No, the Batusis is not a tribute band to the '60s Batman TV show. It’s even better: a collaboration between punk rock pioneers Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls and Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys and Rocket From the Tombs. Both songwriters/guitar slingers boast roots that go back long before the punk explosion of the late '70s, so we’re not talking about revivalist also-rans here. We’re talking about the real thing, musicians for whom punk rock was a means of returning to the simplicity and raw power of real rock and roll. Hell, the term hadn’t even been bandied about when Chrome formed RFtT in Cleveland in 1975 and the Dolls were tearing up the Mercer Arts Center in 1972. more ›

A month or so ago I was hanging out with an old friend I hadn’t seen in awhile. It wasn’t awkward at all, but we aren't terribly close so the conversation was hopping from one thing to another in that rudderless, silence-avoiding way it goes when you've gone through all the gossip and most of the whiskey. At some point I remember him saying “So have you heard this band Wildildlife?” and me shrugging noncommittally, thinking, neat, another indie buzz band with a shitty name I’ll have to contend with in the future. more ›

Once upon a time there was a Virginian noise-pop band called Skywave, who released a tidy avalanche of washed-out fuzz-rock singles and one full-length before calling it a day in 2004. Bassist Oliver Ackerman moved to New York to form A Place To Bury Strangers and build custom guitar pedals under the banner Death By Audio, while co-Skywavers Paul Baker and John Fedowitz formed the similar-minded Ceremony and stayed behind to hold it down in Fredericksburg, VA. Skywave (and to some extent its offspring) engaged in post-psychedelic guitar mangling of the My Bloody Slowdive Chain 500 variety, featuring massively distorted guitar chords recorded inside the world’s largest underground parking garage, slamming drum machine beats, and vocal performances so completely humorless they might have been (but probably weren’t) a put-on. Seeing as how bands featuring former Skywave members are currently the talk of the town, we've put all three bands' records head-to-head to see what’s what: more ›