Shinedown’s EI8HT is relentless fun—a rip-roaring good time for concert-goers, commuters, and rock fans who treasure substance and hard-won wisdom in their head-bangers.

(ALBUM REVIEW)

PopMatters

“Anthemic” may as well be woven into Shinedown’s sonic DNA after 25 years of number one hits and sold-out shows. EI8HT is crafted for moshpit catharsis.

(INTERVIEW)

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Ant Thomaz reminds us of where warmth comes from in his solo album, GAIA—the authentic, real-time, in-person human relationship.

(ALBUM REVIEW)

PopMatters

Keith Carne offers a laidback glide through smooth vocals and buoyant electronic horns, with its protagonist recognizing the strange beauty of his current stage.

PopMatters

ROREY pulls back the curtain on the vulnerable evolution of heartbreak in “Dying Fire”, her ethereal new dream pop single.

PopMatters

Paired with the proper music—synthwave and ambient electronic tracks—our next visit to the pool can transcend exercise into a meditative reconnection with embodiment.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

From physical media to ruminations on consciousness and what everyone is ultimately after, Crispian Mills answers questions like “Who are Kula Shaker?”

(INTERVIEW)

PopMatters FEATURE

On The Mountain, Gorillaz render the cinema of life, with its frankness and earnest-heartedness, as naturally as anything they’ve created.

(ALBUM REVIEW)

PopMatters

Years of kindness and calls for unity from a band like Shinedown, whose very name implies radiant light, warrant a thoughtful, rather than reactive, pause.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Col Gerrard rejuvenates 1990s and early 2000s pop-rock on his debut album, and the London-based musician muses tenderly on the mishaps of a love-filled life.

(ALBUM REVIEW)

PopMatters

Kula Shaker’s Wormslayer is for the seeker, the adventurer, and the soul who longs for liberty—all while soundtracking their journey to an epic musical mirror.

(ALBUM REVIEW)

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Deadbeat is Tame Impala’s electronic dance and house record, and it wants listeners to consider the multi-talented Grammy winner a loser.

(ALBUM REVIEW)

PopMatters

Naked Eyes’ 1983 debut, Burning Bridges, is a good album for reflecting on our ironic modern world, as it can’t help but wax nostalgic for the sincerity of the past.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

It was a “gigantic, derelict, empty, silent monolith” that sparked Tame Impala’s imagination while composing one of the most memorable albums of the 2010s.

PopMatters FEATURE

With “Killing Fields”, Shinedown burst back onto the emotional battlefield armed with sharpened convictions and a flame-throwing authenticity.

PopMatters

These ten love songs, marked by devotion, candor, emotional intensity, and touches of pain, invite perceptive listeners to unearth the simmering drama.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Is a young person’s inability to recognize Queen’s guitarist, Brian May at Coachella, the cardinal music sin many believe it to be?

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Tame Impala’s deeply revealing songs disclose important details about Kevin Parker’s life and outlook and mark the cornerstones of his individuality.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Hard rock band Shinedown are never quiet about their struggles and never will be as they assure fans that being “slightly awkward, kinda weird” is perfectly normal.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Despite society’s antagonism toward introverts, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker steadfastly offers himself as a vulnerable, somewhat blushing symbol of the gifted loner.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

John Carpenter’s 1988 sci-fi satire is more relevant now than it ever was in the 20th century

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Godzilla has always been more than a monster. He even shares traits with God Almighty!

Geeks Under Grace

A deep-dive into one of the Godzilla saga’s greatest heroines.

Asian Movie Pulse

An analysis of one of Christian cinema’s darkest and most daring entries

Film East

A defense-of piece for one of disaster cinema’s most well-known—and well-loathed—films

Film East

Is America’s favorite dysfunctional family too dysfunctional for the pop culture-engaged believer?

Geeks Under Grace

In their music and now their graphic novel, The Midnight: Shadows, this synthwave duo weaves a distinct emotional identity around the narcotic effects of nostalgia.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Jeffrey Angles discusses the perils and pleasures of translating Mothra’s tri-authored origin tale, The Luminous Fairies and Mothra, into English.

(INTERVIEW)

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Whether defending her eggs, the Earth, or the people and kaiju she values, Mothra has consistently demonstrated caregiving instincts that finally have a lucid source in her feminine creator, Ajigo.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Over time, particularly since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, meme culture has shifted into a series of thought-terminating clichés that eat through our democratic identity like battery acid.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

​Criticism done well is not antithetical to compassion; the two are closely interlinked as an act of kindness that prevents delusion and leading others astray.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

In our age of endless comparison, curated self-images and performativity, we willingly submit to the branding of our fickle identities.

PopMatters LEAD FEATURE

Photo essay of the setting of Dante’s Peak (1997), a volcanic disaster movie filmed in Wallace, ID

Go World Travel LEAD FEATURE

A narrative photo essay about a multi-week solo trip across the Gem State—including the good, bad, and decidedly ugly

IDAHO Magazine—requires purchase to read full article