Blog

Madonna ruled on Sunday night as the ceremony tried to recall VMAs of the past.

If you followed Rival Sons during their infancy, you would have immediately picked up on guitarist Scott Holiday’s palette of quirky, psychedelia-flavored, fuzz-laden tones. This became his trademark, his calling card, an essential ingredient of his band’s modern rock arsenal. With eight Rival Sons albums and singer Jay Buchanan off taking his own journey on the Americana highway, there couldn’t be a better time for Holiday to make a record of his own. Under the collective HOL1D4Y, Topology takes no hostages as it morphs into a hallucinogenic mind-warp in sound and dimension at every reasonable turn, from every unthinkable perspective. It’s enough to make Syd Barrett, if he were still with us, blush and think twice about painting the floorboards.

Nine songs, eight with one-word titles, designed to reflect Holiday’s own subtle, abstract intricacies on a Technicolor scale while affording the listener the luxury of an entirely different interpretation. “Holotropic” is the full assault with Holiday, instrumentally and vocally, angling around Jesse Nason’s keys and Aaron Danks’ rhythm guitar in a sort of jangly tumble of notes that cross nostalgia into a futuristic fold of unbounded energy. We divebomb into “Panoptic,” springing to life after Rival Sons drummer Michael Miley tosses around an auspicious beat to and fro. Fully soaked in an immersive all-in testimonial, this is where the album asserts its valor going forward.

“Veridream,” drenched in a myriad of swirling keys and oscillators, swims in counter melody and daydreams with minimal fuzztones, but “Automatic” comes lock and loaded, the guitarist’s incalculable handiwork and cool, unassuming vocal at the ready without reservation. The instrumental “Constellations” blooms with unfounded frolic, funk, feedback and random exotica to catch everyone off-guard. Forget Syd Barrett, this one would likely send the other members of Pink Floyd back to the psychoactive playbook.

As the album’s longest track (and second instrumental), “CRISM” presumably begins as an impromptu jam that develops into a slow-paced, stylish exploration of give and take, cast very much in the spirit of classic space rock that defined the aforementioned Floyd, a pinch of Steve Hillage and Gong with a slice of Camel and Hawkwind to balance the nutrients. It’s impossible to turn away. The sonic parameters of contemporaries like Steven Wilson are truly being challenged. Out of the mind and home studio of one of rock’s most unflappable voices.

“Equanimity” is an eye-opening slap in the face after an 11-minute ride through the wilderness. It may take a while for that one to find its place. We close out with “Love of Separation,” the lone three-worded number and only acoustic instrumental. It’s a mild and regal send-off to complete the picture of Scott Holiday’s vivid and wild imagination, clearly put on full display.

Topology does take some getting used to. You have to chase it around for a while. After a few spins, with a glimpse into Holiday’s self-made videos, photos, artwork and instruments — it all clicks and eventually pulls you in. Always the sign of a strong record.

While Rival Sons carry on as one of the premier bands of the 21st century with constant touring in America and Europe, it’s nice to see both Holiday (with help from Miley) and Buchanan flexing their creative muscles outside the confines of the group. As it were, HOL1D4Y seems like an outlet to be revisited here and there, when pressure and time, to borrow a familiar album title, allows. We’ll all stay tuned.

~ Shawn Perry

Purchase Topology

It’s been another triumphant week for Kiwi rockers Pieces Of Molly, with new single Skinwalker the fourth song by the band to top the Tracks Of The Week podium, ahead of hot things Greta Van Fleet and Dirty Honey. This quadruple victory is a feat matched by very few, and bodes well for Pieces Of Molly’s debut UK shows in November.

This week, another eight contestants are on the starting grid, and look! The lights have changed! Off they go!

Clutch – Wasted Lands

Listen up, rock fans: the title track of Clutch’s next album is here, and it does not disappoint. H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King are name-dropped within seconds. Fallon and co’s inimitable blend of bluesy hoodoo, punk-addled fire and piledriver riffing sounds match-fit and ready for a fight. It’s like hearing ZZ Top with lead boots. Or the dirtier, gnarlier cousin of their 2015 groovefest Psychic Warfare. The sort of shit you definitely want in your life, in other words.

Thundermother – Bimbo Boost

With that hard-kicking, Smoke On The Water-in-reverse riff and shoutalong AC/DC vibes, the Swedish foursome made us smile with this one. Yes it’s about as subtle as a bowling ball to the head (not to say that the point about women in the public eye being held to disproportionately more exacting beauty standards than men isn’t spot-on – it is), but pulled off with the right combo of humour, melody and quality chops. Familiar and faintly ridiculous, in a good way.

HOL1D4Y – Holotropic

“Some albums I’ve made have been pretty arduous, filled with debate and ideas from many different directions,” Holiday says, as he releases his psychedelic new album Topology. “We’ve made a joke that it is difficult, like birthing a child. Topology was more flowing and came quick and without strain…like releasing a valve.” You can definitely hear that here. Holotropic is the hypnotic, blissed-out opening track with a touch of QOTSA in its veins, evocative of childhood nights spent stargazing to Pink Floyd’s Echoes in his Californian desert home.

Europe – Come This Madness

The title track of the returning Swedes’ new album is a banger, reflective of the big, moody but groovy good stuff to be found therein. Capped off with a casually ace solo from John Norum – and with Joey Tempest seemingly yet to feel the wear of age on his voice – it’s the sort of textured, dynamic banger you’d be genuinely stoked to hear in a setlist. Classy work from one of classic rock’s most consistent groups.

The Temperance Movement – Silverlight Blues

Further teasing their much-anticipated comeback album, New Promise Land Incorporated (out in full next month), The Temperance Movement are on prettily bittersweet form with Silverlight Blues. Like the rest of the album it’s a raw, hot-off-the-floor affair with the ease and warmth you’d hope for from such a tight group of seasoned pros – while also channelling the life experiences of the last few years. It’s good to have them back.

Crown Lands – Through The Looking Glass

Tales of ancient darkness, riding on dragon’s wings and a pedalboard the size of a swimming pool all feed into this sumptuous live single from the Canadian prog duo. Weaving textures of Rush and Zeppelin with their own old-world atmosphere and fantastical storytelling, Cody Bowles (percussion and vocals) and Kevin Comeau (guitars with *all* the necks) create something that feels luxurious yet light, its heaviness and technical flexes offset by a melody that slips down very easily.

The Sedonas – Reckonin’ More

Stomping into Tracks Of The Week in a rich, gritty flurry of blues rock guitars and strident lead vocals (“Is he an American Toby Jepson?” one Classic Rock staffer wondered) The Sedonas mix swaggering US roots and rock’n’roll into one juicy, classic but bright-eyed package. You could say it’s what’d happen if Joe Bonamassa wore denim shirts and made a heartland record, but really Reckonin’ More is its own thing. No rulebooks are rewritten and yet it has a certain edge that makes us sit up and pay attention.

Crossbone Skully – Riding With Angels

Tommy Henriksen and the gang are back with another track from their upcoming, Mutt Lange-assisted second album Condemned To Rock ‘N Roll, and it’s undeniably huge, with drums that boom like Def Leppard at their peak and a chorus so big it can probably be seen from space. Riding With Angels is so confident it begins with that chorus, with Henriksen’s Joe Elliott-meets-Marc Storace voice handling the vocal with the right amount of razor-throated ease. The album arrives in January.

A French album title and French song titles might lead you to believe that Meurtrier are a band from France. They’re not. These five musicians hail from Canada and are part of the metal scene centered around Quebec and Montreal. After taking a look at the relatively simple and somewhat cliché-ridden artwork, it’s time to… Continue Reading →

It doesn’t happen too often – but it does happen. All of YES members issued solo platters back in 1975-1976, and then everyone in KISS put out their eponymous individual debuts in 1978, but none of those seemed as experimental … Continue reading →

The post Members Of FAUST Release Simultaneous Solo Albums appeared first on DMME.net.

Back in April, the influential Swedish singer/rapper hybrid Yung Lean and the French producer GENER8ION went viral with their “Storm” video. Directed by Romain Gavras, the video stars Yung Lean as the bully at a fancy, futuristic boarding school. In the lengthy final scene, he wears a suit and tie and stands on bleachers amidst a large group of dancers, also wearing suits and ties. Intense choreography ensues. Gavras captures the whole sequence from a wide angle, framing a stoic, smoking Yung Lean amidst a heaving throng of humanity.

The post VMAs 2026: Yung Lean Makes His US TV Debut, Performing With GENER8ION appeared first on Stereogum.

With Krist Novoselic paying tribute to Kurt Cobain

Source

There was a George Michael tribute on the VMAs tonight. It makes sense. Michael was an MTV icon, one of the most important artists of the network’s first decade, so any time they want to honor him, they should.

The post VMAs 2026: Raye, Sombr, Teddy Swims, & Adam Lambert Pay Tribute To George Michael appeared first on Stereogum.

Wanna feel old? It’s been 17 years since Kanye West stormed the stage to interrupt Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. There have been many more Taylor Swift moments at the VMAs since then, including quite a few shots of Swift in the audience, reacting to what’s happening onstage. She’s also the most honored artist in VMAs history, with 30 Moon Persons to her name.

The post VMAs 2026: Taylor Swift Receives The Inaugural Artist Director Honors, Debuts “Patient Zero” Video With Dakota Johnson & Colin Farrell appeared first on Stereogum.

With leather, lace and lots of skin, it was an over-the-top night on the red carpet.