Guided By Voices

Nearly 30 years after the original Germs lead singer died of a drug overdose at the age of 21, the Los Angeles snot-punks have a new lead-singer: actor Shane West. That's right, the former E.R. star is the new Darby Crash—he of the infamous appetite for peanut butter (spread on his chest) and heroin (injected squarely into his veins). Apparently, bassist Lorna Doom and guitarist Pat Smear (the remaining original members) were so impressed with West's recent turn as Crash in the biopic, What We Do Is Secret, that they invited him along on their reunion tour. Dr. Barnett—er, West and company will infect the Blender Theater on Aug.  read more »

There’s nothing like a good feud between two massively iconic rock artists to keep the fanboys sweating. And that’s just what happened last week when an unlikely Internet controversy erupted between Prince and Radiohead. See, Prince did a rendition of Radiohead’s 1993 break-through hit, “Creep” at this year’s Coachella Music Festival in late April. And at first, the guys in Radiohead thought that was pretty awesome. Thom Yorke reportedly got a text message about it, and found it so “hilarious” that he had to see/hear the cover for himself.  read more »

The Culture Czar is never one to pass up a hearty dose of ‘90s nostalgia. And what’s more nostalgic than a Guided By Voices tribute band pumping out lo-fi jams at the paperback release party for John Sellers’ Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life? The event, which goes down March 1 at Don Pedro in Williamsburg, will also feature performances by Times New Viking, Matthew Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces, and Guided By Voices member Doug Gillard (Mr. Sellers is a massive fan, natch), Pitchfork reports. The hardcover edition of Mr. Sellers’ fan memoir was published last March by Simon & Schuster, which will release the paperback version on March 4. More: Mr. Sellers, whose journalistic credits include contributions to GQ, The Atlantic Monthly and the New York Times, as well as a TV editor stint at Time Out New York, will read from the book on March 26 at Book Court in Cobble Hill, where he will be accompanied by Luna’s Dean Wareham.