Author: audioeclectica

NEW RELEASE: BETTER LOVERS- THE IMPOSSIBLE END

If you’ve been reading Audioeclectica for a while now, you know that I’m quite fond of the band Better Lovers. Their debut EP, God Made Me An Animal as well as debut album, Highly Irresponsible, are in constant rotation still. The excitement from listening to them and then the exhilaration of their live show is untamable. The infectiousness of the ferocity has only gotten better now as Better Lovers have released the Deluxe Edition of Highly Irresponsible. On this edition there are 2 new songs added to the record. “Don’t Forget To Say Please” came out a couple months back and now “The Impossible End” has been delivered. I really dig on the twists and turns this song inhabits. If you get a chance to see Better Lovers on this November through Mid December tour they are doing (dates below), GO!!!! If you don’t, you must be allergic to having fun! Really looking forward to what 2026 holds for these gents!

The Impossible End:

Don’t Forget To Say Please:

Better Lovers Tour Dates:

11/13 Greensboro, NC – Hangar 1819
11/14 Athens, GA – 40 Watt (feat. Atomic Rule)
11/15 Jacksonville, FL – Albatross (feat. Atomic Rule)
11/16 Orlando, FL – Vans Warped Tour (Better Lovers only)
11/18 Pensacola, FL – Vinyl Music Hall
11/19 New Orleans, LA – Tipitina’s
11/21 Austin, TX – Come & Take It Live
11/22 Houston, TX – Bad Astronaut
11/23 Oklahoma City, OK – Beer City
11/25 Colorado Springs, CO – The Black Sheep
11/26 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
11/28 Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s
11/29 Madison, WI – Majestic
11/30 Joliet, IL – The Forge
12/01 Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme
12/03 Columbus, OH – A&R Bar
12/04 Harrisburg, PA – Capital City Music Hall
12/05 Long Island, NY – Amityville Music Hall
12/06 Hampton Beach, NH – Wally’s

Better Lovers:

12/13 Buffalo, NY – Riverworks (‘Blissmas‘) (feat. Glassjaw, Saves The Day, Terror, etc.)

ALBUM RANK UPDATED: RADIOHEAD

For the past couple of weeks, Radiohead has been back on stage for the first time in years. It’s pretty great to have them back again. As much as I was enjoying Thom and Jonny’s other project, The Smile, I’ve been wanting new Radiohead for a long while. If you’ve seen the set lists they have been playing it’s otherworldly. Pulling out so many choice deep cuts as well as songs not played in years, Radiohead fans like myself are pretty ecstatic about it all. So naturally, I went through all their albums the past few days and have an updated ranking of their albums. Granted this is just my personal ranking, I do think I nailed the top five. What would your order be? What’s your favorite album?

09) Pablo Honey:

08) The King Of Limbs:

07) Hail To The Theif:

06) Amnesiac:

05) A Moon Shaped Pool:

04) OK Computer:

03) The Bends:

02) In Rainbows:

01) Kid A:

AUDIOECLECTICA INTERVIEWS: JAMES HAMMONTREE OF BLACK MAGNET

It’s with great excitement to bring you the second episode of Audioeclectica Interviews with James Hammontree of the very awesome, Black Magnet! Their album Megamantra, is one of 2025’s best albums and is for sure in my top ten of the year. You can check out the review of this great album HERE! Black Magnet is one of the best industrial bands out today! I very much look forward to what’s to come from Black Magnet! Make sure you put them on your radar! Enjoy this very fun conversation and remember to “Listen Eclectically”

Enjoy The Conversation Below:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/luckystarradio/audioeclectica-12-black-magnet-james-hammontree

NEW RELEASE: KILLED BY DEAF- A PUNK TRIBUTE TO MOTORHEAD

Motörhead! That’s the article! Just kidding! In celebration of the legendary Motörhead’s 50th anniversary in 2025, a new compilation/tribute album has been released featuring 14 punk rock greats to honor the loudest band on Earth with a new tribute album: Killed By Deaf: A Punk Tribute to Motörhead. Motörhead was always one of those bands that could crossover with the punk and metal crowds. So it’s quite fun to hear all these bands pay tribute to one of the bands that really started it all. Classic and newer punk bands like Rancid, Pennywise, The Bronx, Lagwagon, Fear, GBH, The Damned, and Slaughterhouse rightfully put their spin on these seminal tracks. Yes, there are classic songs like “Ace Of Spades” and “Born To Raise Hell” but, the really cool part of this record is the deeper cut song choices. I really have to say Rancid’s version of “Sex & Death” is absolutely superb. Lars Frederickson of Rancid is a giant Motörhead fan and it shows through in a great fashion! Closing out the record is a collaboration between Motörhead and The Damned on the song “Neat Neat Neat.” Take a few minutes and celebrate the awesomeness of Motörhead and dig into these tracks and discover something you might have missed along the way!

Track Listing:

1. Ace of Spades (Pennywise)

2. Sex & Death (Rancid)

3. Over the Top (The Bronx)

4. Rock ‘n’ Roll (Lagwagon)

5. The Chase Is Better Than The Catch (Fear)

6. Bomber (GBH)

7. Stay Clean (Murphy’s Law)

8. Love Me Like a Reptile (Slaughterhouse)

9. The Hammer (The Casualties)

10. Born to Raise Hell (Anti-Nowhere League)

11. No Voices in the Sky (Love Canal)

12. Overkill (Soldiers of Destruction)

13. Iron Fist (Wisdom in Chains)

14. Neat Neat Neat (Motörhead & The Damned)

Killed By Deaf- A Punk Tribute To Motörhead:

SONGS THAT SHOULD BE PLAYED LIVE: CONVERGE- EVE

Back in 2017 when Converge released their album, The Dusk In Us. It’s quite the album for Converge. It’s one of those albums that really spans their catalog and has become a renowned record. Before the record itself was released, the first single “I Can Tell You About Pain” came out with a b-side. That b-side wound up being the very epic and captivating song “Eve.” Why this wasn’t on the album is beyond me. This actually might be my all time favorite Converge song at this point. When you listen to the seven and a half minute opus, it definitely takes you places. The way the guitars shift from doom/sludge into etherial/atmospheric sounds, to the synths creating waves, while the rhythm drives and then pummels into a colossal explosion. While “Eve” has been in the setlist for a short period of time, and performed thrity-three times, it’s one that should be in rotation a lot more. There’s really something powerful about this song in particular that more people need to experience live. I’ve never seen it performed live and it’s “the one” Converge song I’d probably go absolutely apeshit for if I saw it live. So, let’s put it out into the universe to get “Eve” added more often!!!

Converge- Eve:

BAND OF THE WEEK: LVX

A few days ago I heard a song that really intrigued me. I must have listened to it at least a dozen times. The song is quite a cinematic one with bits of industrial, post-punk/goth vibes and a heavy side that pulsates throughout in a myriad of of ways. The band is called LVX and the song is called “Writhe.” LVX is the brainchild of Justin Hanson and Garrett Smith. Justin was the drummer of the LA based band Lesser Key, who if you haven’t heard, check it out! “Writhe” also features guitar work by Paul D’Amour, formerly of Tool as well as Lesser Key. The title of the song is quite fitting as the whole thing unfolds. I’m very interested in what else is to come from LVX. Keep your ears and eyes open for LVX as 2026 comes!

LVX- WRITHE:

Written By: Brian Lacy

TITLE TRACKS: TOOL- UNDERTOW

I have an interesting theory on title tracks. More often than not, the title track on an album is a deeper cut, towards the end of the album. My theory is that the “title track” is a bit of a summation of what the album encompasses. It could be musically, lyrically, thematic or the all around tonality of what the album is about. There are quite a few bands that do this on a consistent basis and I quite enjoy it. One of those bands is Tool. They have successfully done this three times (Undertow, Aenima and Lateralus). As much as I love “Lateralus” I really have to say “Undertow” might just be the best of the three. The song itself has a lot of different vibes to it. You have the heavy aspects, the syncopated rhythms, but the more progressive elements mixed with a bit of psychedelia puts this one over. “Undertow” is a song you can get lost in and it’s placement in the album sequence really lets the song become its own entity. I’m glad to see that “Undertow” made it back into the set list the past few years. More songs off of the album itself need to be played live. Less Fear Inoculum and more of the songs not played enough!!

Tool- Undertow:

MEMORABLE LIVE PERFORMANCES: ALICE IN CHAINS WITH JAMES HETFIELD

The year is 2006 and Alice In Chains have begun their triumphant return. Getting out there and bringing the songs we all know and love back to life was one of those things that the universe got right. When this all started going again, you could tell that the fans were really glad to have Alice back. Granted the late Layne Staley was not a part of this but, William DuVall has truly shown he is up for the job and does a stellar job. During Alice In Chains summer festival run in Europe back in 2006, the band welcomed a very special guest to join them on stage for “Would?” That guest was the one and only James Hetfield of Metallica. This version of “Would?” is fantastic and will give you chills for sure. I still hope for the day we can get a Metallica and Alice In Chains tour! Can you imagine the how awesome that would be? I sure can! Enjoy this really memorable performance!!

Alice In Chains w/ James Hetfield- “Would?”:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN: AFI- ALL HALLOWS EP

I’ve had a tradition for many years that when it’s Halloween, I have to listen to AFI’s All Hallows EP. It’s really a great Halloween companion. It sets the mood oh so sweetly. Released in October of 1999, All Hallows features three new songs and one cover. The three originals are damn good. “Fall Children” really captures the energy of AFI at the time. “The Boy Who Destroyed The World” is one of those songs that shows a bit where the band was heading into The Art Of Drowning. “Total Immortal” is one of my favorite AFI songs. I love the rawness of this song. It’s got such a great punk feel mixed with the right amount of goth/post-punk to make it quite memorable. And who can forget their awesome cover of The Misfits “Halloween.” I mean AFI and The Misfits is a perfect match. Some more fun history about this EP and era of the band is after the release, AFI would tour with Sick Of It All. Then concluding that tour, they went on to tour with Danzig. Talk about a tour!!! I’d love to see that now even. “The Boy Who Destroyed The World” was featured in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skakter 3 video game. The Offspring would go on to cover “Total Immortal” and that was featured in the Jim Carrey movie, Me, Myself and Irene. By the way, AFI’s version is way better than The Offspring’s. I really miss when bands would do one off’s like this. AFI is on quite the roll right now as their new album, Silver Bleeds The Black Sun is out and it’s fantastic! So when you’re done listening to the All Hallows EP, be sure to check out my review and listen to Sliver Bleeds The Black Sun. You can thank me later!

AFI- All Hallows EP:

SONGS THAT SHOULD BE PLAYED LIVE: DEFTONES- MOANA

Ever since Deftones released their new album Private Music a couple months back, it’s been in constant rotation. It’s a really good album. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should! It’s the album that should’ve come after Koi No Yokan. If you want to read more about Private Music, you can check out my review here. Earlier this week, while in the beginning stages of putting together an Ultimate Set List for Deftones, I realized how many great songs they have that don’t get played live. And there are a bunch. One track in particular that I’ve always gravitated to is the final song on their 2003 self titled album, “Moana.” According to setlist.fm, this song has only been played live twice and both happened in 2004. That must change (no pun intended)! “Moana” is one of those signature Deftones songs with the ambience, heavy guitars, pulsating rhythms and those oh so sweet vocals! So, I’m putting it out in the universe that “Moana” needs to start getting it’s time to shine!!

Deftones- Moana: