June 12, 2026 will see the release of Khemmis‘ fifth self-titled studio album. To taste a first piece of the new music, Colorado-based doomsters also present “Invocation Of The Dreamer” single. Read more…
Evergrey have parted ways with longtime guitarist Henrik Danhage. Now, the Swedes introduce guitarist Stephen Platt (Scar Symmetry), who had already been touring with Evergrey as a live guitarist in 2025. He now officially joins as a full-time member. Coinciding this announcement, Evergrey also premiere an official music video for the new song called “The World Is On Fire”. The latter is part of the forthcoming studio record, Architects Of A New Weave. Read more…
Ariana Grande is one of the biggest and best A-list pop stars we’ve got, and we’re seeing some indications that she’s not quite done being a pop star just yet. Grande has been taking a lot of movie roles lately. Last year, she made comments that indicate she’s planning on focusing on acting rather than singing in the immediate future. But now, it’s looking like she’ll probably have a new album out this summer.
Held. the new band from members of The Sleeping and Coheed and Cambria have shared another song from their upcoming debut album, with another special guest.
For those unaware, the band is made up of Douglas Robinson and Salvatore Mignano of The Sleeping alongside Josh Eppard of Coheed and Cambria, and the result is a project brimming with energy and exuberance.
That’s on show in abundance on new track ‘KNIFEPOINT’, which sees the trio utilising the raw talents of High Vis’ Graham Sayle.
Angular riffing, emotional bellows and progressive builds all make way for the sort of Transatlantic vocal tennis that sits heavy on the heart and soul. An incredible array of talents, brought together in pursuit of creating something bigger and bolder than themselves.
Douglas had this to say about the track, stating, “This song has a lot of attitude, and that’s a big reason we wanted Graham from High Vis to be a part of it. We’re all big fans of Graham and High Vis. When I wrote the pre-chorus, I envisioned this British attitude reminiscent of bands like Bloc Party and Test Icicles, and I wanted it to come from someone who could back the attitude up. Graham is the perfect example of someone who can back up their words with action.”
Whilst Graham added, “I was proper excited to jump on and be a part of it. I’ve always loved the chaotic side of the post-hardcore spectrum. I love the difference in our accents and how it somehow makes sense.”
The song will appear on the band’s upcoming debut album ‘GREY’, which is scheduled for release on May 15 via MNRK.
It will also feature ‘NEW YOU ANTHEM’, which features none other than Frank Iero and sounds like this:
Growing up in Dublin, in a Status Quo-obsessed household, I never envisioned a day when the double-denim kings of no-nonsense boogie would be calling it quits. That day, at the moment, looks like it has already come, and tonight, that all becomes too real as I pay a visit to see a solo Francis Rossi sit in a red armchair, storytelling and doing bare-boned versions of some of the band’s biggest tunes and a term Rossi hates, “deep cuts.”
Tonight is billed as An Evening Of Francis Rossi’s Songs From The Status Quo Songbook And More. After the best part of 60 years, that book is so big it has its own personal assistant. But what is within the pages of that sacred opus is a plethora of deeply adored tunes that have a tale to go with them. And who better to tell them than the man who had the balls to release Margarita Time.
Rossi has performed in Dublin umpteen times over the years, in venues of all shapes and sizes. Tonight’s little soirée was at The Ambassador Theatre on Parnell Street, a building that dates back to 1764 and was originally part of a maternity hospital.
Despite being used as a music venue for a while in its infancy, it would be more remembered as a cinema, before returning to hosting concerts in the early noughties. And although Status Quo’s 2013 movie caper Bula Quo never got a screening in this fine building, tonight’s host’s career has had more drama and intrigue than a story of two rock ‘n’ rollers trying to escape the clutches of a Fijian crime lord.
The warned 7.30 pm start was no trick to get the punters out of the pub early and into their seats. His punctual entrance was a swift flick of the curtain and then straight into the spotlight.
Accompanied by producer/engineer Andy Brook, the opening moments were as laid back as you could get.
A fit looking Francis Rossi patrolled the edge of the stage, got his bearings before settling into his plush looking chair. There is no green Telecaster, ponytail or legs akimbo, but that cheeky glint in the eye is still there.
In fact, the early moments were more the work of a stand-up comic, and frankly better than some of the chancers masquerading as comedians today.
After some toilet talk and a bit of Nellie The Elephant, the game face went on, and the opening chords of Pictures Of Matchstick Men filled the room. In My Chair and Spinning Wheel Blues kept the hordes of die-hards faces beaming.
Apart from the music, bladder heckling was a recurring theme in the night. A regular visitor to the white city received special attention from the host, who told him to “slam that thing in the door” on trip number three.
With the result, the poor divil missed a wonderfully country-flavoured Wild Side Of Life.
Despite a nagging frog in his throat, Rossi’s projection was impressive, especially on the always good value Don’t Waste My Time. The crowd did give him a breather with their own roof-raising version of Down The Dustpipe. And wingman Andy Brook’s backing vocals throughout the night did help to ease the heavy load.
A quick story of his time writing songs with the late Bernie Frost in Dromoland Castle in County Clare led beautifully into Rock ‘n’ Roll. This track has lost none of its instant charm. It was like hearing it for the first time again.
Probably the biggest surprise of the night was Burning Bridges.
In all honesty, I avoided the gutted version on Aquostic for years, and when I eventually heard it, I knew I was right to trust my instincts. But even without its familiar synthesised jig this evening, it still would have tempted Michael Flatley out of retirement.
An Evening Of Francis Rossi’s Songs From The Status Quo Songbook And More. Photo: Lynn Frances Photography
After the intermission, or should I say, mass stampede to drain the spuds, Rossi appeared looking refreshed and rather dapper in a tanned waistcoat, and in turn gave the always welcome What You’re Proposing an extra touch of class.
What followed may be described as lesser spotted Quo, but still a reminder that their catalogue went far deeper than radio-friendly hits and appearances on Top Of The Pops. Somebody Show Me Home, And It’s Better Now, and the lingering Twenty Wild Horses triumphed, and Rossi’s enthusiasm for them was infectious.
The home straight was just an acoustic show of strength. Roll Over Lay Down does its best to eclipse the original, and Rockin’ All Over The World and Down Down are just jolly-ups, whatever way you get them.
In The Army Now did not work as well until the crowd’s precise roar of “stand up and fight” woke it right up.
Francis Rossi ditched the armchair for closer Caroline. Now, whether that be from the result of a previous heckle or an exercise in circulation, it did not matter. The effect was unifying, and everybody saluted one of Quo’s finest anthems.
In whatever form you hear Status Quo’s music, the low-fat version or with a stack of Marshalls, Rossi proved tonight that their music will stand the test of time. In fact, it would most likely survive a nuclear attack and emerge in better shape than a Giant Burrowing cockroach.
Their music evokes all kinds of memories. I can still see my mother and her auntie walking up Elm Mount Avenue in Dublin, with the 1982 album protruding from one of the shopping bags, and my brother waiting at the front gate, pacing on the spot.
Tuesday nights in Dublin do not get much better than this.
An Evening Of Francis Rossi’s Songs From The Status Quo Songbook And More continues in Waterford on 10 April 2026. For tickets and full dates, visit francisrossi.com/tour.
Similar to their other books on punk rock, Chris Sullivan and Stephen Colegrave give an account of the genre that made its splash into music’s lexicon in the 1970’s. This time, told through the lens of punk as a DIY philosophy, the early architects of punk rock tell their experiences and memories from a genre that made itself relevant on its own terms. Boasting over 150 interviews, Punk: The Last Word, might be that very thing.
Starting with a section called “Historical Harbingers,” Sullivan and Colegrave provide accounts of historical figures who embodied the punk attitude and the wherewithal to push back against society. These go back to playwrights like Socrates and pirates like Blackbeard, as well as filmmaker Federico Fellini and rock and roll legend Little Richard. There’s a chunk on the Beats, whose manifesto of hard living and free will definitely influenced punk rock. Acknowledging that most of these writers would have been supporters of punk rock if they had survived long enough to see the movement flourish.
Sullivan and Colegraves’s book organizes their interview with the players of these burgeoning scenes in a way that feels natural. The parallels between, the US and UK scenes, are presented fairly. As the seedlings of things are happening in different corners of their respective scenes, the written accounts detail how they each came together to make a whole scene on both sides of the Atlantic and the influence they had on each other’s work in tandem. Whether it is the Bowery in New York or King’s Road in England, we get a sense of where punk was cultivated and the locations where the scene flourished. From CBGB’s, the dingy dive bar where so many US bands got their start, to Vivienne Westwood’s Sex Shop, where Malcolm McLaren gathered the Sex Pistols, everything is given the reverence it deserves.
Chapters on the bands that became the foundation for punk include the usual, the Velvet Underground, The Stooges, and the MC5, but also include Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers and Alice Cooper. Despite their being labeled in genres that aren’t necessarily punk, these artist can be put in either due to their aesthetic or work ethic. There are entries on Andy Warhol’s Factory, along with CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City, and a brief entry on Stonewall.
When it jumps to England’s scene and talks about its origin there are quotes from England’s living punk rockers like Glen Matlock and Siouxie Sioux, and get into the meat of the England scene starting with Vivienne Westwood and building out from there. Interviews with Malcolm McLaren and Don Letts pepper these sections. From there the book jumps back and forth between the UK and US punk rock scenes with some crossover, making it a more cohesive movement than a battle of who started it first.
For as gigantic as this book is, some of these entries seem a little slim. It can be argued, though, that more of the story can be told through other entries and the interviewees’ experiences, but some entries last about a page and a half. The book is written like an oral history, but organized almost like an encyclopedia, though not alphabetically. More or less, it is set up like a timeline. As the book progresses, there are more and more architects, and more origin stories of these punk rock institutions. While the book has the advantage of 50 years of history, the broad strokes never change. However, the interviews do shed some light on some smaller details.
Punk: The Last Word is a beast of a book at just under six hundred pages long. This book is perfect for the completist in your life. If you have any holes in your knowledge of early punk rock, this book is essentially a catch-all. In their intro, Chris Sullivan and Stephen Colegrave call this “the last word” as it will be the last book they release on the subject of Punk. I’m sure between their previous tomes, there isn’t much left to cover or in some cases, anyone alive to tell it. Regardless, Punk: The Last Word is a comprehensive history of the beginning of punk rock with quotes from the architects of the scene reflecting on building a movement.
Punk: The Last Word by Chris Sullivan and Stephen Colegrave is available through Omnibus Press.
A long-lost chapter of 1980s arena rock history is finally coming to light. Kid Curry, the Hollywood-based band once poised for major-label stardom, will officially release their unreleased debut recordings, nicknamed ‘The Epic Tapes‘ but released as ‘Fire and Ice‘, through FnA Records. Formed in Los Angeles in 1985, Kid Curry — featuring Michael Kramer […]
