Al Jourgensen, Sin Quirin, and Tommy Victor of Ministry were all in Hollywood last thursday for a signing with the crew from the Zach Passero horror movie Wicked Lake. Johnny scored us an in-person interview, and we hired the Enjoy Human video production team to tag along and shoot it.Al was somewhat hammered, so all we really had to do was hit record and try and follow the Alien as he whipped his dick out in Virgin Megastore, ranted about being drunk dialed by Neil Young, engaging in sodomy with Jim Morrisson’s ghost, and kung fu-ing George Bush. Maybe that sounds wild, but he wasn’t nearly as unhinged as most of the maniacs that roam the treacherous streets of Hollywood at night, and not once did he try and sell us a star map. So in context, it was a rather pleasant evening. Full Article »

Chris Cornell is scaring the shit out of his fans. And by ‘fans’ I don’t mean the middle-aged American Idol moms who never quite got on board the rock train in high school but squeal with delight that a legitimate “rocker” has shifted his sonic compass to more mainstream, generic balladry. I mean fans like me, who have stuck around through the highs and lows of Soundgarden and even Audioslave, faithfully confident in the darker hours that Cornell would find his way out of the mess and rise up with better material the next time.

Here’s the latest leak, a “hidden track” off Scream called Two Drink Minimum. It’s far and away the best of what’s leaked so far, but that really isn’t saying much. Full Article »

I missed the memo that classic rock was fashionable again, but somehow it’s now okay for Kid Rock to reignite Sweet Home Alabama. Even weirder is that it’s completely fine by me. The Kings Of Leon are writing a new Southern rock chapter, and they’re fully equipped for the task.

Only By The Night is not the raucous rock affair it was purported and advertised to be. But it’s a damn good album, and a progressive leap forward both melody and atmospherically. Full Article »

I haven’t liked anything Oasis has done since Be Here Now; the album most trashed by both the band and its critics. I suppose it’s Oasis’ Pinkerton: The great album everyone hates, after which everything sucked.

Every once in awhile, I check back in with Oasis, just to see if I’m missing anything. And that’s why I picked up Dig Out Your Soul. Before hearing a note of any single, I had been made aware of its grade by one of my favorite assholes, Noel Gallagher, who stuck a dirty middle finger up at the Radiohead / Trent Reznor game: “That’s not our bag,” He told BBC 6 Music. “I didn’t spend a year in the most expensive studio in England, with the most expensive producer in America, and the most expensive graphic designer in London to then give it away. Fuck that.” Full Article »

Found a message from Trent Reznor in my inbox this morning. You may have, too. On a short break from Nine Inch Nails’ current Lights In The Sky tour, he put together a survey to find out more about the habits and methods of his audience, undoubtedly to fine tune his communication and marketing tactics.

Since only self-absorbed sociopaths like myself would spend the ten minutes or so it would take to answer all the questions, Trent offered a video performance of 1,000,000 from their recent show at Red Rocks in Colorado as incentive.No copyright infringement here, kids. Trent’s got no illusions of keeping it exclusive. In fact, he’s upping the ante to make it worth your time… Full Article »

When Jenny Lewis took her first steps away from Rilo Kiley, she had the Watson Twins as a sonic compass to help guide her through uncharted waters. It was an interesting new direction for the former child TV star, but ultimately lacked focus and ended up a bit muddy. Many, myself included, have really been looking forward to hearing what she’d do all on her own.

Acid Tongue was recorded mainly live over just three weeks in Van Nuys, CA, and produced by Johnathan Rice, the knob-twister on Rilo Kiley’s most recent LP, 2007’s Under The Blacklight (he’s also her boyfriend). Acid doesn’t possess nearly the same polished shine as Blacklight (an entirely intentional move), but through the more stripped, grittier delivery fans will find familiar ground in Lewis’ clever little lost-love meditations and meanderings. There’s just a lot more stompin’ going on. Full Article »

This doesn’t really sound anything at all like your typical Bond theme, but here’s Another Way To Die, by Jack White and Alicia Keys. It’s the theme song for Quantum Of Solace, the next 007 flick.

The song aint bad, but there’s absolutely no need for Alicia Keys here. Jack can plunk those keys just fine, and it’s not like Keys is wailing or tearing out some sick-ass piano solo. She moans awkwardly along with Jack’s fuzzed-out mini solo, and her vocals only add shades of harmonic flavor to the mix. It’s not like there’s some kind of sex magic happening between the two- the song really just comes off like a muddy combination of two big (and not altogether compatible) sounds. Full Article »

[SPECIAL NOTE: When this review was first published on Tuesday, we received- and complied with- a cease and desist letter from GrayZone, a "high-tech internet investigations" squad with an extremely shitty low-tech website that looks like it was designed in 1994 by one of your buddies. More on that here. Anyway, today, we're saying: Fuck it. This is not copyright infringement.]

When the Cold War Kids delivered the one-two debut punch of their Mulberry Street and Our Wallets Full EPs roughly five years ago, the waters quickly filled with label piranhas, blogger bestowments of “New Rock Messiahs” and other such nonsense. But the Cold War Kids opted to sign with indie crew Downtown Records (home to Gnarls Barkley and Art Brut) for the release of their their 2006 LP Robbers And Cowards. It was a raucous affair, with crisp, minimalistic production, that also happened to be one of the best white-boy soul-rock records released in recent memory.

On Loyalty To Loyalty, the drinks are a little stronger, the atmosphere’s a little thicker, and one thing is perfectly clear- the Cold War Kids have carved out a formula that works, and it works damn well. Full Article »