Tag: philadelphia

Fans of indie popsters The Julies have good reason to celebrate. Lost in Ohio (who released Always & Always in 2023, and re-issued the much-loved Love Life on vinyl in 2020) has announced two new releases from the band, both set for February 27th of this year. A brand new full-length will emerge, entitled Cherisher, described as leaning “fully into reflection, memory, and meaning, delivering a deeply personal collection about holding on, on purpose . . . The album draws from shimmering post-punk urgency and ’90s shoegaze-influenced walls of sound, allowing Alex and Pat, both playing multi-instrumentalist these days, a chance to repurpose the past as well.”… Continued →

Chaotic hardcore project Pipe Bomb have announced a new single, “I Will Kill the Worst Parts of Myself.” Fresh off the heels of its three previous single releases, Philadelphia chaotic metalcore band Pipe Bomb is dropping one final stand-alone song called “I Will Kill The Worst Parts Of Myself” on January 27th, 2026, in support of its upcoming 10-song album, Hell Hole. Mixed and mastered by John Naclario of Nada Recording (My Chemical Romance, Senses Fail), “I Will Kill the Worst Parts of Myself” stays true to the project’s math/metalcore roots, veering away from the chains of song structure and embracing a flair for dissonance.… Continued →

The Julies was a barely-known indie pop band from Pennsylvania who released one highly-regarded EP for Flying Tart Records in 1996 and then disappeared for roughly 27 years. I caught up with the band recently to discuss their origins, their revival, and their connection to the Christian indie scene. IVM: I’ve been a huge fan since Lovelife. It’s one of my favorite EPs. You guys had some clear influences, but at the same time didn’t sound like anyone in particular. You must have been pretty young when you recorded that.… Continued →

It’s Holy Week, the most important season in the church calendar, so it’s important to celebrate everything Jesus did for us, displaying his love through the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. When it comes to music, it seems that the metal bands give us the most material when to comes to focusing on the passion events. Sacrament was a super-heavy thrash metal band from Pennsylvania. They formed in 1989, and played a style of thrash that was at times much closer to death metal. One could almost argue they were the first Christian band playing in the death metal style, and they wouldn’t be too far off.… Continued →

Let the debate be finished, and let this be the final word: Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first Christian rock artist ever. Decades before Larry Norman, or even his English predecessors like The Crossbeats or The Pilgrims, Tharpe was writing and performing a new take on Gospel music, utilizing skillful guitar playing and innovating techniques that were used by hundreds of others after her. In fact, it is likely that Tharpe is not only the first Gospel rocker, but the first rock-and-roll artist period, with her early material being created as early as the late 1930s, more than a full decade before Bill Haley and the Comets released “Rock Around the Clock” or Chuck Berry was instructing Johnny on how to B.… Continued →

The Ones Who Wait is filled with love and longing, anxiety and hope. It is Denison Witmer at his most brooding and pensive without losing his calm and uplifting spirit.