In January, singer Michael Tait left the Christian rock band Newsboys after 15 years. Then, just last week, allegations of grooming, sexual assault, and substance abuse emerged in a lengthy article on The Roys Report following a two-and-a-half-year investigation.
Billie Eilish is no stranger to a Paramore cover. In 2022 Hayley Williams joined the young pop star for “Misery Business” at Coachella, and the following year the rock band brought out Eilish for “All I Wanted” in LA. Tonight Eilish decided to emotionally devastate her audience in Paris with a rendition of Paramore’s 2009 tearjerker “The Only Exception.”
Bunnies can be creepy. Ever watch Donnie Darko? That’s what this new Pile music video reminds me of. It matches the brooding energy of the single, aptly titled “Uneasy,” which is the second preview of their forthcoming album Sunshine And Balance Beams.
Phoenix’s debut album United turned 25 years old last Sunday. That album featured “Honeymoon” — the song that apparently introduced Sofia Coppola to her future husband Thomas Mars’ music — as well as “Too Young,” which Coppola would use for a scene in her 2003 film Lost In Translation. (Less notably, it was also used in the Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black-starring rom-com Shallow Hal a couple of years prior.) To celebrate the occasion, Phoenix released a small collection of special-edition merch, and they’ve also unearthed a demo of “Too Young.”
Maryland emo flamethrowers Pinkshift moved in a more hardcore direction on April’s “Evil Eye,” and that heaviness continues on “Anita Ride,” their rad new single out today. It arrives along with news of new album Earthkeeper, dropping at the end of August. “Anita Ride” finds all three core Pinkshift members going Super Saiyan: singer Ashrita Kumar howling and growling with unchained passion, guitar Paul Vallejo doling out monster riffs, drummer Myron Houngbedji beating the shit out of his kit. They sound formidable.
It’s not the best time to be Katy Perry. Last year her album 143 was nothing short of an abomination (working with Dr. Luke and having a video shoot under investigation for environmental infringement definitely didn’t help the situation), and for some reason she thought she could redeem herself by singing in space a couple months ago (which only led to the Wendy’s Twitter account trolling her). She assured fans that she’s OK despite it all, and tonight she dealt with a stage-crasher in Sydney, Australia.
Sly Stone, the brilliant and troubled visionary behind the wildly influential, boundary-smashing ’60s and ’70s greats Sly And The Family Stone, has passed away. In a public statement, Stone’s family says that he recently passed on “after a prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues.” Stone was 82.
The hugely influential Bristol group Massive Attack have long stood firm in support of many causes, including their support for the people of Palestine during Israel’s campaign of genocide. Last year, Massive Attack joined forces with Fontaines D.C. and Young Fathers to release Ceasefire, a benefit EP raising money for Doctors Without Borders’ emergency efforts in Gaza. Last month, Massive Attack were among the artists who signed a letter of support for the Belfast rap group Kneecap, as various authorities, including the British government, attempt to make an example out of them for their vocal Palestine support. Now, Massive Attack have threatened legal action against Hen Mazzig, the Zionist Israeli influencer and author who accused them of “incitement.”
If you saw that headline and got confused, don’t worry about it. It’s OK. The singer from Korn is not going to play Snoop Dogg in a new biopic. That would be a weird casting decision on all sorts of levels. The singer from Korn is Jonathan Davis — one S. Jonathan Daviss, on the other hand, is a young actor from Houston who’s one of the stars of the big-among-teens Netflix show Outer Banks. He was also in the Netflix movie Do Revenge. Now, he’s going to play Snopp Dogg.
Back when I was covering the Columbus music scene, Way Yes — who played Afropop-influenced electronic pop with shades of Animal Collective and Vampire Weekend among other buzz-band forebears — were one of my favorite local bands. Sometimes those treasures from your home city remain buried within local lore, but Way Yes made it far enough outside of their localized bubble to be covered on this website long before I worked here.