Latest features — browse all

Fest 23 – The Wrap

Music / Fest 23 • November 15, 2025

Pure Joy The 23rd FEST in Gainesville, Florida recently wrapped up. Scene Point Blank has been to the majority of them over the past two decades, beginning at FEST 5. I've personally attended roughly half of them. And at FEST 23, I saw 44 bands in 3 days (an even 50 if you count the pre-shows I attended). I took close to 3,000 photos, met several online friends in person and managed to sleep a few hours in between. Then I slept for about another week after I got home at 1am on Monday evening, which means this wrap-up has been a little slow in delivery. Fest is a monumental feat. While I saw 50 bands, I missed many (many) more. Heck, there are some bands I didn't even realize played until I was reviewing details after the fact. It's a weekend where you have to balance your love of music, socializing, and your own personal limits. It's about adjusting on the fly when a venue is at capacity or you just need to take a little breather. What struck me the most about FEST 23 was how the event is evolving, still, after 22 previous versions. It's always been referred to as something of a punk rock family reunion, but that element is now literal. The Fest has become a multi-generational event with many of the larger venues allowing toddlers-to-teens. I even met some parents of band members this year in the crowd. While it's changing, the vibes aren't. … Read more

The Saints

Interviews • November 14, 2025

As The Skids sang, The Saints are coming!.......Storming North America! The Saints ’73-’78 land on North American soil in early … Read more

Fest 23: Artist Interviews

Interviews / Fest 23 • October 18, 2025

FEST 23 takes place later this month, from Oct. 24-26 in Gainesville, FL. Something like a billion bands are driving, … Read more

FEST LIBS 23 & Fest Moments

Music / Fest 23 • October 18, 2025

Are you ready for The Fest!? While we’re pretty sure you’re already counting down days until your trek to Gainesville, … Read more

Latest album reviews — browse all

Action/Adventure

Ever After
Pure Noise (2025)

Chicago’s Action/Adventure have been grinding the pop-punk trenches since 2014. They have always played pop-punk like it still has something to prove because for them, it does. They went viral in 2020 on TikTok with their song “Barricades” by calling out the exact thing no one in the scene wanted to say out loud. The genre is full of white … Read more

217

In Your Gaze
Time To Kill (2025)

If you didn’t know, hardcore and punk are alive and thriving in Italy. When I come across bands from there, their scene never ceases to amaze me. Italy gave us Raw Power and Negazione in the ’80s, Slander and Strength Approach in the 2010s. Now 217 picks up that lineage with their own mix of fire and reflection by keeping … Read more

Ugly Stick

Absinthe
Hovercraft Records (2025)

Contrary to what I said on Vh1’s Behind the Music, Tim from Hovercraft is one of my favourite human beings. I suppose in some ways that’s not saying much but Tim plays in one of my favourite bands, I’m a fan of his art and on top of those two things and running a label, his day job is saving … Read more

Ace Enders

Posture Syndrome
Pure Noise (2025)

If the name Ace Enders sounds familiar, it should. He’s been the voice behind The Early November, one of Drive-Thru Records’ cornerstone emo bands in the early 2000s. While that scene exploded, Ace carved his own path with that band, as well as solo experiments under the name I Can Make a Mess, and the occasional record as Ace Enders … Read more

Additional album reviews

Summer Blue

Self Titled EP
New Morality Zine (2025)

You may not be familiar with the band Summer Blue, but that’s your issue. If you do know the San Jose, CA based band, then you know how enjoyable they … Read more

Relay For Death

Mutual Consuming
Helen Scarsdale Agency (2025)

At a time when experimental artists are constantly churning out new music, it is curious to find some that take their time. Rachel and Roxann Spikula might not be the … Read more

Scorching Tomb

Ossuary
Time To Kill (2025)

Whenever I see the cover art of an album for a metal band and there’s impaled skulls, blood, and a logo I can’t read, I know I’m getting ready to … Read more

CF98

Stupid Punk
Double Helix, SBAM (2025)

If I said that Poland is known for pierogis and punk rock, would you believe me? Punk has a deep history in Poland ranging all the way back to the … Read more

Cluster Lizard

Herts
Prostir (2025)

Dmytro Fedorenko and Kateryna Zavoloka are two legendary artists who have defined much of contemporary experimental electronic music through both their various projects and through the now-defunct Kvitnu record label. … Read more

Street Eaters

Opaque
Dirt Cult (2025)

Sometimes I'm surprised at how averse I am to change. Hearing that Street Eaters had expanded to a trio caused me more trepidation than I want to admit -- and, … Read more

Faulty Cognitions

They Promised Us Heaven
Dead Broke Records (2025)

On their debut, Somehow, We Are Here, Faulty Cognitions made their statement. This wasn't a garage-punk band in the style of the members' previous bands (Low Culture and Shang-A-Lang, among … Read more

The Penske File

Reprieve
Gunner Records, Stomp Records (2025)

I used to dislike punk music where people sing. And, well, I'm still not super fond of it but there is an exception to every rule. The Penske File are … Read more

News headlines — browse all

SPB featured stream: Gus Baldwin

Posted in Records on October 30, 2025

Earlier this year Austin, TX based Gus Baldwin & The Sketch released a peppy new wave meets punk rock album simply called The Sketch. Now, lead vocalist and namesake Gus Baldwin is back with a solo, self-titled album too, out as of Oct. 24 on Permanent Teeth label. While The … Read more

Say "Thistle Shifter" three times

Posted in Records on November 15, 2025

Netherlands based musician Pete Barnes' Thistle Shifter has a post-rock Thistle Shifter has a new album in line, Forever The Optimist, coming out on Feb. 6, 2026 on FREIA Music. … Read more

badsoma the band

Posted in Records on November 15, 2025

Los Angeles, CA indie band badsoma released their 6-song, self-titled EP yesterday. Formed as a solo project of multi-instrumentalist Armin Fard, it grew into a 6-member outfit similiar in sound … Read more

Dark Sky Burial and The Sacred Neurotic

Posted in Records on November 13, 2025

Dark Sky Burial, the project led by Shane Embury (Napalm Death) and Carl Stokes (Cancer, The Groundhogs, Current 93), has announced a new full-length next month, The Sacred Neurotic, set … Read more

New from Home Front

Posted in Tours on November 13, 2025

The new Home Front record, Watch It Die, comes out this Friday on La Vida Es Un Mus Discos, as we shared earlier -- but now we're back with a … Read more

Lost La Peste 1976-1979

Posted in Records on November 13, 2025

Wharf Car Records will release the new compilation I Don't Know Right From Wrong: Lost La Peste 1976-1979 Vol. 1 next year on April 17, 2026. The double LP collects … Read more

Cold Waves turns the tide

Posted in Shows on November 11, 2025

The annual Chicago, IL event Cold Waves, long a bastion of darkwave and industrial music, has announced a more progressive and shoegazey tone for its 2026 spinoff, Space Echo, taking … Read more

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