When considering Los Angeles outfit The Interrupters, take a moment to kindly forget jargon like “SoCal punk rock” or “next wave ska” or whatever perimeter you want to secure around them. A typical Interrupters gig feels like going to church where all the religious iconography is taken out and replaced with mirrors so the band and audience become one. Ignited by frontwoman Aimee Interrupter and the Bivona brothers’ indefatigable enthusiasm, attendees can see joy in action; discover strength in numbers; and feel bulletproof when facing the forces that haunt them. There are no victims or outcasts in attendance when the quartet are onstage: Transfixed by the legendary ‘80s 2 Tone ska movement and fueled with a contemporary energy that makes 180-bpm thrash-metallers seem positively slack, Aimee Interrupter and the Bivona brothers Kevin, Justin and Jesse blur the enthusiasm between band and audience in a way that’s equal parts dance party, cardio workout and personal therapy.
Lurking in the dark corners of the internet rap underground toward the tail end of the blog era was GothBoiClique, which spawned out of popular image blogging site Tumblr. The tongue-in-cheek name, coined by Long Beach, California-born Filipino singer and producer Jerick “Jay” Quilisadio aka Cold Hart, ended up sticking. Alongside Wicca Phase Springs Eternal and Horse Head, Cold Hart built the foundation of what would become one of the generation’s most influential musical movements of the 2010s and beyond, changing the definition of punk and emo. The GBC collective’s boisterous lineup of Lil Peep, Døves, Fish Narc, YAWNS, Mackned, Lil Tracy, and JPDreamthug took 2000’s rock into the modern Soundcloud age.