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The Mayflies USA’s decision to reunite for their fourth album in 30 years was precipitated by, of all things, a mystery illness. There’d been a few one-off reunion shows over the past decade, not to mention 2022’s Walking In A Straight Line, which would’ve made a damn-fine sendoff for the North Carolina power-pop stalwarts. That same year, guitarist Matt Long was leveled by an unexplained ailment that left him hospitalized.
Happy birthday Blake Schwarzenbach (Jawbreaker, Jets To Brazil). We have a present: It is the present. Photo for MAGNET by Wes Orshoski. Read our story from 30 years ago about the Bay Area’s emerging pop/punk scene featuring Jawbreaker, Green Day and J Church:
David Franklin Courtright admits that there’s nothing insinuative about “Boy,” the second single from his upcoming debut, Brutal Tenderness. “It’s a very gay song for obvious reasons—a breathy tenor singing about being nervous around boys,” he says. “Even though it’s more about romantic paralysis in a lot of ways, it’s also something I wanted to explore in everyone. Regardless of gender, we all have a bit of a nervous, eager boy in us.”
One of the great underdog bands of the classic-rock era, Little Feat could’ve been a done deal in 1979 after the sudden death of Lowell George, its lead singer, guitarist and most celebrated songwriter. But dismissing the post-Down On The Farm variations of the group diminishes the talents of its other founding members. Primary among them is keyboardist Bill Payne, the original lineup’s sole survivor, who’s singlehandedly held Little Feat together (with a few breaks here and there) over the past four decades.
Eli Winter is Chicagoan by choice, and you know what they say about the seriousness of converts. The guitarist moved north from Houston partly to go to college at the University of Chicago, but also to get involved with a music scene he had already admired from afar. Mission accomplished. Not only does his fourth longplayer under his own name feature contributions by a full complement of past and present Chicagoans, its contents are shaped by successive iterations of the city’s musical aesthetics. A Trick Of The Light is music that learns from everything and feels no need to be pinned down.
Happy birthday Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age, Kyuss, Them Crooked Vultures, Eagles Of Death Metal). We can’t quit you, Baby Duck. Cover photo for MAGNET by Dennis Kleiman. Read our cover interview Homme did with Savages:
45 years ago today, Joan Jett released solo debut Bad Reputation. It was self-titled and self-distributed when it initially came out, but reissued as Bad Reputation the next year by the Boardwalk label. Read Jett's MAGNET cover Q&A with Laura Jane Grace (Against Me!):