Jon

The Loved Ones entered my radar with their first EP for Jade Tree, which converted me with "100K," a staccato blast that sounded like Hot Water Music after a handful of amphetamines. Any doubts I may have had vanished with the release of 2006's Keep Your Heart, an unassuming bucket of anthems that sounds almost like Shock Troops updated for … Read more

With the passing of Lance Hahn, the fragile punk continuum lost one of its all-time greats. Smart, critical, and relentlessly prolific, Hahn's work provided a formidable example of what could be accomplished in DIY music: punk not as a costume contest or stale doctrine, but a design for living. Hahn refused to separate his art and his life, delivering record … Read more

Remember punk rock? Remember when bands wrote songs before coming up with t-shirt designs? Remember when every shitty local band in your town didn't have a slick full-length CD after three months of playing together? Remember when DIY encompassed every aspect of being in a band rather than just which label to sign a contract with? Like Robert Zimmerman once … Read more

It's crazy how many bands have reunited lately. If you'd asked me a few years ago what I'd be listening to in 2007, I never would've guessed "the new Lifetime and American Steel records." But I'm not complaining, because in my eyes American Steel did no wrong. (And the Lifetime reunion album is so good.) The last American Steel LP, … Read more