Month: March 2026

Review: Fenway Punk – Chris Wrenn

Fenway Punk
Adam Grundy

Not everyone is cut out for the “life of the hustle”, but Chris Wrenn certainly was. The founder and owner of Bridge Nine Records recalls his early days of hustling sales of stickers and buttons donned with the simple, but effective, slogan of “Yankees Suck!” to trigger the right emotions of the Boston Red Sox faithful. This tale of Wrenn’s unique way of creating entrepreneurial revenue through unique means, led to him funneling this cash into some of the earliest releases of what would become Bridge Nine Records, a respected indie label in the punk/hardcore scene. Wrenn’s author voice comes through the pages as genuine, warm, and authentic as he recalls the circumstances that led to him wanting to start his own record label. Fenway Punk is equal parts biography as much as it is a story of how fellow prospective business owners and/or record labels could learn key lessons from Wrenn’s experiences in their own endeavors.

Read More “Fenway Punk – Chris Wrenn”

Spotify to Let Your Edit Your Algorithm

Jason Tate

Sarah Perez, writing for TechCrunch:

This Taste Profile is key to Spotify’s recommendations, including personalized playlists like Discover Weekly, Made For You recommendations, and the year-end review known as Spotify Wrapped, among other things. 

Starting with Premium listeners initially in New Zealand, Spotify will allow users to see all their listening data in one place in the app, including music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Users will then be able to edit this profile and even fine-tune future recommendations by asking for more or less of a certain vibe. After doing so, the app’s home page will reflect a different set of suggestions.

The All-American Rejects Talk With Rolling Stone

All American Rejects
Jason Tate

The All-American Rejects sat down with Rolling Stone to talk about their new album:

They always say you have your whole life to write your first record. And I think this is the most honest thing that we’ve done. When we got on a major label — I’m a product of a broken household, and I was signed when I was 16. The first guy I met, the A&R, was my dad’s age. So you get this dynamic of “I wanna make Dad happy.” And then finally when I grew up and Dad kicked me out of the house, I thought about my life. This record’s got a lot of my personal shit in it. The thing that happens when you cross 30, life hits you in the face. Families change, relationships change. I had something to say. And Sandbox feels like — it’s very random musically, but I think we’ve always been that. We’ve made a lot more strong choices as a band to just say “What can we do where we’re not chasing some sort of major-label expectation?” And I think I’m really happy with the way the record’s turned out.

There’s also a video version.

Read More “The All-American Rejects Talk With Rolling Stone”

I Am the Avalanche Talk New Album

I Am the Avalanche
Jason Tate

I Am the Avalanche talked with Rock Sound about their upcoming album:

Whether I was procrastinating or not, I wrote the lyrics when it was the exact right time for me to write them. It came after I experienced the most insane amount of loss. At the time, part of me was like, ‘Most of the lyrics aren’t written yet, so I guess the record’s never going to get done.’ It was a sunny day though, so I went to the park by my apartment, and I wrote the first lyrics. It killed me for the next three days. I got it off my chest, and it took so much out of me physically and mentally, but I saw the result. I went into the studio around three days after I wrote that first song. I sang it in the vocal booth, and when I heard it back, I became empowered. I knew that I needed to see it through.

Jason Tate
Jason Tate chr.us

Birthday week ... I feel like I need to do a "Jason's favorite albums to make him feel good" speed run.