Album Review: Mac DeMarco – Five Easy Hot Dogs

By Devon Risner, Contributor [Mac’s Record Label, 2023] Rating 6/10 Key Tracks: “Victoria”, “Crescent City” Whether DeMarco is retiring is still up for debate. Entering 2023 with a new record, Five Easy Hot Dogs, it leaves to question if he will quit at his peak. Moving away from his younger sound of “the laid-back prince…

Album Review: This Stupid World – Yo La Tengo

By Venus Rittenberg, Editorial Director [Matador; 2023] Rating: 8/10 Key Tracks: “Fallout”, “Aselestine”, “Until it Happens”  Yo La Tengo is back with another fantastic record. For a band who appeared to be past their prime (and has appeared that way for a while), this is phenomenal. This Stupid World is the best the band has…

Musician’s time

By Paul Nern, News Editor
[Photo courtesy of Julia Weber]
My dad wouldn’t call himself much of a musician. He is a 62 year old semi-retired English professor who has heavily dabbled in poetry. But he is a musician because he chiefed OU’s tenured professor program that allows you to take a sabbatical to study your field, or whatever. And what he did was write songs and record his music over the course of an academic semester.  

Preview: Lobsterfest is back in Athens this weekend, here’s what to expect

[Flyer courtesy of Hudson Forman] By Grace Koennecke, Columns Editor This weekend, ACRN’s annual student-run music festival, Lobsterfest, is back at The Union during the height of spring. Running from March 31 to April 2, this year’s festival has a stacked lineup coming to southeast Ohio, with nationally known and local acts taking the stage….

The View From the Afternoon: The Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil

By Roman Salomone, Contributor
[Fire Records; 2007]
Genres: Garage Punk, Garage Rock, Cowpunk, Psychedelic Rock
Welcome back Rock Lobsters! Last time we met, we talked about a New York classic, the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Fever to Tell. This time, I was thinking we should stay in the US, but take a trip down south to the wonderful state of Georgia. For today, I want to talk about one of my favorites groups and a scenario when one of the nastiest garage rock bands of all time made a subtle yet huge shift towards a more mature direction, which just so happened to result in a stone-cold classic. That band is the Black Lips and the album is Good Bad Not Evil.

Lucy Dacus releases new music video 

By Lauren Patterson, Copy Editor [Photo courtesy of Bandcamp] Spawning from her 2018 album Historian, Lucy Dacus has released a new music video for her highest-streamed track, “Night Shift.” Read more: Rihanna explains Super Bowl Performance and Album Update in New Interview The video was directed by filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, and features actors E.R. Fightmaster…

Brazilian psychedelic rock band BIKE release new single “O Torto Santo”

By: Liam Syrvalin, Contributor [Image courtesy of Shameless Promotion PR] BIKE, a psychedelic rock/noise rock band hailing from Brazil, released their first song on Wednesday in two years with their new single “O Torto Santo.” They released the track with Before Sunrise Records, a Brazilian new indie rock record label.  Read more: Black Country, New…

The Flaming Lips announce Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots anniversary tour

[Photo courtesy of Blake Studdard] By Julia Weber, Features Editor The Flaming Lips have announced a world tour to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. The announcement follows the 2022 re-release of the album celebrating the 20th anniversary with a deluxe edition containing 100 total tracks including a number…

Rihanna explains Super Bowl Performance and Album Update in New Interview

[Photo courtesy of Rolling Stone] By Roman Salomone, Contributor In a new interview with Giles Hattersley of British Vogue, Rihanna discussed a multitude of topics such as her recent half-time performance at the 57th Super Bowl, becoming a mother, her partner A$AP Rocky, and an update on her upcoming album. Read more: Upcoming Gorillaz film…