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Queens Of The Stone Age have announced their ninth studio album. It’s called Perfecth. And rather than issue a press release, the band revealed it over a chaotic game of five-finger fillet — the one where you stab a blade between your spread fingers as fast as you can. A September 30 release date appeared on screen during the clip. Over the course of the game it got scratched out, and the band settled for telling everyone the album is coming soon instead.

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Scott Penfold breaks down the Perfecth announcement on today’s Metal Breakdown Daily — the knife game, the complaint hotline, and what “coming soon” actually means when Josh Homme says it. Download the free Loaded Radio App on Apple iOS and Google Play and get it every weekday morning.

The knife thing

Let’s be precise about what happened, because it’s better than the summary.

The band posted a clip over the weekend. In it, they play five-finger fillet — an old bar game, and a genuinely stupid one, where the point is to drive a knife into the table between your outstretched fingers without hitting any of them. Speed is the whole thrill. Losing has consequences.

On screen was the album title, Perfecth, and a release date: September 30.

By the end of the game, that date had been scratched out. What replaced it was “coming soon.”

So the official position is now: album nine exists, it’s called Perfecth, and its release date was destroyed by a knife on camera. Which is either the most on-brand album announcement of the year or a very elaborate way of admitting the date wasn’t locked. Possibly both.

Nobody should be shocked by any of this. This is a band who once opened an album with a song that’s just a list of drugs.

The rollout has been building for months

The knife clip didn’t come out of nowhere.

QOTSA have been ramping up promotional activity all summer. The strangest piece of it was an online complaint line — genuinely, a phone number for grievances, which is the kind of thing that either means something or means Josh Homme thought it was funny. With this band the answer is usually both.

Then in July came “Easy Street,” the first single, featuring country artist Nikki Lane and released with a video. That’s the actual musical evidence of where this record might be heading, and it’s worth revisiting now that we know there’s a full album behind it.

There’s also an Australian and New Zealand tour booked for late 2026 with Primus, which is a routing you don’t announce unless you’ve got something to tour behind.

Add it up: a single, a complaint hotline, a tour, and now a title. The record is real and it’s close.

What we don’t know

Almost everything else, and it’s worth being honest about that rather than padding the page.

No confirmed release date — September 30 is tentative and the band themselves crossed it out. No tracklist. No artwork. No producer credits. No word on guests.

What we do know is that it’s the follow-up to 2023’s In Times New Roman…, and that it arrives after a genuinely difficult stretch for Homme personally and health-wise. Whatever Perfecth turns out to be, it’s the sound of a band coming out the other side of something.

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Homme has been everywhere this year anyway

Even without a QOTSA record, 2026 has been a busy year for the man.

He turned up on Mastodon’s Marrow Deep, guesting on “Snakes For Dinner” and appearing in its video — his first Mastodon collaboration in nearly twenty years, the last being “Colony Of Birchmen” on 2006’s Blood Mountain. That record, the band’s first since Brent Hinds’ death, lands August 28.

He’s also kept the Kyuss question alive. Last year he said a reunion is possible, with the caveat that it would only happen if they gave the money away and charged five dollars a ticket — because, in his words, it was never about money.

That’s not a man planning a cash-in. It’s a man who built an entire genre out of the California desert and still holds a specific, slightly stubborn set of ideas about how this is supposed to work.

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Why QOTSA still matter

Twenty-eight years on from forming in Palm Desert, Queens Of The Stone Age occupy a strange and enviable position: gold-certified, festival-headlining, and still genuinely unpredictable.

They came out of Kyuss — the band that took Black Sabbath’s blueprint and dragged it into the desert to bake — and then Homme spent three decades refusing to make the same record twice. Songs For The Deaf is a stone classic. Era Vulgaris confused everyone. …Like Clockwork was a grief record. In Times New Roman… was meaner than anyone expected.

The current lineup — Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore — has been stable for over a decade, which for this band is practically unheard of.

So when they announce album nine by stabbing a table, treat it as the tell. This isn’t a band going through the motions.

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TL;DR

• What’s announced: Queens Of The Stone Age’s ninth studio album, titled Perfecth.
• How it was announced: via a clip of the band playing five-finger fillet, the knife-between-the-fingers game.
• The release date situation: September 30 appeared on screen, then got scratched out during the game. Official line is now “coming soon.”
• What came before it: July’s single “Easy Street” featuring Nikki Lane, plus an online complaint line the band set up as part of the rollout.
• What’s still unknown: confirmed date, tracklist, artwork, producers and guests.
• Also on the books: a late-2026 Australian and New Zealand tour with Primus.

FAQ

A knife game, a complaint hotline, and a release date that didn’t survive its own announcement. Peak QOTSA, or are you just ready to hear the thing? Tell us below, and keep it locked on the Loaded Radio stream — follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post Queens Of The Stone Age Announce New Album In The Most Unique And Dangerous Way Possible appeared first on Loaded Radio.

GHOSTEMANE is back with their first new music in five years, and they are not messing about, to say the least.

They are stepping back into the limelight with ‘ZERO DAY’, a forward-thinking, ferocious and fantastically orchestrated piece of modern nu-metal mastery. Bristling with industrial weight and hardcore intensity, it feels like a tribute to the most chaotic elements of the past, whilst still being quintessentially GHOSTEMANE in size and stature.

It is a boot to the temple of the highest calibre, and feels like the beginning of what is set to be a fascinating chapter in a musical story unlike any other.

Get stuck in.

GHOSTMANE released his last full-length album ‘ANTI-ICON’ back in 2020. You can check it out in full below, just to get reacquainted.

The post GHOSTMANE Shares Bludgeoning New Track ‘ZERO DAY’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

His first European headline tour begins September 18

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, different people had different ways to deal with the increased amount of time they had on their hands. Throw a rock and you could find someone in the arts figuring out what their new project would be. For author J. Hunter Bennett, it became a way to clean out some old books. I would be pressed to think that he knew this endeavor would lead to his latest book, More Punk than the Public Library: The Adventures of a Little Free Punk Rock Bookstore. Here, Bennett describes his accidental building of a punk‑literary micro‑community, and captures its evolution.

Setting up a little library outside his house on a busy corner in his Chevy Chase, DC neighborhood, Bennett started the Nevada Avenue Outdoor Free Bookshop (NAOFB). It was here Bennett decided to unload some of his punk rock and crime books to anyone who walked by. He accompanied this with a monthly newsletter he printed himself and left copies inside. What started as a way to cope with the horrors of the pandemic and the government’s handling of it turned into a staple of Bennett’s neighborhood. It eventually grew into an underground punk zine. This book is a reprinting of the issues, formatted and collected for your convenience. Each chapter goes over each issue or communique, as our editor proprietor gives us a little context before presenting each issue.

Sections like “Hardcore Reading With…” are interviews with various members of the Washington D.C. Hardcore scene as they talk about the books they like and make recommendations. “Fell in Love with a Book” is a column where a guest writer comes in and gives a review of a book that means a lot to them. As issues go on, more columns and sections are added. At one point, his page count gets to about twenty pages. Bennett ends up with a pretty stacked lineup of people to contribute, with interviews from members of bands like Embrace, Velocity Girl, and Dag Nasty. He also gets some cool essays about his personal life, recruiting his sister and mom each for a book review.

While More Punk Than the Public Library… does mostly follow a wash, rinse, repeat format, it’s extremely entertaining. Each chapter is uniform to the context and then a reprinting of the corresponding month’s issue, but the contents of each book will win you over. Despite starting as a personal project, the NAOFB sort of ballooned in the best way possible. What became a way to kill time during one of the darkest times in modern history is now this book. Each issue of Bennett’s zine may tell small stories and anecdotes about the contributors, but this book is a fantastic way to show how a community can come together and be built over something as small as a little library with secondhand books on a street corner.

More Punk than the Public Library: The Adventures of a Little Free Punk Rock Bookstore was published and is available through Microcosm Publishing.

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Musicians spend countless hours recording songs, rehearsing, performing concerts, and traveling between shows. Away from demanding schedules, many famous performers also devote serious time and energy to sports.

Athletic interests among musicians can take many forms. Some stars play mainly for recreation, while others competed at a high level before music became their profession. 

Golf, basketball, soccer, track and field, and baseball have all attracted performers known primarily for their work onstage.

Similar skills matter in both music and athletics. Practice, coordination, timing, confidence, competitiveness, and performing under pressure can make a difference in either setting.

Here are seven popular musicians whose interest in sports involved much more than sitting in the audience.

1. Alice Cooper – Golf

Alice Cooper built one of rock music’s most recognizable stage personas with theatrical performances, dark imagery, and songs such as “School’s Out.” 

Golf might seem like an unlikely pastime for someone associated with shock rock, but it became one of his biggest interests away from music.

Cooper took up golf in the early 1980s and eventually became an extremely dedicated player. Regular rounds became part of his routine, including periods when he was touring and performing.

His dedication produced a few especially notable results:

• Cooper once maintained a 5.3 handicap.
• Golf became important enough to inspire his memoir, Alice Cooper, Golf Monster.
• Playing while on tour helped turn golf into a consistent part of his lifestyle rather than an occasional celebrity hobby.

Players inspired by Cooper’s dedication to the game can also look at equipment options such as Srixon Iron Sets, which include several configurations for different playing preferences.

Few images could contrast more sharply with Cooper’s concert persona. 

Audiences know him for dramatic makeup and theatrical rock shows, yet he has also been perfectly happy spending hours concentrating on a quiet round of golf.

2. Prince – Basketball

Prince had far more than a casual interest in basketball. 

Long before his status as an international music star, he played the game while growing up and developed skills that stayed with him during adulthood.

Basketball continued to be part of his recreational life even after albums, concerts, and recording sessions filled his schedule. 

His size might not have made him look like an obvious basketball threat, but competitiveness and athletic ability helped make him a surprisingly capable player.

Pop culture eventually turned that reputation into comedy. 

A famous Chappelle’s Show sketch portrayed Prince dominating a pickup basketball game before delivering the memorable “Game, Blouses” line.

Few musicians combined flamboyant stage performances and pickup basketball quite like Prince. Music made him famous around the world, but basketball gave him another place to compete.

3. Rod Stewart – Soccer

Rod Stewart’s connection with soccer started during childhood. 

His father played the sport and managed amateur teams, helping make soccer a major part of family life.

Stewart became serious about playing himself. He captained his school team and spent part of his youth dreaming about becoming a professional soccer player instead of a singer.

His early soccer experience included several signs that those ambitions were serious:

• He captained his school team.
• Brentford F.C. gave him a trial.
• Professional soccer once looked like a plausible career direction before music took priority.

Passion for the game stayed with him after his singing career took off. Soccer continued to occupy an important place among his personal interests, making him one of rock music’s most enthusiastic followers of the sport.

Stewart has essentially identified singing and soccer as his two natural talents. 

One eventually produced a hugely successful recording career, while the other became a lifelong passion that nearly sent him toward a very different profession.

4. Marvin Gaye – Basketball

Marvin Gaye brought smooth vocals and emotional expression to some of soul music’s most celebrated recordings. Away from music, he also possessed a strong competitive streak that frequently appeared on the basketball court.

Gaye regularly played basketball in Detroit instead of limiting his interest to watching professional games. 

St. Cecilia Gym became one of the places associated with his playing, where he competed alongside talented local athletes and professional players.

Basketball later intersected with his musical career in one of his most famous public performances. 

Gaye sang the national anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, creating a memorable connection between his music and a sport he personally enjoyed playing.

Many singers enjoy sports recreationally, but Gaye came unusually close to testing his athletic ability at a professional level.

5. Bruce Dickinson – Soccer

Bruce Dickinson has built a reputation for having an unusually long list of interests outside his role as Iron Maiden’s frontman. 

Aviation, fencing, writing, and athletics have all occupied his time, and soccer also belongs on that list.

Dickinson has been associated with soccer as one of his recreational interests and has expressed affection for Liverpool F.C. His enthusiasm fits naturally with the highly active personality fans have seen throughout his career.

Soccer also connects Dickinson with a broader sporting culture around Iron Maiden:

• Band members have taken part in soccer-related events.
• Charity matches have added another connection between Iron Maiden and the sport.
• Dickinson’s interest in soccer sits alongside fencing, another activity requiring concentration, discipline, and physical effort.

Few frontmen can match Dickinson’s collection of extracurricular interests. 

Soccer might be only one item on that list, but it adds another athletic dimension to a musician famous for constantly taking on demanding activities.

6. Garth Brooks – Track and Field

Garth Brooks was competing inside stadiums before he became famous for filling them with country music fans. 

Sports played an important role during his younger years, with football, baseball, and track and field among his athletic interests.

Track and field eventually helped Brooks earn a scholarship to Oklahoma State University. 

His event was the javelin, giving his athletic background a very different character compared with celebrity hobbies such as golf or basketball.

Several facts make his college athletic career especially notable:

• Brooks attended Oklahoma State University on an athletic scholarship.
• Javelin was his primary competitive event.
• His sporting background also included football and baseball.

Throwing the javelin requires technique, timing, speed, strength, and repetition. Brooks spent part of his college years working on those skills while competing as an athlete.

Music gradually became his professional focus, leading to a career that made him one of country music’s biggest stars. 

Years before songs such as “Friends in Low Places” became concert staples, Brooks was concentrating on how far he could send a javelin.

College competition also separates his story from musicians who picked up a sport after becoming famous. Brooks had already reached a serious competitive level at a time when his future career could still have developed in several directions.

7. Billy Ray Cyrus – Baseball

Billy Ray Cyrus had legitimate baseball credentials before “Achy Breaky Heart” made him a country music star. 

Baseball played a significant enough role in his early life to help him reach college.

Cyrus attended Georgetown College on a baseball scholarship. Receiving that opportunity meant his connection with the sport involved demonstrated ability rather than casual weekend participation.

Baseball still offers an interesting glimpse at the alternate future he once could have followed. 

Athletic talent helped open an educational opportunity, while musical talent ultimately took his career in another direction.

Had circumstances developed differently, Cyrus might have become associated with a bat and glove rather than a guitar. His story makes a fitting final example of how close music and serious athletic ambitions can sometimes exist within one person.

Summary

Athletic interests among famous musicians range from recreational passions to legitimate competitive backgrounds. 

Music and sports can look like completely separate worlds, yet both demand repetition, timing, coordination, confidence, focus, and competitiveness. 

For these seven performers, athletic ability and musical success were never as far apart as they might appear.

Posted on August 17th 2026, 12:32pm

Rock style does not require head-to-toe black or a leather jacket every day.

A single strong accessory can change jeans, dresses, tees, or tailoring by adding contrast, weight, or metallic detail.

Using one or two of these elements keeps an outfit wearable while still giving it a harder edge.

Accessories make it easy to control how much attitude an outfit carries. 

One belt, pair of boots, necklace, or bag can sharpen a basic look without making it feel overworked. Combining softer clothing with tougher accessories can also create contrast that feels intentional rather than costume-like.

Using one or two strong pieces keeps the look wearable and personal, while leaving room to add more detail when the outfit calls for it. 

So, which accessories can give an everyday outfit a stronger rock edge?

1. Studded or Hardware-Heavy Belts

A statement belt is one of the easiest ways to toughen a simple outfit. 

Studs, chain details, oversized buckles, grommets, and metal hardware create a clear focal point without dominating the whole look.

Brands such as Trafalgar offer leather belts and statement buckles that can add structure and a stronger focal point to a simple outfit.

Several combinations make that effect especially clear:

• Add a studded belt to jeans and a plain white tee.
• Cinch a blazer or oversized shirt with a wide belt featuring a heavy buckle.
• Pair a studded belt with a floaty dress to create contrast between soft fabric and hard hardware.

Statement belts work well for anyone who wants rock influence without changing the rest of the wardrobe.

2. Chunky Combat or Biker Boots

Combat and biker boots add visual weight, making delicate or polished clothing feel tougher. 

Platform soles, buckles, straps, studs, and thick leather increase that effect.

Slip dresses work especially well with combat boots because the heavier footwear offsets the light fabric.

Straight-leg or skinny jeans pair naturally with biker boots, while mini skirts gain more structure when worn with chunky soles.

Boot details can shift the intensity of the look:

• Plain black leather keeps the outfit relatively restrained.
• Buckles and straps create a stronger biker influence.
• Platform soles make footwear a major visual feature.
• Studded finishes add a more aggressive punk note.

Heavy boots are one of the fastest ways to make familiar clothing feel more rock-oriented.

3. Layered Chains and Statement Necklaces

Bold necklaces bring metallic detail close to the face and can change a simple neckline quickly. 

Chunky chains, oversized pendants, skull motifs, layered pieces, and mixed metals all fit naturally into rock styling.

One dominant necklace works best when the rest of the outfit is clean. 

A thick chain over a black tee or a large pendant with a button-down shirt creates a strong focal point without extra accessories.

Layering produces a busier result. 

Varying chain lengths keeps individual pieces visible and prevents them competing for the same space.

Mixed metals can make the jewelry feel less polished and more relaxed.

4. Leather or Metal Chokers

Chokers add a clear punk or rock reference without taking up much space. Leather bands, chain chokers, metal collars, and hardware details work especially well with open necklines.

A simple black choker can sharpen a white shirt, while a metal choker gives a little black dress a harder finish. 

Camisoles and band tees also leave enough space around the neckline for the accessory to register clearly.

Chokers are useful when heavier accessories feel excessive but the outfit still needs a clear rock reference.

5. Stacked Statement Rings and Edgy Earrings

Rings and earrings can create strong impact without changing the clothing. 

Chunky bands, skulls, spikes, sculptural shapes, cuffs, and mixed-metal pieces all add visual weight.

Several rings worn across different fingers usually create a stronger effect than one delicate piece. 

Changing widths and shapes keeps the stack interesting without requiring matching designs.

Earrings work especially well when hair is pulled back. Spikes, cuffs, sculptural metal shapes, and oversized designs draw attention toward the face.

Balance matters when several accessories are worn together:

• Stack rings and bracelets while keeping the necklace restrained.
• Pair bold earrings with simpler jewelry near the neckline.
• Mix metal finishes instead of matching every piece exactly.

Small accessories can carry much of the outfit’s attitude when their shapes are strong enough.

6. Studded or Chain-Detail Bags

A bag is an easy way to add rock influence while keeping clothing relatively polished. It can shift the mood of an outfit without requiring changes to the main pieces.

Studded crossbodies, chain straps, distressed leather, metal buckles, and biker-inspired shapes turn a practical accessory into a stronger visual feature. 

Metallic details work especially well against simple tailoring, denim, or softer fabrics because the contrast makes the bag feel intentional.

Compact bags keep hardware concentrated in one area, creating a sharper effect without overwhelming the outfit. 

Larger distressed leather styles feel more relaxed and casual, especially when paired with jeans, boots, or oversized layers.

A statement bag is especially useful for anyone who prefers subtle rock styling instead of dramatic clothing. It adds attitude in a controlled way while still fitting naturally into everyday outfits.

7. Bandanas and Oversized Sunglasses

Bandanas and oversized sunglasses add rock-star attitude without relying heavily on metal or leather.

Oversized sunglasses create a different effect. 

Dark lenses, angular frames, thick rims, and vintage-inspired shapes add glam-rock energy to simple daytime outfits.

Angular frames tend to look sharper, while oversized rounded styles feel more retro. Both work well with basic combinations such as jeans and a tank or with more polished pieces such as a blazer.

These accessories are also useful in warmer weather when heavy boots or layered jewelry may feel less comfortable.

Closing Thoughts

Rock edge depends more on contrast and attitude than on following a fixed uniform. 

A studded belt can sharpen jeans and a tee, combat boots can toughen a slip dress, stacked rings can alter a minimalist outfit, and a chain-detail bag can make tailoring feel less formal.

Starting with one or two pieces keeps the look controlled. Add more only when the accessories work with clothes already in regular rotation.

Rock styling feels strongest when metal, leather, heavy footwear, or bold shapes change the character of an outfit without making it feel like a costume.

Dutch psychedelic post-metal trio An Evening With Knives returns with a new two-track EP The Rabbit & The Mistake on September 2nd, following their 2025 album End Of Time. The release features “The Mistake”, accompanied by a brand-new video created by Paddy Murphy, plus “The Rabbit”, a previously unreleased track rescued from the End Of Time studio sessions.
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