marc bolan

As long as there’s been a punk scene, its denizens have argued as to which city invented it — New York or London? Truth be told, it was neither because history’s first proper punk band was the Stooges from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Which would make Detroit punk’s proper birthplace. But if much of the sound […]

Welcome to the second installment of AltPress Weekly. Each week, we’ll cover new things we want you to check out. We’ll shout out fresh song drops and vintage finds, highlighting longtime favorites and brand-new discoveries. We’ll also feature the stories we can’t stop thinking about, along with all of the goings-on here at Alternative Press. […]

Rock ‘n’ roll had, for the most part, lost its “roll” by 1970. It became rock music—self-serious, dour, pompous, filled with pretensions to being “art.” It ceased being fabulous teenage noise, filled with Chuck Berry’s playful swagger and Elvis’ hypersexualized pelvic thrust and rebel sneer. Kids wanted something loud and flashy, full of energy, something […]

There are so many elements of My Chemical Romance that are easy to be fanatical over. Take your pick. Killer riffs? Lyrics seemingly lifted from Alan Moore comic books? A live show approximating a nuclear power plant in hazard mode? It was all part of their grand plan to harvest the best facets of popular […]