Tear Gas and “Tom Sawyer”: An ’80s Riot Survivor Becomes a Rush Fan for Life
A 14-year-old at his first rock concert stares down a stampede of 15,000 drug-addled maniacs fleeing clouds of choking tear gas in an effort to see Rush play.
Pop Past
Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Movie Line
Generation TikTok’s easy access to entertainment makes them miss a defining character-building rite of passage of my generation: the movie line.
Between the Grooves of Radiohead’s ‘The Bends’
PopMatters takes a deep dive into Radiohead’s first musically important album, The Bends, where the group’s experimental inclinations initially took flight.
The Beach Boys’ ‘That’s Why God Made the Radio’ Begs to Be Knocked
The Beach Boys’ That’s Why God Made the Radio is unsettling and inoffensive in a way I cannot compare to any album except God Bless Tiny Tim.
Roxy Music Invented the 1980s with Their Swan Song ‘Avalon’
Forty years ago, Roxy Music stepped away from the recording studio, but not before leaving behind an album that defined the 1980s. It’s the ultimate marriage of high concept, high art, and high-quality popular music.
41 Essential Pop/Rock Songs with Accordion
No popular musical instrument has been more frequently maligned than the accordion. Despite gaining hipster cred in the 1990s, its role in pop remains underappreciated.
Stereolab Debuted with the Fluorescent ‘Peng!’ 30 Years Ago
Three decades ago, the lucid yet obscure (and antiquated yet postmodern) first entry in Stereolab’s superabundant catalog foreshadowed greatness. Peng! is 30.
Queen Hit the Dance Floor on ‘Hot Space’ 40 Years Ago
Many Queen fans might not want to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hot Space, but the album checks too many quirky boxes to ignore it.
Frank Sinatra on Top of the Heap: Revisiting ‘Sinatra at the Sands’
Sinatra at The Sands is my favorite Frank Sinatra performance – cocky, charming but not oily, warm but not soppy. Each listen lays bare the sheer “cuckoo calculation” of it all.
Criminal Subterfuge and Dark Desires in Chabrol’s Minimalist Murder-Mysteries
While murder and crime certainly run deep in Claude Chabrol’s world of subterfuge, the dark desires of human nature that provoke them run immeasurably deeper.
Radiohead Became Worldwide Rock Stars 25 Years Ago With ‘OK Computer’
The Bends hinted at Radiohead’s potential, but OK Computer allowed Radiohead the freedom to experiment and started their progression to forward-looking music.