Discovering a new band that you don’t expect is one of the best things. It could be a riff, melody, lyric, or random part that connects. No matter what it is, the feeling of finding a new band to enjoy is something else. With that in mind let me introduce you to, Ocean Sleeper.
Hailing from Australia, the home of the one and only Silverchair (yes, I know there are plenty of other Aussie bands. Silverchair was fucking awesome)! Ocean Sleeper formed in 2016 and have been honing their metalcore meets post-hardcore sound since. Now on their second album, Peace When I’m Dead, Ocean Sleeper have upped the stakes.
Armed with songs that evoke emotion, a heaviness that makes you bang your head and a crisp melodic sensibility, Ocean Sleeper will keep you awake and demand your attention. The most recent single “My Forever Drug” is addictive as it’s catchy but deep. When the chorus hits, it soars. You just have to listen. The title track “Peace When I’m Dead” screams urgency right out of the gate. “Break The Cycle” hits like broken glass against the wall. The impact of this song really gets your blood pumping.
Peace When I’m Dead arrives August 21 via Rise Records. Be on the lookout for Ocean Sleeper!
The thought of experimentation and exploration within music swings like a pendulum. Each side has its own distinct sound and feel just like Machinekit’s new EP, Body Without Organs. In a fun metaphorical sense, perhaps each organ that is missing represents the style of the music.
Across five intense and almost primitive songs, Machinekit mastermind, John Rojas, emits a mixture of electro-punk, jazz, industrial, doom, and darkwave all in a raw nature. This is where the primitive sense comes in. The vocals tear through skin and pull at your own organs. The way the songs have a visual impact gives the EP an even darker and tortured feel. The instrumentation here is direct and given a clear mission to teeter the line of precision and avant-garde.
When a release like Body Without Organs arrives, it might take a minute to fully grasp what is happening. Go with it! As each song pulls you in a twist, there’s more to uncover with each listen.
For quite a while now, The Pretty Reckless have been a really great rock band. One of those bands that has not gotten the due they deserve. Now five albums deep and showing all the signs of a well oiled rock band, they arrived in Los Angeles on sizzling Friday July 31, 2006 to a sold out Wiltern Theater.
At 9:00 the lights went down and a roaring crowd got louder and louder as Logan Nickolic (guitar), Jaime Perkins (drums), Mark Damon (bass) and the absolutely underrated Ben Phillips (lead guitar) took the stage. Then one of the loudest indoor audience pops I’ve heard in a long time exploded as singer Taylor Momsen hit the stage. Without a second more to wait, The Pretty Reckless stormed into a stirring performance of “Death By Rock And Roll.” The next batch of songs went back to their first two albums and upped the stakes of the evening. Just as you thought it was going to hit a more mellow tone in the set, the fantastic and heavy “For I Am Death” made the walls of the Wiltern seem like they were shaking. The onslaught of great rock continued with bangers “When I Wake Up” and Love Me” both and the former from the new album, Dear God.
Then came the moment when the show went for a more solemn tone as “Devil In Disguise (Michelle’s Song)” was played. It’s one of those songs that when you know what it’s about, really hits different. Then the vibe picked up with the title track off the record as well as two more songs from the new album. Then came a trifecta of absolute unbridled rock with “Make Me Wanna Die,” Heaven Knows,” and “Going To Hell.” Each of these songs had the crowd eating out of the bands hands. The fun jamming during the songs really helped to showcase the band as great players and how damn good they are. The way the crowd sang back at the right moments was astounding. For the encore the very melodic rocking song “About You” was played with special guest guitarist Pat Smear.
The Pretty Reckless are truly a great band that deserve more recognition for being a great rock band. They have a no frills approach to their music and songs that makes the music speak for itself. Taylor Momsen has a terrific rock n roll voice and can wail like the best of them! The band definitely needs more recognition as well. One of the tightest bands I’ve heard and seen. Each plays with a vigor that emits heavy rock. Ben Phillips especially needs to be on the lists for rock guitar players!! The Pretty Reckless are here and are guaranteed to put on one hell of a great rock show!
Overall Rating: 9/10
Review and Photos By: Brian Lacy
The Pretty Reckless Setlist:
01) Death By Rock And Roll 02) Since You’re Gone 03) Follow Me Down 04) Miss Nothing 05) For I Am Death 06) When I Wake Up 07) Love Me 08) Devil In Disguise (Michelle’s Song) 09) Dear God 10) Dark Days 11) Spell On You 12) Make Me Wanna Die 13) Heaven Knows 14) Going To Hell ENCORE: 15) About You (with Pat Smear on Guitar)
The evolution of electronic music has made for some truly intriguing and interesting music. When you hear an artist of band in this genre that really hits you, it’s a different feeling than that of a metal or rock band. It’s filled more with a pulsating and ethereal vibe. And on the latest release from Justin Hanson aka LVX, is just that and more.
“Supplicant” is a track that explores a haunting cinematic universe mixed with a prog sense that has tinges of post punk and goth. The real drums give it a very human feeling that strikes at the right chords to make a very intimate and intense track. The additional guitar parts courtesy of Paul D’Amour adds an extra layer of depth to “Supplicant.”
LVX is one to keep your ears and eyes on! I know I am!!
When the chance to see a band you’ve been into for well over thirty years in your “backyard,” you make that happen! On Wednesday night July 29, 2026 around 7:30pm at the Ventura County Fair, Bush took the stage set against the ocean and coastal backdrop of Ventura, California.
Opening the set was the always fun and classic “Machinehead.” Personally I’ve always thought this song has a great impact and energy to be a choice opening song. Then came “Bullet Holes” one of their newer songs from excellent album, The Kingdom. This is another great riff song and you might have heard it in John Wick 3! Next up was from their most recent album, the quite good, I Beat Loneliness, the anthemic “We’re All The Same On The Inside.” It was funny to watch crowd go absolutely silent because they weren’t familiar with these songs. Pretty much anything after Razorblade Suitcase was the cut off point for probably 99% of the crowd. Yes, myself and friend/podcast co-host Justin were the 1% that DID know these songs. Then back to a song some knew in “The Chemicals Between Us.” If you haven’t listened to the underrated The Science Of Things album, you should change that. The Land Of Milk And Honey” was next off their new album. This one was quite the live song that really upped the level than the studio version. From there a large crowd pop hit as the heavy distorted intro riff of “Everything Zen” launched like a rocket. Followed by two more newer really solidly good tracks from The Art Of Survival. “Identity” and “May Your Love Be Pure. A fun sing-along with the crowd came with “Glycerince.” I know that songs is super played out but, when you see it played live and the crowd sings it really loud back, that truly shows how timeless it is.
The next five songs were all from their latest three albums The Kingdom, The Art Of Survival and I Beat Loneliness. “Heavy Is The Ocean” is a fantastic song. While it is a track one (from The Art Of Survival), putting it in the latter part of the set was a real treat. “More Than Machines,” “Human Sand” and “Flowers On A Grave” rocked with the latter song leading Gavin from the stage all the way to the bleachers to sing with the crowd. Closing out the main set was “I Beat Loneliness” and if you haven’t heard this song, thats another one to rectify. What a song and what a way to end that part of the set. After a short breather, Gavin returned to the stage alone to begin a solo version of the classic “Swallowed” from my all time favorite Bush album, Razorblade Suitcase. The new arrangement adds to the already “heavy” nature of the song. To end the night out were classic crowd favorites “Little Things” and Comedown.” The latter of which has become quite the end of the show song with extended bridges and outros that show off how terrific the band of Chris Traynor, Corey Britz and Nik Hughes are.
Bush is still one hell of a live band. They are still putting out quality albums and songs that deserve your attention. I’m not kidding. Go check out the three newest albums, and you can thank me later. Even now as I write this, It’s still a bit of a trip to have seen Bush at the Ventura Fair. Gavin Rossdale sounds amazing. His voice like him hasn’t aged! The amount of energy he’s had from the beginning to now is passionate. One of the things about Bush now that I really like is that they don’t rest on the nostalgia of the band. As you can see there are only a handful of classic songs played and the majority was all new. And when you have albums and songs like they have put out the past few years, it’s best to keep it that way. I look forward to what comes next from Gavin, Chris, Corey and Nik.
Overall Rating: A
Overall Rating For The Crowd: C_ People need to actually care about the band you are seeing live!
Review/Photos By: Brian Lacy
BUSH SETLIST:
01) Machinehead 02) Bullet Holes 03) We’re All The Same On The Inside 04) The Chemicals Between Us 05) The Land Of Milk And Honey 06) Everything Zen 07) Identity 08) May Your Love Be Pure 09) Glycerine 10) Heavy Is The Ocean 11) More Than Machines 12) Human Sand 13) Flowers On A Grave 14) I Beat Loneliness ENCORE: 15) Swallowed 16) Little Things 17) Comedown
Back in 2007 when the Michael Bay Transformers movie was about to come out, it was a big deal. Technology in film had finally reached a point where a live action Transformers movie would actually look good and hopefully be good as well. The end result was a decent movie that gave us all Megan Fox!
The soundtrack to the movie though is probably better than film. The Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park, Idiot Pilot, HIM, The Used, Disturbed and more. The Smashing Pumpkins song featured was “Doomsday Clock” from their very underrated 2007 album, Zeitgeist. When it’s used in the movie it’s in a very great spot and its riff heavy intro is a great use of the song in an action scene.
Enjoy this great song from The Smashing Pumpkins!
The Smashing Pumpkins- Doomsday Clock In Transformers (2007):
For well over 30 years and 15 albums now, Sevendust has been a consistent force in rock music. There is no denying the impact they’ve had on so many bands that came after them. By mixing heavy riffs, hard charging rhythms, melody and soul, Sevendust truly carved their own niche in the rock music world. What’s even more interesting is how much the creative juices flow with this band. It’s currently 2026 and Sevendust just released their 15th studio album and it’s a very welcome return to form that made them the titans they are. With that all in mind now, here’s the Audieclectica Definitive Album Rank for Sevendust.
The moment I first heard the full album of Held’s debut Grey, I knew it was record that was beyond true and passionate. But there was another moment during the listen that has stood out since. When the last song came on, it hit like a right hook out of nowhere. “Emptiness: A Side Effect” upped the level of heartfelt intensity as well as the epic nature of the music, vocal, lyrics and arrangement.
When the chorus came in and these lyrics were sung;
“I am the negative of nurture and the hate of the pure I am the side effect of every side effect you ignore,”
that was the moment that became not just profoundly poetic and beautiful, it became a mantra. Then you add in the way it’s sung by vocalist/guitarist Douglas Robinson, and it’s the absolute cherry on top. Bassist Sal Mignano and drummer Josh Eppard’s rhythm will legitimately make your heart start pounding while the guitar plays off the delicate and more emotional parts of the song.
Songs like “Emptiness: A Side Effect” are what makes being a music enthusiast and music writer an absolute pleasure. I look forward to the day I get to see Held live and I hope that this song gets its live due!
Artistic expression through poetry and music are so synonymous its second nature at this point. The ones that make truly unique and meaningful work always seem to evoke a very intrinsic feeling that washes over the listener. One such great example is Emma Ruth Rundle. Throughout her career, she’s consistently found a way to not only keep you intrigued but also makes you listen. In her upcoming new album, These Killing Times, Emma ushers in another dimension of her art. The latest single “Enough,” is epic and grabbing. There’s a whimsical twist that creates an incredible feeling within the song. The pulsating rhythms mixed with the nuanced melodic sensibility, makes this a great song.
For those of you that don’t know, over the past five years, it’s been an absolute pleasure to be a part of the new Cobalt Cafe. What started off as a one off to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Cobalt in 2021, has turned into five fantastic years of The Cobalt Presents. While the old Cobalt is closed, “Cobalt” Dave and I found a new way to make it feel like you are there still. These three anniversary shows take place at two of the venues we’ve been able to make into a new Cobalt, (so to speak) when we are there, Corbin Bowl in Tarzana and Hotel Ziggy in Hollywood.
Part 3 of The Cobalt Presents Five Year Anniversary shows takes place on Saturday July 25 at Hotel Ziggy. We have a lineup of 5 great bands that are from the new era of Cobalt bands!
Starting off the night is Olya K brining with her a fun vibe of alternative music with a pop tinge.
Then we move into Tempermental. If Japanese Anime and Josie and the Pussycats morphed and came to life, you’d get Tempermental!
Smack in the middle is the up and coming band Gerbil. Take parts 90’s alt rock, a dash of OC skate punk/ska from the mid 90’s and mid 00’s garage rock and you have the recipe for Gerbil rocking!
You know that saying great things come in small packages?! Well that’s one way to describe the very talented Ayva. Don’t let the smile fool you, this girl and her band absolutely rock. Equal parts melodic and heavy. Ayva is definitely one to watch.
Speaking of a band to watch, if you don’t know Minor Strut yet, you are missing out. As one of the best up and coming bands in Southern California, it’s best to make sure you see this band live! Be sure to watch their full headline set!
