Month: May 2025

Mark Hoppus Talks With NME

Mark Hoppus
Jason Tate

Mark Hoppus sat down for a new video interview with NME:

For decades I’ve not told stories or I’ve felt like it wasn’t my place to say anything. I really prefer to be a little bit more reserved and private – as outgoing and ridiculous as I am. Talking about how I felt about things, arguments that our band has had, struggles that I’ve had, to put it all out there in the world feels kind of cathartic and healing. Even putting out the bad stuff feels joyous to me.

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Jason Tate
Jason Tate chr.us

I cannot believe it's been 25 years. There are a handful of albums I remember, vividly, listening to on my morning drive to high school my senior year. This is one of them. An absolute pantheon album of my formative years.

Listen: https://chorus.fm/share/alb...

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A.M. Boys – “Space Times Six” (Song Premiere)

A.M. Boys
Adam Grundy

Today I’m excited to bring everyone the latest single and visualizer video from New York City-based post-punk/experimental rock band A.M. Boys called “Space Times Six.” The song comes from their sophomore record, Present Phase, that just released in full today. Band member Chris Moore said, “The first album was more focused on in-studio jams and songs written for live performance, but this time we decided to stretch out more and explore adding additional layers.” If you’re enjoying the latest single, please consider streaming Present Phase here.

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Review: Safari Room – “Cut Out”

Adam Grundy

”Would it be better just to cut you out, become a ghost and never speak to you again?” are the haunting words in the chorus of the latest single from Safari Room called “Cut Out.” The song is largely about falling head over heels in love with someone who doesn’t feel the same way. Safari Room is the solo project of Alec Koukol and he quickly showcases his songwriting improvements on this acoustic single. The song comes from Safari Room’s new forthcoming EP, Kindling, and the campfire-esque delivery of the track hits its intended target in its delivery.

The song reaches its crescendo on the pointed-bridge of “You’re like a never ending siren / You are famine and you are feast / You’re the monster underneath my bed, a mosquito on a leash / A bad penny always turning up / I will never shake you loose / I’m a ticking bomb when you’re around / You’re the match, and I’m your fuse / You’re like a tattoo on my mind,
you are the one that I can’t have / Every time I think I’m healing, you’ll find me picking at the scab.” It’s really hard to not be impressed by the songwriting found here, and it reminded me a lot of Thrice front-man Dustin Kensrue’s solo work, with equally-pleasing results. Safari Room is developing his sound in such a majestic way, and I’m really excited about the direction this solos project took here.

Review: Cellar Dwellar – “Digital_Drive_By”

Adam Grundy

The latest single from experimental/prog-rock band Cellar Dwellar scratches that itch for fans of bands like The Mars Volta, NIN, and Stabbing Westward. “Digital_Drive_By” takes the listener on an epic journey over its plus six-minute running time that the Columbus, Ohio based band expand upon the possibilities of their unique music. The band shared, “The lyrics of the song come from the current political climate of queer people being targeted by the state along with my heavy interest in the Act Up movement during the AIDs crisis of the 80s and my personal connection to family who were impacted during that time.”

Cellar Dwellar have started to gain a loyal following in the Ohio area, and have opened for bands like The Jesus Lizard, among others. “Digital_Drive_By” is a cool mix of styles that demands be listened to on a good pair of headphones to fully wrap your head around all of the sounds being pulled into the mix.

Anthropic Apologizes After One of Its Expert Witnesses Cited a Fake Article

Legal
Jason Tate

Maxwell Zeff, writing for TechCrunch:

A lawyer representing Anthropic admitted to using an erroneous citation created by the company’s Claude AI chatbot in its ongoing legal battle with music publishers, according to a filing made in a Northern California court on Thursday.

Claude hallucinated the citation with “an inaccurate title and inaccurate authors,” Anthropic says in the filing, first reported by Bloomberg. Anthropic’s lawyers explain that their “manual citation check” did not catch it, nor several other errors that were caused by Claude’s hallucinations.

Anthropic apologized for the error and called it “an honest citation mistake and not a fabrication of authority.”

DOJ Probes Live Nation, AEG for Covid-Era Refund Collusion

Legal
Jason Tate

Reuters:

The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a criminal antitrust probe of Live Nation and AEG’s response to concert cancellations at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Live Nation confirmed while denying any collusion on Thursday. The probe is focused on whether the live-event companies colluded on refund policies for canceled concerts, according to an earlier report by Bloomberg News.

Collusion with competitors can be a criminal offense under antitrust laws. Probes do not always result in charges.

Lorde Interview with Rolling Stone

Lorde
Jason Tate

Lorde sat down with Rolling Stone:

As we talk in her apartment and around her city, Lorde often repeats how “terrified” she is to open up about the album — and to let the world hear it. There are songs she forebodingly describes as “rugged,” vulnerable, and messy, fitting for an artist who’s unlearning the conditioning that taught her to be digestible and “good.” 

“There’s going to be a lot of people who don’t think I’m a good girl anymore, a good woman. It’s over,” she promises, eyes bright and full of fire. “It will be over for a lot of people, and then for some people, I will have arrived. I’ll be where they always hoped I’d be.”