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When Wiretap Scars – the debut LP from Sparta, an El Paso-based post-hardcore outfit comprised of 3/5ths of the recently disbanded At The Drive-In – dropped, I was about to start my senior year of high school. The Spectrum, North Star Bar, and Trocadero still remained, Franklin Music Hall...
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This May, Nanna – co-lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist of Icelandic indie folk outfit Of Monsters And Men — performed a midday, Free At Noon mini set at World Café Live as a part of this year’s NON-COMM. The performance was on the eve of the release of her...
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June 30th English artist YUNGBLUD brought his family of fans to The Met Philadelphia in full force for a night of jumping, moshing, and screaming. It was the fourth stop on the North American leg of his current world tour, which featured supporting sets from The Regrettes and Sophie...
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The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection will always have an extra special place in its gritty little heart for Louise Post, who managed to namedrop us in a song about the breakup of Nick Cave and PJ Harvey… on top of everything else she did throughout three...
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“I lead from being a healing artist, so that’s my focus all the time. It’s always about creating that healing environment,” Lauren Monroe tells me during a recent phone chat. In addition to being a healing artist – and an advocate for mental health awareness, PTSD therapies, Suicide Prevention,...
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This April Americana singer/songwriter Esther Rose dropped her fourth studio LP, Safe to Run, courtesy of New West Records, home to PHILTHY phriends Aaron Lee Tasjan, Caroline Rose, and Emily Nenni, among others. The album – whose title track features Hurray For The Riff Raff – was written over...
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Last month 8-piece roots rockers The Revivalists released Pour It Out Into The Night, their first LP since 2018’s Take Good Care. Associated Press said of the release, “The Revivalists return with their fifth full-length album, promising more of their spicy gumbo of horn-accented alt-rock, blues, folk and gospel....
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Next Friday, July 14th, TD Pavilion at the Mann will be hosting Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Garbage for the local stop of their double-headlining tour. However, opening the show is nearly as renowned (and longstanding) indie rockers Metric, who have been kicking out synth-heavy new wave jams...
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Next Thursday, July 13th, Philadelphia’s own Grocer and Brooklyn’s Washer will be double-headlining Johnny Brenda’s, a gig that I find out, during a recent chat with Grocer, has been in the works for quite some time: “We like Washer, and our last show before the pandemic and their last...
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“A lot of fans have been telling us that ‘Waking up Alone / Julia’ is our most moshable song, and, ‘Can we have some more moshable songs?’ I didn’t know that’s what Divine Sweater fans wanted…” says Sean Seaver, lead guitarist and producer for Boston indie pop band...
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Surely most of our readers are well aware that today has far greater significance than simply being the fourth day in the seventh month of our year… It’s Alice in Wonderland Day! July 4th was the day that Lewis Carroll first told Alice Liddell his most famous story! Fittingly,...
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“When you get to be the lead singer of the greatest all-female, queer Southern Rock DIY band of all-time, you’re excited about it every day,” says Lauren “LG” Gilbert, the mainwoman (and only constant member) behind Thelma and the Sleaze, during a recent phone chat, which just happens to...
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Just yesterday, one of our favorite bands, Skating Polly, debuted a music video for recent single, “Tiger At The Drugstore,” directed by our very favorite singer/songwriter, Kate Nash. The self-branded “ugly pop” trio — comprised of step-sisters Peyton Bighorse and Kelli Mayo (who started the band when they were...
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“I’m putting the shoe in shoegaze,” jokes Alyssa Milman, vocalist, guitarist, and founder of local D.I.Y. act Puppy Angst, while discussing their potential wardrobe for the band’s Johnny Brenda’s debut this Saturday, July 1st: “I’m wearing insanely high shoes that I don’t know if I can play in yet! ...
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Detroit post-punk band, Protomartyr, played two sold out shows at Johnny Brenda’s on 6/17 and 6/18, during their tour for their sixth studio album release, “Formal Growth In The Desert.” Protomartyr has been a favorite band of mine for a few years so I’m happy to have had the...
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“Philadelphia has always showed up for us, which is crazy, because we’re not from here, but this is our biggest show ever, I think. It’s like our home away from home,” says Wednesday guitarist, vocalist, frontwoman, and founder Karly Hartzman after opening their June 17th headlining set at Union...
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This Tuesday, June 20th, pop mega star Bebe Rexha is bringing her Best F’n Night of My Life Tour to The Fillmore. And while we’re plenty excited for Rexha’s return to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, we’re even more excited for the return of alt-pop singer/songwriter, filmmaker,...
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We first met singer/songwriter Zella Day in April of 2015, a few months prior to the drop of her major label debut, Kicker, which propelled her to performances at a plethora of A-list festivals over the next year-and-a-half: Shaky Knees, BottleRock, Firefly, Lollapalooza, iHeartRadio, Coachella, Summerfest, Bumbershoot. However, she...
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February of 2022 saw Los Angeles-based indie pop singer/songwriter Wallice wow a group of young fans (My Drexel students can confirm.) at Franklin Music Hall while opening for Still Woozy. And, earlier this year, she handled support duties for JAWNY at Theatre of Living Arts. However, on Wednesday, June...
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*Update: Unfortunately, feeble little horse has cancelled their tour, including their stop at Johnny Brenda’s, originally scheduled for 6/27. Last week, prior to hometown opening night of their current tour at Thunderbird Café & Music Hall in Pittsburgh, a friend texted me, “If feeble little horse were born in...
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Beloved 80s English post-punk band Love And Rockets returned to Philly for the first time since 1999 to perform at The Fillmore on 6/10 as a part of their first tour in 14 years. This is a band I was never sure I’d be able to see live, so...
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Indie rock icon Ben Lee recently tweeted a string of pretty profound statements after attending the first night of Cub Sport’s Jesus At The Gay Bar Tour of North America (Read it in all of its social media glory here.) It began with, “Hey just saw @cubsportmusic live they...
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Those in attendance for dark trap rocker Mike’s Dead’s show late last month at Warehouse on Watts were treated to a deliciously devious set from immediate support act The Haunt, a brother/sister band – who have been making music together for a decade, originally as AnastasiaMax, before transitioning to...
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“It’s gonna be a banger of a night,” says JOSEPH of their current headlining tour, not quite a sentiment often associated with shows at World Café Live (They’ll be playing The Music Hall of the singer/songwriter haven on Friday, June 23rd.) The Portland-based folksy indie pop trio of sisters...
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“It’s always moody. Expect a moody set, and some mood swings,” says Brie Deux of Tampa-based post-punk trio Glove while we’re discussing their current batch of headlining dates, which will have them at MilkBoy on Thursday, June 22nd. We first met the group – which also includes Rod Wendt...
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Next Friday, June 23rd, will mark the release of the self-titled debut LP from Outlanders, the project of Finnish symphonic metal legend Tarja Turunen (best known simply as Tarja) and German EDM producer and composer Torsten Stenzel. The album, which is more than a decade in the making, features...
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Canadian-American musician grandson is currently on his “I Love You, I’m Trying” world tour for his most recent album of the same name. He played Franklin Music Hall in Philadelphia Sunday night with an opening performance from Jack Kays and support from K Flay. grandson played a 23 song...
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“We are currently 974 miles into the tour, driving out to the first show in Denver,” jokes Cole Kamen-Green during a recent phone chat, while looking at his odometer. Cole is one-half of experimental pop duo mmeadows, alongside partner (musical and life) Kristin Slipp. Cole is an in-demand instrumentalist,...
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This past Saturday, June 3rd, post-punk legends The Sisters Of Mercy played their first show in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection since Halloween of 2008. Their 80-minute, 21-song set included 9 brand-new songs (The band hasn’t officially released new music since 1993.) interspersed with classics from...
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English singer-songwriter Declan McKenna is currently touring North America on his 46 stop “The Big Return” tour. He played a sold out show at Union Transfer in Philadelphia with support from the Oracle Sisters for the 6th night of the tour. Playing songs from his two albums What Do You...
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The first half of 2023 has been a pretty momentous period for goth/industrial legends in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. Skinny Puppy brought their farewell tour to the 3,500-capacity opera house; Ministry, Gary Numan, and Front Line Assembly produced a night for the ages at Franklin...
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Tonight, The Lounge at World Café Live is hosting a sold-out show from singer/songwriter Sarah Kinsley, a young (but lifelong) musician who scored a 2021 viral hit on TikTok with “The King,” the title track of her sophomore EP. Kinsley grew up performing classical music in youth orchestras, before...
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The first time I ever saw Le Tigre was in 2002 at The Black Cat in Washington DC. It was opening night of the band’s tour behind Feminist Sweepstakes, and their first show to ever utilize their DVD player (used to convert their famous manually operated slideshow into the...
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This past Friday afternoon I found myself hanging with local artist Leta Gray at The Woodlands cemetery in West Philthy. Although perhaps best known as a tattoo artist and musician, this June (1st-30th) PhilaMOCA will be hosting SYSTEMIC: A Retrospect of Americana Artwork by Leta Gray. This Thursday, June...
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The last time we caught up with Toronto duo Babygirl – comprised of Kiki Frances and Cameron Bright – was in November of 2021, when they were on the road supporting Jeremy Zucker, which included a stop at TLA where Babygirl stole the show. During our chat I discovered...
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“This next body of work is, I think, the strongest body of work of my career. I created it in the wake of enormous change, and I was set free in a lot of ways, and untethered myself from a lot of expectations,” says multi-platinum, two-time GRAMMY-nominated artist K....
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“I don’t care about surprising people. I don’t care about anything other than having a song in me and getting it out that day,” says Harry Springer, the composer, producer, and performer behind Brooklyn-based Moon Walker, his alter-ego, who has already released two full-lengths since the start of the...
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Next Tuesday, May 23rd, Indigo De Souza will make her fourth attempt at headlining Union Transfer, after shows in January, May, and October of last year were postponed… Although the previous three dates were to have the Asheville-based singer/songwriter supporting her sophomore LP, Any Shape You Take, just last...
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The last time I encountered Ben Christo, guitarist and bassist of legendary post-punk outfit The Sisters Of Mercy, was in April of 2006 at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, a gig which Christo tells me he has both fond and slightly embarrassing memories of, during a recent phone...
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“We don’t have a label. It’s like our fans are our record label!” says Addie Nicole Amick, vocalist for metalcore trio Halocene, alongside husband and guitarist Bradley Amick and drummer Joseph Polizzi. The band, whose Maleficent EP drops this Friday, May 19th, have been making music since 2008, but...
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There are a lot of big concerts this Saturday night in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, but I seriously doubt that anyone else will be able to bring the party quite like LA-based Power Disco 7-piece, Cobra Man, led by Andy Harry and Sarah Rayne, who...
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Next Saturday, May 20th, local contemporary grunge heroes Superheaven will be playing a SOLD-OUT show at Union Transfer to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut LP, Jar. However (I probably shouldn’t say this…), we at PHILTHY are even more excited about self-proclaimed “glitter power pop” duo PONY, who...
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Yesterday MUNA announced the new season of their podcast, Gayotic, with an episode in which Katie, Naomi, and Josette chatted with queer icons Tegan and Sara about, “sharing hotel rooms during tour, secret high school girlfriends, feeling like the Phantom of the Opera, and, of course, our therapists and...
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Taleen Kali and I have been Twitter buddies for a few years now, so I was super bummed to have to miss her debut performance in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection when she played Ortlieb’s last October… However, she and her band will be back in...
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“It’s so important to me that people listen to the album, fall in love with it, and then come see the live show and fall in love for completely different reasons. I want them to get something different out of the live show than just what’s on the album,”...
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This Saturday, our new favorite TikTok-sensation-turned-formidable-indie-pop-singer/songwriter, Harriette, kicks off her very first US tour, as support for Arkansas duo Joan, which will have her at The Lounge at World Café Live next Wednesday, May 17th. Last month Harriette released her 8-song debut EP, i heart the internet (courtesy of...
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Today NYC femme punk trio Sorry Mom dropped “Teeth,” the third single from their debut LP, babyface, out next Friday, May 12th. The band kick off a US tour in a few weeks, with a headlining show Friday May 19th at our very own MilkBoy and a super huge...
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I can’t remember the last time I had a lineup make me prouder to reside in the 215 than this Saturday’s (5/6) show at MilkBoy, featuring the “shoegazey/dreamy fuzz pop” of Puppy Angst (whose Alyssa Milman we chatted with this February), the “Rain Boot Core Twee” of Grocer, and...
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Caroline Rose has been a favorite musician of mine for a few years after I first heard their third album, LONER. Their synthy and punchy instrumentals alongside their funny, sardonic, and sometimes heartbreakingly honest lyrics have always inspired me. But their most recent album release, The Art of Forgetting,...
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“I’ve always loved dark clothes and leather and harnesses and stuff like that. My dream wardrobe could double as an assassin’s outfit,” says Chrissy Costanza, who does often look as though she could be a comic book anti-heroine… However, the primary reason we love her is because she’s the...
When Wiretap Scars – the debut LP from Sparta, an El Paso-based post-hardcore outfit comprised of 3/5ths of the recently disbanded At The Drive-In – dropped, I was about to start my senior year of high school. The Spectrum, North Star Bar, and Trocadero still remained, Franklin Music Hall...
This May, Nanna – co-lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist of Icelandic indie folk outfit Of Monsters And Men — performed a midday, Free At Noon mini set at World Café Live as a part of this year’s NON-COMM. The performance was on the eve of the release of her...
