Pop Punk
Frontman of Prominent Christian Rock Band: “I No Longer Believe in God”
Jonathan Steingard, the frontman of the successful Christian rock band Hawk Nelson, has declared in a lengthy Instagram post that he no longer believes in God. The singer-guitarist has been a member of Hawk Nelson since 2004, taking over lead vocals in 2012. The Canadian band has placed a number of LPs in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart, amassing a large following along the way. In a caption accompanying his open letter, Steingard remarked, “I’ve been terrified to post this for a while – but I feel like it’s time for me to be honest. I hope this is encouraging to people who might feel the same but are as afraid to speak as I am. I want to be open. I want to be transparent with you all – and also open to having my heart changed in the future.” In the letter itself, Stei...
Joyce Manor Announce New Rarities Album, Share “House Warning Party”: Stream
Joyce Manor have announced a new rarities album called Songs from Northern Torrance. It’s due out digitally this coming Friday, May 29th, with a vinyl release to follow on September 19th. Named after the band’s hometown of Torrance, a city about 20 miles south of Los Angeles, the album collects early material from the band when it was just starting out as an acoustic duo. Dating back to 2008-2010, the recordings previously only existed in a live setting, or on rare demo CDs. Among the included tracks are “DFHP?”, which originally came out on a split release with Summer Vacation, and “Who Gave You a Baby”, a song that later appeared on a Hard Times charity compilation. The entirety of Joyce Manor’s self-released Constant Headache EP also appears on the final tracklist. Editors’ P...
Jeff Rosenstock Drops Surprise New Album NO DREAM: Stream
Just as he did with his stellar 2018 album POST-, Jeff Rosenstock has released its follow-up without any advanced notice. Yes, there’s a brand new Jeff Rosenstock album out in the wild: It’s called NO DREAM and it’s now streaming in full via Apple Music, Spotify, and all other digital music providers. A vinyl version of the album will be available August 21st (pre-orders are now ongoing). Spanning 13 tracks, NO DREAM marks Rosenstock’s first release since re-locating to Los Angeles. Working alongside producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Hard Girls, Joyce Manor) at Oakland’s Atomic Garden, he recorded directly to tape with outboard gear and mixed the album entirely himself. “It was feeling like a very personal record for me,” says Rosenstock of NO DREAM. “A lot of it was stemming from the anx...
Charli XCX’s How I’m Feeling Now Offers Honest Expression for Uncertain Times: Review
The Lowdown: Throughout her musical career, Charli XCX, born Charlotte Aitchison, has occupied both sides of pop stardom — the radio mainstream and the small, sweaty clubs where experimental pop flourishes. Coming onto the scene in 2012 with “I Love It”, Icona Pop’s chart topper, which was written by and featured Aitchison, was quite the breakout, reaching car-commercial levels of unavoidability. Not long after that, Aitchison’s feature on “Fancy”, which she co-wrote with Iggy Azalea, was named Billboard’s song of the summer, and her song “Boom Clap”, featured in teen-favorite The Fault in Our Stars, rivaled “Fancy” for that title. Despite Aitchison’s ability to craft radio hits, her affinity for experimental hyperpop is what makes her a cult-pop icon who continually pushes the genre forwa...
Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Weezer Postpone “Hella Mega Tour” Until 2021 Due to Coronavirus
Weezer (photo by Ben Kaye), Green Day (photo by Heather Kaplan), and Fall Out Boy (photo by Philip Cosores) Sadly, the “Hella Mega Tour” has been hella postponed. Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer were set to perform together throughout Europe and North America this summer, but now they’ve announced that they’re pushing the entire outing back to Summer 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The massive tour was originally supposed to begin overseas on June 13th. That European leg, which was scrapped back in April, also featured stops in Vienna, London, and Dublin. The pop punk triad were then scheduled to play North America from mid-July through the end of August. That itinerary included the cities of Seattle, Los Angeles, Houston, Jacksonville, and Atlanta, as well as Chicago, Detroit, New ...
