Alternative Press

Welcome to AP A-sides, where we’re highlighting the very best songs from the past week. Every Friday, the AP editors will wade through the daunting number of tracks released daily, narrow down their favorites, and give them to you in one playlist. Because the definition of alternative is constantly in flux, there are no rigid parameters to our selections — just tracks we’re obsessively talking about and listening to on repeat. This week’s playlist features artists diverse in genre but singular i

Rising artist Petti Hendrix is both introducing himself and embracing pure mayhem with his latest single and video, “APESHIT,” out now via MDDN Records. Taking a “guerrilla-style” approach, the track drops exclusively on YouTube, making the video and visual experience the only way listeners can truly tap in. The song came together on a trip to Nashville, where Hendrix linked with acclaimed producers Nick Bailey and Andy K. Bailey — whose collective résumé spans an eclectic range of artists in

Emo is a wide-ranging scene that encompasses countless emotions, but for all of its power, it’s largely associated with sadness. However, the rawest, angriest emo songs trace back to the genre’s roots in ’80s hardcore, where early pioneers like Rites of Spring and Embrace got intensely vulnerable over an equally aggressive foundation, often to the point of screams. That sound spawned different waves that all put their own twist on “emotional hardcore” — a bloodletting of rage, heartbreak, and ot

Failure are a gem, born of the grunge era — one whose facets have continued to reveal themselves since their formation 30-plus years ago. Their sound is impressively roomy, simultaneously heavy and somber, with lush, spacy guitars, stamping them as shoegaze pioneers beloved by metalheads while frequently cited by a host of artists ranging from Hayley Williams to Wes Borland and Chino Moreno. Arriving at their seventh LP, Location Lost, was, at times, an arduous journey. After a seven-year run fr

This past weekend in Los Angeles, Milkys — the immersive, shapeshifting DIY space and sometimes studio of producer Will Yip — was host to another memorable event: HazFest 2, presented by Metal Edge. The brainchild of producer lil aaron’s brand Hazheart, the free festival’s sophomore effort sought to platform a diverse mix of emerging artists across genres and scenes — while celebrating their eclectic fanbases with just as much enthusiasm. Two stages and a skate ramp drew skaters, emo kids, rappe

Sweeping Promises have announced their third album, You Say I Romanticize, out Aug. 14 via Sub Pop. The follow-up to 2023’s Good Living Is Coming for You was recorded by guitarist Caufield Schnug and bassist/vocalist Lira Mondal in their Kansas home studio over 18 months, inviting their touring drummer Spenser Gralla to join them. “Our new space is unwieldy and super reverberant, like our laboratory, and definitely impacts how we write,” Schnug said in a 2023 interview, with Mondal adding, “T

Held. have spent the rollout of their debut album, GREY, proving they are far more than a side project. Built around the chemistry between vocalist/guitarist Douglas Robinson and bassist Salvatore Mignano from the Sleeping and Coheed and Cambria drummer Josh Eppard, GREY captures the feeling of three longtime musicians rediscovering the excitement of starting over. Across its 10 tracks, GREY pulls from ’90s post-hardcore, alternative rock, post-metal, and atmospheric experimentalism while sti

This weekend, Salt Lake City hosted an array of artists across the “alternative” spectrum. Artists that vary in heaviness, genre, birthplace, even generation — though all have something in common. There’s an unspoken, inherent thread that ties them all together. They all exist outside of something. Whether it’s the traditional pop, folk, electronic sphere, they speak with emotional vulnerability and rawness. They’re all fans, of each other and of artists that came before, unabashedly — artists w

The return of Basement has been as satisfying as it’s been unexpected. After five years of near-silence, the band hit the road for a smattering of shows in 2024, including playing 2012’s Colourmeinkindness in full at When We Were Young. It was well timed, given that “Covet” blew up on TikTok and emboldened them to make another album, WIRED, which arrived earlier this month on Run For Cover, their original label. Falling somewhere between emo, shoegaze, and post-hardcore, WIRED offers up a con

Welcome to AP A-sides, where we’re highlighting the very best songs from the past week. Every Friday, the AP editors will wade through the daunting number of tracks released daily, narrow down their favorites, and give them to you in one playlist. Because the definition of alternative is constantly in flux, there are no rigid parameters to our selections — just tracks we’re obsessively talking about and listening to on repeat. This week’s playlist features artists diverse in genre but singular i

It’s been well over a decade since the All-American Rejects released their last full-length, 2012’s Kids in the Street. But instead of simply revisiting the glossy pop-rock formula that turned them into staples of the 2000s, their new album, Sandbox, feels far more unpredictable.  That restless energy has already defined the rollout for Sandbox. After teasing fans with the title track last year, the band doubled down on the chaos. They launched their House Party tour, performing everywhe

Alternative Press teamed up with Evanescence for an exclusive “Galaxy Glitter” vinyl edition of Sanctuary, limited to 500, alongside two exclusive shirts and a limited-edition bracelet. Head to the AP Shop to grab yours. Evanescence have released the video for “Who Will You Follow” from their upcoming album, Sanctuary.  The video, directed by Jensen Noen, moves through contrasting dimensions. Evanescence perform on a hectic LA street and a cold, ivory corridor with people fixated on their

No matter the era, the Chicago music scene continues to be a thriving and deeply rooted community anchored by cornerstone DIY venues like The Empty Bottle, The Hideout, and Subterranean. In the late ’90s and early 2000s, that scene encompassed a vibrant mix of pop punk, emo, and hardcore that largely took over Fireside Bowl — an all-ages hangout where Fall Out Boy, Rise Against, and Alkaline Trio made their mark before breaking into the mainstream. In the years since, a new generation has kept t

Last weekend, Welcome to Rockville hosted a four-day party that brought together nearly 200 artists from the worlds of pop punk, rock, hardcore, and more, scattered across five stages at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 15th anniversary of the festival celebrated a wide scope of genres and legend — headlined by My Chemical Romance, Bring Me the Horizon, Foo Fighters, and Guns N’ Roses. The event also lifted up veterans like Turnstile, Poppy, and Mayday Parade,

Sleeping With Sirens treated New Yorkers to a surprise impromptu performance on a subway platform yesterday afternoon. Vocalist Kellin Quinn and guitarist Nick Martin played an acoustic version of the title track from their new album, An Ending in Itself, and a cover of “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. An Ending in Itself, their eighth studio album, was produced by Will Yip (Turnstile, Circa Survive, Movements) after meeting the band for the first time for a writing session. “We all agreed to jus

My Chemical Romance have announced Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Deluxe Edition), a remastered version of their 2010 album, out July 10 via Reprise. The reissue will include nine bonus tracks that haven’t been available through physical formats or streaming.  The reissue will include vinyl variants, such as picture disc, zoetrope, and colored vinyl pressings, and an exclusive tour-only BL/ind vinyl version will also be sold at select dates between July 10 and Oct.

Ahead of her debut album, Be Sweet To Me, out later this month, Violet Grohl stopped by the latest episode of AltPress: In Session. Long before she began releasing music of her own, Grohl was obsessed with sound and songwriting. Her earliest musical fixation was the Beatles, whose melodies and harmonies sparked a lifelong connection to music.  That passion eventually led her toward more emotionally raw and experimental artists, from Jeff Buckley’s haunting vocal performances to the sc

Eartheater has announced her upcoming seventh album, Heavenly Body: If I’m The Bottle You’re The Message, out July 14 via Chemical X. The album was produced by Eartheater and David Sitek and was created following the birth of her daughter, Nova. The album is centered around pregnancy and motherhood, exploring the body as both a physical vessel and a transformative space and using details, like doctor visits and birth plans, to capture Eartheater changing while carrying another life. 

Welcome to AP A-sides, where we’re highlighting the very best songs from the past week. Every Friday, the AP editors will wade through the daunting number of tracks released daily, narrow down their favorites, and give them to you in one playlist. Because the definition of alternative is constantly in flux, there are no rigid parameters to our selections — just tracks we’re obsessively talking about and listening to on repeat. This week’s playlist features artists diverse in genre but singular i

Alternative Press teamed up with Movements for an exclusive vinyl of Happier Now, limited to 500. Head to the AP Shop to grab yours. Movements have announced their fourth studio album, Happier Now, out Sept. 4 via Fearless Records and produced by Will Yip.  Vocalist Patrick Miranda explains that, despite not having a clear vision for the album, they knew they wanted to combine the emotional style of their earlier music with the heavier, newer sound from 2023’s RUCKUS!. Two songs that came