40 minutes of rock block at Ronny’s and 38 photos to show for it. Check out pictures of Direct Hit’s last live show in Chicago.

One of the staples of the Chicago rock scene the past 25 years has been Jerry Bryant’s JBTV and this past week they featured one of my favorite bands, The Swellers (from Flint, MI) on the show. @kirkland_sarah tweeted it out and I’m posted in. That’s how this party’s starting. More from The Swellers The [...]

Assault.it has tirelessly scoured the web the past three months to find what we consider to be some of the best signed, and unsigned bands offering up their music for free to their fans, and soon-to-be-fans.

Our hometown heroes Makeshift Prodigy make their glorious return with an album big on atmosphere and twinkle.

Stoner heroes Cypress Hill release their first new video in a long-ass time.

English prog-rockers Muse debut their brand new video. It’ll make your eyeballs jizz.

Seeing Welcome to Ashley at The Empty Bottle is like stepping into a time machine and seeing The Fux at Fireside Bowl–which means it’s fucking awesome.

Drop your cocks and grab your socks – Assault besties Welcome To Ashley are playing the Empty Bottle on Friday!

Viciously excellent New Jersey band stops being polite and starts talking shit about Jared Leto. Also: the creative process, the band’s genesis, Alaska, and some pretty strange ceremonial songwriting.

Our resident musicologist gets something big and sharp up his ass about the Grammys.

The Action Blast is undoubtedly one of the coolest new bands in Chicago. They played their first show in December and formed shortly before that, but their sound is fully-formed and exceptionally confident. We were lucky enough to score an interview with the band’s guitarist, Kevin Singleton, and he explained who the band is, what they do, and why they’ll never compromise or water down the intensity of their rock attack.

It’s not too often you get surprised once in a night by a solid opening band, but this weeks lineup at the Beat Kitchen surprised me three times, with three rock solid openers. This marks the first time that’s happened since Family Values 2000.

Our resident musicologist Oswald Hobbes has donned his white lab coat and performed a series of experiments to create a comprehensive list of ultimate happy-making jams. Behold the glory!

Iconic Finnish rockers HIM have just released a new video for “Heartkiller,” the first single off their upcoming album Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice.

The initial bands have been revealed for the 2010 edition of the annual “Vans Warped Tour“, with more groups to be added in the coming months.

This is the story of how I came to love Rise Against.

From time to time I am delighted with an “epic as fuck” music video that reminds me of the good old days when… well, when bands actually made cool, hip videos with totally sweet dance moves. This video is precisely that, and now I’m punching myself in the face for not going to see Chromeo when the funk duo was in town this October. God damn Halloween parties.

Ever since the first time I saw Thrice live at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago when I was 16 I knew they’d be big. It’s been awhile since I connected as much with them (musically) on anything they’ve released, but I remain a loyal fan nonetheless.

Our resident radio scientist, Oswald Hobbes IV, presents the results of a decade’s worth of research in handy list form.

Based on the title and cover art alone, you might guess this is a new Slayer release. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong – Congregation Of The Damned (Opens in iTunes) is the fifth release from California’s Atreyu, and it’s another predictable-but-pleasing collection of shouty metalcore. When we describe metal albums as “punishing,” that’s typically a compliment. [...]