Features

If you want to play Six Degrees Of MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, you’d have to invoke ancient ’80s radio-rockers, a drunken merch guy and pop-punk royalty. If you want to have a good time, you’ll need to get their new disc. STORY: Leslie Simon If it were up to us, Motion City Soundtrack would be […]

It seemed like THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS came outta nowhere, and then turned around and went right back into hiding. Turns out it took them a little longer to find the rock ’n’ roll. INTERVIEW: Leslie Simon After the whirlwind surrounding your debut, what was the objective when you first started writing? TYSON RITTER: At […]

The first time you ever heard THE ACADEMY IS… was probably when they were opening for your favorite band, but rest assured, their rise to fame has been anything but calculated. Story: Jonah Bayer In the course of his hour-long interview with AP, William Beckett will be interrupted three times. First, by the sound […]

If member shifts, misdirected misogyny claims and a fanatic but fickle fanbase can’t stop BOYS NIGHT OUT, do you really think a highly ambitious, elaborately gruesome concept album can? Yeah, we didn’t think so, either. STORY: Scott Heisel “Everyone’s gonna hate the new record.” You might remember those words, spoken by Boys Night […]

In a relatively short period of time, FALL OUT BOY have earned the respect of the Warped Tour faithful, as well as old-school hardcore types. And while they’ve definitely worked hard to enjoy the success they’re having, they’re just now learning to come clean about things. Story: Leslie Simon If you don’t have a Zen […]

OK GO are ambassadors of a Chicago music scene that likes its pop music punk-free. But don’t be fooled by the band’s catchy melodies, good looks and self-deprecating humor: Their dark side is far more subtle and insidious. Interview: Jason Pettigrew They're handsome but not vacuous. They wear suits onstage, but they're not tight-assed. […]

When all of their colleagues were doing press and getting their fair share of MTV and radio play, punk-rock icons NOFX hunkered down, refusing to do interviews, promo opportunities and any other activities that might launch them into the rat race of mainstream culture. In this, their first interview in seven years, […]

For years, the members of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE languished in New Jersey suburbs, immersing their active imaginations in comic books and punk rock, which they then refined into a singular post-emo musical vision. Then gradually-almost in service to their name-things started to fall apart. These days, they’re driven by the centrifugal […]

THE BLOOD BROTHERS helped galvanize Seattle’s hardcore scene with their patented shrieking vocals, six-stringed angularity and rhythmic fury. The band’s new album finds them moving further away from the pit and the punk-rock rulebook, but if you don’t want to come along for the ride, it’s okay with them. Really. Story: […]

Good friends, great music and vintage amps: These are the things that matter to heartland rockers LIMBECK. Interview: Leslie Simon Limbeck have come a long way, and not just in terms of the miles they’ve logged during three years of relentless touring (we’d guess around 250,000). The band’s ever-evolving style-more akin to the CDs […]

Excuse the bad pun-but, given that it’s nine years, 187 bands and five stages strong, HELLFEST is damn straight the hottest ticket this month. Story: Aaron Burgess Shawn Van Der Poel talks about old-school hardcore with the enthusiasm of a 13-year-old who’s just come back from his first show-only Van Der Poel, president and […]

Their songs may make you want to get out of your seat, but for their new album, MINUS THE BEAR had to get out of themselves to rediscover their voice. It’s an otherwise humdrum Thursday night in late June, and AP is trying to pin down the members of Minus The Bear at various points […]