Scott Heisel

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not the time when you get a bunch of candy just for putting on a costume or the time when you get a bunch of presents from relatives who otherwise never communicate with you. It’s time for Thanksgiving, the one day of the year when, hopefully, we can all gather with friends and loved ones, set aside our egos and desire to be cool all the time, and just

In some ways, getting fired might have been the best thing that ever happened to BOB NANNA. The prolific musician was laid off from his longtime job at T-shirt company Threadless in the beginning of 2014. But instead of wallowing in misery like so many of us might, he became über-inspired artistically. Fir ...

Okay, yeah, Black Friday is kind of gross. People trample over each other to get an HDTV or Beats headphones at a slightly discounted price, and the whole thing just reeks of consumerism sucking our culture into a deep, dark hole from which it’s nearly impossible to emerge. Fear ...

Circa Survive Descensus At some point, it probably becomes fruitless to review new Circa Survive records. The band are a model of sonic and psychic consistency, ever since they brought us the explosive debut album Juturna in 2005 and through their dabblings in psych-punk (2007’s On Letting Go), ’90s alt-rock (2010’s Blue Sky Noise) and expansive prog (2012’s Violent Waves). It should come as no s

When we assembled our annual “Class Of…” special last year, in which we look back at 10 records from a decade prior that shaped the punk of today, including CURSIVE’s 2003 breakthrough The Ugly Organ was an absolute no-brainer. The Omaha-based post-ha ...

Foo Fighters Sonic Highways Conceived in tandem with the HBO docuseries of the same name, each of Sonic Highways’ eight tracks aligns with a city in which Foo Fighters lived and drew inspiration from, including New Orleans, Seattle, Chicago and Nashville. “In ...

Zookeeper Pink Chalk Chris Simpson has been pulled back into the spotlight thanks to the ongoing emo revival—his old band, Mineral, are currently on an extensive reunion tour. But Simpson has long since moved on musically, playing fragile, Neutral Milk Hotel-esque folk under the name Zookeeper since 2006. Pink... Read More ...

As they approach their 15th year of active duty next year, prog-rock quintet MINUS THE BEAR are taking a moment to look at the past this fall. First up is the recent release of Lost Loves, a 10-song collection of B-sides and rarities recorded alongside 2007’s Planet Of Ice, 2010’s Omni and 2012’s Infinity Overhead. The band will be ...

 It’s all the rage nowadays: All the punk and emo bands the current generation of music fans didn’t get to see in their prime are being pulled out of retirement. Some do a full tour or two (Mineral, Sunny Day Real Estate); others play shows here and there (Refused, At The Drive-In, Cap’n Jazz, the Promise Ring, Knapsack, Quicksand) and reissue their catalog with bonus cuts (American Football, Texa

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has announced the nominees for their Class of 2015. Among the 15 artists being considered for inclusion into the Hall of Fame include Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, the Smiths, Lou Reed, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Kraftwerk, N.W.A ...

New Found Glory Resurrection It’s an understatement to say a lot has changed in New Found Glory since they last released a new studio album in 2011. Clearly, the biggest trauma was that of guitarist and founding member Steve Klein being removed from the band after he was charged with multiple counts of lewd conduct with a minor. It s ...

Weezer Everything Will Be Alright In The End Reviewing Weezer albums has always been exceedingly difficult. It's easy to look back on the Blue Album and Pinkerton with the benefit of hindsight; when there are two decades of history and obsessive fandom there, it's easy to proclaim both albums as perfect, flawless, five-star classics. But if ...

Since the release of the Blue Album in 1994, there have been three constants in life: death, taxes and RIVERS CUOMO’s almost superhuman ability to write infectious, quirky, intelligent pop songs. WEEZER’s ninth album, Everything Will Be Alright In The End, comes out Oct. 7 on Repub ...

“The Scene” is as nebulous a term as they come, but for purposes of this article, we’re going to define it as such:    • The culture in which AP has been firmly entrenched for the past decade-plus that has a strong overlap with Warped Tour, as well as similar festivals/events like Taste Of Chaos, Riot Fest, etc. So what defines “breaking out” of s ...

It’s been nearly 20 years since the world was first introduced to HARVEY DANGER through the majesty of “Flagpole Sitta”—in this writer’s opinion, one of the greatest rock singles of the ’90s, taken from one of the best rock albums of the same decade, Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?. The song took on a life of its ow ...

We asked Pat Wilson, drummer of alt-rock titans Weezer (who just so happen to be on the cover of this month's AP, hint-hint) to pick his favorite songs of the moment. He happily obliged, giving us all just a little bit of insight to what makes him tick—and if the Van Halen song was a surprise to you, you obviously aren't a Maladroit fan. 1. Beach ... Read More ...

Sure, you’ve all probably heard of Weezer. (Just in case you haven’t, the alt-rock kingpins are on the cover of this month’s issue of AP, so go buy that and familiarize yourselves. I’ll wait.) But what many people don’t realize is that in addition to all the smash hits Rivers Cuomo has written for his main band, he has lent a helping hand to dozens of other artists, earning a slew of co-writing cr

I’ve never tried to hide it: Weezer are my all-time favorite band. I own countless versions of the same albums (you gotta get those OBI strips and bonus tracks, dogg!), have spent far too much money going on not one but two Weezer-branded cruises and pretty much celebrate the band’s entire catalog. I’m not al ...

It’s okay if you don’t remember SELF. The quirky, innovative and just a bit funky alt-pop band led by MATT MAHAFFEY were incredibly prolific in the late ’90s and early 2000s, releasing four official full-lengths in a six-year span plus a slew of semi-official digital releases loaded with outtakes, B-sides and covers, but they never had a massive breakthrough hit. They’re probably ...

The Rentals Lost In Alphaville It’s been 15 years since the Rentals last released a proper full-length (the severely underrated, heavily Blur-influenced Seven More Minutes), but Lost In Alphaville isn’t exactly “new”—every one of these 10 songs started off as a part of the band’s ambitious Songs About Time series in 2009. Reheated leftovers they aren’t, th ...