Louisiana’s own dark star and Orpheus of the underground, Dax Riggs – the fool in your tarot deck – trippin’ over his own tombstone, reaching into the atmosphere and pulling spirits from the air. An alchemy of all roots music, doom metal and glam-punk poetry. It sounds like voodoo, feels like redemption and puts off heat like a burning oil rig. In the service of tears and the ghost of all sorrows…say goodnight to the world.

Ex-deadboy and the Elephantmen and ex-Acid Bath’s...[more]

Let’s get one thing out of the way. Kylesa is one of the standout bands in "heavy" rock today, and the more they keep at their craft, the more refined and evolved their sound becomes. “Heavy” in this case means powerful, gritty and dark guitar riffs that assault yet soothe; the kind that burrow into your brain and mesmerize at the same time, so you don't notice them drilling through your grey matter. Because of this and several other factors involved, drifting into trancelike stat...[more]

Four Atlanta scene veterans from bands as varied as The Valentines, The Flinch, Stovall, and AM Gold, have teamed up to pay a long-overdue homage to the Clash in the tribute band Clashinsta! The group promises both and aural and visual representation focusing on not just hits but a fair share of deeper cuts from the “Only Band That Matters.”[more]

Mikal Cronin’s self-titled debut from 2011 was all about endings: the end of college, the end of a serious relationship, and the end of his time in Los Angeles, where he grew up. So it’s no surprise that his sophomore release MCII—and first disc for Merge Records—is all about new beginnings.

“Since the first record came out, my life has changed quite a bit,” Cronin says, referencing his move to San Francisco and tours with Ty Segall as well as with his own band. “I was pr...[more]

The Blank Tapes is now and always has been Matt Adams, a soft-spoken kid from a Southern California suburb who learned to play practically every instrument a good garage band needs, and then started making beautifully idiosyncratic records on his trusty home eight-track because … well, why wait? When he first heard the Beatles and the Kinks, he knew he needed to make his own songs, too, and so in 2003 he did, with the kind of inspiration and confidence and personality you’d think have fad...[more]

Deafheaven was formed in February 2010 in San Francisco, California by vocalist George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy, who previously performed in a band together. The two members recorded a demo in April 2010 at Atomic Garden Studios, which was released both on cassette tape in limited quantities and digitally. The untitled demo featured four songs that combined traditional screamo with black metal and post-rock. Originally, Deafheaven didn't intend to release the material, but they later ...[more]