There’s a few bands out there that transcend the who’s-the-best argument- they simply fucking rock your shit. It’s not up for debate. Los Angeles punk / hardcore juggernaut The Bronx are on that shortlist with a bullet, establishing themselves as powerplayers in no time by doing things their own way from the word ‘Go.’ A&R guys were already swarming after the band’s first two shows in 2002, and they signed to Def Jam / Island shortly thereafter. They put out a record (The Bronx) and toured the world for two solid years, and what started out as a shining gem of 80s punk-rooted potential returned from the marathon of shows as a finely-tuned rock machine. The evidence is clear on their second album (also self-titled), with an exponentially increased sense of dynamics and texture added to their stomping thrash rock sound.

Joby Ford: To me, strapping on a guitar and rockin’ the fuck out… It’s this thing, this feeling of empowerment. I can’t imagine someone strapping on a guitar, and [whiny emo music is] what comes out. You know what I’m saying? Like at what point in these kids lives did they say “Dude, that rocks so much. That’s what I want to do.” I mean, the first concert I ever went to was AC/DC, and I was like Wow, man, fuck yeah! It was exciting rock n’ roll, and I just think to myself, like… these kids go to these shows and they see some pussy crying over fuckin’ spilled milk or something, and they’re like “Yeah! I wanna do that!” It’s like… no, man. You’re missing the point. Full Article »

So as every single one of you probably know, a little over a week ago, we did something crazy and hosted a stream of some new Guns N’ Roses songs we got our hands on. It started the biggest shitstorm any of us have ever been a part of. Last week, TIME Magazine devoted a whole page to the story, Rolling Stone Magazine mentioned me by name, and a million other news outlets have reported variations of the story, ranging from basically accurate to completely absurd. I’d like to defend a few allegations, and correct a few misinterpretations. Full Article »

The tracks on this mix tell a story I’m sure you all recognize: Love. True. Love.

I’m not going to give you the track by track review of what each song is saying, because true love and the way it is expressed in various artforms is best interpreted by each individual. I hope you’ll be able to follow the story. I will, though, tell you why each song has special meaning to me. Full Article »

Frontin’ On Debra / Beck, Pharrell Williams & Jay-Z
I found this on vinyl at Amoeba in Berkeley. Throw it on at a party, and you’ll probably get laid. Full Article »

If you live in California, you’re no stranger to union strikes and all the drama that comes with their various protests. Even if you don’t, no doubt you recently felt the impact when every television show (except for Celebrity Fit Club, thank Jesus) was forced to take a little break because Hollywood writers ran out of creativity or money or something- but I digress…

Recently, union struggles have severely impacted the University of California (UC) campuses. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents some 20,000 University of California healthcare and service employees (5,400 employed at UCLA alone) has organized its members who have been working for months on expired contracts. Full Article »

I take Mötley Crüe a little more seriously than most people. Just a little, and that’s not saying much. But I chuckle a little less than the next guy when I hear there’s a new Mötley Crüe record dropping. Maybe it’s my age and where I was at in life when I discovered them. I mean Mötley Crüe is pretty fucking badass if you’re a first grader in the 80s. I’ve read The Dirt and Nikki Sixx’s recently published autobiography (skipping the awful discarded song lyrics littered throughout) and I at least recognize their place as the most notorious rock stars of their time, a time in which the most important job of a rock star was to be notorious. I have to respect that.

Everything since Dr. Feelgood has been total dogshit. And even though Nikki Sixx had always written all the music singlehandedly, none of his other projects ever managed to blow my skirt up so to speak. Full Article »