This week marked the end of the RX Bandits' farewell run. I was more than fortunate enough to see the guys play one last time at the end of June at the very beginning of the tour, and I've been working on the way to express what the band has meant to me since picking up Progress for the first time so many years ago. As some of you may or may not know, my original username for the site was duffmanrxbandit. Head here to read my...[read more]

1999 looked liked one of the worst years for pop music - ever. The tweens (before they were deemed that by Disney marketers years later) ruled the radio dial, and one after another, the boy bands and jailbaited Tiger Beat pin-ups of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera (and some ten other individually wrapped Kraft slices) took over what was coined "pop music" at the time. In 1999, two other albums should have dominated pop - one by the Olivia Tremor Control and one by The Dismemberment Plan. While the former's...[read more]

There are few bands that are short lived that really make an impact in our personal musical journey. They're usually part of fads or trends and end up just being another disc collecting dust in our collection. Then there's a band like The Snake the Cross the Crown. A band backed by hype with an even bigger payoff. With a great EP and two solid releases under their belt, the band has disappeared since the release of 2007's Cotton Teeth. There's no evidence of hiatus or a break-up, but rather a limbo of whether the band...[read more]

Bodyjar never really found substantial success here in America, but the Australian punk rock band went through a whole hell of a lot to maintain their sanity and deliver six excellent full-lengths. You could say Bodyjar was Australia's version of Millencolin, and while the band hoped to revitalize themselves with a new record in 2008, it was short-lived and the group parted ways after their tour late last year. Whether this is your first official introduction to Bodyjar or you were a fan back when they were making music, we'd love to...[read more]

We all have that one musician that got us through our darkest moments; the only one whose words were comforting and made us feel less alone when we needed it most. For me, that person would be Elliott Smith, as I’m sure he was for many others out there, and it makes sense that I’m struggling to find the right words to write this little piece in his memory. It’s been 7 years since he left and it never becomes easier to accept the fact that he is gone. I broke down when I came back from school 7 years ago and found out that my...[read more]

Not everyone knows Terminal began under the moniker Letter Twelve in 1998, but a sea of hearts were broken when they disbanded in 2006. The Mansfield, TX band had a propensity for writing the most powerful music - How The Lonely Keep, their only Tooth & Nail album, was one of the great emo releases of the 00's. When Travis Bryant belted "Somewhere in between here and the window pane, life is gray," we sat up straight in our seats; when he screamed "Someday you'll learn no place will make you happier!" we...[read more]

In lieu of this week's Weekly Nostlagia, I went and saw the Pixies on their current tour, where they're performing Doolittle all the way through. Check out my review of their first night in Austin.

Sense Field was one of the more underrated pioneers of the early emo rock movement. Despite going through major-label turbulence and never finding their true breakthrough hit (minus the blip on the radar screen that was "Save Yourself"), the band has remained a vital example of what emotionally-charged rock music has contributed to our modern scene. Whether this is your first official introduction to Sense Field or you were a fan back when they were making music, we'd love to hear your thoughts and reflections. Respect...[read more]

As J-14 Magazine prepares to pimp Runner Runner in all future issues, let us take a moment to look back on better times. Namely, Don't Look Down, a pop-punk band who hailed from New Jersey during a time when v-neck shirts, pesky haircuts and a wide array of spectacularly unusual eyeglass wear was nowhere in sight; it was Midtown, The Early November and Senses Fail. Simpler times, really. Don't Look Down got their start making their way through basement shows and cover sets in the local area. The band soon found themselves attached...[read more]

With a name like Much the Same, it's no coincidence. The young melodic punk quartet were not creating anything new - just keeping a then-fossilized genre alive & well, tending to it like a beautiful war nurse to a wounded veteran. This group of Chicago kids only released three records in 8 years, but found a very loyal and steady following, even well after their demise in 2007. Their 2006 full-length Survive is on par with any solid effort from A Wilhelm Scream or Rise Against, and helped pave the way for modern...[read more]

"Please tell me whyyyyyyy..." Don't lie: you still pump your vocals up as loud as you possibly can every time "My Own Worst Enemy," the massive hit single from Lit's 1999 breakthrough A Place in the Sun, comes on during your iPod shuffle playlist. The SoCal quartet might have made a name for themselves with one of the late-90's most recognizable guitar riffs, but the band was more than its singles. Coming up with the likes of No Doubt, Sugar Ray and the Offspring, Lit were a combination of California surf, classic heavy metal and melodic '70's pop all rolled into one...[read more]

Blame it on Bobby Knight. Who else was the fuel for the rage and aggression that emanated from Indianapolis quintet Split Lip, who shook the foundation of the Hoosier State with their hyper-literate, dense amalgamation of late 90s emo and hardcore. Co-songwriters David Mead and Seth Rubenstein announced their status as forces to be reckoned with with the brash and brawny Archived Music for Stubborn People, followed a few years later by For the Love of the Wounded, And then just as things were picking up, everything changed. The band released the opus Fate's Got a...[read more]

If there was ever a band that understood the indie rock sound, it was This Day and Age. The Buffalo, New York quintet dropped three albums in its lifetime: Start Over On Monday, Always Leave the Ground and The Bell and Hammer, swooning more hearts with each release. Their music was stunningly beautiful and often boiled down to a few signature characteristics: atmosphere, intricacy and a decent dose of pulsing rock (for the perfect example, see “Always Straight Ahead”). They...[read more]

Some bands come about and have more influence on music than many would like to give credit to. Unfortunately, many of these artists fall off too quickly and are only honorary name drops amongst some of our favorite artists. With the anticipation of the next Jimmy Eat World album, we can't forget a little band from Colorado. Christie Front Drive were shaping the forefront of the indie/emo hybrid around the time of bands such as Texas is the Reason, Mineral and Boys Life. Only releasing a handful of 7" and splits (including...[read more]

When it comes to bands you can't believe never hit the big time, The Stereo has to be on your short list. The promising pop-rock band only released three full-length records, but alongside Jamie Woolford's seamless vocal power and production know-how, the ever-shifting lineup made plenty of waves in a very short period of time. As one of Fueled by Ramen's first real successes, the Stereo were a diamond in a coalmine during a time when nu-metal, boy bands and snarky pop-punk ruled the scene. Woolford and...[read more]

Maybe calling certain albums a "classic" overshadows certain appreciation for a record amongst a community that gauges albums so differently. For this week's nostalgia, I've taken another spin on mewithoutYou's 2004's Catch For Us the Foxes and attempt to understand its legacy amongst fans of the band. Hit the replies for some words and give us your take, the first time you heard it or what the album has meant to you as a fan or casual listener.

As it was last year, our latest Absolute Classics article was good for stimulating discussion, and I was more than a little pleased to see one comment that Zen Arcade should have made our list. It's one of my favorite albums, and I'll certainly consider it next time around. For now, suffice it that we shine this week's AP.net Remembers spotlight on Hüsker Dü.

Easily one of the most influential band's of the '80s, Bob Mould, Grant Hart and Company produced a dizzying amount of material in their short...[read more]

Victory Records. The mere utterance of those two words in conjunction around AP.net-land is likely to generate responses of disdain and derision. Regardless of the label's treatment of beloved fan-favorites and its recent penchant for signing generic flavors-of-the-week, it has also undeniably pushed out some truly classic albums, not the least of which came from today's spotlight band, Grade. Their first album for the label, 1999's Under the Radar was the sound of a band coming into their own. When listening to it...[read more]

After you've been locked into a groove for a long time, it's never easy when things have run their course and the time comes to leave it all behind and move on. However, history offers us countless encouraging examples of bitter ends becoming sweet new beginnings, one notable example of which involves the breakup of Blake Schwarzenbach's revered punk band Jawbreaker and his re-emergence with Jets to Brazil.

With Schwarzenbach teaming up with the likes of Chris Daly (ex-Texas Is the Reason), was it even...[read more]

You probably can't do much more to gain cred than sign on with Dischord Records and get Ian MacKaye to co-produce your album. With Q and Not U, though, the Fugazi frontman couldn't have picked a more perfect band to usher his venerable D.C. label into the 21st Century. With their music firmly rooted in the intelligent post-hardcore of the label's past, Q and Not U also embodied their forebears' forward-thinking and boundary-pushing ethos, tossing spazzy, danceable rhythms together with abrasive, clangy riffs into their...[read more]

Where's Weekly Nostalgia? Well, it hasn't exactly gone anywhere. We just beefed it up and gave it this new name. We'll still be paying tribute to those bands that made up the soundtrack for your high school summers, but we didn't want to limit ourselves to the recently departed. Rest assured that each week, we'll be shining the spotlight on a band from yesteryear that's shaped the music of today. Few bands exemplify humble beginnings spawning something hugely influential quite like Cap'n Jazz. I mean here's a band that...[read more]

With their recent 20th anniversary reunion and upcoming performance at next week's Coachella festival, what better time to direct the WN spotlight on Pavement, the '90s most brilliantly demented pop songsmiths? The problem with focusing on such an iconic band is, of course, saying something about them that already hasn't been said better somewhere else.

Pavement aren't my favorite band, but from a purely analytical standpoint, they probably should be. Maybe in time, they will be. See, Stephen Malkmus's...[read more]

Aesthetically, no one wants to ever be told what to expect. If a sound is so far off course from the norm, sometimes we don't even retain what just hit us right away. Like any sort of genre-defying move, the ideas eventually get regurgitated and overly run into the ground, or the ideas stem from earlier ground that never surfaced and took notice on a major level first. Refused has written their history with their 1998 album, The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimercial Bombination in 12 Bursts. It was an album inspired by an inner circle of friends and musicians in Sweden who were...[read more]

These bands we look back on with fond memories, it seems most of them lasted only a few short years and left behind scant discographies. Perhaps having an all-too-short career adds to the mystique and makes a band an obvious subject for a feature like this. However, for proof that a band can hang around for a decade, produce five excellent albums and still leave us wanting more, enter Hot Rod Circuit. Their early records were filled with angsty guitar rock, perfect for bespectacled teens into Weezer, Piebald and The Get...[read more]

With just a single full-length, an EP, and a couple of singles in their catalog, Texas Is the Reason were living proof that longevity isn't required for a band to make an enduring impression. Letting go of the tough-guy posturing of their previous hardcore bands and turning toward decidedly more melodic and emotional waters, the band formed in 1994 and lasted just three short years, leaving behind precious little to remember them by, perhaps making each selection seem all the more special because of it. Not that...[read more]

A punk band bringing back the Spirit of '77 in the early years of the 21st Century seems like one of the unlikeliest acts to incite a major label bidding war, but after the success of their relentless debut full-length Flash Flash Flash, that's exactly what happened with The Explosion. Eventually landing at Virgin Records, the Boston quintet didn't water down their sound much with their jump to the majors, keeping their old-school punk revivalism largely intact and releasing Black Tape, another fiery and...[read more]

Situated just North of the Rio Grande, dusty El Paso, Texas, seems like the kind of place likely to give rise to Western and Latin-influenced sounds, but in the early 1990's a different kind of storm was brewing. With their first live performance in October 1994, the post-hardcore juggernaut known as At the Drive-In was unleashed on the world, and on the strength of two early EPs and enthusiastic word-of-mouth, the quintet drew the attention of Flipside Records, who released their 1996 debut full-length Acrobatic...[read more]

Even if you prefer Matthew Good’s recent solo efforts, I think it’s hard to deny that some very excellent records came out of his time in the Matthew Good Band. The Canadian alternative rock act formed in the early 90’s and released a record called Last of the Ghetto Astronauts before hitting it big with Underdogs in 1997. That album’s opener “Deep Six” has a catchy chorus that still pulls me in even to this day and “Apparitions” is one hauntingly beautiful track. My personal favourite though is...[read more]

Imagine if the Ramones had at least one female vocalist backing them up while Ben Weasel wrote their songs. Now you know what Teen Idols sound like, a rotating four-piece based out of Nashville (now Chicago) that always played second fiddle to their skate-punk peers. Perhaps it was due to their powerpop-infused harmonies or lack of political awareness, yet no matter how you spell it, their four full-length albums were something to celebrate. While the band plans to return later this year with new material, it's been...[read more]

Coming out of Berkeley, California in the late '80's, Samiam helped spark a craze that fused alternative college rock with punk ethics, fastening their legitimacy onto the '90's indie music scene with several well-received records (Clumsy, You Are Freaking Me Out). While they never reached the mainstream level of success they hoped to achieve after releasing two major-label efforts, the band had a devoted following until quietly ending things in 2000. The group did reform in 2006, however, for one more album...[read more]