I've been a music fan since my parents gave me a record player for Christmas when I was still in grade school. The first record I remember owning was "Sesame Street Disco." I've been a professional writer since 2004, but writing long before that. My first published work was in a middle school literary magazine and was a story about a zoo in which the animals could talk.
November 19, 2025 – Legendary rock drummer Josh Freese will release his new album, Just A Minute, Vol. 2, on November 28, 2025, via Pearl Jam co-founder Stone Gossard’s Loosegroove Records. The wildly inventive follow-up to his first installment, released in 2021, once again crams 25 songs into 25 minutes, with every track landing precisely at the one-minute mark. Chaotic, often hilarious, and undeniably hook-heavy, tracks like “God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You, Satan Wants It Back,” “I Didn’t Know I Recorded With Avril,” and “Wasted With The Ween” showcase Freese’s punk rock roots, sharp wit, and musical versatility. The album’s first single and video, “Cybertruck LOL,” is out now (listen/share here).
“This is the Kill Bill 2 of rock records. The sequel is as good, if not better, than the first one,” says Freese. “I’m proud of it and think I finally got all the 60-second songs out of my system.”
Recently profiled in The New York Times, Freese is among the most revered drummers in modern rock music today, keeping time for some of the biggest and most influential rock bands in history, including Guns N’ Roses, Weezer, Foo Fighters, A Perfect Circle, and Nine Inch Nails. He has helped breathe new energy into legendary acts like Devo and The Replacements and has played on hundreds of studio recordings spanning artists as stylistically wide-ranging as Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, the Dwarves, and Lana Del Rey.
The Long Beach, CA-based drummer brings that same versatility to Just A Minute, Vol. 2 as he zips between blistering punk, quirky pop, groove-driven rock, and even delicate piano instrumentals, while exploring themes ranging from his own personal reflections to absurdist humor to biting social commentary. Indeed, the collection plays like a rapid-fire rollercoaster of genre-bending micro-anthems. True to the axiom that less is more, Freese proves you can say a lot in just sixty seconds.
Hailing from Lyon, France, Désordre (Disorder) bring their three-song instrumental EP, L’Échappée Belle (The Great / Beautiful Escape – depending on how you choose to translate it) that’s indeed an escape from whatever reality you’re in now.
“Chèvre Bleue” (“Blue Goat”) is a cool track that builds from desert rock mellow riffs to heavy space rock lift-offs, and then back to desert rock, but this time you’re racing across the desert on horseback and instead of taking a slow ride on a camel.
“Ordalie” (“Ordeal”) stomps the gas pedal and cranks the volume, giving you the energy to power through whatever trial or tribulation you might be experiencing. It will make you feel like you’re in an action film at times, and like you’re meditating on a mountain at others.
“Débordé” (“Overwhelmed”) does this balancing act just as well, deftly moving back and forth between stoner rock power and psych-rock mind trips. It can indeed feel overwhelming at times, but Désordre know when to pull back and let you get a breath before they toss you into orbit again.
It’s a solid EP that bodes well for a future full-length LP from them. It feels like a pre-launch sequence to an interstellar mission.
The story of La Peste can be traced back to a flier Peter Dayton saw in Central Park. The future frontman was visiting New York for a concert that had just been canceled. While wandering in search of something else to do, he came across an advertisement for a show at someplace called CBGB, featuring a band of mischievous looking guys in leather jackets, The Ramones. It was October 26th, 1975. He hadn’t heard of them, or of punk itself. Figuring what the hell, why not, he headed down to the Bowery to check out the show.
Dayton returned to Boston a changed man. “I stood there for 22 minutes, and when it was done, I was like, well, fuck, man, I want to do that,” he says. “And within two and a half years, I was opening for them.”
So begins the story of Boston’s first true punk band. Born as a group of art students who had never played instruments and over a few short years becoming a foundational influence for a Boston music scene that would go on to produce some of the most important and boundary-pushing American bands of the ’80s. They played with the Ramones, worked with The Cars’ Ric Ocasek and earned the attention of the legendary BBC DJ John Peel all with only one single (1978’s “Better Off Dead” to their name).
Today, Wharf Cat Records are announcing the release of a new compilation entitled I Don’t Know Right From Wrong: Lost La Peste 1976-1979 Vol. 1that will air the band’s unreleased recordings. Due out on April 17th of 2026, the collection tells the full story of La Peste with a presentation of the band’s unreleased studio and loft recordings along with the two tracks that were officially released during the band’s run. The material in this compilation comes from the Better Off Dead 7” sessions, their 1978 studio session with Ric Ocasek, a 1978 session at Electro Acoustic Studios, 4-track loft recordings made by Boston punks Billy Dafodil and Dave Cola in 1977 and the band’s first ever studio sessions in early 1977.
On the A and B sides of this collection Peter Dayton and Mark Andreasson give their first shot at sequencing the La Peste LP that they never got a chance to make. The C side features the tracks from the loft recordings that were not used on the A and B sides. Side D is a window into a nascent La Peste and features studio and 4-track recordings with Curt Naihersey (Pastiche, The Kids, Mr. Curt). The D side also includes a rare curiosity from the La Peste catalogue, their collaboration with Lord Manuel, “Computer Love,” from a sought-after split 7” on Joe “The Count” Viglione’s Verulven label with The Neighborhoods & Lord Manual on the b-side.
To mark the announce Wharf Cat are sharing the Ocasek-produced track “I Don’t Know Right From Wrong” with a brand new video created from archival footage of the band.
“I Don’t Know Right From Wrong” survives as one of a handful of tracks produced by Ocasek, who acted for a time as a sort of unlikely patron and mentor for the band, and gave them a slot opening for the Cars at Boston’s Paradise Theater. He believed he could get La Peste onto the radio with just a little primping, but had the good sense not to give them a full-on pop makeover. With its ghostly synth line hovering above the band’s earthbound churn, “I Don’t Know Right From Wrong” comes across less like the Cars’ slick new wave than it does like Joy Division—who recorded their landmark debut across the pond at around the same time —albeit with a vocal presence that sounds more inclined to nervous mania than catatonic depression.
Peter Dayton says of the track:
“We didn’t really know right from wrong when we formed La Peste. But the song was always great live and everyone believed me when I sang it. It had 2 chords which made it an amazing song for it’s utter simplicity. When I went back to these lyrics to write them all out I couldn’t believe how repetitive I was. The verses were usually very similar and the choruses were almost like I was shouting a political slogan. Our fans had a real connection with each song and often sang along, even though they might not have understood them.”
Today Manchester band Joanna share a third look at their long lost debut album ‘Hello Flower’, which will finally be released on December 5th via New Feelings, 35 years after intended.
In 1989, Joanna were on the cusp of something bigger, their sound alive with the same electricity sparking through the North West of England. Yet in a world where gatekeepers decided who would rise and who would vanish, their debut never saw daylight. Now, ‘Hello Flower’ blooms at last — a time-capsule of youthful abandon, freed from the silence it was once consigned to, and finally able to be heard on its own terms.
Following previous singles “If You Don’t Want Me To“ and “Gardeners’ World“, today they share a third look at the record with “Bandit Country” – a track that is pulsing, catchy and flickers with the brightest sounds of the Madchester era.
“’Bandit Country’ is about navigating the years after leaving school and growing into adulthood” the band explain. “Neil’s brother-in-law would refer to areas of other towns you’d have to get through to go and watch Liverpool FC (where the locals would want to beat you up) as “bandit country”. Neil took it as describing life in general when you have no idea what you want to do, never mind how you’re going to get there.”
It’s 1989. The Stone Roses are dominating the Indie scene and music press. Happy Mondays are laying the foundations of what would come to be known as the Madchester era with chaotic live performances. All eyes are on the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Along the East Lancs Road, throughout industrial heartlands between Manchester and Liverpool, punctuated by woollyback accents, four young musicians meet and form the next contender for the scene’s attention, Joanna. Neil Holliday (vocals) and Terry Lloyd (bass), work colleagues from Runcorn and Widnes, join forces with Leigh Music College students Tyrone Holt (guitar) and Carl Alty (drums). They hail from thoroughly working-class backgrounds, raised by hard working dads and harder working mothers. Rejected by other local bands because of their perceived youthful naïveté, the four lads create a world of their own inside Pentagon Studios in Widnes. This world includes a stolen smoke machine and strobe lights, a wooden shack to prevent feedback on the vocals, and the occasional friend who would dance around wildly.
“I think the first tune we rehearsed was called (I Wanna) Marry Joanna,” says Holliday, “I’d never sang into a mic before and had no clue about levels, amps or speakers and started sweating after a couple of failed attempts to vocalize the words I had on a scrap of paper about smoking weed.”
Each track on ‘Hello Flower’ came together in the Pentagon rehearsal room, a fusion of hard-edged indie rock with bass funk rhythms and crunching guitar riffs spiraling into infinity. With a clear sixties influence, Joanna was impossible to ignore and irresistibly danceable. Listening back today, their music evokes fantasies of Hacienda acid trip jubilees, where the hook is secondary to the groove and attitude. Organic and jammy, their demos are infused with a kinetic energy, full of the defining youthful experience of figuring it out.
Their momentum grew quickly. They were interviewed on the cult Kiss FM by future Best Selling author and filmmaker Jon Ronson, performed at the 1500 capacity Ritz in Manchester, International 1 and Liverpool Polytechnic. The band secured coveted support slots for established acts of the time including Shack, Dr. Phibes and the House of Wax Equations, Rig, and Asia Fields. After recording several demos, Joanna had the opportunity to perform in London.
It seemed like a given. The A&R people would show up, the band would sign a contract backstage, and their local-legend status would evolve into international superstardom. They were already mentioning an upcoming record deal in interviews, with a bravado that inspired one journalist to describe Joanna as epitomising “the simple beauty of youth.” Bands like World of Twist, Charlatans, Rig and Paris Angels had all followed a similar route towards recognition and secured record deals. A few hours before their fateful London show after the band had sound-checked, singer Neil bumped into a girl he knew from school. She had started dating a guy with a good job and settled into London life and escaped beyond their small-town limitations. She’d made it out. Neil puffed out his chest and let her know about Joanna’s big show and imminent success. She laughed. Neil returned to the venue in a black mood, leading to a domino-like fall of morale. They were never offered a record deal.
When the long shadows of doubt crept up on them, Joanna started to lose its magic. Wounded, they limped along for another year, never recovering their initial verve. This story doesn’t have the happy ending of instant success, but it does preserve something much more ephemeral and unique. Joanna constantly brushed shoulders with fame as manager and friend Martin Royle pulled the strings with a quiet determination in the background. A major player in the Liverpool scene, Dave Pichilingi, offered to manage the band. The Boardwalk, which later became the rehearsal space for Oasis, asked Joanna to headline their re-opening after a major refurb, selling the venue out. Was a certain young roadie called Noel Gallagher there to witness the evening while he was putting his own band together? Definitely. Maybe. Hand-written letters on headed stationery, recently found in the attic of the Isle of Man home of Royle, show labels like Rough Trade, Factory Records and Polydor courted and encouraged the band to keep playing and recording.
Thirty-five years later, these long-forgotten ¼-inch reel tapes from Pentagon Studios were discovered in the loft of a mutual friend, their manager having handed them off to him 24 years earlier. These musical time capsules contained tracks the band members themselves hadn’t heard in over three decades, offering a poignant reconnection with their creative past and tantalising glimpses of what might have been. “We realised we were actually as good as we remembered,” says Alty. The memories between the band members are blurred and contradictory but the tapes hold everything together, they are real, definite and irrefutable. With the release of ‘Hello Flower’, Joanna is no longer “the most popular band without a record out,” as NME called them in 1990, but their singular spirit is now available for anyone who wants a taste. The simple beauty of youth can only be experienced when you are invincible, fulfilling your natural destiny, buoyed by complete optimism… This record captures innocence untainted by failure. Beyond analysis, beyond critique, just lost in the groove.
Joanna will play a sold out show at Manchester’s Low Four Studio on Saturday December 13th. More information here.
French psych-rock / yé-yé enthusiasts The Limiñanas have returned with a new album, Faded, that includes an impressive lineup of friends helping them pay tribute to many forgotten (faded) film stars of a bygone era.
The opening track, “Spirale,” brings you back to smoky, sexy 1960s French nightclubs with simple, elegant piano tones and guitar fuzz. They team up with Primal Scream‘s Bobby Gillespie on “Prisoner of Beauty,” in which Gillespie sings about women being thrilled with the exotic worlds of modeling and film and later feeling trapped there as time takes its toll. Their team up with French actor / musician / composer Bertrand Belin on “J’adore le Monde” (“I Love the World.”) is a gritty, groovy rocker, as is “Shout” featuring another Frenchman, Rover. “Shout” moves back and forth between trippy verses and a sharp call-and-response chorus while Lionel Limiñana uses his guitar to create a weird atmosphere around you.
Penny joins the band on the title track, and her lovely vocals evoke memories of long-gone girl groups and classic country singers. Anna Jean‘s breathy vocals on “Catherine” will leave you wondering, “Catherine who?” and “Where can I find these women?” You can tell there’s a fascinating story here.
“The Dancer” is an instrumental tribute to Lionel and MarieLimiñana‘s friend frequent video collaborator Foulquesde Boixo, known as “The Dancer” or “The Dancing Man” in so many of The Limiñanas’ music videos. Appropriately, it has a great beat from Marie that will have you dancing with de Boixo in spirit.
“Space Baby” is one of two collaborations with Jon Spencer and Pascal Comelade on the album and it has Spencer singing about a woman who’s so far out of his reach she might as well be in space. “Tu Viens, Marie?” (“Are You Coming, Marie?”) can be taken a few different ways. Does it refer to Marie Limiñana herself? That’s a good guess, as the vocals are back and forth between her and Lionel. Does it refer to a journey or something, ahem, else? I like the mystery of it, so I’ll leave it as such.
Their cover of “Louie Louie” is the type of cover only they could pull off, as they turn the weird garage rock classic into a whispered, yet loud, psychedelic freakout. The couple give us a tour of their house, and the stuff from all over the world throughout it, on “Autour de Chez Moi” (“Around My House”). Again, it seems like only they could perform a song like this, turning a walk-through of their place almost into a meditative mantra.
Mr. Spencer and Mr. Comelade return on “Degenerate Star” with Spencer singing about forgotten fame and how fast one can fall from the public eye when the next big thing appears (“All I’ve got is this picture, and your smell. Where did you go?…I was a star, the biggest, brightest star. Don’t you remember? Have you forgotten everything?”).
The album ends with their cover of Françoise Hardy‘s “Ou Va la Chance?” (“Where Does the Luck Go?”). Hardy was a yé-yé icon in the 1960s, who, like de Boixo, died in recent years. She often sang about heartbreak and missed opportunities for love, and the album fading out with a song written by her is a perfect way to end a record about fading stardom.
Faded is a lovely and groovy record that assures us that the Limiñanas aren’t fading just yet and that those who came before them will stay with us a while longer.
JL Records at 380 Brown Street in West Lafayette, Indiana claims to be “Lafayette’s Largest & Best CD Store.” It must be, and probably is the largest and best in the entire state. Their inventory is astounding.
That’s just one corner of the store. The place is full of CDs packed into racks and boxes and shelves everywhere you look.
They also sell VHS tapes, DVDs, vintage video games, and plenty of box sets and collectible items.
That’s a great example — a super rare collection of Ann-Margret‘s singles that I’d never seen until I visited this place.
Don’t worry, vinyl lovers, they have an entire loft of records for you.
It’s amazing that I spent less than $100.00 here. I walked out with CDs by The The, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, TV Priest, and more. Be sure to have a couple hours to spare if you go there. You’ll need it.
This song is dedicated to TITE guitarist Paul Boutin, who recently lost his battle with cancer. As Paul Lovecraft, he was a prolific musician, releasing music even after an operation nicked his vocal chords. Having met Tombstones’ main-man John Treanor at Kitten Robot Studios about 10 years ago while working on his own projects, they fell into the same orbital realms until Paul eventually joined the band.
The song features John Treanor on vocals and guitar, Paul Boutin on guitar, Nic Nifoussi on bass, Paul Roessler on keyboards, Stephen Striegel on drums and percussion), and Courtney Davies, Clea Cullen and Joel Wasko on backing vocals,
“When our beloved friend and guitar player lost his life on 10/18/25, we were shocked, confused and incredibly saddened. Paul was so kind, generous, intelligent and always optimistic. Being in TITE was a source of pride and joy for Paul. He was so easy to be around and was dedicated, driving many hours for practices and shows, always bringing his cheerfulness and optimism. We miss him greatly and are glad he is all over this record,” says John Treanor.
“We were initially going to scrap ‘Alive and Well’ as a single after Paul’s passing (for obvious reasons), but because it was one of Paul’s favorites and a song on which he played guitar, we are going ahead with the release. The lyrics are about rising out of desperate circumstances with newfound strength – something Paul himself experienced, having dragged himself out of his own difficulties to ultimately rebuild a life full of joy and purpose. While not planned that way, ‘Alive and Well’ ended up being a statement of intent – a story of a journey from despair to strength.”
A year on from their ‘Asylum Harbour’ album, this record emerged during a year of intense personal change, before finally moving into a place of light and gratitude. Recorded and engineered by Paul Roessler (The Screamers, Nina Hagen, 45 Grave) at Kitten Robot Studios, this album was co-produced by John Treanor and mastered by multi-platinum engineer Alex DeYoung at DeYoung Masters (Michael Jackson, BTS, Macy Gray, The Linda Lindas, TSOL).
As of November 11, ‘Alive and Well’ is available everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Musicand Bandcamp, where the ‘Asylum Harbour’ album can also be found on CD and red vinyl. On December 5, the ‘Under Dark Skies’ album will be released digitally and on vinyl via Little Cloud Records (US) and Shore Dive Records (UK and EU).
Check out that album cover. That pretty much sums up how The Quality of Mercury‘s new album, The Voyager, is going to sound.
Jeremiah Rouse, otherwise known as The Quality of Mercury, has come back from a nine-year journey to release his new record, and my guess is that was how long he was cruising around in that spaceship on the album’s cover because The Voyager is full of cosmic riffs and epic sounds that seem to drift around distant planets or alongside speeding comets.
“Moonrise” starts off the journey with Rouse proclaiming, “Sleeping giant rise. It’s time to breathe the stars.” The sleeping giant could be us, the moon, the Earth, a celestial being, or just the sound of the entire album. “Radiate” blasts you with Hum-like intensity and an intense tale of an astronaut fleeing a burning, crumbling ship in one last ditch effort to leap from his craft to a space station and hope his oxygen doesn’t run out before he can reach it. “Ganymede” is a story of how the future, or even distant moons, aren’t far enough to escape heartbreak (“Thirteen was the number of the airlock where you left me…Now I’m broken and still frozen on this ice moon where you left me.”).
“Heaven’s Gate” is indeed about the doomed cult of the same name, but not about its ideals. It’s about how those people wanted to find something in the stars that they were missing on Earth…even though it was around them the entire time. The thick bass line Rouse plays on it is a good touch. “Desperate Measures” has two lovers on opposite sides of space taking great risks to reunite. This theme of longing for connection is prevalent on the whole record, and Rouse has said how “…relationships, both human and spiritual, are at the center of everything.”
“Receiving Hertz” has Rouse (Who, by the way, plays everything on this record.) singing about wishing for a human connection across vast distances as he gets “signals from a distant light. Receiving hertz, but still out of sight.” Rouse’s guitar work on “Selenite” has so many layers to it that it feels like he’s terraforming a landscape with it. The title track, which ends the album, has Rouse leaving on his journey into the stars to search “…for purpose and meaning, but the space goes on and on. Tranquil horizons deceiving.” He thinks he’ll be alone, and he might be right, but he also knows he has to make the launch.
We all do at some point, be it into adulthood, parenthood, a new job, a new relationship, a move across the country or the cosmos. We’re all seeking connection here on Earth and even across our galaxy. It’s the eternal quest, and The Quality of Mercury invites us to take it.
Earlier this year, “Americana darling” (Bandcamp) Valerie June released her new album, Owls, Omens, and Oracles, via Concord to high acclaim. NPR Music deemed the album “inspiring…music that’s bringing people together,” while Paste described June as “one of roots music’s premiere cosmic travelers.” Today, June unveils a new single, “Runnin’ and Searchin’,” accompanied by a visualizer filmed by Dr. Ietef Vita in Big Sur, California.
Owls, Omens, and Oracles was a means for June to explore the discovery of a glimmer of hope in challenging times. “Part of the reflection is realizing that we are all oracles who write the future with every choice we make throughout the day,” June explains. “To write about our future, we must know something of the past. From heartbreak to poverty, oppression, injustice, failures, and pain, we all experience loss. ‘Runnin’ and Searchin” is a song that encourages us to use our setbacks as a doorway as we steadily step into the uncertain and unknown path that lies awaiting us with every tomorrow we’re gifted.”
June’s singular sound and energy is an undeniable north star. Her Tennessee twang grips listeners, with her expansive sound growing from her psychedelic folk, indie rock, Appalachian, bluegrass, country soul, orchestral pop, and blues root system. Halfway through a decade of immense and rapid global change, Valerie asserts a multidimensional Blackness steeped in laughter, truth, magic, delight, and interdependence.
“The resolutely upbeat Valerie June” (New York Times) is an author, poet, Grammy®-nominated singer-songwriter and three-time Americana Music Honors and Awards nominee. She’s been praised by Bob Dylan and written music for Mavis Staples. She is the subject of an exhibit at the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) in Nashville featuring artifacts from her storied career. She has shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Dinosaur Jr., John Prine, Tyler Childers, Brandi Carlile, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, Meshell Ndegeocello, and well beyond.
Following a run of shows in Tokyo and the southwestern United States, this fall and winter, June continues on her Big Ole Worldwide Tour.
Valerie June Big Ole Worldwide Tour Dates Sat. Nov. 15 – Barcelona, ES @ Feroe’ 25 Festival Sun. Nov. 16 – Valencia, ES @ 16 Toneladas Tue. Nov. 18 – Madrid, ES @ Teatro Magno Wed. Nov. 19 – Bilbao, ES @ Bilborock Thu. Nov. 20 – Santiago de Compostela, ES @ Outono Códax Festival 2025 (Sala Capitol) Sun. Nov. 30 – Paris, France @ New Morning Mon. Dec. 1 – London, UK @ EartH Theatre – SOLD OUT Tue. Dec. 2 – Brussels, BE @ Orangerie Botanique Wed. Dec. 3 – Amsterdam, NL @ Zonnehuis Thu. Dec. 4 – Rotterdam, NL @ Bird Fri. Dec. 12 – New York, NY @ Town Hall Thu. Jan. 15 – Mon. Jan. 19 – Puerto Aventuras, Q.R. @ Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky – SOLD OUT Wed. Feb. 11 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Carnegie Lecture Hall
Thirty years ago, Stomp Records kicked off in Montreal with a simple mission: to give Canada’s independent punk and ska bands a home, a voice, and a way to reach beyond their own city limits. It was an ambitious idea for a couple of musicians with no business plan and even less money, a plan that should’ve crashed harder than a tour van on bald tires in a prairie blizzard. Instead, it helped ignite a national movement and built one of Canada’s longest-running and most influential independent labels. From day one, Stomp Records wasn’t just releasing records, it was building culture. In the pre-internet era, Canadian punk and ska scenes were thriving in isolation, each city a bubble. Stomp burst those bubbles, uniting bands from coast to coast, creating touring circuits, and turning hometown heroes into cross-country road warriors. “This label is built on community, creativity, and helping each other get our shot,” says Stomp co-founder Matt Collyer. “We’re still here because the fans show up, the bands work their asses off, and we love every minute of doing this.”
Throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, Stomp helped define the next wave of Canadian punk and ska, not by chasing trends but by championing artists with grit, conviction, and personality. They supported small scenes through compilation series (The All-Skanadian Club) and got in the van with bands — literally and figuratively — helping develop careers from the bar circuit to international festival stages. As trends shifted and the music industry free-fell into the Napster era, most indie labels folded. Stomp didn’t. They embraced digital early, built a full-service ecosystem of booking, management, and publicity, and widened their sonic scope to reflect the beautifully messy realities of underground music. Punk, ska, rockabilly, hardcore, folk-punk, skate-punk, bagpipes, brass, blood, sweat. if it had guts and a pulse of rebellion, Stomp gave it a home.
That fearless curation brought countless Canadian subcultural staples into the world: The Real McKenzies, Wine Lips, The Dreadnoughts, The Flatliners, The Creepshow, The Anti-Queens, Brutal Youth, Belvedere, Bedouin Soundclash, Raygun Cowboys, PKEW PKEW PKEW, The Sainte-Catherines, Down By Law, Snuff… and many more who continue to fill rooms and make noise worldwide. It has never been a smooth ride. Along the way there have been industry collapses, floods, robberies, broken bones, car jackings, even literal Nazi attacks. Somehow, through all of that, a few Juno nominations, a win, and accidental gold and platinum plaques still ended up on their walls.“The odds were stacked against us from day one,” says long-time Stomp partner Mike Magee. “Luckily Stomp Records didn’t, and still doesn’t, give one single flying f*ck about the odds.”
Three decades in, the mission hasn’t changed: artists first, community always, and a stubborn refusal to water anything down. And the stats speak for themselves: nearly 300 releases with distribution in over 190 countries, artists who’ve earned Juno recognition, and alumni who have gone on to perform in Simple Plan, Walk Off The Earth, Kings of Leon, The Stills, Patrick Watson and Broken Social Scene among a long list of others.
To celebrate surviving 30 wild years, and because they love any excuse for a loud night out, they’re celebrating with a nationwide run of absolute blowout shows. A toast to every late-night drive, every curb-side gear load, every sweaty pit, and every fan who ever found belonging in the chaos.
For interview opportunities with Stomp founders and artists, please reach out. -Chad
30TH ANNIVERSARY SHOWS
Nov 21 – Vancouver – The Rickshaw Theatre
The Real McKenzies, The Planet Smashers, Raygun Cowboys
