Photo by MATT SHAVER I don’t think anyone in the history of time has received quite the bad rap that Satan has. Dude offers out a helping hand to two individuals thrust in to a new plane of existence, extensively written about by some folks who never even met him, and that one book has cast a shadow over his intentions for a couple of millennia now. Thankfully, the Swedish metal/satanic PR firm known as Ghost has descended upon the US to spread cheer and merriment this holiday season. Fronted by the elusive (and until 2017, anonymous) Tobias Forge (playing […]
GEEK SQUAD: There Will Be Blood
Late last week the trailer and title for Avengers: Endgame finally dropped. Fans has been begging for this trailer for months. And it is finally here. And it’s a downer. The trailer picks up with the core team members Ironman, Captain America, Black Widow, Bruce Banner, and Thor all mourning the deaths of 50% of the entire universe from Avengers: Infinity War (2017). The trailer cements just how badly the team lost to Thanos. And yet underneath the somber tone is the promise of vengeance. Don’t expect the heroes we’ve watch for 10 years to just sit around talking about […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When U Can’t
FRESH AIR: McPherson never thought he’d make a Christmas album. Then, he says, “I got a bug in my ear.” He and his band perform live in studio from Socks, and McPherson talks about growing up on a cattle farm. MORE PHAWKER: I have seen the future of the past, and his name is J.D. McPherson, a thirtysomething cuffed-denim Okie with lacquered hair, iron lungs and, goodness gracious, great balls of fire. Back in 2012, McPherson and his gifted retro-rock posse released Signs & Signifiers, a bracing collection of tailfin rockabilly, rawboned R&B and sultry moonstruck balladeering. It was […]
UNDONE: The Complete Oral History Of Weezer
Artwork by Fuzzysocks102. EDITOR’S NOTE: A vastly shorter version of the following oral history of Weezer appeared in MAGNET MAGAZINE in 2014. In advance of Weezer’s performance at The Met tomorrow night, we are publishing the complete and unabridged version. Enjoy. “The best history of Weezer I have ever read.” — PAT WILSON, DRUMMER BY JONATHAN VALANIA This year the Blue Album turns 20, and Pinkerton is old enough to vote. Two decades-plus of being Weezer hasn’t all been Buddy Holly glasses and hash pipes for The Last Band Standing, Alt-Rock Class of ‘94. At various points along the way […]
INCOMING: Get Yer Einstürzende Neubauten On
Hackedepicciotto are a husband and wife on an experimental musical voyage. Alexander Hacke, founding member of the industrial noise band, Einstürzende Neubauten, plays bass, guitar, and drums, but is also an adept throat singer as well as conventional vocalist. Danielle de Picciotto, also a multi-instrumentalist, plays violin and piano, aside from her arsenal of more unusual instruments, including the Hurdy Gurdy and the autoharp. The duo are based out of Germany, and are currently on tour after releasing Menetekel (2017), which translates to “the writing on the wall.” They’ll be stopping in Philly for an entrancing night at the […]
BEING THERE: Soccer Mommy @ First Unitarian
Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Wearing oversized wire-frame aviators and high pigtails supported by a small army of shiny barrettes, Sophie Allison serenaded a sold-out crowd of Philadelphia fans at the First Unitarian Church last night with her band, Soccer Mommy. Soccer Mommy’s early bedroom pop work evolved into the highly praised Clean, a 2018 record that deals with love, loss, and the overall existential struggles of most every young adult. It’s music that makes you crave the warmth of another while simultaneously feeling the pain of punching through the walls that Allison described in “Henry,” the opening song of the […]
CINEMA: Fame Monster
VOX LUX (Directed by Brady Corbet, 110 minutes, USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Vox Lux opens in 1999 during a Columbine-esque school shooting. A young Celeste Montgomery, played by Raffey Cassidy, is shot in the neck after she offers to pray with the gunman for the release of her classmates. Miraculously she survives and while in the hospital writes a song about her nightmarish experience and what starts as Celeste trying to find a way to heal herself becomes an anthem for a fractured country. In no time, the show biz vampires descend and Celeste is groomed for […]
BEING THERE: Cult Leader @ Ortliebs
Photo by MARK LIKOSKY Cult Leader, sludgy grindcore crust punks from Salt Lake City, are brutally melodic in a way one would only know by going down dark paths, through treacherous caves during the worst hours in search of answers. They played Ortlieb’s last night as part of a Deathwish Records package tour that also Sweden’s God Mother and Brooklyn’s Primitive Weapons. God Mother was heavy and pleasantly evil, but the singer stopped the music from time to time because he felt the ‘moshing’ was a bit too harsh and made a joke that in his country at least if […]
MOTHER TONGUE: A Q&A With Soccer Mommy
Photo by LINDSEY GRACE WHIDDON BY SOPHIE BURKHOLDER Sophie Allison, who makes music under the name Soccer Mommy, describes her sound on her Bandcamp page as “chill but kinda sad.” Her debut album Clean (Fat Possum), which came out earlier this year, has already started topping lists for the best albums of 2018. She got her start by posting self-produced tracks online, following the increasingly popular trend of bedroom pop music. After moving to New York for college, she decided to pursue music full-time, adding a full band and advanced production to make Clean, a soft rock record that follows […]
CACTUS BLOSSOMS: Please Don’t Call Me Crazy
From Easy Way, the follow up LP to Cactus Blossom’s 2016 debut You’re Dreaming, due out March 1st 2019. PREVIOUSLY: Dillon Alexander’s Review Of You’re Dreaming
Win Tix To See Rufus Wainright @ The Keswick
Rufus is for lovers: Boys who like boys, girls who like girls, boys who like girls and girls who like boys. Young, old, everyone in between. These are his people. Basically anyone who’s ever had their heart break apart in their hands and learned the hard way that you can jigsaw it back together, with patience and the glue of time, but it will never be the same again. It’s like bypass surgery or Cupid’s arrow — it may not kill you, it might even make you stronger, but it still hurts when you lay the wrong way. By […]
Q&A With J.D. McPherson, Retro-Rock Badass
Photo by SAMANTHA FRANKLIN BY JONATHAN VALANIA I have seen the future of the past, and his name is J.D. McPherson, a thirtysomething cuffed-denim Okie with lacquered hair, iron lungs and, goodness gracious, great balls of fire. Back in 2012, McPherson and his gifted retro-rock posse released Signs & Signifiers, a bracing collection of tailfin rockabilly, rawboned R&B and sultry moonstruck balladeering. It was hands-down the feel-good record of the year. He plays Underground Arts Wednesday December 5th in support of Socks, his new Christmas album, which is why we’re re-running this fun and informative Q&A we did with Mr. […]
A WHITER SHADE OF TRASH: A Q&A With Ricky And Julian From Netflix’s Trailer Park Boys
BY JAMIE KNERR Trailer Park Boys, now deep into its second decade as a beloved breakout comedy series, is showing no signs of slowing down. The Boys and crew wrapped Season 12 (now streaming on Netflix) in the spring and are currently taking to the road for a run of Christmas-themed live theatrical performances that brings them to the Tower Theater on Thursday (Dec. 6th). Set in beautiful Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Nova Scotia (that’s sarcasm, it’s really a total dump) the mockumentary-style Trailer Park Boys follows the misadventures of its three antiheroes: Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles (Robb Wells, […]