Babychaos, courtesy. This week we’ve got multiple flavors of rock—the industrial variety from BABYCHAOS, the alt- variety from LEONE and some straight-up uncategorizable rock from Meet Me @ The Altar. There’s also some genre-blending goodness from Chris Pierce, Kendra Morris and James Hersey. BABYCHAOS, “Guilty Hands (I Bleed)” —…

Chris Pierce performs at The Muck in Fullerton, Calif. on Feb. 3, 2022. Photos courtesy Chas Alm. FULLERTON, Calif. — Chris Pierce showed the simple power of a voice at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center on Thursday night. Pierce wowed with powerful political anthems and astonishing vocal acrobatics, accompanied only by…

The best albums of 2021 include Bleachers, My Morning Jacket, Ryley Walker, ZHU, Diana Ross, Made Kuti and Femi Kuti, Allison Russell, Chris Pierce, Hand Habits, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney, Weezer, Amy Shark and Heartless Bastards. Welcome back to RIFF’s year-end album roundup! If you’re joining us…

Chris Pierce performs at BottleRock Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Expo on Sept. 5, 2021. Adam Pardee/STAFF. Chris Pierce has been busy. Between his Americana-flavored trio Leon Creek, his soulful collaboration with Sunny War (War & Pierce), and his hard-hitting blues-folk solo album American Silence, it’s surprising he…

Foo Fighters perform at BottleRock Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Expo on Sept. 5, 2021. Photos: Adam Pardee/STAFF with the exception of Foo Fighters (courtesy BottleRock Napa Valley). NAPA — With Sunday came the final day of BottleRock Napa Valley’s grand reopening. Despite the long layoff, everything seemed…

Jon Batiste, courtesy. We’ve all been out of practice with navigating a massive music festival. Though you may have been lucky enough to enjoy live music at various points through the last tumultuous 18 months, a three-day festival in wine country is new again to all of us. To…