alt rock
10 Obscure 90s Alternative Rock Tracks With an Emo Tinge
While grunge went mainstream in the 90s, hundreds of pop-punk, post-hardcore and early-emo bands were bubbling under the radar, waiting for their genre to have its turn in the spotlight. Unfortunately, many of these bands dissolved before the culture shifted in the mid-2000s. We can't go back in time and change the course of history, but we can enjoy their albums today--and I think it's time for the Internet to appreciate what these groups contributed to the music world.
By Kaitlin Shanksabout 4 hours ago in Beat
My Exclusive Interview With Siichaq
Siichaq (pronounced "sea-check") is an indie artist, but she's not one that you can easily pin down. She blends a variety of sounds, themes and genres into her musical soundscapes--and just when you think you've got it figured out, she surprises you again. Her latest album, The Righteous Sword , is so complex that this interview doesn't quite cover everything. Fortunately, you don't have to imagine what it sounds like: once you've learned about the songwriting process, you can listen for yourself and enjoy the transformative journey.
By Kaitlin Shanks6 days ago in Beat
Notes from the Mind Palace
Karaoke isn’t just singing for me — it’s a personality test, a confession booth, a therapy session, and a threat all rolled into one. My lineup is chaotic on purpose. It’s designed to confuse people, amuse people, scare people, and remind myself that I’m still alive. I also do it alone. So there is that.
By Syl De'Vil8 days ago in Beat
Notes from the Mind Palace.
Music doesn’t just “inspire” me. It rewires me. It grabs my skull like it’s trying to tune a radio, and suddenly every part of me snaps into alignment. My thoughts stop tripping over each other. My nerves stop buzzing. The world gets quieter, even when the volume is stupidly loud. I don’t listen to music — I use it. The louder the music gets, the quieter those internal voices become — the ones that try to tell me I’m nothing, the ones that show up when I’m tired or hurting or stretched too thin. Volume becomes a shield. Bass becomes a boundary. A song becomes the thing that steps between me and the parts of my mind that don’t always play fair. It even helps with the autoimmune pain. Not in some magical “healing frequency” way — just in the way drowning in sound gives me something stronger to focus on than the ache. When the music is loud enough, my body stops screaming for a minute. I get a little space. A little breath. A little control. It’s the switch that flips me from “overstimulated parent with seven kids doing parkour through my sanity” to “feral writer pacing the room like a crow deciding which shiny object to steal.” If the song hits right, my whole brain goes cinematic. I stop seeing words and start seeing scenes: fog rolling in, headlights cutting through it, someone yelling in the distance, maybe something crawling out of the dark that shouldn’t exist. Music is the fuse that lights all of that. People think playlists are just background noise. Mine are battle plans . Each song is a mood, a memory, a weapon. Some tracks drag me back to Maine. Some drag me into the fog. Some drag me into the parts of my head I don’t talk about unless I’m writing. And some songs hit so hard I feel like I’m remembering a life I didn’t actually live. Music is the only thing that can match the chaos in my head without getting drowned out. It’s the one thing that keeps me steady. It’s the one thing that makes the stories come out clean instead of tangled. Music doesn’t just affect me. It possesses me. And honestly, I let it — because it’s one of the few things that makes the noise inside me survivable. Music doesn’t just affect me — it kidnaps me. It drags me by the hair into whatever universe it feels like throwing me into. And the louder it is, the quieter everything else gets. The voices that tell me I’m nothing? They get smothered under layers of distortion and screaming. They can’t compete with a sonic avalanche. I listen too loud everywhere. Car? Loud enough to rattle the bolts out of the doors. Shower? Loud enough the shampoo vibrates. Headphones? Weak. Earbuds? Pathetic. Party speaker? Coward. Nothing gets loud enough. So I keep turning it up anyway. Because when Yeah Yeah Yeahs — “Y Control” hits, something in my chest snaps awake. It’s like someone kicked the generator in my soul and yelled RUN . When Tegan and Sara — “Dark Come Soon” comes on, the world finally dims enough for me to breathe. Tiger Army — “Valley of Dreams” drowns the autoimmune pain under rhythm and pulse. Choking Victim — “In My Grave” lights a match in my ribcage and tells the darkness to fight back. Rancid — “St. Mary” is every too‑fast drive I’ve ever taken. Bad Brains — “F.V.K.” is adrenaline in audio form. Talking Heads — “Psycho Killer” is the part of my brain that laughs at the chaos, and shakes her butt a little at the sound. Social Distortion — “Far Behind” is grit and memory. something I would rather keep to myself. Bad Religion — “Generator” is the spark that keeps me writing. reminds me that there's more than what you see. Dramarama — “Anything, Anything” is the scream I never let out and the song I sing every time I feel like I could fall in love. then remind myself that love... its not for me. Then there’s The Church — “Reptile” , crawling under my skin like electricity. And Misfits — “Devils Whorehouse” , kicking open the door to the feral part of my brain. But you want chaos? Here’s chaos: Otep — “Special Pets” makes my blood feel like it’s boiling. It’s the one that shuts the internal voices up because they know they can’t compete with that kind of rage. Tool — “The Pot” hits like someone dropped a brick through my skull and rearranged the furniture inside. Mudvayne — “Dig” isn’t a song — it’s a detonation. It’s the moment the world goes white‑hot and I stop feeling anything except the beat. Volbeat — “Still Counting” is the soundtrack of every time I’ve said “I’m fine” while absolutely not being fine. Marilyn Manson — “Kill 4 Me” slinks through my nerves like a threat wrapped in velvet. Chevelle — “Take Out the Gunman” is the pulse that keeps me upright when everything hurts. Incubus — “Nice to Know You” is the moment I slam the door on the past and don’t look back. A Perfect Circle — “Magdalena” turns my brain into a cathedral full of ghosts. Straight Line Stitch — “Conversion” is the part of me that refuses to die, even when everything else is screaming. Wage War — “High Horse” is the moment I stop apologizing for being loud, chaotic, messy, and alive. "Teeth" the song that reminds me exactly where I stand with those in my life. These songs aren’t just tracks — they’re weapons . They’re shields. They’re pressure valves. They’re the only things loud enough to drown out the parts of me that try to drag me under. Music is the only thing that matches the chaos in my head without getting swallowed by it. It’s the one thing that keeps me upright. It’s the one thing that makes the stories come out clean instead of tangled.
By Syl De'Vil8 days ago in Beat
12 Songs I Discovered on a Burned CD From 2008
Growing up, I never had an iPod, but I had the next best thing: an off-brand Walkman, a desktop computer with Internet access and a stack of blank CDs. With Limewire's help, I could download virtually any song I wanted and listen to it any time without waiting for radio play. Before streaming revolutionized the music industry, I had a CD holder loaded with illegally copied albums, mixtape-style CDs like this one and a few legally acquired records.
By Kaitlin Shanks9 days ago in Beat
The time I saw the Goo Goo Dolls, Fast Ball, and Sugar Ray in concert
I remember seeing Sugar Ray and Fast Ball together on tour the time that they played the local fair ground. A friend of my mother' s was working backstage in catering I actually had seen members of Sugar ray getting off of the tour bus. Sugar Ray was touring in promotion of their last album along with Fast Ball who are considered one hit wonders but a hit none the less with their song "The Way" which is a song written about an article where the people in the song actually happened in real life for such a happy sounding song the story is truly dark.
By Revista Miko:XCI 11 days ago in Beat
14 Songs I Found on a Burned CD from 2007
Before streaming took over, you had a few options for listening to your favorite songs: waiting for the song to play on the radio, trying to catch the music video on TV or paying $15 for a CD that might have only one good track. As a child, I fantasized about owning a CD that magically played all my favorite songs. Unfortunately, this seemed like a fairy tale until Napster and Limewire disrupted the music industry, allowing users to download virtually any song for free--albeit illegally.
By Kaitlin Shanks28 days ago in Beat
A review of "Diana/No Encores in a Swan Song" by Blind Channel
Blind Channel is one of my favourite bands. I discovered them during Eurovision 2021, and the rest was history. At the time, I was falling a bit out of love with the whole rock/metal scene, so discovering them was a breath of fresh air for me and reignited my interest in these genres.
By Simona Rossoabout a month ago in Beat
Six of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's Most Indefensible '80s Blind Spots
Because apparently "shaped an entire generation of music" isn't a strong enough résumé... Credit where it's due — the Hall has actually been doing a little cleanup work lately. The 2026 class alone is inducting Iron Maiden, Billy Idol, Oasis, Joy Division/New Order, Sade, Luther Vandross, Wu-Tang Clan, and Phil Collins as a solo artist on top of his existing Genesis induction. That's a genuinely stacked class. Somebody in Cleveland is clearly trying.
By Elton Reads A Book A Week (Elton Edgar)2 months ago in Beat
Six '90s Bands the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Keeps 'Forgetting' Exist
Because "rock's highest honor" apparently runs on a decades-long delay and a guilty conscience... Let's get the good news out of the way first: the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame occasionally remembers to do its job. Radiohead got in back in 2019. Nine Inch Nails followed in 2020. And after three separate nomination attempts and eight years of grieving Chris Cornell, Soundgarden finally walked the red carpet in 2025, with Jim Carrey — yes, that Jim Carrey — delivering the induction speech in a Fender-signed haze of nostalgia. So credit where it's due: the Hall can, on occasion, be shamed into fixing its mistakes.
By Elton Reads A Book A Week (Elton Edgar)2 months ago in Beat
10 Eccentric Tracks from Obscure Shoegaze Bands. Top Story - August 2026.
In a lot of ways, making money as a musician is more challenging than ever. And yet, these obscure shoegaze bands are still at it. They might not have top-ten hits or millions of Spotify listeners, but they're still making music because they love writing songs and sharing their efforts with the world. Here's your chance to give back by streaming their tracks, following them on social media and, if you live in the area, checking out one of their live shows.
By Kaitlin Shanks2 months ago in Beat
