Anthony Pappalardo

As the founder of Pirates Press, the largest broker of vinyl in the world, owner Eric “Skippy” Mueller’s introduction to record collecting taps into the zeitgeist of a post-depression United States where kids began amassing comic books, baseball cards and tiny plastic military figurines that would later be gamified in value.  Since the rapid rise […]

Quicksand Interiors The last time Quicksand released a formal LP, Bill Clinton was in office. 1995’s Manic Compression lead off with a bashing track called “Backward” that was noticeably less dense than their prior work—intentionally brittle and wiry at points, opting for dissonance to replicate punch, rather than hip-hop cadence and raspy vocals. Twenty-two years […]

[Photo courtesy of Gregory Nolan] On the cusp of releasing their ninth studio album and embarking on another extensive U.S. tour, the Dropkick Murphys are making their biggest statement. 11 Short Stories Of Pain & Glory may draw from the band’s playbook of Irish-infused street punk, but its narrative drills deeper into the social conscience […]

[Photos by Lightbox Revelation] Formed in Venice, California, in 1980, Suicidal Tendencies instantly became a presence in the American punk scene by simply being themselves. More metallic than the average punk band, more punk than most metal bands and always beholden to their roots and culture, Suicidal created their own playbook within the genre before […]

Writing about bands in the Washington, D.C. hardcore orbit generally requires a scholarly tone or, better yet, a thesis that goes past the actual music. It makes sense as it’s the home of great thinkers, savants and kids who had as good of an education as they had angst. (Remember that part because it’s going […]

Since Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner called Cream a “supergroup,” the tag’s been applied to any pairing of established musicians forming a new band. The idea’s been around for decades, but rarely translates into recorded music that eclipses the members’ prior work. If you look at it from the inside out, such teamings are mostly […]

While New York City’s brand of punk rock was built in the late ‘70s on scummy, sexy, cool, its story didn’t stop when the marquee names became famous and outgrew CBGB. The Velvet Underground, Ramones, Talking Heads and Blondie are the stars on the pre-distressed T-shirts lining the racks at department stores, but the voice […]

Hearing Fugazi’s 1987 demo session in its entirety for the first time last week as the proper release titled First Demo made my brain fire off in several directions. Like many fans, I had a previously owned a 386th generation copy, but next to the Instrument soundtrack, it was my least listened-to Fugazi recording. That’s […]