I've heard pretty much my whole life that "rock 'n' roll" is a young man's game. Don't ask me where I heard this, because it has been in multiple places from different people. It's a phrase that has floated around in my mind ever since I was actually young. Now that I'm somewhere between middle age and certifiably "old," I still think about it every now and then. I especially think about it when I hear a band like Gatecrash, who are my age and can still crank out a brilliant debut LP such as this one. I also wonder: could this band have made such a masterful record any better if they were twenty or thirty years younger? The answer to that is no, I really don't believe so. I've also heard nonsense sayings like "age is just a number." Well, to anyone who has seen The Damned or the Circle Jerks, I think this saying might have some truth to it. I haven't seen anyone completely incinerate a room the way Keith Morris is do...

In case you missed the "Best of 2026 So Far" episode of the podcast that Josh and I do called Born Too Late, here's a quick recap. We were happy to have Niek from Add To Wantlist.com as a special guest to class up the joint. It's crazy to me how we all, more or less, listen to similar music, yet only had one duplicate record on our lists. So go ahead, dive in headfirst and take a look at what we've been adoring the last 6 months or so. I don't want to hear anyone say there isn't any good music being made anymore, because here are thirty-plus records that stand as a testament contrary to that statement. Brilliant new bands and records are still roaming the earth today. They haven't gone the way of the dinosaur quite yet. That's why it's more important than ever to support these independent bands and record labels right now, while they're still around. The Spotify playlist at the end of this post merely serves as a reference. If you like any ...

Shock Treatment: So Charles, you started off in The Dimestore Haloes in the mid-90s, before moving on to The Cheap Cassettes in the mid-2000s. What inspired the shift from the traditional band setup to going solo with Songs From The Film?" Charles Matthews: Yeah! I took ten years, almost ten years, off from music between the Haloes and the Cheap Cassettes, and I really didn’t do much during that time. Now that I am without a band again, I want to continue making music in whatever way I can, and not stop for so long. I’m getting older, like everybody, and I only have so much time, so I wanted to keep making music in whatever way I can. So it’s kind of like what McCartney did at the end of the Beatles, just with way less talent. Hahahaha. He was burned out after that intense band experience, and so am I. Shock Treatment: What can people expect from Songs From The Film’s music that may differ from your previous projects? CM: I am not writing for a particular band now, so I can do any...

Before I listen to any record, before I crack open my old Boba Fett wallet and shell out a few bucks for an LP, 7", or whatever, I think to myself: Would Rick Beato like this? That's not a bad way to live your life, I'm telling you. The guy is smart and knows music! He uses words like "dissonance" and "ato nality" when he's reviewing records. At this point, I've done probably close to 100 or so record reviews and I've never used those words in any of them. So clearly, my self-diagnosis i s that I'm lacking something people often refer to as "smarts." Would I use any of those words when reviewi ng a record called Pig Vomit Sessions ? The answer to that is no, probably not. In fact, I 'm pretty sure if Rick Beato were standing here right now, as I'm listening to Pig Vomit Sessions , he'd probably shriek and shrivel up like the Witch-k ing of Angmar in The Return of the King after getting stabbed in the face Pig Vom...

This "First Blood" business came about because I was thinking about how I could still do some kind of interview, but without asking the typical "how did the band start" or "what are your influences" kinds of questions. I've interviewed Nicole Laurenne twice before. The first time was for my first blog, Audio Ammunition , back in 2013, when she was in a great garage band in Phoenix called The Love Me Nots. The second was on my podcast, Born Too Late , a couple of years ago. Since I got a lot of those standard questions out of the way already, I didn't want to ask them all a third time. So, here we are. A series of questions centered around Nicole's "first" musical experiences in life. What's with the title, you ask? Well, first off, it kind of fits, wouldn't you say? The second reason is that I love the 1982 Sly Stallone movie, OK? So there you have it—consume and enjoy! Shock Treatment: What was the first rock 'n’ roll con...

Adult Learners are an exciting new band from Boston. Judging from the movies that I've seen that take place in Boston like Good Will Hunting and The Town (which, to be fares, is really all I have to judge that city on) Boston residents don't seem to be very kind, they're a little rough around the edges if you know what I mean. But the folks in Adult Learners seem like a jolly, good hearted bunch. I wonder how a band like this fairs in a town like that? Hopefully once the people of Beantown hear this 7", it will change their chilly demeanor and warm the hearts of many of its residents. This S/T 7" also happens to be the band's debut, which is always exciting. It contains five songs that are so catchy and memorable, they're like little colorful, rubber bouncy balls ricocheting around the inside walls of your skull. These tunes all clock in at under two minutes, which is perfect! Songs of this nature rarely do well in an epic Jethro Tull type of length.  - A...