhoney have acknowledged their sonic debt to the Sonics. After five decades of silence, the Sonics are back with This Is The Sonics, their first proper album since 1967. Though they are old enough to be your […]
CINEMA: The Young And The Restless
WHILE WE’RE YOUNG (2014, directed by Noah Baumbach, 97 minutes, U.S.) THE SALT OF THE EARTH (2014, directed by Wim Wender & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, 110 minutes, Germany) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC I’ve “liked” or “loved” all of Noah Baumbach’s directorial work up to now which makes his latest While We’re Young feel like a sad departure, the point where a filmmaker gives in to convention at the same spots where previous works like The Squid & the Whale and Margot at the Wedding once defied it. Baumbach has created quite a catalog of disgruntled square pegs across six […]
HEEMS: Sometimes
NOISEY: There’s a lot of cutting social commentary on race and societal perceptions of skin color in Heems’ new video for “Sometimes.” And it’s all important and significant to the conversation. …But at the same time, nearly a fourth of the video is devoted to a staredown between Hannibal Buress and a whitefaced Eric Andre that we cannot stop laughing at. Buress has those dead comedy eyes that allow him to do absolutely nothing and still be the funniest man on Earth. Maybe not to Bill Cosby, but to everyone else. And Andre… well, Andre is in whiteface. So go […]
CINEMA: Blood Gore Sex Magick
TORTURE DUNGEON (1969, directed by Andy Milligan, 77 minutes U.S.) BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS (1970, directed by Andy Milligan, 79 minutes, U.S./U.K.) THE MAN WITH TWO HEADS (1972, directed by Andy Milligan, 80 minutes U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC One of the must perverse cinematic cults of film history gets a full bow this Friday at the International House when Exhumed Films presents a triple feature of the films of Staten Island auteur, Andy Milligan. Made on the stringiest of shoestring budgets, Milligan’s shrill little misanthropic films were produced to play to grindhouse audiences of the 1960s and 70s. The […]
TURBO FRUITS: The Way I Want You
They play WXPN’s Free @ Noon on Friday with London Souls.
Is Tina Fey’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Racist?
Artwork by DAVID SARCINO BY ZACHARY SHEVICH Two weeks ago, the new Netflix comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, from 30 Rock creator & star Tina Fey, as well as former 30 Rock showrunner Robert Carlock, unveiled its 13-episode first season full of eclectic, goofy characters. Built around the talents of Ellie Kemper — formerly the receptionist Erin on the later seasons of The Office as well a horny high school teacher in 21 Jump Street — Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is about a 29-year-old woman who moves to New York City after being freed from 15 years in an underground bunker with […]
Anonymous Vs. Vineland NJ Police Department
NBC PHILADELPHIA: Phillip White died March 31 while in police custody. Officials with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s office said the ordeal began shortly before 11 a.m. when Vineland Police officers responded to a call for service for a disorderly person on the 100 block of Grape Street in Vineland. “Shortly thereafter, officers called for medical assistance in response to White appearing to be in respiratory distress,” a spokesperson for the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office said. “During the incident White was handcuffed and restrained.” White was placed in an emergency vehicle and taken to the hospital, according to officials. Officials say […]