Category: news

Watching The Tide, the posthumous album by late guitar great Steve Cropper, is out today. Amongst its dozen tracks is My Angels Are Calling, a poignant number co-written and sung by Queen guitarist Brian May – featuring a solo from ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons – and a video for the song has been released today.

“We were all incredibly sad at Steve’s passing, and I was already collaborating with Steve and his band on a track for this album,” says May. “The backing track, which Jon Tiven, producer of the album and a very old friend of mine, sent me, includes Steve Cropper’s unmistakable riff in a style which has influenced us all massively over the years.

“As soon as Steve was gone, I could hear something different in my head – a tribute to Cropper himself. The way I saw it, I wanted to try to step into his mind at the moment when he knew it was time to move on. So in the track I’m attempting to speak with his voice, and I felt that spiritually he would find a way of bringing his usual optimism into play.

“In the song, the angels are calling, and it seems to me that, along with being grateful for his wonderful life, he would imagine heaven to be something like going back to sitting on the dock of the bay, a moment in time that he shared with Otis Redding, creating that immortal hit, Dock Of The Bay. Having Billy Gibbons play a spectacular solo for me is the final wonderful bonus to this experience. The whole band did a terrific job, and I’m very proud to be a part of it.”

“Brian is singing from Steve’s point of view,” says songwriter/producer Jon Tiven, who oversaw the project. “Looking back over his life and his road. It’s very powerful.”

Cropper, the legendary guitarist with Booker T. & the MG’s, the Blues Brothers, and many more, passed away on December 3 last year, aged 84. He had been working on Watching The Tide, the follow-up to 2024’s Friendlytown, in the months prior to his death, and had completed 10 of its 11 tracks with Tiven. The album features several guest players in addition to May and Gibbons, including Ronnie Wood and Eric Clapton, who delivered a transcendent solo on the first single from the album, Ticket First.

“I told Eric, ‘Man, you just turned that song inside-out – I think we’re gonna have to give you a writer’s credit,” says Tiven. “And Eric said, ‘Well, anything to get my name next to Steve Cropper’s…’”

Watching The Tide – named in tribute to Dock Of The Bay – is out today.

If you question my expertise on sceney-bopper-ness, let me walk you through a moment in time.

I’m standing in the sitting room, my mother in the kitchen, and I’m begging her to let me either a) cut my fringe to one of those cool, massive emo fringes that were huge on Tumblr, or b) let me dye my hair purple. Guess which one I got?

Neither.

And while I was angry at the time – in much retrospect (death), I do appreciate the hit she took from me on that one. Because instead of photos of me at 13, wearing an egregious amount of eyeliner, an emo fringe, with purple streaks, there are now photos of me with just an egregious amount of eyeliner.

With her telling me that ‘it was just a phase,’ I’d ‘grow out of it,’ ‘I wouldn’t want the haircut after the novelty wore off’,’ and ‘hair dye takes a lot of maintenance.’ To that, I asked for a cartilage piercing, which, to my 13-year-old brain was neither permanent and took little maintenance beyond its healing period. What do you think her answer was to that?

In my anger, I stormed off into my room, as very much expected from a young teen, saying to the air behind me, “It’s not a phase, mom!”

And guess what, I’m still writing about the little teeny-bopper bands that I listened to when I was a kid… even after death. So, hah! Guess who was right, Mom?

That’s my expertise. And here’s what we having dropping in vinyl for the sceney boppers in the audience.

Beartooth – Pure Ecstasy

A band many scene kids have grown up with. From watching them open for Sleeping with Sirens and Pierce The Veil on their co-headlining tour a decade or so ago, to now hearing vocalist Caleb Shomo reflect on the torment that drew a lot of fans to their first records as it articulated something we didn’t know how to in our young age… there’s a certain full-circle moment, hence why I just went several lines without making a joke. I’m gonna show my therapist it is possible (listen, I’ll be real here, there are therapists in the afterlife (for those of you worried). Even ghosts have problems, and the vow isn’t void just because they’re dead. Same way student loans don’t die with you).

Purchase the LP from the band here.

Thornhill – Bodies Definitive

Not just critically acclaimed, but the rather viral Thornhill record, Bodies has been reprinted on two new exclusive vinyl variants, with the first already sold out. The second left up for sale is still up for pre-order and also features alternate album artwork. Thornhill is one of those sweet spot bands: the actual good bands that sceney-boppers find themselves drawn towards but can still be enjoyed by normal people. Looking at you, Black Veil Brides, fan-base.

Check out the rerelease here.

Underoath – Define The Great Line

Another sweet-spot sceney-bopper band that both helped shape the scene the way into what it is now, but also attracts sceney-boppers who actually do the research into their favorite bands’ favorite bands. Underoath has reissued Define The Great Line for its 20th anniversary – anyone feel old yet? These next few years will definitely make 2010s emos feel quite old as we hit decade and 20-year anniversaries for some of our favorite LPs – and it’s on a fancy new colored vinyl with all new cover art.

Get your hands on it before the kids get their grubby paws do here.

The Warning – Everything’s Falling

You remember those three little girls on the (now-disgraced) Ellen DeGeneres show over a decade ago that played Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Crazy Train” at just 14, 12, and 9 years old? The appearance landed them with some financial aid to attend the Berklee College of Music, and here now is the Grammy-nominated hard rock trio that have unleashed their newest, more poppier venture on some pretty cool LPs. With pink, a picture disk, and more up for grabs, their melodic hard rock is perfect for scene-beginners (pun intended).

Pick up a copy here.

The post DROPOCALYPSE FRIDAY: Another One for the Sceney Boppers in the Audience appeared first on MetalSucks.

Shere Khan is a Finnish rock band that we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing during Tuska Festival. We asked them about women in metal, life as an artist and more.

The post Interview with Shere Khan first appeared on FemMetal – Goddesses of Metal.

They're apparently not retiring (again). And playing with former long-time drummer Zak Starkey (again). Continue reading…

Last fall, Mac DeMarco handed out CD-R copies of an unannounced new album called Dog On The Rock on his European tour. That wasn’t the only secret, tour-only DeMarco album to materialize over the past year. He’s since created three more CDs, distributed under the titles Seven Off The Two, Seaplane Dog, and The View From Tian Tian. These were previously little treasures available only to those who went to see a Mac DeMarco show, but as of today, the whole world gets to partake.

The post Mac DeMarco’s Four Secret Tour-Only CDs Are Now On Streaming appeared first on Stereogum.

It’s here! It exists! Way back in March 2025, Erykah Badu revealed that she was working on a collaborative album with rap production giant the Alchemist. This was obviously a big deal, since Badu hadn’t released an album since 2010’s New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh) or an album-length work since the 2015 mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone. Badu and Alchemist released a single called “Next To You” last June, and then nothing. Finally, after more than a year, they returned with the single “Witch Doctor” earlier this month, and they announced that the LP finally had a release date. But since it didn’t have a title, cover, or tracklist, there was still some cause for skepticism. Banish that skepticism right now. For the first time in 16 years, we have a new Erykah Badu album today.

The post Erykah Badu & The Alchemist Release New Album <em>Before The World Blows</em> Feat. Steve Lacy, Earl Sweatshirt, Thundercat, & More appeared first on Stereogum.

Boston’s Final Gasp are a breath of fresh air in the underground community. Converging at the intersection of deathrock and hardcore, the Northeast quintet have developed a sound they can call their own. While this year’s powerful offering New Day Symptoms is a wonderful showcase of their ability, it doesn’t tell the whole story. With the help of the Decibel Flexi Series, “Aftermath,” an exclusive track from the New Day Symptoms recording session, is now available to complete Final Gasp’s somber picture for 2026.

The only way you can score a copy for yourself is to sign up for a deluxe Decibel subscription by Monday, August 31 by noon ET. Missing out spells disaster for your collection, so join today!

The post FINAL GASP to Release Exclusive New Song, “Aftermath,” via the Decibel Flexi Series! appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Metal For Nepal have launched an emergency appeal following the devastating flash flood that hit the country this week.

The flood affected Rasuwa and Nuwakot, causing displacement of families, destruction of houses and putting communities at risk.

Now, Metal For Nepal are mobilising to help deliver relief as much as they can, be that geting emergency supplies and clean water to whoever needs it to putting in plans for longer term rebuilding.

With that in mind, they have set up the appeal for anyone who has the means to help to donate, with the link and any addiitonal information able to be found here.

Flower KC, director of Metal For Nepal had this to say:

“We need to come together exactly like we did after the 2015 earthquake. The heavy metal and tattoo community has always shown up for people in need, and this moment is no different. Every donation goes straight toward getting families and children the support they need right now.” 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Metal for Nepal (@metalfornepalorg)

The post Metal For Nepal Launch Emergency Appeal Following Floods appeared first on Rock Sound.

German power metal force Iron Savior share today their new single and official video, “The Creature’s Tale”, the second taste of the upcoming album Deathbringer, out on November 13,2026, via Frontiers Music Srl. Vocalist Piet Sielck said: “Of course the classic Frankenstein story has been told in many ways before, but it appears to never… Continue Reading →

It's part of an upcoming tribute album that also features the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and more. Continue reading…