Email Author Rick Skidmore

2007 Stories by Rick Skidmore

• The Cult

  published November 29, 2007

  According to legend, Ian Astbury disbanded Southern Death Cult because of overwhelmingly positive press. Fact or fiction, it does explain how... More >>

• The Lawrence Arms

  published November 15, 2007

  Remember that two-headed gibberish-speaking muppet? The Lawrence Arms is like that, only they're intelligible. And instead of a puppeteer with... More >>

• Prong

  published November 1, 2007

  Over the course of twenty years, eight studio albums and one live offering, Prong has shared musicians with Swans, Danzig, Ministry, Killing... More >>

• McRad

  published October 11, 2007

  It's fitting that McRad sounds like a skateboard trick. The act has been featured on several skateboard videos, and mastermind Chuck Treece had... More >>

• McRad/Frontside Five

  published October 11, 2007

  In 1984, Tony Hawk was doing a Frontside 5-0 to Lipslide Revert. Here we have skate punks Frontside Five and McRad reverting back to 1984, with... More >>

• The Cave Singers

  published September 27, 2007

  Most folks familiar with "Darling Clementine" never get to the verse where Clem meets her watery demise. The Cave Singers explore that morbid... More >>

• Hot Hot Heat

  published September 20, 2007

  The epic, soaring sonics on Happiness Ltd., Hot Hot Heat's latest effort, owe a debt to some tricked-out production that results in a... More >>

• The Vibrators

  published September 13, 2007

  Like their contemporaries in U.K. Subs, who lived in the same building, the seasoned pub musicians who formed the Vibrators in 1976 brought a... More >>

• The Vibrators

  published September 13, 2007

  Like their contemporaries in U.K. Subs, who lived in the same building, the seasoned pub musicians who formed the Vibrators in 1976 brought a... More >>

• Junior Senior

  published August 30, 2007

  "Infectious" is too mild a word for viral tunes like "Hip Hopallula" and "Hello," which both owe a sizable debt to old-school Grandmaster Flash... More >>

• Murder Junkies

  published August 30, 2007

  The Tennessee Three backed Johnny Cash. Elvis had the Jordanaires. And the late, great GG Allin had the Murder Junkies, a crew who saw more of his... More >>

• Subhumans (U.K.)

  published August 23, 2007

  The Sex Pistols gave anarchy a headline and a splashy photo, then left it to the caustic Crass to do the research and provide the content.... More >>

• Bad Religion

  published August 2, 2007

  Four presidential administrations later, socio-political firebrand Bad Religion is still making enemies and influencing imitators with its... More >>

• Melt-Banana

  published June 28, 2007

  Next to Einsturzende Neubauten, these Japanese noise-mongers hold the distinction of being one of the loudest bands on the planet. Like the mythic... More >>

• U.S. Bombs

  published June 28, 2007

  This past March, a car crash prematurely ended a Die Hunns tour. After the accident, the band's leader, Duane Peters, a 45-year-old professional... More >>

• Maroon 5

  published June 21, 2007

  What's worse than disco? How about bleak, breakup, stalker disco? Guess that might make it disc-emo. On Maroon 5's latest effort, the... More >>

• The 69 Eyes

  published June 21, 2007

  Nice guys really do Finnish last. While they look like Mötley Crüe and sport names of Gunther Toody waiters — Archie, Bazie,... More >>

• Joan Osborne

  published June 7, 2007

  Breakfast in Bed finds Joan Osborne once again reworking classic R&B numbers to varied effect. Icons such as "Midnight Train to Georgia"... More >>

• Nekromantix

  published May 24, 2007

  Here's a fun project for the kiddies: Take all the Nekromantix albums that are lying around and make a flip-book out of the covers. Then watch the... More >>

• Only Crime

  published January 25, 2007

  For decades, mild-mannered Bill Stevenson has been twiddling the knobs for punk-n-ska acts like Less Than Jake and Lagwagon at his Fort Collins... More >>

• The Crüxshadows

  published January 25, 2007

  Aging vampires with dunlops spilling out over their PVC stretch pants: The prospect is nauseating, and helps explain the high turnover rate in the... More >>