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  • “When we were playing like 100 capacity rooms, as soon as it kicked in, people were in danger, like people could die.” How Knocked Loose wrote Counting Worms as a terrifying set interlude and scored a viral hit

    Counting Worms began life as a simple interlude during Knocked Loose’s early, violent sets.

    This 71-second song is not about a basic technique for measuring soil health, but rather slang for being quite deceased. It’s not a happy song by any stretch of the imagination, but when it was released in 2016 on their debut album Laugh Tracks, it became something of a viral hit.

    The song features just 16 words and two noises a dog might make if the post arrives, or if a neighbour dares leave their own house. Vocalist Bryan Garris believed the feral sounds gave the song a sense of menace. Perfect, then, for whipping up a crowd into a frenzy.

    “I feel like every decision that we make when it comes to writing is based off the live show,” Garris told Metal Hammer. “We have a setlist that is completely built around crowd participation, and where in our songs we can create moments in a live setting.”

    “The bark was something that I thought sounded hard,” he later told podcaster Nik Nocturnal in 2024. “It was kind of just always an interlude live, and back in the day, I don’t know what it was about that song, but that was the scariest moment of our set. It became like this unspoken rule that when you heard the chirping everything was crazy.”

    More often than not, things would take an ugly turn when it was time to play Counting Worms.

    “The funny thing about that is that it has a pretty happy energy now, because people will put the song over their dog making a mess of something,” guitarist Isaac Hale told former Stray from the Path drummer Craig Reynolds on his podcast, The Downbeat. “It’s such a joke now, but back in the day, when we started playing Counting Worms, it was the most terrifying part of our set.”

    Indeed, the song went viral and Garris’ dog noises since have been incorporated into a SpongeBob SquarePants meme and featured across multiple TikTok posts, with yo-yo trickster Kremmet being a particular highlight. The song has also been co-opted, sliced and diced by the drum and bass community (American DJ Kayzo in particular).

    “Half the time we show up to play a show or even a headline show, I’m assuming half these people just heard Counting Worms off of TikTok.

    Isaac Hale

    “Full disclosure: half the time we show up to play a show or even a headline show, I’m assuming half these people just heard Counting Worms off of TikTok or they heard the ‘Gary’ Mistakes like Fractures meme,” shrugs Hale. “That’s a good percentage of why people come.”

    “When we were playing like 100-cap rooms, right, as soon as that kicked in, people were in danger, like people could die,” Hale added during an interview with YouTuber Rob Scallon. “Now when we kick into Counting Worms, everyone’s like, ‘Yay! Happy fun time!’, like, ‘Yeah, I saw a video of a dog running around to this,’ whereas I used to see people getting knocked out.”

    Knocked Loose

    Knocked Loose in 2018 (Image credit: Matthew Vincent)

    Its viral success – along with the band’s formidable live reputation – opened doors, leading to shows with Every Time I Die and, later, Parkway Drive. Their status as headliners was grew rapidly, to the point they were joined by Terror and Jesus Piece during a North American run in support of their debut.

    Almost a decade on, Counting Worms has lost none of its feral power, viral hit or not, and the band did not squander the opportunities it afforded them. In recent years, their profile has grown further; their song Suffocate earned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance in 2025 and they were invited to support Metallica on their recent run of European shows.

  • Dantalion – New Album To Release This Year

    Spanish black metal mob Dantalion will release new album Dantalion later this year. The band has promised to take its sound in “a new direction” on this self-titled album, their tenth overall and the successor to 2023’s Fatum.
    Read more…

  • Green Day’s new coming-of-age movie is getting an international cinema release

    Posted on July 7th 2026, 2:08pm

  • Asia Name New Album ‘Indigo,’ Release Video for ‘The Traveller’

    It includes two songs written by late singer John Wetton, along with guest spots from former guitarist Steve Howe and Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy. Continue reading…

  • How We’d Build an All-Women Rock Festival

    Olivia Rodrigo's recent announcement inspired us. Continue reading…

  • Slow Pulp – “Not For Nothing”

    Slow Pulp are great at piano ballads. The Chicago indie rockers proved this with the beautiful title track of 2023’s Yard, and now they’re proving it again with the second Melodie single “Not For Nothing,” which is out today.

    The post Slow Pulp – “Not For Nothing” appeared first on Stereogum.

  • Premiere: A.J. Fullerton – “Change Is Inevitable”

    Blues Rock Review is exclusively premiering “Change Is Inevitable,” the latest single from A.J. Fullerton. The track is the second single from his upcoming EP Baretone, due out September 11 via Gitcha Records.

    Built around Fullerton’s expressive baritone guitar work, “Change Is Inevitable” reflects on the constant evolution of music, culture, and life itself while paying tribute to the Delta blues traditions that first inspired him. The song balances classic fingerstyle blues with a modern approach, capturing both the roots of the genre and Fullerton’s own musical evolution.

    Speaking about the song, Fullerton says, “‘Change Is Inevitable’ serves as both a tribute to the classic fingerstyle Delta Blues that shaped my early influences and a contemporary interpretation of the genre. The song reflects on the constant state of transformation intrinsic in all music, culture, and the human experience. Through life’s unexpected twists and turns, one thing remains certain: change is inevitable.”

    Recorded at Mark Anderson’s Cowboy Cowabunga Ranch in Evergreen, Colorado, “Change Is Inevitable” features Fullerton on baritone guitar, slide guitar, and bass, alongside Tim Carman on drums and Lauren Frihauf on backing vocals. The song explores the relentless march of change and the way time reshapes everything, whether we are prepared for it or not.

    Baretone also marks the first time Fullerton and Carman recorded together. Tracked with minimal planning, the session prioritized spontaneity and feel over perfection. The core performances were recorded live in the room, capturing the chemistry between two musicians creating in the moment.

    Originally from Colorado and now based in Nashville, Fullerton has spent more than a decade building a reputation as an accomplished fingerstyle and slide guitarist, producer, and songwriter. Throughout his career, he has shared stages with Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, Samantha Fish, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Charlie Musselwhite, Otis Taylor, and many others.

    The post Premiere: A.J. Fullerton – “Change Is Inevitable” appeared first on Blues Rock Review.

  • Kelela – “the bridge” (Feat. PinkPantheress)

    For the past few years, PinkPantheress has been one of the most influential forces in global pop music. She’s the artist who figured out how to make retro-futuristic dance beats feel personal and intimate and catchy. Meanwhile, one of her big influences is Kelela, the singer who was delicately wrapping her voice around precise, architectural club production long before the PinkPantheress breakthrough moment. Today, PinkPantheress and Kelela team up for their second collab.

    The post Kelela – “the bridge” (Feat. PinkPantheress) appeared first on Stereogum.

  • Tiger Bomb – 15 Super Hits


    You have to love an album with the name 15 Super Hits. Right off, you know to expect nothing more and nothing less than fun and timeless rock ‘n’ roll. There will be no robot voices or seven-minute songs about dragons. You know that when you put that record on, you’ll soon be dancing and singing along and generally having a great time. Tiger Bomb, a band co-fronted by Chris Horne from garage rock legends The Brood and Lynda Mandolyn from Fabulous Disaster, has been at it for nearly a decade now. I am more than a little chagrined that I’ve never previously reviewed this band that was practically tailor-mode for this blog. But the great thing about being a fan of music is that it’s never too late to get hip (pun intended) to all kinds of good stuff. With a lineup rounded out by Amanda Ayotte (Legendary Unknowns) on bass and Jessica Smith (The Resistance) on drums, the Portland, Maine–based Tiger Bomb plays upbeat & infectious garage rock influenced by girl groups, punk rock, power pop, and classic pop and rock ‘n’ roll. Yeah, I know: that sounds like something I would be into! Out on the legendary Get Hip Recordings, the aptly named 15 Super Hits features 15 original songs that could easily pass for covers of forgotten ’60s classics.  

    The singing and songwriting partnership between Horne and Mandolyn is one of the things that really makes Tiger Bomb special. The former’s songs are mostly high-energy garage rock shakers, while the latter’s lean more towards power pop. But Horne’s songs still have killer hooks, and Mandolyn’s songs still pack plenty of punch. And all these songs go together splendidly. It never feels like you’re listening to two different bands. Both of these women could carry (and have carried) a band as the lead songwriter, but they sure are dynamite together. I can’t think of one song I would want to subtract from the track list, and even a healthy collection of 15 songs leaves me wanting more. 

    Given the individuals involved, it’s hardly a surprise that Tiger Bomb is such a fantastic band. But this group is more than just the sum of its parts. These four women get rock ‘n’ roll, and as a unit, they are an absolute ball of fire. They are masters of their craft, yet they play with the energy and enthusiasm of teenagers in the garage. Many of you are reading this and thinking, “What took you so long, dude?” The rest of you will be wondering how quickly you can acquire Tiger Bomb’s full discography. Happy shopping!

  • Bashful – ‘Til It Makes You Sick


    This one was an A+ recommendation from Niek. From Richmond, Virginia, Bashful has unleashed an absolute banger of a new album in ‘Til It Makes You Sick. I believe the technical way to describe this is “punk rock that kicks ass.” You know what I’m talking about: mega-blasting guitars, relentlessly pounding drums, vocals with guts and heart, and hooks that never quit. Pop-punk can often be a hit-or-miss thing, but this is a band that gets it right. Whatever frequent complaints you might have about pop-punk (too wimpy, dumb lyrics, annoying vocals, no originality, etc.) will not apply here. This record is a total firecracker. These songs are as likely to make you want to start a pit in your living room as they are to get stuck in your head. I often have a sweet spot for pop-punk that seems to have been teleported in from the ’90s, but Bashful sounds a little more contemporary. I love that you can feel the passion that Bashful put into these songs. This music is infectious and full of life. If I’m sitting on the couch and you ask me why I’m so sweaty, I’ll say, “I was listening to Bashful.”