Archive: 2025

One of the great things about Riot Fest is its distinctive sense of humor that feels so pervasive around Douglas Park each year. Whether it’s slapping tongue-in-cheek nametags on porta potties (like “Turdstile”, “Clogging Molly”, etc.), a giant “butter” statue of John Stamos (rumor has it he may actually show up this year), you name […]

As Wednesday, one of the more exciting rock bands to emerge in the 2020s, entered their latest album, the band was surrounded by a whole lot of noise. With guitarist MJ Lenderman’s solo career skyrocketing to new heights, the critical buzz built by the band’s 2023 album, and interpersonal romantic relationships coming to a close, […]

What began as an experiment has proved to have lasting legs. If you were to read this quote from co-founder Dave Alvin out of context, you’d swear it pertains to an avant-garde, improvising group. “It’s five musicians walking a tightrope, improvising in dialogue with each other and finding the songs in real time.” Yet, this […]

Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy And Friends have announced a spring 2026 U.S. tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s iconic album, Lifes Rich Pageant. After the pair’s rapturously received run earlier this year honoring the band’s famed 1985 album Fables of the Reconstruction, which saw the four original members of R.E.M. join Shannon & […]

When MJ Lenderman & the Wind played Portland, Oregon’s Revolution Hall in February this year (READ OUR REVIEW), the show quickly sold out as the band was riding high on the buzz around their alt-country masterpiece Manning Fireworks. Those who missed out on the show were giddy when they announced a second serving with a […]

Seattle-based band Sweet Water will be releasing their first full-length album in over ten years, Shine On, on September 18th via Golden City Records. It marks their seventh full-length studio album so far, and ninth release overall, and was recorded in Stone Gossard’s Litho Studio, as well as in home studios, and mixed by Phil […]

Written on the road while supporting acts like Noah Kahan and Dave Matthews, Briscoe’s new album Heat of July unfolds as a musical travelogue—an exploration of the landscapes and stories encountered across the US and the characters that live there. And while the title was inspired by the temperatures of West Texas, the Austin-based Americana/folk […]

Trapper Schoepp’s seventh LP Osborne borrows its name from a unit at the Betty Ford clinic – a place where the Wisconsin musician ended up after a decade of dependence on prescription pain meds. Just one month after being released from the legendary treatment facility, a clean and revived Schoepp was in the basement of […]

REVERSE YR CURSE are making an artful, nuanced sort of indie rock music in Richmond, Virginia; culled from decades worth of equally oversized record collections and neuroses. Lyrics point to struggle on both the micro and macro levels, within and without. There’s an air of rooting for the downtrodden, always longing for relief. There’s a […]

George Steel was born in the United States of America in the Summer, and his hands are made of Steel. The artist’s debut album, 2024’s Desire on the Range, introduced Steel as a refreshing voice in modern pop. The danceable, colorful, electro-funk LP highlighted the many sides of Steel, with a tracklist that transitions from […]

The 7th annual Sea.Hear.Now (SHN) music festival in Asbury Park, NJ, was held on September 13th & 14th, and went off with hardly a hitch. It is a festival rooted in Asbury Park beach culture with a mix of local and big-name acts that center on rock music, but dip into punk, reggae, roots, electronica, […]

Modern hardcore icons turned pop culture sensation Turnstile is fresh off the release of their long-awaited follow-up to their breakthrough effort. After capturing the attention of fans from across genres and eras with their intricate fusion work on 2021’s GLOW ON, the Baltimore-bred band took its time with its follow-up, and it was worth every […]

The early music of the Waterboys was (much) too similar to U2’s until Mike Scott and company plumbed their Irish roots with 1988’s Fisherman’s Blues. Nevertheless, with the retrospect of forty years now, This Is The Sea (released 9/16/85) rivals Bono and the boys at their own game of exaltation: it is a genuinely majestic […]

The Big Draw of Progressive Jackpot Slots Online — And Why They’re Worth a Spin Chase Life-Changing Wins If you’ve ever sat in front of an online slot machine and thought, just one more spin, this could be it…, then you already get the magic of progressive jackpot slots online. That’s what makes these games […]

Continuing our Riot Fest preview this week, while the bold-font headliners often garner the most attention at first glance, as many veteran Riot Festers can attest, it’s those pleasantly surprising midday sets that can end up being the most rewarding. And there’s certainly no shortage of those smaller font gems on the docket at this […]

Eric Johnson is used to working slowly, turning scraps of melody into full-grown Fruit Bats albums over months or years. But Baby Man, his latest release, came in a rush. Ten days in February 2025: no revisions, no second-guessing, just insomnia, dogs, mockingbirds, and a restless guitar. “It’s like a snapshot of a week in […]

It has been nearly a decade since the musical world last heard from Alabama Shakes, a band that rocketed to fame with a unique blend of Southern rock, soul, and blues. Now this past Sunday night on September 14th, after a long hiatus, the band triumphantly returned to Boston and on to MGM Music Hall’s […]

If you were lucky enough to catch Viagra Boys during their ascendant days about six or seven years ago, you were surely blown away by one of the most intense rock bands to hit the scene in recent memory. Around the time the Swedish post-punks released their debut LP Street Worms, their shows at smaller […]

The story of Zambian band Witch (an acronym for “We Intend To Cause Havoc”) is up there with the greatest comeback stories in rock n’ roll. In the 1970’s, the country of Zambia experienced the rise of Zamrock, a style of music that combined influences of that era’s rock n’ roll with the traditional polyrhythmic […]