PROX Intake

Blog

  • Hormones – Hot For Hormones LP

    It’s not often that I review an album more than once. However, the vinyl release of Hormones’ 2025 debut album Hot For Hormones is an occasion that has surely called for some fresh ink. When it comes to me and Melbourne’s mighty Hormones, it was love at first listen (the date was June 1st of last year). I can say without any intent of exaggeration that Hot For Hormones is one of the best Ramones-inspired albums I’ve heard this decade. And to have a label like Stardumb Records that I hold in the highest possible esteem be the one to put it into the world as a vinyl record is something really special for me. 

    Although the basic musical formula is five decades old, this is truly an album for these times — as these songs tell Betty Hormone’s personal story of what it’s like to live as trans woman in a transphobic world. The thing that gets me about Hormones is that this band is all about putting more love into the universe. And in telling her story, Betty is telling everyone’s story. Don’t we all want to be loved and accepted for exactly who we are? Don’t we all want to live our best lives with as much joy as possible? Don’t we all despise the idea of having to pretend to be the person society wants us to be? While these songs are full of humor & charm and are incredibly fun to sing along with, there’s a profound seriousness residing past the surface. Betty’s approach to Ramones-ish punk rock wasn’t to write dumb, simple songs —  it was to write smart, simple songs. She put her soul into these tunes. I’ve found it interesting yet understandable that Betty is an excellent singer but chose to have someone else sing lead in this band. Joseph Ling does such an amazing job as the vocal embodiment of Betty’s lyrics. He’s likeable and charismatic yet very down-to-Earth — the perfect person to sing these songs where the vibe runs the gamut from playful to sweet to sexy to sincere. He also has a little bit of a young Robin Gibb thing going vocally, which is 100% unique in the pop-punk genre. It takes complete trust to let another person sing the words that came from your heart, and here that trust has been fully rewarded. 

    There’s a really big distinction between a Ramones inspiration and a Ramones imitation. Hormones don’t claim to be the world’s most original band, but they aren’t trying to be anyone but themselves: the hottest band in the world and fervent supporters of trans rights and trans wrongs. No track exceeds three minutes in length, yet each tells a complete story. In the leadup to this album release, Betty wrote at length on what some of these songs are about. “Out of the House, Out of the Closet” is about being outed against your will before you’re truly ready but still moving forward on the path you know you’re destined to walk. What might have started as a setback ended up thrusting Beth Seymour into the world  — her true self no longer locked away. “I Wanna Be Your Herfriend” is about that fear of what your partner is going to think or say when they see you presenting as your true self for the first time. Luckily for Betty, that situation turned out well. “Hayley Smith” is a loving thank-you note to a high school friend whose fashion sense inspired Betty to eventually become the person she is today. “Transgender Menace” responds to the widespread vilification and demonization of trans people with fearlessness and defiance. “Got My Head Straight (The Rest of Me Got Gay)” tells Betty’s personal story of mental health struggles and how addressing those problems empowered her to accept her queerness. “You Don’t Have a Son” is the album’s most powerful track. Betty lays it all on the line here: the only two outcomes for a trans person are to transition or to eventually end up “six feet underground.” I can’t imagine being such a monstrous human that you’d rather see a loved one dead than transgender. God, this song tears my heart out. And I don’t see how you can listen to a song like “When I Was A Boy (I Was Really A Girl)” and feel anything but love and empathy for the trans people in your life. 

    There will be different categories of people who will purchase Hot for Hormones. Perhaps you’ve heard of Hormones but only buy music on vinyl. Perhaps this is your first exposure to the band. Perhaps you bought the digital album or CD last year but are super stoked to own this title on gorgeous pink, white, or turquoise vinyl released by one of the greatest indie labels that has ever existed. Any way you shake it, this LP coming out on Stardumb Records is an event worth fervently celebrating. For those of you outside the EU, this modern pop-punk masterpiece is also available from The Machine Shop in the U.S., Brassneck! Records in the UK, and Endless Detention Records in Australia! 

  • Inflatable Idols – GET STIFF!


    Look out, kids: we’ve got a live one here! GET STIFF! is the ripper of a debut album from Los Angeles, California’s Inflatable Idols. It’s such a flaming hot slab of wax that it took three of the heaviest hitters in the game — Take the City Records, Ghost Highway Recordings, and your home of the hits, Rum Bar Records — to properly release it into the wild. Jim Perrault (The Legendary Swagger) is on lead vocals and bass, and he is joined by a murderers’ row of Southern California punk rock royalty. Joe Jennings (JJ and the Real Jerks), Frank Agnew (Adolescents, T.S.O.L., Legal Weapon, Social Distortion), Brian Coakley (Cadillac Tramps), Greg Kuehn (T.S.O.L., Exploding Fuck Dolls, The Joneses), Derek O’Brien (Adolescents, Legal Weapon, T.S.O.L.), and Geoff Yeaton (Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs) are all on board. They’re joined by Tavis Werts (The Cineramas, Reel Big Fish) on trumpet and two of the finest vocal talents in L.A. in Belle Johnson and Mika Lett on backing vocals. To call this a “wow” lineup would be a massive understatement, and the music absolutely lives up to all that pedigree. 

    On GET STIFF!, Inflatable Idols power through 12 tracks of gritty, high-energy rock ‘n’ roll that pulls from classic SoCal punk, garage rock, soul, dirty glam, and proto-punk. Style-wise, the band varies its attack, but the attitude and energy levels are relentless from open to close. Tracks like “Oxygen Thief,” “Make Some Noise (Quiet As It’s Kept),” and “Narcissistic Twist” are more on the flamethrower punk rock ‘n’ roll side of things — not too far from The Humpers in their prime. Elsewhere, “Get Up & Get Out” and “Hero to Zero” go the maximum R & B route. “Drunk On Nostalgia” is full fury garage rock cranked to ten. “Imaginary Monster” brings an old school Detroit rock energy that could just about wake the dead. “That’s Mr. Motherfucker To You” manages to live up to its title, and that’s saying something! 

    It can be hard to pull of a record like this that’s a wall-to-wall smash-it-up party. But Inflatable Idols do just that. There are no ballads, mood pieces, or departures from the mission to ignite your loins and soul with unadulterated rock ‘n’ roll. Get Stiff! never comes up for air, and who would want it to? The band is tight, but the spirit is loose. These folks bring it hard and unleash an absolute wall of sound with the horns, keyboards, and backing vocals hitting exactly the way they ought to. And on vocals, Perrault can holler with the best of ’em. Even though this is a studio record, I envision it as a live performance as I listen to it. It has all the sweat, swagger, and electricity of a must-see gig, and so I’m reaching for my dancing shoes and my stockpile of adult beverages. When you have this many super-talented people in a band, it’s either going to be super-disappointing or just about the best thing ever. And you know where Inflatable Idols land. The way things are going, Rum Bar is soon going to need an office in L.A.!

  • WATCH: Dave Grohl Surprise Foo Fighters Fan Singing Karaoke

    Last night (April 23), Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl surprised a fan singing a karaoke version of ‘Monkey Wrench’.

    The incredible surprise happened during the London listening party for the band’s new album ‘Your Favorite Toy’.

    Dave arrived with bandmate Pat Smear just as the fan was tearing into the classic single on stage, cheering him on as he charged through the rest of the song.

    With just a handful of lucky fans in the room, it was an incredibly special moment.

    Rock Sound captured it as it happened. Check out our footage below:

    The listening party took place inside a London venue where fans were able to enjoy themed cocktails whilst bowling, ice skating and belting out karaoke.

    Here’s another look inside:

    Foo Fighters’ new album ‘Your Favorite Toy’ is out now.

    The post WATCH: Dave Grohl Surprise Foo Fighters Fan Singing Karaoke appeared first on Rock Sound.

  • Savage Master – The Power // Mystic Storm – Wandering Time: Split LP Review

    [Cover artwork by Timbul Cahyono]

    In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I’ve always found the concept of the split to be flawed. It works best when there’s a shared theme or the band’s involved cover each other’s songs, but when it’s just one band on side A and a label-mate on side B for the purpose of… well, apparently just sort of holding hands together, the inevitability of a clear winner in some sort of imaginary scrum gets pulled front and center. Making matters even trickier, those victories often seem to be landslides. I don’t know why, I’m just here as a casual listener. The solution? Show up to the fight with your A-game ratcheted up to the Nth degree, or, you know, just stick to the always reliable EP.

    Thankfully, in this case we don’t quite have an avalanche victory, but it’s pretty close. And once the dust begins to settle, I would definitely confirm that one side rambles from the veil as the ultimate conqueror: Mystic Storm.

    Am I a shitty human for treating these sorts of releases like a Thunderdome tournament? Potentially! But at this point I can no longer avoid it, and the Mystic Storm side of the coin just so happens to hold a more intriguing story arc and delivers more impactful songs.

    Were you there for Mystic Storm’s debut, 2021’s ear-shattering Из хаоса древних времён (From the Ancient Chaos)? It was a fairly big hit around these parts, thanks to the sheer force of its melodic thrashing glory. Here’s how I described it in one of our Missing Pieces write-ups from that year:

    “…an aggressive and aggressively melodic style of thrash reminiscent of the Teutonic scene in the late 80s—Vendetta, Grinder and the raw fury of Protector—with enough galloping Sword & Sorcery trad metal that one could make just as strong a case for tagging them #fuckingepicheavymetal as they might #conanthrash.”

    And adding to that windfall, there was this in regards to the band’s kick-ass vocalist:

    “Anya conjures the ancient spirits of Debbie Gunn (Sentinel Beast), Tam Simpson (from the mighty Sacrilege) and especially Dawn Crosby (Detente—whose song “Vultures in the Sky” gets covered as a closer for the record), and that’s honestly something we could use a lot more of in thrash and thrash-infused metal in general.”

    Release date: May 1, 2026. Label: Shadow Kingdom Records.
    So, yeah, big BIG fan of the band’s debut full-length and the way it managed to fuse a fairly vicious form of thrash to trad fantasy metal in the style of Eternal Champion. Unfortunately, following the release of From the Ancient Chaos, Mystic Storm lost the services of Anya and bassist Artem (and maybe drummer Alexey?), which appeared to force the project into some sort of cryogenic status. Guitarist (and if I’m not mistaken, principal songwriter) Konstantin ‘Kostya’ Galochkin busied himself with other projects—the delightfully weird symphonic doom of Wizards and the hard rocking Дежавю—and then in 2025 a brand new Mystic Storm lineup was suddenly unveiled and the band began playing shows again.

    Fast forward one year later and we finally have our first evidence of where Mystic Storm is headed, and it is… rather different compared to what was being pushing five years ago. I’ve lost count how many times a thrash band has gone light(er), but working in Mystic Storm’s favor is the fact that they’ve always had a strong Sword & Sorcery tilt, so the shift from their debut LP to Wandering Time isn’t exactly shocking in a thrash-to-doom “Sacrilege from Within the Prophecy to Turn Back Trilobite” sort of way. It’s definitely in a nearby neighborhood, though.

    The good news is that the music still packs plenty of power, but that energy is a little more magickal than it is outright RAGING in 2026. So, instead of Detente fueling the thrash, think of any number of 80s’ bands that brushed thrash but mostly just heavy metalled: Heretic, Metal Church, etc. And in lieu of Eternal Champion for the trad influence, now look toward any modern throwback band that pushes an atmospheric form of trad metal built on the foundation of Queensrÿche’s The Warning or Sacred Blade’s Of the Sun + Moon. So… FFO Vulture’s Vengeance, essentially.

    The title track from the Mystic Storm side of the coin is a great example of most everything mentioned above. It’s the shortest of the three new cuts and takes about a minute and a half to finally kick into a steady gallop, but once it’s there you will eventually hear that sort of ‘nocturnal atmosphere’ tattooed up and down the melody provided by the guitar. Svetlana wails and has a bit more range compared to Anya, which matches the new face of the band that explores a more diverse assemblage of moods, and the rhythm occasionally flashes these deep, cavernous booms to help increase the overall weight. That dip into a much mellower face about 3:20 in is done much more elegantly compared to the way they managed similarly on the previous LP, and it gives the overall mood a bit of a King Diamond flare—the only thing missing is King’s penchant for layering a wide range of sinister laughter to augment the dark atmosphere. Sweet burnin’ lead in the closing 30 seconds, too.

    By contrast, the Savage Master side of the split really does nothing new, so expect more of the same straightforward, hard rockin’ classic metal that’s basically tailor-made for fist-pumping exercises at the very front of the venue as your back takes a beating from the occasional moshing tubbster in a freshly stitched battle vest. As a studio band, Savage Master has always been consistent enough to draw interest, but they don’t exactly emphasize a ton of exploration, which is something that feels even more stressed here because the three songs just aren’t as catchy as works in the past. They’re short—just shy of 9 minutes total, compared to the Mystic Storm flip-side that serves up 18—and they mostly chase past with only a splashy lead to give them anything truly notable to grab hold of. It’s nothing I’d dismiss outright, and I’m sure Stacey Savage would bring them more life from the stage (they are, at their core, a live band), but compared to all that’s new with Mystic Storm and Wandering Time, The Power side of this split just can’t help but fall short.

    Bottom line: the split has once again done what splits always manage to do, which is pit combatants in a battle of the bands to the death.

    TWO BANDS ENTER, ONE BAND LEAVES. TWO BANDS ENTER, ONE BAND LEAVES. TWO BANDS ENTER, ONE BAND LEAVES!

    And in this clash, Mystic Storm wins the day.

    Left: Savage Master // Right: Mystic Storm

    The post Savage Master – The Power // Mystic Storm – Wandering Time: Split LP Review appeared first on Last Rites.

  • Roman Candle: “I didn’t want to leave any room for interpretation – I’m angry, and you’re going to know exactly why”

    Posted on April 24th 2026, 11:00a.m.

  • “I didn’t want to be like stage dad.” Dave Grohl shares his pride in his daughter Violet’s emergence as a star on her own terms

    Dave Grohl reveals the guidance he’s offered his daughter Violet as she launches her own career

  • “I want to dedicate this next one to a dear friend of mine in the sky tonight!” Watch a tearful Yungblud pay emotional tribute to Ozzy Osbourne with his cover of Black Sabbath’s Changes in Birmingham last night

    Yungblud made the most of playing Ozzy’s home city

  • Hulu Announce New Travis Barker Documentary ‘Louder Than Fear’

    Hulu have announced a brand-new documentary on the life of Travis Barker, titled ‘Louder Than Fear’.

    Announced during Hulu’s Get Real House event earlier this week, the documentary is set to tell the “unfiltered” story of the blink-182 drummer’s life, largely focusing on his journey of recovery after surviving a devastating plane crash in 2008.

    Whilst we are still yet to receive an official release date, we do know that Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear has been a decade in the making. It was produced by Media Weaver Entertainment and directed by Justin Krook and Michael Dwyer.

    The post Hulu Announce New Travis Barker Documentary ‘Louder Than Fear’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

  • New Muse single Cryogen recalls classic earlier years with spiralling guitar riffs

    Muse will release their space-themed tenth studio album, The Wow! Signal in June

  • The Shrubs – Let Us In

    If you paid close attention to our pages in the last couple of years, then you probably stumbled