U2, “How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb.” Rock and roll is dead? Please. Every year, the “Kids Don’t Care About Guitars Anymore” narrative drives clicks—or, in the ancient times, sold magazines. Inevitably, Newton’s Third Law kicks in, and guitar bands, both new and old, push back with equal force.…

The Cure, “Songs of a Lost World.” Songs of a Lost World marks the highly anticipated return of the Cure after 16 years. And while an entire generation of teenagers has grown up without a Cure album to call its own, in many ways, the band never really went…

Pulp performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Sept. 16, 2024. Mariana Garcias/STAFF. LOS ANGELES — It’s been quite a few weeks for our ’90s alt-rock icons. Within days of each other, we’ve had an Oasis reunion, an out-of-wedlock baby Grohl and footage of Perry Farrell…

“Liam Gallagher John Squire.” “There should be a lot more music by John Squire out in the world.” Liam Gallagher John Squire Liam Gallagher and John Squire Warner, March 1 6/10 Get the album on Amazon Music. For every 10 crazy things that Liam Gallagher says, you can count…

Slowdive, ‘Everything Is Alive” The last time we heard from Slowdive, the shoegaze pioneers reemerged after a 19-year hiatus with a self-titled album in 2017. Slowdive was a near-perfect album. Not just a return to form but an evolution into an even more refined state. In the years since…

BLUR, “The Ballad of Darren.” Damon Albarn recently described The Ballad of Darren as “an aftershock record.” The long gaps between albums certainly make new Blur music feel like a seismic event. After all, it’s been eight years since 2015’s The Magic Whip, and 20 years since its predecessor,…

Andy Rourke photographed outside Salford Lads Club in Salford, Manchester, England in March 2007. Photo by Stephen Wright/Getty Images. With a post on Twitter, Johnny Marr shared the news that Andy Rourke, his childhood friend and bass player for The Smiths has died following a battle with pancreatic cancer. Rourke…

The Charlatans, courtesy. In 1990, The Charlatans introduced themselves to the world with smash single “The Only One I Know.” Arriving within months of The Stone Roses’ “Fools Gold” and The Happy Mondays’ “Step On,” the song was so fully formed and perfectly timed with the peak of the U.K.’s…

The London Suede performs at the Warfield in San Francisco on Nov. 7, 2022. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — On a suitably gloomy yet glamorous Monday evening, the Warfield lobby was buzzing with middle-aged friends catching up on recent health scares and sharing photos of the kids they’ve raised in…

The London Suede, courtesy Dean Chalkley. In more than two decades since Suede (they’re known here as The London Suede) last toured in the U.S., the band has split up, reunited and released four more acclaimed albums. Their latest, Autofiction, finds singer Brett Anderson examining his memories, motivations and…