Middle Class Rut is poised for great things. Their just released sophomore album, Pick Up Your Head, is an astounding sonic tour-de-force that expands greatly beyond the duo’s debut and they’re just about ready to embark upon this summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival which also features Alice In Chains, Jane’s Addiction, and Circa Survive. Recently, drummer Sean Stockham spoke to Pop!Blerd about why you should check out Middle Class Rut: For the uninitiated, can you give a brief […]
Posts tagged "Popblerd"
Front Line Assembly, ECHOGENETIC: Album Review
I first got into Front Line Assembly in the ’90s when I would pretty much buy anything that was put out by Roadrunner Records. Luckily FLA was signed to the label and I happened upon Millennium, the riff-laden Pantera-sampling industrial masterpiece that was my essential gateway drug into the world of Front Line Assembly. Cut to twenty years later and I’m still voraciously eating up everything they have to offer. With Rhys Fulber. Without Rhys Fulber. With guitars. Without guitars. […]
Richard Patrick & Jonny Radtke: The Pop!Blerd Interview!
Yes, it’s another feature on Filter! Why? Because we love ’em and their latest, The Sun Comes Out Tonight, is easily a contender for hard rock album of the year. The band is currently on tour as part of Art Alexakis’ Summerland tour and have just launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund their upcoming world tour. At their recent stop in Boston, frontman Richard Patrick and guitarist Jonny Radtke took some time to chat about all of that and explain […]
Metal Monday Volume 129 (7.1.13)
Shoot has been a long time coming and while I’d rather have a full length in my hands right now instead of an EP, I’ll take whatever I can get when it comes to new material from American Head Charge. Over eight years since The Feeding and six since Can’t Stop The Machine, if Shoot proves anything it’s that absence makes the heart grow fonder and that like a fine wine some things only get better with age. Is this […]
Bill Mayo of BLACK TAXI: The Pop!Blerd Interview
BLACK TAXI is a band poised for great things. Their 2012 sophomore effort, We Don’t Know Any Better, was groundbreaking and after relentless touring they’ve proven to be one of the best, most energetic live acts around. Finally the rest of the world seems to be paying attention with the their most recent video for “House On Fire” being featured on MTV’s “Buzzworthy” blog. In the midst of some more touring with a stop at Cambridge’s Tommy Doyle’s on July 5th, guitarist […]
Metal Monday Volume 128 (6.24.13)
I had the privilege of talking with guitarist Hiran Deraniyagala last year (Read the interview here ) when the seeds for War Of Will were just being planted and after hearing the finished product I can tell you that thrash is alive and well in 2013 thanks to bands like Battlecross. A band that merges new school power metal in the vein of Dragonforce with other modern heavy greats like 3 Inches Of Blood without the gimmicks or hokeyness, Battlecross also offer […]
Rogue Wave, Nightingale Floors: Album Review
Rogue Wave records have in the past always been this sort of comfort food for me. They’re magical and uplifting despite being so dark at times. The beauty of their records is probably that, regardless of the subject matter, one would never be able to tell because of how uplifting and beautiful the music is which has always appealed to me. On the band’s latest record, Nightingale Floors, Rogue Wave again take beauty from the breakdown to limitless new heights. […]
Sponge, Stop The Bleeding: Album Review
If you didn’t think that Detroit’s reigning kings of rawk, Sponge, were still making fresh, relevant music then you should hand in your “rawk fan” badge now. Not only is the band still making new music, but they are making exciting music that is just as potent as their debut Rotting Pinata. Easily one of the only alt-rock bands to come out of the ’90s who still make really interesting, thought-provoking music, Sponge return with new sound on their seventh […]
We Saw It! Filter @ House Of Blues, Boston, 6/15/13
It was Father’s Day Eve as Art Alexakis’ “Summerland” tour rolled through Boston and as Filter band leader Richard Patrick stated in an earlier interview: “Summerland is about bashing the fuck out of you for 30 minutes and then leaving…but leaving on a high note with something like “Take A Picture”” Guitarist Jonny Radtke added ” “Something for old fans, something for new, and everybody enjoys it.” After the 30 minutes of Filter’s set were finished, no truer words were […]
Download, Lingam: Album Review
Can I first thank the demon goddess that 2013 is apparently bringing us a new Skinny Puppy record, a new ohGr recod supposedly (Watch this space for my Nivek Ogre review coming soon where he talks about it), and a new record by cEvin Key’s Download? Anyway, the ego to the super-ego that is Skinny Puppy (The id of course being ohGr), Download float in that middle space superbly crafting these beats that lie uninhibited by vocals. As far as […]
Metal Monday Volume 127 (6.17.13)
Maybe it’s fitting that Isis is unleashing a remastered vinyl edition of their seminal masterpiece, Celestial, barely two weeks after the release of Palms’ debut which feature three-fifths of the group within its’ ranks. Sure, Aaron Turner can continue with Split Cranium and Old Man Gloom, Aaron Harris can work with Tool’s Danny Carey for the Man Of Steel soundtrack and on Palms (With Bryant Clifford Meyer and Jeff Caxide), and Mike Gallagher can work on more MGR or with […]
Front Line Assembly, “Killing Grounds”: The Singles Bar Review
Is that dubstep I hear in “Killing Grounds”, the first offering from Front Line Assembly’s upcoming ECHOGENETIC album? It kind of sounds like there is but with most everything FLA do, they make it work. Definitely a more electronic and dance-heavy vibe than 2010’s Improvised. Electronic. Device., “Killing Grounds” still has Bill Leeb’s uncanny snarl at the forefront propelled by some killer beats and interesting forays into new genres all within six minutes. ECHOGENETIC is out on July 9th […]
