There are very few people who have given more to this corner of punk rock than Brian Fallon. He is one of the scene’s great stalwarts and, depending on who you ask, possibly number one. From Sink or Swim and The ’59 Sound through The Horrible Crowes, and his increasingly varied solo work, Fallon has spent nearly two decades writing the songs against which everyone else in this genre is measured. He has also never been afraid to record exactly what he wants. Whether stripping

There is an America that exists in songs, especially in Orgcore songs. It is the America somewhere beyond the windshield on a highway at night. Neon glowing through a barroom window. Friday nights and jukeboxes. Cheap motels, last calls and second chances. It is the promise that if you keep driving long enough, there might be something better waiting in the next town. It is Springsteen’s America. Johnny Cash’s America. Tom Petty’s America. The America of old photographs, fade

Sometimes the songs that hit the hardest aren't the loudest. They're the ones that quietly capture a feeling you've struggled to put into words for years. That's exactly what Carlyn have delivered with their latest single, premiering today alongside its official music video. Filmed in the small rural town where the band first came together, the video feels less like a performance piece and more like a conversation with the past. Empty roads, familiar corners, and the places t

The Menzingers Still Matter For a scene built on nostalgia, it's becoming increasingly rare to hear a record that actually feels like it belongs in the present. Plenty of the bands that defined the orgcore era are still around, and a handful continue to make genuinely worthwhile music. But when it comes to albums that feel culturally relevant, emotionally urgent, and capable of moving the scene forward rather than simply preserving it, The Menzingers remain in a class of thei

There are some bands you simply grow up with, and then there are bands that help shape who you become. For so many of us, The Bouncing Souls were the soundtrack to our youth. They were there for first shows, first road trips, heartbreaks, friendships and every moment in between. They never chased trends or tried to become something they weren't. They just kept writing honest songs that reminded us we weren't alone. Over the last decades, The Bouncing Souls have continued to e

SOCIAL DISTORTION — Born to Kill (Epitaph Records, May 8, 2026) ★★★★ / 5 Fifteen years is a long time to make people wait. Then again, Mike Ness has never operated on anyone else's schedule, and after everything, the false starts, the relentless touring that ate up a decade of writing time, and a tonsil cancer diagnosis that put a hard stop to sessions midway through recording, the fact that Born to Kill exists at all feels like a minor miracle. That it's genuinely great feel

I Am the Avalanche - The Horror Show (Equal Vision Records) ★★★★☆ There's a version of this review where I tell you to just go listen to the record. That version is probably the correct one. But here we are, so let me try to explain why The Horror Show hit me the way it did, which is to say: hard, and somewhere in the chest, and more than once on a Tuesday morning when I had no business feeling anything at all. Twenty-two years in. Think about that. Vinnie Caruana has been do

Toronto’s punk calendar just locked in a heavy hitter. The Flatliners have announced their 6th Annual Holiday Melee, set to take place on December 5th at History in Toronto, a hometown tradition that continues to grow year after year. Headlining the night are The Bouncing Souls, bringing their signature anthems and decades-deep connection to the scene. They’re joined by The Suicide Machines, whose high-energy blend of punk and ska remains as urgent as ever, and The Jack Knive

Everything I Ever Saw doesn't drop until July. They've given us two singles. It might already be album of the year. God help us all. Let's get something out of the way first. 2026 is a ridiculous year for punk rock. We are drowning, and nobody is calling for help. Every corner of the scene has something cooking, festival slots are stacked, reunion cycles are spinning, every band you love apparently finished a record during the same two-year window and collectively decided to

There's a version of this story where Sing Us Home gets too big for its own good. Where the scrappy Philly river party grows up, finds bigger investors, books a pop act for "reach," and loses the plot somewhere between the VIP bar and the branded step-and-repeat. That version of the story didn't happen last weekend. It's not going to happen. Not while Dave Hause is the one holding the match. For the fourth year running, Venice Island in Manayunk hosted three days of music, fo

There’s a certain kind of reverence you have to bring when you touch a song like “Left of the Dial.” It’s not just another track, it’s a cornerstone of underground radio culture, a love letter to the fringes, and one of The Replacements’ most enduring anthems. So when The Young Hearts stepped up to take it on, the question wasn’t why? It was how? They’ve answered that now. The Young Hearts have released their take on “Left of the Dial,” and instead of trying to outdo the orig

There’s a fine line between honoring the past and getting stuck in it. On Heart, Hope, Perspective, Rudy Nuño walks that line with purpose and then steps cleanly over it. This isn’t a nostalgia record. It’s a reinvention disguised as something comfortingly familiar. From the first notes, the album leans into rich, cinematic songwriting, stories steeped in Americana, late-night highways, fleeting romance, and the quiet resilience of everyday life. But where others in the scene

The Bouncing Souls have officially announced their new album Born To Be , alongside an expansive U.S. and Canada tour that will roll out in multiple legs through early 2027. The tour begins July 9th in Denver, where the band will be joined by co-headliners The Suicide Machines, setting the tone for a high-energy opening stretch across the Midwest and into Western Canada. From there, the run evolves as it moves into different regions, with each leg bringing in a new set of sup

There are shows you watch and then there are shows you are part of. On April 2nd at The Glass House in Pomona, California, The Menzingers delivered the latter: a full-room singalong that blurred the line between stage and floor, past and present, old guard and new blood. From the first chords, it was clear this wasn’t just another stop on a tour cycle. This was a band leaning into their catalog with confidence, pulling deep cuts like they were radio staples and letting the hi

Small venues are closing at an unprecedented rate. For emerging artists, what's being lost isn't just a room, it's the entire middle of the ladder. There's a moment every working band knows. It's not the first show, and it's not the breakthrough. It's somewhere in between, the Tuesday night at a 200-cap room in a city you've never played before, where forty people showed up and thirty of them didn't know who you were when the night started, and by the end you had thirty new b

If you’ve been paying attention to the underground over the last few years, you’ve probably noticed something happening. Quietly at first. Then all at once. The next generation of orgcore bands isn’t waiting for permission anymore. This week’s announcement that The Jack Knives, Rudy Nuño & The Broadcasters, and The Young Hearts will share a stage in London later this year feels like more than just another tour stop. It feels like a snapshot of a movement in real time. One wh

There are comeback announcements, and then there are moments that feel like a reset button for an entire corner of punk rock. The return of Social Distortion with their new single “Born To Kill” and the confirmation of their first studio album in 15 years lands firmly in the second category. For a scene built on longevity, survival, and songs that age alongside the people who carry them, this isn’t just another release cycle. It feels like the reopening of a conversation that

For years, Punk in the Park felt like one of the few modern festival success stories that actually made sense. A traveling roadshow built around legacy punk bands, regional favorites, craft beer culture, and multi-generation crowds, it carved out a space where aging punks, new fans, and working bands could coexist without the corporate gloss that swallowed so many festivals before it. Now, almost overnight, the roadshow has collapsed, not because of ticket sales, weather, or

There’s a quiet confidence to the new “Better Than We Think” single from Wes Hoffman, the kind that doesn’t kick the door down but instead sits across from you and asks the hard question: what if this isn’t over yet? It’s a song built on tension, empathy, and that familiar orgcore ache, where realism and hope keep trading punches. What started back in 2017 as a studio project between Hoffman and drummer Hes Retnu has grown into something much bigger than its original intent.

Some songs show up at the right time. Not because they have all the answers, but because they remind you you’re not alone in asking the questions. “Brave,” the new single from Rudy Nuño featuring Aimee Interrupter, is one of those songs. At its core, “Brave” is about hope in difficult moments, the kind that doesn’t ignore what’s going on, but still believes things can get better. It doesn’t try to hype anything up or pretend everything’s fine. Instead, it sits with the realit