lou reed
The best punk drummers of the 2000s, from Travis Barker to Meg White
As the new century’s first decade unwound, things evolved or deteriorated rapidly, depending on your perspective. The entire world was changing in every aspect. So of course, punk rock was gonna change with it. The fundamentalists would scream and moan about how these changes weren’t punk at all, that we needed to go back to […]
20 songs that transformed punk, from "Raw Power" to "Rebel Girl"
There are a lot of people out there who know what punk rock is but have no idea how to explain it to a novice or an outsider. It would seem simple enough to define it as “three-chord teenage rebel music,” but what about all those songs that have four or more chords? Or all […]
Check out these rare photos of punk legends, as captured by Jim Saah
“People were commenting about this one photo I took of Marginal Man that was in the inner sleeve of their record [Identity, Dischord Records, 1984],” mused veteran Washington, D.C. punk/alt-rock photographer Jim Saah via telephone. He was reflecting on an exhibit at D.C.’s Lost Origins Gallery celebrating his new book In My Eyes: Photographs 1982-1997 […]
10 times different artists collaborated to make inspiring music
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 one problem: […]
These 10 bands prove that Cleveland was one of punk’s earliest capitals
Alternative Press’ native home of Cleveland, Ohio, stands alongside New York City and London as one of punk’s birthplaces. Yet, few outside of U.K. music journalist Jon Savage, in his crucial ‘70s punk history England’s Dreaming, acknowledge this. But how could Cleveland—a torched-and-trashed post-industrial landscape by the ‘70s, famed for the Cuyahoga River being so […]
These 10 bands made Boston one of America’s greatest punk-rock towns
A greasy R&B riff rips from the speakers, coated in more fuzz than a peach orchard wearing a 50-year-old wool sweater. A singer with a sneer that could wilt Elvis’ upper lip indicates he’s gonna tell you a story about his town. He snarls about hanging out by the notoriously polluted Charles River, “along with […]
AltPress Weekly: Eyedress, Syd, boyband, the Velvet Underground and more
Welcome back to AltPress Weekly. It’s hard to believe we’re already at our fourth installment of our weekly roundup, which gathers up everything we want you to check out. Each week, we showcase longtime favorite tracks and brand-new cuts. We also focus on all the things happening at Alternative Press, as well as the latest […]
15 artists who show that the Velvet Underground’s influence is eternal
Lester Bangs, the greatest rock journalist ever, felt eternal Lower East Side musical royals the Velvet Underground were “our Beatles and Bob Dylan combined” and that “modern music begins” with them. He wasn’t wrong. They existed only for a handful of years—1965 to 1970. But five years was enough for them to create virtually everything […]
11 artists from the '70s who formed the frontlines of NYC’s punk scene
Since the world first became aware that there is such a thing as punk, there’s been a nonstop argument about its birthplace. The clueless mainstream media reported for years that it began in England, simply because the Sex Pistols’ snarl was more extreme. Which royally pissed off New York City, the first place to essentially […]
DE’WAYNE finds his own way on debut album title track “Stains”—watch
DE’WAYNE has released his latest single “Stains.” The song was accompanied by a psychedelic animated visual which sees the artist surfing across L.A. in pursuit of fortune and fame. The title track follows the announcement of DE’WAYNE’s debut record, STAINS. Slated to drop June 18 via Hopeless Records, the album will feature 11 tracks. Read […]
10 alternative artists who were inspired by David Bowie's legacy
Nothing’s been right since David Bowie died, Jan. 10, 2016. The rise of Trumpism? COVID-19? The Big Bang Theory going off the air? Would any of these things have happened if Bowie was still striding the Earth? Well, probably. But his new records would’ve acted as a buffer, even if these shitty elements remained intolerable. […]
Richard Hell hated his album ‘Destiny Street,’ so he did it three more times
When we left off in our expansive conversation with Richard Hell, we established his chicken-and-egg credentials in punk’s development. We spoke of his establishing the spiky haircut—which was to early punk as the ducktail was to ’50s rock ’n’ roll or the moptop was to the British Invasion—as well as what fashionistas now call “distressed” […]
37 musicians who exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Music seems to know no boundaries, speaking a language that we all understand. It crosses all barriers and evidently all universes as well. From Carol Danvers donning a Nine Inch Nails shirt in Captain Marvel to the crazy connection between WandaVision and My Chemical Romance, the MCU appears to be filled with superheroes from the […]
DE'WAYNE sees a place for everyone in alternative music
Singer, rapper and a true-to-form poet, DE’WAYNE is changing the scope of rock ’n’ roll and punk as we know it. His aggressive and brilliant sound is exactly what new audiences didn’t know they needed after just one listen. This year began strong with the release of his high-energy solo track “I Know Something.” Now, […]
15 bands who are crucial to the history of noise music
When it initially blasted into the world from New York’s Lower East Side almost concurrently with punk in 1977, it was dubbed no wave. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau referred to it as “skronk,” an onomatopoeia based around the general guitar sound. He uncharitably dubbed its ’80s practitioners “pigfucker” bands. This writer’s personal name for […]
Veteran guitarist for Kiss, 'SpongeBob' and more Bob Kulick dies at age 70
Veteran session guitarist Bob Kulick has passed away at the age of 70 as confirmed in a Facebook post from his brother and former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick. The guitarist was responsible for guitar work on countless projects including music with Kiss, Meat Loaf, Lou Reed, Diana Ross, WASP, and SpongeBob Squarepants among many other things. Read More: Watch Slaves face […]
We made a Velvet Underground covers album featuring Nirvana, Joy Division, more
[Photo by: The Velvet Underground/Facebook] Last month marked 50 years since the Velvet Underground released their monumental second album, White Light/White Heat. Issued Jan. 30, 1968, the six-song cornerstone of lo-fi, experimental proto-punk did little (commercially) for the band upon release, but formed long-lasting waves of influence in the budding worlds of punk, noise, indie […]
Watch Finn Wolfhard’s band Calpurnia cover the Velvet Underground
[Photos by: finnwolfhardofficial/Instagram, The Velvet Underground/Doug Yule/Facebook] Last night in Brooklyn, Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard's band, Calpurnia, performed an epic cover of a classic the Velvet Underground track. Check out the video below. Read more: Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard’s band, Calpurnia, are recording an EP The Vancouver-based band performed at Rough Trade NYC, playing […]
Kirk Hammett: Metallica's Lou Reed collab 'Lulu' was "one of the best things we’ve ever done"
[Photo Credit: Herring & Herring] Metallica's Kirk Hammett thinks the band's collaborative album with Lou Reed was “one of the best things” they've ever done. Read More: Metallica’s James Hetfield has “no interest” in working with Lady Gaga again Metallica and acclaimed singer-songwriter Lou Reed (the Velvet Underground) got together in 2011 to record Lulu, […]
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