When I was a kid first getting into classic rock, Neil Young was “the weird one.” The Beatles, the Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin, they all had their legions of fans. Young, did, too. But they were the loners, the wanderers. My elders would quip about his voice, or the darkness simmering underneath his writing. For every beautiful, enduring folk-rock hit, he had a whole array of gnarled music unafraid to lean into some harrowing adult shit — not foreign amongst his peers, but rarely conveyed with so much unflinching honesty. Out of all the Boomer icons, Young was the dark horse.

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Anytime a record comes out on the Flenser, the Bay Area label that specializes in dark, avant-garde underground music, that record is worth hearing. The forthcoming Ash Souvenir is coming out on the Flenser, and it’s from two Flenser artists, so you already know it’s going to be something. Ragana, the great Pacific Northwest queer black metal duo, recorded Ash Souvenir with Drowse, a Portland artist who makes music that floats between ambient drone and indie rock. It’s an inspired pairing, and Ash Souvenir is a powerful piece of work.

About a month ago, Taylor Swift released her new album The Life Of A Showgirl. It sold a bajillion copies right away, and then lots of people hated it. Not me, though. I thought it was good. What? Shut up. Like you don’t like anything embarrassing. All the music you like is so cool. Jeez. Anyway. Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield agrees with me, at least to the extent that she’s willing to perform that album’s title track on a stage, in front of people who might have cameras in their phones.

Nate Amos teams with Rachel Brown in Water From Your Eyes, and he used to team with Lily Konigsberg in My Idea (or maybe that band is still active, which would be cool). But he’s also accumulated a prolific solo catalog under the alias This Is Lorelei. Last year This Is Lorelei experienced a massive glow-up by signing to the esteemed indie label Double Double Whammy and releasing the instant classic album Box For Buddy, Box For Star. That was sort of his Teens Of Denial, and now he’s gone back and made his Teens Of Style, re-recording some of the best tracks from his DIY Bandcamp era for a new album called Holo Boy.

I’ve been revisiting Cootie Catcher’s Shy At First quite a bit since it came out back in March, and it’s looking like there’s a lot more to come in the near future. Today the Toronto indie-pop band have announced their signing to Carpark Records with a new single called “Gingham Dress.”

Next week, Chicago post-punk experimenters Dendrons will return with their new album Indiana. We’ve already posted their hazy hypnotic single “Tuck Me Under,” and now they’ve shared the tingly, minimal new track “B4.” I like the mathematical precision on this one. It really holds back, and it cuts off when it seems like it’s just about to build to a raging climax. Check it out below.

Jim Carrey hosted Saturday Night Live back in 1996 on an episode that featured Soundgarden as the musical guest. Four years later, the comedian would star in How The Grinch Stole Christmas with child actor Taylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who; outside of acting, Momsen grew up to front the band the Pretty Reckless, who toured with Soundgarden on what would end up being Chris Cornell’s final tour. All these webs interconnected again last night at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony, during which Carrey and Momsen reunited for the first time since their Grinch days to induct the grunge legends.

The White Stripes did not reunite for their Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction, and no one expected them to. Since the garage rock band’s official dissolution in 2011, singer/guitarist Jack White has kept busy with a high-profile solo career, the intermittently active Raconteurs and Dead Weather, and his company Third Man. (He’s also got a cellphone now.) But drummer Meg White promptly quit the music industry and has maintained an extremely low profile, making no public appearances or statements. In the duo’s place at the Rock Hall ceremony at LA’s Peacock Theater, Olivia Rodrigo, Feist, and Twenty One Pilots performed.

The other week, it seemed that Henry Rollins was teasing a new record with Ian MacKaye. It turns out he was not. The former Black Flag frontman made a rather misleading blog post, and now he is clarifying exactly what’s going on.

In July, Billy McFarland auctioned off Fyre Festival and sold it for $245,300, complaining that the price was “so low.” In September, he revealed the buyer was none other than LimeWire. Did you think the notorious entrepreneur’s ridiculous ventures would end there? Of course not. He’s launching a new island festival called PHNX 2025, and it’s slated for Dec. 4-Dec. 8 on Diamond Cay in the Caribbean. French Montana has been announced as the headliner.