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 Luka State, courtesy Jim de Whalley. This week’s tracks may appear to be across the board but there’s a constant theme with these artists wearing their hearts on their sleeves. From supergroup Blitz Vega singing about mental health issues to The Luka State singing about homelessness and food…

Morrissey performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Oct. 3, 2019. Photos: Joaquin Cabello SAN FRANCISCO — Morrissey wasted no time Thursday night at The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. The iconoclastic frontman took the stage and asked “How are things on the West Coast?” before immediately…

Johnny Marr performs at The Fillmore in San Francisco on Sept. 27, 2018. Photos: Joaquin Cabello SAN FRANCISCO — “Does anyone have any requests?” Johnny Marr asked toward the end of his set at the Fillmore Wednesday evening; the third of four concerts spread out to the corners of…

On his third solo album, Call The Comet, The Smiths’ guitar alumnus Johnny Marr creates a futuristic narrative while giving fans the old-school post-punk sound that they have come to expect from the veteran. The 13-track album shows Marr’s instrumental and vocal range as the songs vary from airy rock…

If you’re like me—and odds are either you are or you aspire to be—you don’t really want to be associated with Valentine’s Day. Some people spend weeks festooning everything in cutesy red hearts and some spend those weeks raging against the mere concept with songs about getting dumped. But not people…

  Illustration: Vivian Shih It’s “love and hate” week at RIFF. We’ve taken on the theme of Valentine’s Day to talk about both sides of love. We’re starting off with my favorite love songs, but there are some caveats: These are only since 1980. There’s a whole bunch of really…