JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Billy Corgan’s 59th birthday.
Category: grunge
New Audio: Sun Spots Shares Anthemic “Rocket”
Pacific Northwest-based indie rock outfit Sun Spots features members of essential regional punk and hardcore acts, including Criminal Code, Nudes and Bricklayer. With the release of their debut EP, 2022’s Loosey, Sun Spots quickly established a songwriting process that they’ve jokingly dubbed pop songs for hardcore fans — or hardcore songs for pop fans, depending on your perspective.
The Pacific Northwest-based outfit’s sophomore EP, Dog Is Calling is slated for a Friday release through Seattle-based indie label Den Tapes. Engineered and mixed in Seattle by Cameron Heck and mastered by Greg Obis, the EP features four upbeat and driving songs that sees the band pairing thick, crunchy guitar riffs with buoyant melodies, showcasing their love of the Big Muff pedal and big, catchy hooks.
Dog Is Calling‘s lead single “Rocket” will bring back warm and hazily nostalgic memories of 120 Minutes MTV-era grunge for all of you fellow olds as the song showcases the band’s penchant for pairing big, crunchy riffs with even bigger hooks with saccharine sweet, pop melodies. And of course, this is placed with a classic grunge song structure — alternating quiet verses and loud choruses. Play loud.
Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Jeff Ament!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament’s 63rd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday, Kurt Cobain!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 59th anniversary of the birth of Kurt Cobain.
New Video: Filth Is Eternal Returns with Grungy “Long Way”
Formed back in 2020, Seattle-based quartet Filth Is Eternal — Lis DiAngelo (vocals), Brian McClelland (guitar), Logan Miller (bass) and Josh Pehrson (drums) — was initially inspired by the raw, impulsive ethos of punk. The Seattle-based quartet quickly developed a reputation for a frenetic live set, which they brought to DIY venues across the country. “Filth has always been about energy at the heart of things since the earliest recordings,” the band’s Lis DiAngelo says. “We wanted to leave our blood and guts out on the floor,” Brian McClelland adds.
Filth Is Eternal’s third album, Impossible World is slated for a March 17, 2026 release through MNRK Heavy. The highly-anticipated follow up to the band’s acclaimed 2023 sophomore effort Find Out was written against a backdrop of accelerating gentrification, unchecked technology and the slow — but quickening — creep of authoritarianism and fascism. So the album thematically confronts life in our present dystopian hellscape. And yet, rather than surrendering to despair and hopelessness, the band push forward with a defiant clarity, while asking difficult questions about survival, humanity and resistance in a world increasingly shaped without anyone’s consent.
Despite the album’s overall heavy subject matter, Impossible World has many soaring moments throughout — flashes of light that give fans a sense of possibility midst the brutal toils of contemporary life. The album is a salve in hard times, reminding the listener that art has the radical potential to enliven us, to connect us with others and to keep us holding on, as we wait out and plan through the darkest hours.
Sonically, the album reportedly sees the band balancing hardcore urgency with a sharpened melodic sensibility. The result is an effort that draws from punk’s immediacy while seeing the band push their sound towards something much more deliberate and expansive. “I think the biggest changes from LP1 to now is that we’ve upped the intention by using more melody, harmony, and singing in general. We’re working with aggression, but moving toward something beautiful and true,” DiAngelo says.
The album also features collaborations with The Blood Brothers‘ Johnny Whitney, Fall Out Boy‘s Joe Trohman, Gina Gleason and Lauren Lavin, alongside their use of the FILTH EQ+, a pedal they crafted that helped shaped the album’s overall sound.
.The album will feature “Stay Melted,” which I wrote about last month, and the album’s second and latest single “Long Way.” Featuring d a bruising and driving riff and backing harmonies from Lauren Lavin, “Long Way” sees the band pushing their sound into a grungier, subtly pop leaning direction while still being urgent. The song is also the first track that they recorded with the FILTH EQ+ pedal.
The band’s Lis DiAngelo says of the new single, “We live in a time saturated by consumer culture; we are hyper-focused on acquisition and consumption as means to happiness. ‘Long Way’ is about finding ourselves at the center of that, then finding our way OUT.”
Directed by Che Hise-Gattone, the accompanying video for “Long Way” employs a mix of public access TV and 120 Minutes-era MTV aesthetics.
New Audio: Chat Pile’s Limited Edition “Masks”/”Sifting” 7-Inch Released on DSPS
Last year, acclaimed Oklahoma City-based noise rock outfit Chat Pile — Raygun Busch (vocals), Luther Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass) and Cap’n Ron (drums) — released the limited 7″ vinyl single “Masks”/”Stifling” through Sub Pop Records.
The limited edition vinyl quickly sold out. So, the legendary Seattle-based label just released the 7″ inch vinyl digitally on all the DSPs. Now, if you’re a physical media collector, don’t you fret. You still have a shot to grab the band’s tour-only version pressed on peach vinyl available at their live shows. They also have a collaborative logo T-shirt, too. Of course, that merch will be available while supplies last.
The A-side “Masks” is a bruising ripper that seemingly channels a synthesis of shoegaze, Bambara and Screaming Life/Fopp-era Soundgarden paired with an unhinged and punchy vocal turn from Raygun Busch. It’s a mosh pit friendly anthem meant to be played at eardrum shatteringly loud levels.
The B-side seems the Oklahoman noise rockers tackling Nirvana‘s, “Shifting” which appears on the legendary grunge trio’s 1989 effort Bleach. The Chat Pile cover manages to be simultaneously a lovingly straightforward take that’s also much more bruising and forceful than the original.
“Sub Pop is thrilled that Chat Pile graced us with these two massive songs, and we couldn’t be happier to add them to the list of greats who have released music for the label,” the label says.
“It’s a true dream to put out a single on Sub Pop, and our new song ‘Masks’ hopefully honors the spirit of the mythical, sometimes mystical, city of Seattle,” Chat Pile adds. “Thanks in part to the movie Hype, we have long been obsessed with Seattle, the American underground of the late ‘80s, and Sub Pop and their tools of world domination. Everything we learned about packaging Chat Pile, we learned from Sub Pop co-founders Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt.
“We wanted to cover a song from the early Sub Pop era, and something off Bleach seemed the obvious choice. Songs like ‘Paper Cuts,’ ‘Negative Creep,’ and especially ‘Sifting’ are fairly lateral to the type of sounds we make with Chat Pile. (Perhaps next time we’ll take on a TAD song!)
“To mark the occasion, we’ve also donated $3,000 to DREAM Action OK, a community-based organization that aims to empower our local immigrant community through advocacy and education to ensure justice for all immigrants. Learn more about DAOK here.
“Thanks to Sub Pop for giving us the opportunity to put this single out – we hope you enjoy it.
“And most importantly, FUCK ICE!”
Throwback: Happy 60th Birthday, Robert DeLeo!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Robert DeLeo’s 60th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 57th Birthday, Dave Grohl!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Dave Grohl’s 57th birthday.
New Video: Seattle’s Filth Is Eternal Shares a Bruising Ripper
Formed back in 2020, Seattle-based quartet Filth Is Eternal — Lis DiAngelo (vocals), Brian McClelland (guitar), Logan Miller (bass) and Josh Pehrson (drums) — was initially inspired by the raw, impulsive ethos of punk. The band quickly developed a reputation for a frenetic live set, which they brought to DIY venues across the country. “Filth has always been about energy at the heart of things since the earliest recordings,” the band’s Lis DiAngelo says. “We wanted to leave our blood and guts out on the floor,” Brian McClelland adds.
Filth Is Eternal’s third album, Impossible World is slated for a March 17, 2026 release through MNRK Heavy. The highly-anticipated follow up to the band’s acclaimed 2023 sophomore effort Find Out was written against a backdrop of accelerating gentrification, unchecked technology and the slow — but quickening — creep of authoritarianism and fascism. So the album thematically confronts life in our present dystopian hellscape. And yet, rather than surrounding to despair and hopelessness, the band push forward with a defiant clarity, while asking difficult questions about survival, humanity and resistance in a world increasingly shaped without anyone’s consent.
Despite the album’s overall heavy subject matter, Impossible World has many soaring moments throughout — flashes of light that give fans a sense of possibility midst the brutal toils of contemporary life. The album is a salve in hard times, reminding the listener that art has the radical potential to enliven us, to connect us with others and to keep us holding on, as we wait out and plan through the darkest hours.
Sonically, the album reportedly sees the band balancing hardcore urgency with a sharpened melodic sensibility. The result is an effort that draws from punk’s immediacy while seeing the band push their sound towards something much more deliberate and expansive. “I think the biggest changes from LP1 to now is that we’ve upped the intention by using more melody, harmony, and singing in general. We’re working with aggression, but moving toward something beautiful and true,” DiAngelo says.
The album also features collaborations with The Blood Brothers‘ Johnny Whitney, Fall Out Boy‘s Joe Trohman, Gina Gleason and Lauren Lavin, alongside their use of the FILTH EQ+, a pedal they crafted that helped shaped the album’s overall sound.
Impossible World‘s first single, “Stay Melted,” is a bruising ripper that seemingly channels Dirt-era Alice in Chains, Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden and Live Through This-era Hole, anchored by DiAngelo’s most incisive and forceful songwriting of their growing catalog. Thematically, the song exposes and critiques the hypocrisy at the heart of the rise of Christofascism here in the States with a brutally clear-eyed honesty.
“The world can feel like a total trash fire to the point where we become lethargic,” the band says. “Lethargy makes us our own worst enemy; sometimes you have to kill a thing before you lose yourself to it completely.”
Directed by Sebastian Deramat, the accompanying video for “Stay Melted” fittingly brings back memories of 120 Minutes-era MTV.
Throwback: Happy 61st Birthday, Eddie Vedder!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder’s 61st birthday.
Throwback: Happy 60th Birthday, J. Mascis!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates J. Mascis’ 60th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Matt Cameron!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Soundgarden and Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron’s 63rd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 61st Birthday, Mark Lanegan!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 61st anniversary of Mark Lanegan’s birth.
New Audio: thistle. Shares a Breakneck, Grungy Ripper
Rising British indie rock outfit thistle. — Cameron Godfrey (vocals, guitar), Carey Judwynn Rushton (bass, backing vocals) and Lewis O’Grady (drums) released there debut EP, it’s nice to see you, stranger earlier back in July. The EP, which explores themes of isolation, the trials and tribulations of adulthood and ennui was released to praise on both sides of the Atlantic, including Stereogum, Dork Magazine, Clash Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, Rolling Stone UK and So Young — and received airplay from BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music and Radio X personalties Steve Lamacq, Deb Grant and Nathan Shepherd.
The band has played stages across the UK and Europe alongside Westside Cowboy, Upchuck, Witch Post, Cryogeyser and Man/Woman/Chainsaw and are currently opening for Humour on their UK headlining tour. The British trio will be announcing 2026 tour dates and festival appearances shortly. But in the meantime, building upon a growing profile, thistle. recently signed to REX RECS, who released their latest single, “tied,” which sees them collaborating with REX RECS founder, producer, songwriter and musician Macks Faulkron.
Clocking in at a little over 90 seconds, “tied” is able to blistering and breakneck grungy ripper that simultaneously channels 120 Minutes MTV-era grunge/alt-rock and emo, as well as contemporaries like Glimmer and others. The song evokes the uneasy push-and-pull of balancing the grind of 9-5 life, and creative ambitions — especially when they seem wildly incompatible.
“’tied’ is a tribute to the emotional hardcore bands that we grew up on. The lyrics explore the relentless grind of 9-5 work,” the band explains. “It flips between optimism and a feeling of defeat… something we’re always looking for in our music.”
Throwback: Happy 60th Birthday, Gavin Rossdale!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale’s 60th — yeah, 60th! — birthday.