Loren

There are a lot of misconceptions about life in the music biz. While late nights and travel are a big part of it, day jobs always influence the process and the product. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how careers influence the scene. In this edition, we chat with Kate Hiltz, she who is namedropped … Read more

There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not just to pay the bills. Jobs provide new challenges, personal fulfillment and, yes, some rent or gas money. How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene … Read more

It's been a long year, right? You may well find yourself examining the last twelve months and trying to remember what music got released so you can include it on your "2023 best of" and still look cool. But—disaster! You can't remember anything! Thankfully, SPB has got you. We've reached out to our friends in the music community: bands, labels and … Read more

With a lineup of 300-ish bands playing throughout town over a 3-day period, there's a lot to discuss about The Fest, an annual celebration of punk rock that takes place in Gainesville, FL in late October. At FEST 21, the headliners included GWAR, Lucero, Dillinger Four, Thursday, Descendants, Tim Barry, Screaming Females...the list goes on. Yet, as I made the … Read more

Spanish Love Songs, Oso Oso, Sydney Sprague, Worry Club Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN April 17, 2024   Spanish Love Songs, photo by Loren Green Wednesday’s show at Varsity Theater began with a band dressed like it was the 1990s, followed by a band dressed like the 2000s, another dressed like … Read more

There's a time for words and there's a time for music. We write about music a lot at Scene Point Blank but this time it's just a playlist share. Now, the catch: All of the bands on this playlist have been covered at SPB and, if not, the record was … Read more

Every day is an information overload. The web has a lot of great things, but sometimes it feels like too much too. Politics, news, rumors...it's a lot to take in. But too much music? C'mon. That isn't a real thing.  SPB has a lot of different pieces. Our focus is … Read more

What can I say, I like to make playlists. The latest Search/Play/Repeat keeps my theme of music that Scene Point Blank has covered -- some recently, some long ago, mostly my own work because I've listened to that material the most. So below enjoy a half-hour of curated music below. … Read more

Running May 24-27 in Minneapolis, this year's lineup at Caterwaul features a ton of heavy hitters. We've posted about the event previously and you can find those links on the site easily enough. Or simply visit the Caterwaul website and buy some tickets. But first, check out this 10-track sampler … Read more

July 12 is the release date of Nothing Hurts Quite Like Life, the debut full-length from Finnish metallic hardcore group SARS. The album will release via Time To Kill record label, consisting of 10 songs at a total of 36 minutes of big, heavy and chuggy riffs. Listen to "Bitter Soil" … Read more

Fresh off a tour, new Swami John Reis led project Swami & The Bed of Nails has announced a full-length album. Titled All Of This Awaits You, the album will release on August 2 on Swami/BMG. Besides Reis, the band also features members of The record was born from the … Read more

Triple B Records will release the debut album from Northeast hardcore band Missing Link, Watch Me Bleed, on June 7. "Numbers on the Board" is the latest single from the new record, a classic tune about calling out poseurs.  The group previously released EPs My Time on the Cross and No Saving … Read more