40 Years of the Ramones’ ‘Pleasant Dreams’
The making the Ramones’ Pleasant Dreams was tainted by personal conflicts and industry interference. Joey wanted pop and Johnny wanted punk rock.
Andrew Spiess
Andrew Spiess's work has appeared in Lingerpost, Permafrost, Prairie Margins, The Miscreant, Gravel, The Hamilton Stone Review, and Punch Drunk Press. He received a Louise C. Cooper Book Award from Bowling Green State University, where he studied, and a poem of his has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He works and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Follow him on Twitter: @andrewspiesss.
Small Reactions Grow Their Pop Approach with ‘New Age Soul’
Small Reactions polish their indie-pop sound with increasing sophistication. New Age Soul is an emotionally and intellectually well-rounded album.
Fiddlehead Deliver Hearty Post-Hardcore with ‘Between the Richness’
Fiddlehead’s Between the Richness takes from post-hardcore, punk, and emo and skips the boyish flourishes. Although it could benefit from being longer, it’s precise and vigorous.
‘The Immortal Hulk’ Finds Bruce Banner Coping with Internal and External Horrors
Marvel Comics writer Al Ewing dives into Bruce Banner’s disturbed mind and finds Devil Hulk.
30 Years of The Jesus Lizard’s Emotional, Meaningless ‘Goat’
The Jesus Lizard’s emotional yet meaningless 1991 album, Goat is full of head-spinning, swinging derangement that still leaves listeners reeling.
Old Man Gloom Mourns Loss on ‘Seminar VIII: Light of Meaning’ and ‘Seminar IX: Darkness of Being’
A heavy feeling of loss pervades Old Man Gloom's new albums as these songs are a way of coping and documenting grief, as well as commemorating how much Caleb Scofield meant to the band.
Jeff Baena Explores the Intensity of Mental Illness in His Mystery, ‘Horse Girl’
Co-writer and star Alison Brie's unreliable narrator in Jeff Baena's Horse Girl makes for a compelling story about spiraling into mental illness.