Griffin Elliot

The Dirty Nil Minimum R&B FILE UNDER: Bubble-grunge ROCKS LIKE: SWMRS, WAVVES, Partybaby WHAT’S DIFFERENT: Minimum R&B is a compilation of deep tracks from this Canadian trio’s illustrious catalogue of EPs and singles. Brandishing noise with crass emotion and a grounding simper, the Dirty Nil write songs that show off their diverse abilities and dynamic sound. Think Led Zepp ...

Bands like Blink-182, New Found Glory and Sum 41 paved way for the gnarly roster of British bands that have been pleasing our ears in recent years—Neck Deep, Moose Blood, ROAM and Boston Manor, to name a few. WSTR is one such band. Heavily influenced by American pop punk and incubated by their local English scene, they’re looking to make the hop over the Atlantic to show us all exactly what they’r

Stage diving, if done correctly, can improve the concert experience for everyone involved: the band, the audience and of course, the stage diver. However, as we all know, this is hardly ever the case. Reckless stage divers are a hazard to you ...

Many people who work in the music industry find themselves to be—how can we put this nicely?—jaded after a number of years of service to the masses. One such subset of those people are the ever-loved, ever-revered merchandise sellers. Working on ...

Some kids grow up without a doubt in their minds as to what they are going to be when they get older: firefighters, teachers, dinosaurs, you name it. Other kids grow up just wanting to be heard. Equipped with an outgoing personality and an unmistakable fiery passion for music, Mike “Gunz” Gunzelman has made a name in the music industry just by being himself. As a broad ...

The sun has set, the dust has settled and the bandwagons have been returned. After finishing up this year’s Vans Warped Tour, there are only a few matters left to attend to before the ledger can be closed on the summer of 2016. That’s right: We have been granted the privilege of announcing this year’s Ernie Ball: PLAY Warped winner—the Weekend Classic. "It is a long, hot ...

A Will Away are proof that every so often the music industry pays out to those who deserve it. They grew up in the town of Naugatuck, Connecticut, and despite their humble beginnings, they’ve managed to secure a record deal with Triple Crown Records, and since then, their incremental successes have become much more tangible. We s ...

Often compared to Woodstock, Montebello’s Amnesia Rockfest experience is a drug that is all too easy to get addicted to. Once a year, the sleepy Quebecois town is infiltrated with the gnarliest group of freaks, and the result is pure bohemian euphoria. Yet, ...

Moose Blood is the band you’ve always wanted to be in. The four-piece from Canterbury, England, is making emo music cool again through inventive lyrics and dreamy accents. It’s shaping up to be a big year for the band with their recent signing to Hopeless Records and a nod at the APMAs, which is why we are introducing them to you now! So which ...

So you’ve hunted down your tunes and used a little bit of creativity to Frankenstein an audio system, now, without further ado, I bestow upon thee 10 Commandments for record collecting!   1. Honour thy record brush, use it regularly Your record brush should (and will be) your best friend. After spe ...

After brokering deals with Rise Records and Goodfight Management, the boys in Rarity hit the road right out of high school. They went  from jamming in Canada’s Steel City to touring the continent with bands like Silverstein, Vanna and Being As An Ocean. They hav... Read More ...

You’ve heard from all your friends (and several of your fave artists!) that vinyl is the thing right now, but where do you even start? In honor of Record Store Day, we’ve got a three-part series that will walk you through everything from terminology (Why do I even care if it’s “hand-numbered”?) to technology (So what’s th... Read More ...

Ah, Record Store Day—the thought of it can’t help but bring a smile to the face of any analog music fanatic. It smells like crisp cardboard and shrink-wrapped plastic, it sounds like the warm static pop as the needle finds the groove and it feels like spending hard-earned money on a limited release you woke up early to wait in line for. It’s the o ...

You’ve heard from all your friends (and several of your fave artists!) that vinyl is the thing right now, but where do you even start? In honor of Record Store Day, we’ve got a three-part series that will walk you through everything from terminology (Why do I even care if it’s “hand-numbered”?) to technology (So what’s th... Read More ...

What do you do when your local punk scene is all you know? Make a living out of it. Tony Rettman was just another kid at the show, now he’s a bonafide hardcore scholar. He’s published two books, Why Be Something That You’re Not: Detroit Hardcore 1979-1985 and New York Hardcore: 1980-1990, and is now ready to invade your earholes with his latest project, Green Room Radio. Produced by the ... Read

Simply put, Jamie Coletta loves music. She grew up listening to New Found Glory and Brand New, and her grade school notebooks are probably covered in fantastically emo lyrics. But Coletta didn’t want to just listen and enjoy, she wanted to be a part of the process. Afte... Read More ...

It’s St. Patrick’s Day and there is no better band to choke down green beer to than the Dropkick Murphys! For 20 years the Boston boys have been pumping out their signature sound of Celtic folk punk, a mix of both original tunes and reimagined traditional Irish jigs, sung with crass vocals accompanied by an onslaught of instruments spinning folklore into American punk. The band s ...

Kurt Cuffy, 24, calls Toronto home— that is, when he's actually there. These days the photographer spends most of his time on the road, photographing bands, making friends and hunting down the dankest of memes. You might have seen him quickly jumping from one side of the stage to the other in Sometown, Middle America, on last year's Common Vision Tour with Every Time I Die and Real Friends. But no

Jake Carruthers is a 22-year-old illustrator from Toronto who has created album art and T-shirt designs for many of the scene’s hottest acts—August Burns Red, Real Friends and Neck Deep are all in his repertoire. AP sat down to talk with him about his inspirations, what it’s like working with musicians and advice for starting a career in the scene beyond just playing in bands. How did you g... Re

It’s 2016, and despite the mud that cowardly keyboard warriors and hardcore haters sling on the Internet, the scene is not fucking dead. As long as there’s someone writing this and someone reading it, the music scene has a pulse. Just becau ...