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Counterbalance 25: Television - 'Marquee Moon'

Television’s 1977 masterpiece Marquee Moon is the 25th Greatest Album of All Time, but is it too “too too” to put a finger on? Counterbalance sees it all backward.

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Music

Punk Rock's WiiRMZ Rage at the Dying of the Light on 'Faster Cheaper'

The eight songs on WiiRMZ's Faster Cheaper are like a good sock to the jaw, bone-rattling, and disorienting in their potency.

Music

Pottery Take Us Deep Into the Funky and Absurd on 'Welcome to Bobby's Motel'

With Welcome to Bobby's Motel, Pottery have crafted songs to cleanse your musical pallet and keep you firmly on the tips of your toes.

Music

The Top 20 Punk Protest Songs for July 4th

As punk music history verifies, American citizenry are not all shiny, happy people. These 20 songs reflect the other side of patriotism -- free speech brandished by the brave and uncouth.

Music

Nana Grizol Reckon with US' Racist Past and Present on 'South Somewhere Else'

The Elephant 6-related, new Nana Grizol album, South Somewhere Else, finds the band attempting to reckon with the racist past and present of the US South.

Music

Sleaford Mods Discuss Music, Politics, Pandemics, and the Need for a New Humanism

Outspoken electropunks Sleaford Mods revel in their journey and call for a new humanism while speaking out about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the music business and the body politic.

Music

Wire's '10:20' Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

On 10:20, Wire retain the sound they've been cultivating for the last few albums and use it to reinvigorate and reinterpret tracks from their various periods.

Music

How Going Underground Kept Punk From "Breaking" in 1991

From pivotal, iconic venues in New York and California and the ubiquity of the house show, to the dramatic, intentional divorce from the highly lucrative hardcore/metal crossover scene, 1991 saw numerous DIY punk rock groups reinterpret a 14-year-old subculture with new and urgent relevance.

Music

From Punk Fury to Mariachi Cries, the Bronx Make Mexican Style Their Own

Los Angeles punk rockers the Bronx morph into Mariachi El Bronx for Musica Muerta, which is a whole world of fun and well made too.

Music

Counterbalance 19: Patti Smith -'Horses'

One of the most critically-acclaimed debuts in rock history, Patti Smith’s Horses is a whirlwind of poetry and proto-punk rock. Counterbalance takes Horses for a ride -- go Rimbaud and go Johnny go!

Music

Unite and Fight! England's Punk-Reggae Hybrid

When Bob Marley went to London in 1977 he discovered, documented, and reveled in the punky reggae party.

Music

Steve Albini: A Biographical Collage

Everyone's favorite noise rock curmudgeon, Steve Albini sounds off as he prepares to release an eerie score to a horror film.

Music

2011's 'A Different Compilation' and 2014 Album 'The Way' Are a Fitting Full Stop to Buzzcocks Past

In the conclusion of our survey of the post-reformation career of Buzzcocks, PopMatters looks at the final two discs of Cherry Red Records' comprehensive retrospective box-set.

Music

2006's 'Flat-Pack Philosophy' Saw Buzzcocks Determined to Build Something of Quality

With a four-decade career under their belt, on the sixth disc in the new box-set Sell You Everything, it's heartening to see Buzzcocks refusing to settle for an album that didn't try something new.

Music

On Their 2003 Self-Titled Album, Buzzcocks Donned a Harder Sound and Wore it With Style and Taste

Buzzcocks, the band's fourth album since their return to touring in 1989, changed their sound but retained what made them great in the first place

Music

'Modern' Is the Pinnacle of Post-Comeback Buzzcocks' Records

Presented as part of the new Buzzcocks' box-set, Sell You Everything, Modern showed a band that wasn't interested in just repeating itself or playing to nostalgia.

Music

Buzzcocks' 1996 Album 'All Set' Sees the Veteran Band Stretching Out and Gaining Confidence

After the straightforward and workmanlike Trade Test Transmissions, Buzzcocks continued to hone their fresh identity in the studio, as exhibited on the All Set reissue contained on the new box-set Sell You Everything.

Music

Buzzcocks' 1993 Comeback 'Trade Test Transmissions' Showed Punk's Great Survivors' Consistency

PopMatters' appraisal of Buzzcocks continues with the band's proper comeback LP, Trade Test Transmissions, now reissued on Cherry Red Records' new box-set, Sell You Everything.

Music

'Sell You Everything' Brings to Light Buzzcocks '1991 Demo LP' That Passed Under-the-Radar

Cherry Red Records' new box-set issued in memory of Pete Shelley gathers together the entire post-reunion output of the legendary Buzzcocks. Across the next week, PopMatters explores the set album-by-album. First up is The 1991 Demo LP.

Music

MetalMatters: April 2020 - Notes from the Quarantine

In times of quarantine we listen and we write, so here are 20 extreme (and some experimental) records to spin during these times.

Music

The 10 Best Punk Albums of 2010

Punk rock gives voice to the hardest of times. As punk is a wide-ranging umbrella genre saturated with numerous subcultures, styles, aesthetics, and attitudes, making a list is more like trying to super-glue together a ripped and torn fanzine. But try, we must.

Music

Punk and Metal: Frenemies for Life

Worlds collided when punk and metal realized they were opposite sides of the same coin.

Music

Post-Punk's Ghost Work Get Real With "Go Stat" (premiere)

Ghost Work features former/current members of Seaweed, Minus the Bear, Snapcase, and the group offer up a delicious blend of punk rock/post-punk goodness on "Go Stat".

Music

Plenty Tough: A Conversation With Jon Langford of the Waco Brothers

The Waco Brothers' Jon Langford talks about politics, the social climate, and being a musician in the wake of COVID-19. "It's the political equivalent of prog rock!"

Music

Punk Rock's Flat Worms Evoke the 2010s in 'Antarctica'

Los Angeles punk rockers, Flat Worms succeed in transforming the urgency to escape into a musical experience on Antarctica.

Music

The Chats' 'High Risk Behaviour'  Screams Hilarious Attitude

Fast and funny, the Chats' "dumb" punk record, High Risk Behavior, is smarter and more interesting than anything Muse has ever done.

Music

VickiKristinaBarcelona Celebrate Tom Waits on "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" (premiere)

VickiKristinaBarcelona celebrate the singular world of Tom Waits their upcoming debut, Pawn Shop Radio. Hear "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" ahead of tomorrow's single release.

Music

Counterbalance No. 10: 'Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'

The Spirit of ’77 abounds as Sex Pistols round out the Top Ten on the Big List. Counterbalance take a cheap holiday in other people’s misery. Right. Now.

Music

Go-Go's Bassist Kathy Valentine Is on the "Write" Track After a Rock-Hard Life

The '80s were a wild and crazy time also filled with troubles, heartbreak and disappointment for Go-Go's bass player-guitarist Kathy Valentine, who covers many of those moments in her intriguing dual project that she discusses in this freewheeling interview.

Books

Phuc Tran's Existential Trip of a Memoir, 'Sigh, Gone'

Phuc Tran's smart, tough memoir, Sigh, Gone, might launch a broken down kid to read 150 great books—for free, at the local library.

Music

Counterbalance No. 9: The Clash - 'London Calling'

Counterbalance offers up the right profile of the Clash's London Calling, an epic, sprawling disc that will leave you sprawled out on the floor as your mind tries to wrap itself around the sprawl of genres over the course of an hour plus.

Music

Avant-Rockers Disturbed Furniture Continue Upward Trajectory With "Halo of Pain" (premiere)

Reunited New York City avant rockers, Disturbed Furniture demonstrate with "Halo of Pain" that they've lost none of their fire since disbanding in the early 1980s.

Music

Shopping's Brand of Post-Punk Will Get You Moving

On All or Nothing, Shopping continue their hot streak of fiery straightforward "back-to-basics" post-punk with some added keyboards in the mix.

Music

Punk's Spanish Love Songs Urge 'Brave Faces Everyone'

Punk rockers Spanish Love Songs know that even on the darkest, desolate morning there's hope in waiting for the sun to come up. Brave Faces Everyone feels like a defining moment for the band.

Music

Green Day Struggle to Survive on 'Father of All'

Green Day's Father of All is too short, superficial, and samey to have any lasting impact.

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