sparks

Phoenix got more creative than ever on Alpha Zulu

Thomas Mars of the iconic French indie pop band Phoenix talks the making of their seventh album ‘Alpha Zulu.’

These 10 performers demonstrate the enduring influence of Sparks

Due to English director Edgar Wright’s (Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz) recent cinematic hagiography The Sparks Brothers, 2021 has become the year of Sparks. Variously described as “the best British band to come from Los Angeles,” “your favorite band’s favorite band” and “the greatest band you’ve never heard of,” it’s high time. After all, […]

15 albums from 1995 that are a perfect gateway into the world of punk

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 Though it remains unpublished, I asked in the course of it what he thought of Rancid.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 waxed effusive, noting he’d met the Berkeley punk traditionalists in the course of a […]

10 essential punk Christmas songs to add to your holiday playlist

Christmas is quite possibly the most musically controversial holiday of the year. Not everyone digs the varying styles of seasonal music, though it’s a genre unto itself. You have the ancient carols, full of religious imagery, usually sung by hoary old choirs. The early 20th century’s awash with hokey Tin Pan Alley Christmas standards, sung […]

Here’s what Dallon Weekes of iDKHOW considers his favorite 1981 tracks

Super-duo iDKHOW pride themselves on their influences, and there’s one in particular that fans of ’80s classics may be familiar with. Men At Work’s “Who Can It Be Now?”—the iconic track with an even more iconic saxophone lick—actually inspired Alternative Press’ digital cover stars Dallon Weekes and Ryan Seaman to give sax solos a try […]

iDKHOW's Dallon Weekes feels it's his duty to tell you about Sparks

While touring with Waterparks a few years ago, Dallon Weekes of I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME found himself in the Alternative Press office. During his time hanging out, making videos and chatting about the bands he loves, he revealed his fascination with Sparks. Weekes had only discovered the band formed by Ron […]