Blerd (noun): Black nerd. Popblerd (noun): Black nerd with exhaustive knowledge of music, film, television and pop culture. Popblerd & Friends (website): A place where pop culture lovers of all shapes, sizes and colors meet! We hope you like what you read and come back for more!
rock music

Jonny 5 of Flobots: The Popblerd Interview!

As I walked up the steps of Dado Tea next to The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA before the Flobots show, I saw a man wearing a striped shirt and glasses sitting outside sipping the rest of his drink and trying to get one of the blueberries out of the bottom while looking at his phone. We introduced ourselves and asked the basic questions before getting into topics like what music means to him and people in general, rallying with Rage [...]

Jimmy Eat World,  Damage : Album Review

Jimmy Eat World, Damage : Album Review

It’s hard to believe Tempe, AZ’s Jimmy Eat World are now on their seventh album.  Yet here we are with the boys who created such college radio staples like ‘Lucky Denver Mint,’ ‘The Middle,’ ‘Sweetness’ and ‘The Authority Song,’ confronting relationship issues and converting them into four-minute rock songs. The new album is entitled Damage and once again, its tackling life in the mid- to late-30′s.  As a listener, I suppose you could say I’ve spent the past fifteen years growing [...]

Travis, "Where You Stand": The Singles Bar Review

Travis, “Where You Stand”: The Singles Bar Review

Remember the mid-90′s British Rock band Travis?  No?  You mean you don’t remember such memorable tracks as ‘ Tied to The 90′s ‘ ‘ All I Wanna Do Is Rock ,’ or ‘ Sing ?’  For anyone who peeled a layer of the onion past Oasis and Blur, they’d find a treasure trove of great Brit Pop Rock with Travis, James or Manic Street Preachers.  Travis was literally a blueprint band for what Coldplay would eventually springboard to.  Fran Healy and company are back on August 19th, with their seventh full-length [...]

Filter, "What Do You Say": The Viewfinder Review

Filter, “What Do You Say”: The Viewfinder Review

Golfing ain’t what it used to be in the latest video from Filter. In fact, Filter sure as hell ain’t what they used to be either as is immediately evident upon hearing “What Do You Say”, a sonic masterpiece that is, at times, reminiscent of “Hey Man Nice Shot” (Mostly the heavy/quiet/heavy moments) yet overall indicative of Filter circa 2013: Ready to kick ass and take names! The video’s a fun little companion piece that sees some rabble rousers laying [...]

Barenaked Ladies, Grinning Streak: Album Review

Barenaked Ladies, Grinning Streak: Album Review

Barenaked Ladies grin themselves into complacency on their latest album.

The Popblerd Halftime Show: KBOX's Best Of 2013 So Far

The Popblerd Halftime Show: KBOX’s Best Of 2013 So Far

Once again, we’ve reached the midway point to another year, and the staff’s going through what’s simply “Ah-maze-balled” us to date.  Obviously, I’ve written reviews on the types of albums that have intrigued me, but if you need a ranked order – I’d probably put the albums listed below in my current Top Five.  There’s been a mix of introspective chamber pop, an experimental album from the desert’s greatest band, a fine return by synth-rock legends, and some indie pop [...]

Back & Sounding As Good As Ever: Toad the Wet Sprocket's "New Constellation"

Back & Sounding As Good As Ever: Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “New Constellation”

It’s the return of Toad the Wet Sprocket!

Palms, Palms: Album Review

Palms, Palms: Album Review

I will gladly admit when I am blatantly wrong about something and I was wrong when I said that “Patagonia”, the first single off of Palms’ self titled debut, was lacking. In the context of Palms, “Patagonia” makes perfect sense. I still don’t find it to be a particularly interesting song and it’s definitely not a song I would’ve released first but it works within the six-song opus that makes up the debut from the marriage of deftones’ Chino Moreno [...]

"The Last Ship" Has Sailed: Sting Announces First New Album in a Decade

“The Last Ship” Has Sailed: Sting Announces First New Album in a Decade

Prepare to be Stung…again.

Popblerd's New Release Report 6/4/2013

Popblerd’s New Release Report 6/4/2013

Queens of the Stone Age head up a rocking new release schedule this week!

Vampire Weekend Throw The Craziest Dinner Party Ever: The "Diane Young" Video

Vampire Weekend Throw The Craziest Dinner Party Ever: The “Diane Young” Video

Vampire Weekend cooks up a hot new video. Have a taste!

Filter, The Sun Comes Out Tonight: Album Review

Filter, The Sun Comes Out Tonight: Album Review

Filter is back with a vengeance on The Sun Comes Out Tonight, the band’s sixth album. Richard Patrick and his newest partner-in-crime Johnny Radtke (Formerly of Kill Hannah) have concocted an incredibly solid release that moves the band forward but has its roots firmly planted in Short Bus/Title Of Record territory with some hints of The Amalgamut thrown in for good measure. “We Hate It When You Get What You Want” is the way to start an album. It immediately [...]