It’s important for a band to have a solid name, one that provides a sense of identity, a visual hint of what to expect musically. Smashing Pumpkins embodies this ideal. Imagine hundreds of turtles emerging from the sea in a full-moon frenzy to lay eggs on the beach but forced…
In 1972, free jazz pioneer Sun Ra proclaimed, “Space is place,” in a bizarre sci-fi/blaxploitation film of the same name. Space remains the focus of intense interest for astronomers, astronauts, moviemakers, and UFO hunters, and it also serves as the latest inspiration for former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, who…
One of the most volatile and acclaimed bands to rise out of the Washington, D.C., hardcore punk scene in the early ’80s, Bad Brains overcame novelty status (four men of color playing punk) by mixing blazing speed and virtuosity with reggae riddims and social consciousness. Fronted by the often unpredictable…
The members of Boys Like Girls live at home in the suburbs with their parents and write vague, emotionally charged songs sugarcoated with precision pop hooks. Add Martin Johnson’s wavering, pained voice, a requisite ambiguous name, and producer Matt Squire (Panic! At the Disco), and the band fits emo to,…
