Brian J. Barr

"Maybe Jesus wanted it to happen," says Keith Morris, explaining how his new band, OFF!, was formed. He's kidding, of course. But there is something special at play in the former Circle Jerks and Black Flag frontman's latest project. Much like Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown, The First Four EPs is...

Admit it: The first time you heard Ke$ha's breakout hit "Tik Tok," you were interested. You might've found it repulsive, catchy, stupid, annoying, bewildering, dazzling or offensive to your otherwise refined ear. But "Tik Tok" most definitely made you sit up and listen. First, there's the pulsating, strobe-light beat that...

Even with no knowledge of the French language, it'd still be fairly obvious that Serge Gainsbourg's 1971 album was consumed with lust. The pelvic-thrust bass lines, his ear-licking vocals, and the way Jane Birkin exhaled as if being penetrated made Histoire de Melody Nelson legendary from the word go. A...

In the early '70s, three black blood brothers from Detroit formed an R&B band. But, after witnessing The Stooges live, they abruptly fused their soul sides with punk bombast. They called themselves Death and were all prepped to sign with Columbia until a label executive suggested they change their name...

I was 16 years old when my older cousin started dating the guy who would turn me on to "punk rock." This was in a very backward Pennsylvania town during one of my transitional teenage years. By this time (1996-'97) most of the cool kids in my school were in...