Loren

For many years now, Scene Point Blank has taken the opportunity as the year ends to formally "pass the mic" to our friends on the other side of the mostly-imaginary divide between listeners and artists. This year is no exception as we ask a bunch of bands, artists and labels to tell us about their 2025. What music did they … Read more

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 … Read more

FEST 23 takes place later this month, from Oct. 24-26 in Gainesville, FL. Something like a billion bands are driving, flying, canoeing, and snowshoeing to the festival from across the country -- many of them for the first time and many come back to play nearly every year. Scene Point Blank has traveled to “over half” of them (we’ve lost … Read more

Are you ready for The Fest!? While we’re pretty sure you’re already counting down days until your trek to Gainesville, FL, we’ve got some Fest games for you to play, including a few samples from this year’s performers. Click here to play FEST LIBS -- like a fill-in-the-blanks word game about all things Fest! We have 8 different options to … Read more

The less I say about 2025 the better. Well, except to say that Scene Point Blank's 2025 Year End coverage is in development so, actually, I'll be talking about the year a lot. Search/Play/Repeat is a sporadic playlist feature that's just about sharing music though, instead of hitting some topical … Read more

It's been a while since I put another playlist up. I actually had this 99% done a couple of months ago, but everything went haywire and the list went on hold. This edition of Search/Play/Repeat is a quick play, running about 30 minutes in total. Enjoy! Read more

Visual Learner, BlackDots, City Mouse, Couch Potato Massacre Cloudland Theater Minneapolis, MN May 7, 2025 I’m embarrassed that I haven’t covered any shows at Cloudland for SPB previously. It’s a relatively new addition to the Minneapolis scene and a welcome addition that feels as much like a community space as … Read more

Sometimes I get all introspective and ask myself why I do this. Not very often, but the answer is always because I like music. It's that simple. I like to discover new stuff and I like to share it. Every year, the staff at Scene Point Blank sink a ton … Read more

Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett shared "Site Unseen," a brand new song and the first single from a new album called Creature of Habit, out on March 27 via Mom+Pop Music. The record follows Barnett's relocation from Australia to Los Angeles, a theme of change and confusion that permeates the 10 … Read more

Australia punky rock 'n' roll band The Stripp will release their second album, Life Imitates Art, this Friday on Jan. 23. The record releases via Spaghetty Town Records (North America), Ghost Highway Recordings, and Beluga Records (EU) and follows Ain’t No Crime To Rock n Roll, released in 2022. Read … Read more

Puscifer doesn't just have a new album int he works, but a comic book series too: Tales From The Pusciverse. Issue #1 centers on Bellendia Black, a character first seen in the band’s “Pendulum” video, a press release states, with the comic written by Maynard James Keenan, and artwork by … Read more

West Michigan band Red Arrow Highway just shared the lead single from a new record. The single is called "Not the End," reflecting on life in 2026, with notes on civil liberties and AI's influence. It comes from Be Someone Better, their second album, due for release on Self Aware … Read more