Alternative music, cult films, and pop culture explored through a Gen X lens — with reviews, interviews, and a deep-dive podcast.
Album Review: Puscifer – Normal Isn’tFeb 6/Puscifer Entertainment / Alchemy Recordings / BMG More than two decades into its existence, and closer to a quarter-century if you trace its earliest incarnations, Puscifer has quietly become Maynard James Keenan’s most prolific and responsive creative outlet. Where Tool moves with tectonic patience and A Perfect Circle operates […]
RIP Ozzy: 11 Alternative Rock Bands Influenced by Ozzy Osborne and Black Sabbath. The late vocalist’s influence went far beyond metal, as ’90s alt-rock can attest to. Ozzy Osbourne was a force of nature. He was the face and voice of heavy metal, the godfather of the genre, influencing thousands of other metal bands between […]
New documentary Every Time You Lose Your Mind offers an unflinching look at Failure’s rise, fall, and rebirth. Streaming June 28 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ The new documentary Every Time You Lose Your Mind charts the tumultuous history of alternative pioneers Failure. Directed by frontman and multi-instrumentalist Ken Andrews, the film is an […]
Peter Murphy ‘Silver Shade’ (Metropolis Records, May 9, 2025): Pioneering vocalist expands his sound on his new album, which includes guest appearances from Trent Reznor and more. Nearly a decade after his last studio album, Peter Murphy returns with ‘Silver Shade’ (Cooking Vinyl, May 9, 2025): a feral, adventurous record that feels like a culmination […]
Concert Review: Tool at Moody Center, Austin: L.A. prog-metal icons show their enduring power over potent set. “Be present.” That was the mantra and conditional agreement that Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan requested from the rabid Austin crowd that gathered at Moody Center Wednesday evening marking their first Austin appearance since pre-pandemic 2020. The crotchety […]
MTVoid ‘Matters Knot’ Review: Tool bassist Justin Chancellor showcases eclectic sounds on sophomore album for project featuring vocalist Peter Mohamed. As fans know, things work slowly within the world of Tool. It took over a whopping 13 years between their last two albums. It seems that this slow but sure pace also extends to the […]
Puscifer “Existential Reckoning: Rewired”: Review-inventive album offers intriguing remixes from Maynard James Keeenan fronted 2020 album. Remix albums are a curious beast. Some are essential, adding new dimensions to established songs. Others are filler, offering excessive, bloated renditions that undermine the power of the original material. So where does Puscifer’s new remix album Existential Reckoning: Rewired […]
Concert Review: Puscifer at Bass Concert Hall, Austin: Maynard James Keenan’s art-music collective channels and parodies modern angst in explosive performance. Puscifer are a hard act to quantify, their mix of electronic tinged rock/comedy troupe/performance art is unconfined, elastic and multi-dimensional. And while their discography is formidable, the project formed by Tool / A Perfect […]
Billy Howerdel ‘What Normal Was’ Review: A Perfect Circle mastermind strikes out on his own with impressive solo debut. “This is me stepping back into my early teen self and making the record I would have made if I had the means and the knowledge when I first picked up a guitar—just in 2022. It’s […]
Blu-Ray Review: Tool ‘Opiate2’: band celebrate 30th anniversary of debut EP ‘Opiate’ with deluxe Blu-ray featuring re-imagining of title track. 30 years ago Tool released their debut EP Opiate, which featured the labyrinthine title track that would become a fan favorite. In honor of the anniversary of both song and EP, Tool released Opiate2, a […]
