Tom Breihan

The wordy, club-centric UK duo Real Lies were a Band To Watch in 2021, and they released their LP Lad Ash last year. A few weeks ago, Real Lies dropped their single “Shirley Road” and announced plans to release a new EP called Sinking Suburb.  » Read More

The Kelly Clarkson cover song is back like it never left. The Kelly Clarkson Show, now a daytime-TV institution, resumed production after the writers’ strike ended, and Clarkson resumed her custom of singing a different song at the beginning of every episode. In the past month, she’s done songs like Olivia Rodrigo’s “  » Read More

In his long career, broadcasting lifer Howard Stern has taken exactly one major motion picture acting role, in the 1997 film Private Parts. If memory serves, he was at least halfway believable in the role of “Howard Stern.” Today, Stern revealed that he turned down a second big role —  » Read More

David Letterman created the CBS institution known as The Late Show, and he hosted it for 22 years before retiring in 2015. Stephen Colbert is Letterman’s immediate successor, and he’s been hosting the show for seven years now. In that time, Letterman had never been back to visit his old show or his studio until last night.  » Read More

Taylor Swift currently has the #1 song in America, once again, and that feels like small potatoes for her. At this point, Swift is basically bigger than popular music these days, and everything she does is a cultural event. Taylor Swift shows up in Brazil, and they turn the Christ The Redeemer statue into a damn Swiftie.  » Read More

In The Alternative Number Ones, I’m reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This column is a companion piece to The Number Ones, and it’s for subscribers only. Thank you to everyone who’s helping to keep Stereogum afloat.  » Read More

Together, the duo of Daryl Hall and John Oates were one of the biggest hits machines of the early ’80s, and they remain a huge draw on the nostalgia circuit. But Hall and Oates have apparently been going through some kind of mysterious behind-the-scenes legal issue lately, and the dispute has evidently gotten bad enough that Hall now has a restraining order against Oates.  » Read More

The Hope Conspiracy started in 1999, and they were part of the same ridiculously fertile Boston hardcore scene as bands like Converge, Bane, Cave In, American Nightmare, and the Suicide File. Starting with 2000’s Cold Blue, the HopeCon released three albums of hard-rockin’, swagged-out mosh music. As far as I can tell,  » Read More

Staring! At the blank page before you! Open up the dirty window! Let the sun illuminate the words that you cannot find! Reaching! For something in the distance! So close you can almost taste it! Release your inhibitions! Feel the rain on your skin! Motherfucker, you already know what it is. I shouldn’t have to tell you.  » Read More