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Emo is hard to define for many reasons, including its vague characteristics and the fact that many of the most famous bands commonly thought of as being emo try to distance themselves from the tag. As a result, there are countless acts that find themselves erroneously labeled as being part of the misunderstood subgenre...

The dawning of our new normal — a world of postponement, rescheduling and uncertainty — showed us just how sacred live shows can be. Whether they’re experienced in person or at home in front of a screen, the collective energy fostered between an artist and their audience is the driving essence of live music. While we may hav...

The ‘90s was the moment when the experiments wrestled control of the laboratory away from the scientists. Suddenly, punk rock — the ragged step-sibling of rock and pop — was squarely in the mainstream of culture, after years of ruling the underground. It spawned alter... Read More ...

How the year 2001 unfolded must’ve deeply disappointed Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, director and co-author, respectively, of 1968’s masterly sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey. For one thing, the space race had petered out aeons ago, and NASA had walked back its most ambitious dreams. In the mea...

“People were commenting about this one photo I took of Marginal Man that was in the inner sleeve of their record ,” mused veteran Washington, D.C. punk/alt-rock photographer Jim Saah via telephone. He was reflecting on an exhibit at D.C.’s Lost O...

September 1963: A young R&B combo called the Rolling Stones are rehearsing, preparing for a recording session. Their manager, former Beatles publicist Andrew Loog Oldham, was tearing his hair out. They were about to record their second single, a follow-up to their modestly successful remake of Chuck Berry’s “Come On.” But they had ...

Top 15 punk albums of 1998? You’d be forgiven for thinking that there weren’t any in the year the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal dominated the news. A quick perusal of Billboard’s Hot 100 singles of the year sees domination by several R&B (Destiny’s Child, Janet Jackson, Usher, Mariah Carey) or hip-hop (Puff Daddy, Master P, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott) acts. Neo-country artists Shania..

When Toronto hardcore artist DoFlame, also known as Mateo Naranjo has a vision, he “moves everything else to the side” until it manifests.  His new song, “All Out,” which comes alongside a new visual, perfectly encapsulates the artist’s ambition. Read more: Hear from Senses Fail... Read More ...

In the past decade, everyone from Misfits and Jawbreaker to My Chemical Romance and Rage Against The Machine has thrilled us with the announcement of a reunion show or tour. And while we’re ecstatic to see these artists hit the road again, that doesn’t stop us from wishing that they’d make a pitstop or two to record another studio album. Below are nin...

The idea of compiling a list of the greatest punk singers of the ‘80s might seem a bit odd. After all, this was when hardcore rose and quickly dominated all things punk. And let’s face it: Hardcore vocalists are more noted for bellowing than actual singing, per se. Not that l...

Early emo artists crammed into Washington, D.C. basements, while punk rockers destroyed small California clubs. Grunge blew up in the Pacific Northwest, but it all spread across the world. Alternative rock, whatever form it comes in, isn’t just a staple of Western culture. It’s...

In 1996, Your Punk Professor interviewed the Clash’s distinguished lead guitarist Mick Jones for a proposed Alternative Press piece on punk’s original guitar heroes. Though it remains unpublished, I asked in the course of it what he thought of Rancid. Jones waxe...

“Joan Jett doesn’t play rock ’n’ roll,” I wrote two years back, reviewing her SXSW showcase for The Austin Chronicle. “She is rock ’n’ roll.” It’s true. The individual born Joan Marie Larkin in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, embodies the music and spirit better than anyone this side of Keith Richards. As Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong put it in Magnolia Pic...

Alternative rock still dominated popular music in 1993. This obviously begged the question of just how “alternative” something was if it was now on a major label and on the radio. Not necessarily a bad thing. After all, we’d never have to hear Whitesnake again. Bottom end an...

Welcome to Alternative Press’ pick of the 15 best punk albums of 1991. It was a momentous year, one in which underground culture burst into the mainstream, taking punk and all its offshoots with it. Blame it on one album: Nirvana’s Nevermind.  Many p...

Welcome to the best punk albums of 1990. True, the Sunset Strip glam metallers’ omnipresence seemingly denied punk ever happened. Oddly, the bands all wore shredded Sex Pistols or Ramones T-shirts, grasping for some sorta punk credibility. They...

Anybody who claims to be well-versed in emo culture knows how crucial Chamberlain are to the genre. The Indianapolis, Indiana, outfit started as Split Lip, a hardcore band with bigger musical visions than their contemporaries. Their desire to add everything from melodic singing to acoustic guitars helped build the foundation of the post-hardcore genre...

Welcome to Alternative Press’ 15 best punk albums of 1989. It’s easy to look at the final year of the decade and see it as transitional. But there are portents of the future all over this list. Yet, truth be told, haven’t we seen that with all these lists? As we’ve work...

Already evolved from its origins yet not as crystalized as the 2000s wave in its sound, post-hardcore in the ’90s was a special kind of life form. These guitar intros will help you find your way into this unique decade for the genre. Check them out below. Rea...

Writer/director Judd Apatow accurately summed up college when he said: “College is the reward for surviving high school.” It’s true. The college experience proffers unprecedented freedom and a constant buzz of wonder—alive in every cup of ramen noodles and late-night study group. You may have left your...