2010. What a year. Captain Beefheart in the grave, The Beatles on Apple, Lady Gaga still getting publicity. It's been somewhat inexplicable. Luckily for you, Scene Point Blank is right on hand to summarise what's been going on. We cover the best EPs, splits, reissues, cassettes, anticipated records for 2011 and of course, the worst record cover art of the year.
Read on to see our lists and features!
- the SPB team
By 1981, the Red Rockers were famously branded "The American Clash" by Lester Bangs -- a tag that carried both the weight of massive expectations and the raw power of a band exploding out of the New Orleans humidity. Decades before they became MTV fixtures with the polished pop hooks … Read more
I was about 4 years old and in preschool. It was a “meet and greet” day and my dad took me. This was exciting, because I adored him and thought he was basically the coolest person on earth. I marched in, dragging him along behind me, and approached my teacher. … Read more
LA’s Art-Punk Pioneers Who Bridged Continents and Genres In 1978, Vivabeat emerged from Los Angeles with a sound that defied easy categorization. As I spoke with Marina and Mick years later, it became clear that this was a band always slightly out of step with the local scene -- East … 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 … Read more
50 Years of Chaos: Charlie Harper and the U.K. Subs More than five decades after the first sparks of punk lit up the U.K., Charlie Harper remains one of its most enduring figures. As the driving force behind U.K. Subs, Harper has seen entire scenes rise, fracture, and reinvent themselves … Read more
Did you know it’s been 10 years since Anathema Editions put out its first release? To make the moment, we reached out to founder Terence Hannum to share some label history. In keeping with our “History 101” concept, SPB asked for anecdotes about 4 of the label’s releases and then … Read more
That's right: we're halfway through 2026 already, although whether that means this year is a glass-half-empty or glass-half-full kind of year... well, the jury's out. But we'll let you know in December. Despite another six months of chaos, war, conflict and uncertainty, one thing in life remains static and reliable: … Read more
The musical landscape is ever changing. New genres are popping up, new hypes burst out of nowhere and die out and new bands present themselves to the world. How on earth are you expected to keep up, right? Well, it never hurts to help! So here we are, your humble … Read more
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