Modsnap Radio

It’s been three years since the California punk institution Ceremony released In The Spirit World Now, their last album. Ceremony have been consistently moving from sound to sound ever since their early powerviolence days, and In The Spirit World Now took clear inspiration from new wave in general and from early New Order in particular. In the time since that LP’s release, the members of Ceremony have kept themselves busy […]

The Fest, the annual gathering of punk bands in Gainesville, Florida around Halloween, has announced the lineup for its 20th iteration. It’s going down in venues around Gainesville this Oct. 28-30, and it once again features every punk band on Earth. Topping the bill are a whopping six veteran groups playing two sets apiece: hometown heroes Hot Water Music, Anti-Flag, Bouncing Souls, Piebald, Samiam, and the Flatliners. Also on deck […]

Scottish greats Mogwai have had a fascinating career. They pioneered the post-rock genre in the ’90s, stretching the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic way beyond its logical extreme, and then they stayed together and made the transition into providing tingly scores for movies and TV shows. These days, Mogwai can make their own records, like last year’s Mercury Prize-nominated As The Love Continues, and they can also score things like the 2020 Amazon […]

The War On Drugs bassist Dave Hartley has announced a new album under his Nightlands moniker. Titled Moonshine, Hartley’s new project is out in July and follows 2017’s I Can Feel The Night Around Me. Today, Hartley is sharing the album’s title track, which also has a music video by Daniel Fox and Ray Lynch. Recorded in Hartley’s Asheville home studio, Moonshine features guest spots from Western Vinyl labelmate and […]

JB Dunckel, one half of the French duo Air, has announced a new solo album called Carbon, his follow-up to 2018’s H+. “When you burn it, it doesnʼt go away,” he noted of the titular element. “Itʼs full of strength — diamonds are crystallized carbon. Carbon is the thing that makes you solid. Itʼs the most important thing in our bodies and in our lives, but weʼre hardly aware of […]

Lou Barlow has a whole lot going on these days: The Dinosaur Jr. reunion, his ongoing career as leader of Sebadoh, his solo music. And now another Barlow project has come back to life. Barlow and his pen-pal John Davis started the Folk Implosion in 1993, and the duo scored an honest-to-god hit two years later when their ominous banger “Natural One” appeared on the Kids soundtrack. Folk Implosion haven’t […]

In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present. *** From a certain perspective, “Always Be My Baby” is one of the sweetest, prettiest, most effortless songs that’s come out of Mariah Carey’s long career. The song isn’t exactly Mariah working within her comfort zone. Instead, […]

As you might have heard, Arcade Fire are preparing to release a new album, WE, next month. After sending a series of mysterious postcards to fans (and posting web ads), Arcade Fire debuted a few songs live at New Orleans’ Toulouse Theatre a few weeks ago, including lead single “The Lightning I, II.” Now, the band is sharing a preview of their next single, “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid).” In a […]

Last week, Lucius released Second Nature, their first new album in six years. During that extended time in between albums, the indie pop duo’s Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe frequently popped up as featured guests on songs by artists like the War On Drugs and Brandi Carlile. They also contributed vocals to Harry Styles’ 2019 album Fine Line on the track “Treat People With Kindness,” though they’re only listed in […]