Brian Stout

Brian's work has been featured in PopMatters and The Ryder magazine.
Fred Thomas Looks Back to Prepare for the Future

Fred Thomas Looks Back to Prepare for the Future

Indie rock icon Fred Thomas’ new LP Window in the Rhythm is a career highlight, a riveting and moving meditation on the passage of time.

Chat Pile’s Bleak View Goes Global with ‘Cool World’

Chat Pile’s Bleak View Goes Global with ‘Cool World’

Chat Pile’s new album does not offer catharsis; it is just an unflinching account of the violence we inflict on each other on an individual and global scale.

The New Freedom of Jawbox’s Zach Barocas

The New Freedom of Jawbox’s Zach Barocas

Drummer for post-hardcore legends Jawbox, Zach Barocas is living his best life creating jazz with friends in New Freedom Sound. He discusses his new music.

Drug Church Critique Hypocrisy and Retain Their Edge on ‘PRUDE’

Drug Church Critique Hypocrisy and Retain Their Edge on ‘PRUDE’

Drug Church’s PRUDE takes its place alongside Gouge Away’s Deep Sage as a highlight of the year in hardcore that could reach outside the flock.

Foxing’s New LP Is a Wild and Unpredictable Triumph

Foxing’s New LP Is a Wild and Unpredictable Triumph

Foxing swing for the fences, and most often, it’s positively thrilling, bending a wealth of influences into something stirring and uniquely powerful.

Impermanent Candy: Xiu Xiu Aim for an Uncompromising Future

Impermanent Candy: Xiu Xiu Aim for an Uncompromising Future

Two decades out from their wild debut, Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo reflect on their fans, band-free music videos, and uncompromising new LP.

Everything Feels Alright: The Promise Ring’s ‘Very Emergency’

Everything Feels Alright: The Promise Ring’s ‘Very Emergency’

The Promise Ring’s Very Emergency succeeds by subverting expectations but delivering ten nuggets of power pop and a rebuke of the emerging emo tropes.

Cursive’s Tim Kasher Discusses the Artist’s Life and ‘Devourer’

Cursive’s Tim Kasher Discusses the Artist’s Life and ‘Devourer’

“I fit through a pinhole of success,” notes indie rock titan Tim Kasher on Cursive’s ninth full-length album. “I’m lucky as hell that I’m able to do this.”

Cursive Soundtrack Your Existential Dread on ‘Devourer’

Cursive Soundtrack Your Existential Dread on ‘Devourer’

Devourer‘s songs are the best Cursive have released since 2003, balancing a noisy attack and withering lyrics with some of their prettiest, accessible tracks.

The Jesus Lizard Return With the Uncompromising ‘Rack’

The Jesus Lizard Return With the Uncompromising ‘Rack’

Rack is another thrilling chapter from the Jesus Lizard, one of the most significant noise bands ever and whom many groups claim as a heavy influence.

WHY? Find Hope in Heartbreak on ‘The Well I Fell Into’

WHY? Find Hope in Heartbreak on ‘The Well I Fell Into’

WHY?’s The Well I Fell Into is a harrowing hip-hop journey, but one that belongs on the shelf for the next time heartbreak comes calling.

Jawbox Discuss ‘For Your Own Special Sweetheart’ at 30

Jawbox Discuss ‘For Your Own Special Sweetheart’ at 30

Jawbox’s major label debut is their most beloved album, a perfect marriage of songwriting and production that sounds as thrilling today as it did 30 years ago.