Slipknot, Korn, Post-Malone, Smashing Pumpkins, Nickelback and More Received Millions in PPP Loans According to a U.S. Government Report


According to a report from Lambgoat.com and The New York Post, Kentucky senator Rand Paul’s annual “Festivus Report” has shared his annual report for Christmas deriding U.S. government federal spending. The report highlights that over $200 million was allocated to music artists and their touring companies through the Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. The program appears to have benefitted not only small enterprises but also well-known names in the music industry. Applicants were eligible to receive 45% of their 2019 gross revenue up to $10 million per grant. This news is not new, is several years old, and was a source of contention from bands and fans following the pandemic, but this is first time the amounts dispersed were made public. Some of the notable recipients identified in the report include Korn receiving $5.3 million, and Slipknot receiving $9.7 million, with an additional $1.05 million going to Slipknot’s Knotfest music festival. It’s noted by Paul that the $416 billion grant program was intended to aid struggling live venue operators, theatrical producers, performing arts organizations, talent representatives, and movie theaters – entities that suffered significant losses during the pandemic. Coincidently, Paul’s state of Kentucky ranks 2nd in the United States in dependency on government handouts, so this report is always curious to political pundits. Other artists called out by Paul includes Post Malone, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, and Smashing Pumpkins, and non-Americans Nickleback (whose record label is US based, and thus their band is likely incorporated in the states.Continue reading


Listen to Palaye Royale Cover Smashing Pumpkins’ Classic Track “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”


 

Modern rockers Palaye Royale have released a cover of the Smashing Pumpkins iconic Nineteen nineties song “Bullet With Butterfly Wings!” The Palaye cover comes from thier recent contribution to the film soundtrack Divinity. Directed by Eddie Alcazar and Executive Produced by Steven Soderbergh and starring Scott Bakula, Stephen Dorff, Bella Thorne, Moises Arias, Jason Genao, and Karrueche Tran. The film had its premiere at Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023 and will be released theatrically in the United States on October 13, 2023. The film also features music by DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) and Dean Hurley. The OG Smashing Pumkins track is from their 1995 album Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Louise Post – Sleepwalker


 

As confessed in the song ‘Volcano Girls’ the seether is clearly Louise Post. Even after stepping out from behind the name Veruca Salt for Post’s debut solo album Sleepwalker (El Camino Media), the DNA of the band can be heard all over this album. The youthful enthusiasm that drove the nineties band still empowers this album, making it clear that she still has it.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Narrow Head – Moments Of Clarity


 

With their third outing Texas-based Narrow Head have created a body of music that if you were there, will well and truly spin you back in time to the mid-nineties. And if you weren’t there but nonetheless love the alternative rock sound of the time, then you’ll also find yourself intriguingly transported back to the era when baggy clothes and dirty scuzzy guitar riffs were the sign of the times. And on top of that Moments Of Clarity (Church Road Records) may well be considered a classic today, was it released some 25-30 years ago amongst the influences that it clearly wears on its sleeve.

 

And the record stands out today, as it lulls you into a sense of security before changing style and introducing heavier elements where the band sounds on their peak for me, before then throwing in a highly experimental closer. So the album opens with ‘The Real’ and a fuzzy grunge riff, with the vocal of Jacob Duarte sounding somewhere between an early Foo Fighters Dave Grohl, and an early Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan. There is a lighter nineties indie alternative rock style to the sound, which continues into ‘Moments Of Clarity’ invoking memories from the likes of Weezer, Placebo, and The Lemonheads. It’s clear from the first couple of tracks that Narrow Head can write one hell of a catchy riff with highly engaging vocal hooks, and then on ‘Sunday’ they introduce a Deftones-esq riff which more than hints at what’s to come.

 

‘Trepnation’ kicks like a mule with dirtier down-tuned guitars and a heavy chugging bass, and my attention has well and truly been captured by the change in tone. ‘Breakup Song’ is melancholic with a lovely entwine between the main riff and a rolling bass, while ‘Fine Day’ is another sweet heavy cut with crunching guitars.

 

On ‘Carline’ Narrow Head reverts back to the more melodic feel of the album’s first quarter, but from here it changes tact once again with the darker muddy sounding ‘The World Sunday’ and the explosive ‘Gearhead’, which slams into a late-nineties era Deftones style, with Duarte channeling a shoe-gaze Chino Moreno vocal. And with the first screams on the album laid down before a furious outro of impressive drumming and heavy distortion … More of this, please!

 

 

And the band delivers on ‘Flesh & Solitude’ with the further subtle use of screams in amongst the heavy intoxicating music with a beautiful outro of avant-garde percussive cacophony. The aptly titled ‘The Comedown’ follows with lush strumming and kind of a Pearl Jam flavour, which gradually builds to the climax of ‘Soft To Touch’ where a mischievous guitar line perfectly plays over electronic beats. I love the way this album twists and turns from the indie rock style into a heavier alternative beast, before turning full circle and then going completely leftfield with the use of electronica. And these changes in tone create a real album experience which should definitely be absorbed as one. This is where rock music needs to be, for me, in 2023.

 

Buy the album here:

https://www.runforcoverrecords.com/artists/narrow-head/products

 

8 / 10

ABSTRAKT_SOUL_

 


EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: The Amatory Murder Shares Their Cover of Smashing Pumpkins Classic Track “Zero”


Brooklyn Rockers The Amatory Murder has shared a perfectly creepy cover of the classic Smashing Pumpkins’ mid-1990s anthem “Zero”- right in time for Halloween! The awesome track has a little more sinister groove to it than the sped up original and is documented in a new video you can watch it here at Ghost Cult right now! The video was also directed by TAM’s Xian Murder! Check it out!

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FESTIVAL REVIEW: Riot Fest 2021: Live at Douglass Park


One of the titans of the North American summer Music Festival season is Riot Fest, and we were damn glad to see it come back strong in 2021. Especially after Lollapalooza did such bang up numbers coming back, and kept the safety methods strongto minimize the effects of the pandemic, you knew Riot Fest was going to go hard, and bring it big time. Even with the departures from the lineup of Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, and others, it was as stacked a lineup as the fest has ever had. If you’ve ever been to Riot Fest, Lollapalooza, Coachella or any other festival, you’ve witnessed the power of live music bringing people together. At Riot Fest 2021, we learned that even a global pandemic is no match for a community this passionate and devoted. What makes Riot Fest particularly special, though, is the integration of bands and artists from several generations, and the consequent mingling of their fans. Whether you’re twelve or sixty years old, there’s someone on the lineup for you.

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Riot Fest 2021 Adds Patti Smith, Alkaline Trio, The Flaming Lips and More


Riot Fest has made the final weekend additions to the 2021 event, kicking off September 19th, 2021, which will be the fest’s first-ever Thursday Preview Party. Patti Smith and Her Band and Alkaline Trio will join Thursday night, with additional sets from Joyce Manor (performing their self-titled 2011 debut), WDRL, and Kristeen Young. As for Sunday, The Flaming Lips will return to Riot Fest on Sunday, bringing the fest-favorites back to Douglass Park on September 19 to replace Pixies. Sunday attendees will also get into the Thursday Preview Party for free, with a host of freshly-announced perks included. Tickets are on sale now at the link below.

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Misfits to Perform All of “Walk Among Us” at Riot Fest 2022


“The Original Misfits” reunion of Danzig, Jerry Only, and Doyle has already announced they will perform at Aftershock Festival and now they will perform all of their classic Walk Among Us (Plan 9 Records) at Riot Fest 2022. Misfits will headline along with My Chemical Romance, already announced for 2022. tickets are on sale now for 2022 and this year’s Riot Fest features Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, DEVO, NOFX, Dinosaur Jr., Motion City Soundtrack, Smashing Pumpkins, Run the Jewels, Pixies, Circle Jerks, Coheed & Cambria, K.Flay, Meg Myers, Les Savy Fav, and many others to perform. My Chemical Romance has been announced as the first headliner for 2022 and tickets are on sale for both this year and next years’ fests at the link below. Riot Fest takes place every year at Douglass Park this fall (September 17–19) with a pair of announcements both for this year, and next year. In an unprecedented move, festival organizers are revealing the lineup for 2021, along with tickets for 2022. Three-day passes for both years are now on sale; 2021 single-day passes will go on sale next week, when more bands for 2021 will be announced.

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Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, DEVO, NOFX, Dinosaur Jr., Motion City Soundtrack Booked for Riot Fest 2201


A plethora of bands will descend on Chicago for the return of Riot Fest! Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, DEVO, NOFX, Dinosaur Jr., Motion City Soundtrack, Smashing Pumpkins, Run the Jewels, Pixies, Circle Jerks, Coheed & Cambria, K.Flay, Meg Myers, Les Savy Fav, and many others to perform. My Chemical Romance has been announced as the first headliner for 2022 and tickets are on sale for both this year and next years’ fests at the link below. Riot Fest takes place every year at Douglass Park this fall (September 17–19) with a pair of announcements both for this year, and next year. In an unprecedented move, festival organizers are revealing the lineup for 2021, along with tickets for 2022. Three-day passes for both years are now on sale; 2021 single-day passes will go on sale next week, when more bands for 2021 will be announced.

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