Coheed and Cambria
L.S. Dunes Is the Post-Hardcore Anti-Supergroup Born Out of Memes and Friendship
L.S. Dunes don’t sound like a supergroup, and they certainly don’t want to be called a supergroup. But when they took to the Rise Stage early on a Friday afternoon to effectively kick off Riot Fest, one could be forgiven for mistaking them for that. While other stages saw audiences in the dozens under the midday Chicago sun, the debuting quintet amassed thousands of onlookers. As vocalist Anthony Green pointed out from the stage, it was a bigger crowd than just about any other band would have for their first show (including all of his so far), but that’s to be expected when the Circa Survive/Saosin/The Sound of Animals Fighting frontman joined forces with guitarists Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance) and Travis Stever (Coheed and Cambria) and the rhythm section from Thursday (drummer Tucker ...
Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez on Channeling The Weeknd, Getting His ‘Broadway On’
At one point during my Zoom call with Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez, I fumble my words so heavily that our conversation grinds to a halt. Not because of awkwardness. The Coheed and Cambria mastermind remains one of the world’s most reliably affable rock stars: smiling widely, entertaining my nerdy questions about his synth-stacked home studio, punctuating every other sentence with a stoner-friendly laugh. The real reason I’m flummoxed: Even after listening to this band’s music for two decades, I have literally no idea what sub-genre shorthand to use during a question. (“Prog-metal-emo-power-pop” doesn’t exactly leap off the tongue.) Even crazier, the band’s upcoming 10th LP, Vaxis — Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind, expands beyond even that broad description, flirting more o...
106 Musicians Predict the 2022 Baseball Season
The powers-that-be did their best to prevent this year’s Major League Baseball season from happening, but, alas, we’re back. By we, I mean the annual SPIN baseball preview. As usual, everyone (or almost everyone) is optimistic about their team’s chances in 2022. In 2021, a good chunk of the season was played with minimal fans in attendance, but things should be mostly back to normal this year. As I said last year about the season: Will it be weird? Probably. But aren’t they all? If it wasn’t a weird season with bizarre injuries, what kind of season would it be? Not baseball, Suzyn. Somehow, we almost doubled the number of participants from 62 to 105. Maybe we go for a cool 162 next year? If nothing else, we know that musicians love America’s Pastime (even if many feel that it doesn’t love ...
Coheed and Cambria Detail New Album Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind
Coheed and Cambria are set to release the second installment of their five-part “Vaxis” arc, Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind. The new album is out May 27—and, of course, available for pre-order—and was produced by the band’s Claudio Sanchez and Zakk Cervini. Also available pre-order is the collection’s immersive limited edition deluxe box set, which includes an exclusive containment unit lamp, a poster, and a Black Card that will allow fans early access to tickets and early entry to their upcoming tour. Furthermore, the box set includes a 96-page illustrated hardcover novel, “A Window of the Waking Mind,” which was created by Sanchez and written by his wife Chondra Echert. Two of Vaxis II‘s singles, “Rise Naianasha (Cut The Cord)” and “Shoulders,” have already been released...
The 50 Best Rock Bands Right Now
First, let’s take care of the obvious. Despite the still-persistent narrative that such music is “dead,” there are way more than 50 excellent rock bands out there. And there’s no exact science to scooping the cream of the crop. Our list includes arena-packing veterans but also semi-obscure indie acts who’ve barely escaped their basements. There are no hard rules here. Our methodology was simple: ask our writers and staff which rock bands feel worthy of recognition right now. But we did aim for a wide scope — throughout, you’ll find flavors of psych, post-punk, hardcore, metal, even country. If it feels like rock, it’s on the table. Consider SPIN‘s 2021 roundup — just like last year’s — a thermometer, taking the temperature of modern rock in all its various mutations. Altın Gün Ho...
Coheed and Cambria Share ‘Jessie’s Girl 2′ Video Featuring Rick Springfield
Coheed and Cambria wrote a sequel to Rick Springfield’s ubiquitous 1981 #1 hit “Jessie’s Girl,” and the follow-up, “Jessie’s Girl 2,” furthers the lyrical narrative in unexpected and comic ways. The Grammy-Award winning Springfield plays a hapless bartender in the video, a version of the lovesick character from his original “Jessie’s Girl.” In a statement, Coheed and Cambria vocalist/guitarist Claudio Sanchez asks, “Has anyone ever written a sequel to another artist’s song? I don’t think so. As a fan of movies, it just seemed like a really interesting idea. Let’s just say it’s not a fairytale ending. It’s kind of like a National Lampoon’s movie meets So I Married an Axe Murderer.” The song’s concept, tackling the premise that “he got the girl,” then wonders, “where are they...
The Prize Fighter Inferno Releases ‘Stray Bullets’ Video
While some acts have spent quarantine looking back at the music they’ve played, Claudio Sanchez, known best for Coheed and Cambria, brought his solo project, the Prize Fighter Inferno, back to life. And today (July 10), he dropped a new video for “Stray Bullets.” Featuring Weerd Science, the video is mainly a series of digitally illustrated images with close-up shots of Sanchez and Weerd Science in what look like television screens framing their clips. Either way, the visualizer sucks you in and takes you to a different place — even for a few minutes. “I have had this project sitting around for a while, and the only time I ever really release stuff is when it doesn’t affect Coheed and Cambria,” Sanchez told SPIN in May. “I feel a sense of guilt when I’m like, ‘Oh, I wanna go do this thing ...
Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez Reignites the Prize Fighter Inferno in Lockdown
Everyone’s handling this COVID-19 crisis differently. For the most part, Claudio Sanchez, the mastermind behind Coheed and Cambria, is trying to make the most of the lockdown, working on new material for his long-dormant solo alias, The Prize Fighter Inferno — in between excessively washing his hands and helping to homeschool his 5-year-old son, Atlas, of course. “I have had this project sitting around for a while, and the only time I ever really release stuff is when it doesn’t affect Coheed and Cambria,” Sanchez tells SPIN. “I feel a sense of guilt when I’m like, ‘Oh, I wanna go do this thing … I wanna go exercise my ego with a side project.’ It makes me feel horrible, so I never do it.” Now, with life at a standstill and the quarantine thwarting the writing sessions for Coheed’s fo...
