The Former Clarity guide to Japanese hardcore

From Gauze to Burning Spirits and beyond.

Alex G

Good music from the second half of 2022

Some of my favorite albums and EPs from 2022.

Dazy

A mid-year list of good music

Records I liked from the first half of 2022

Fugazi

Can an observer be a participant?

What's worth being documented and why.

Here's some music I liked this year that you might too

I hope you like them too

Thunder in the night forever

You don't expect forces of nature to die. You expect them to always be there, lingering in the distance, no matter how far away you may have gotten from them. That's how I always felt about Gared O'Donnell and his band, Planes Mistaken For Stars. When I first heard Planes

Militarie Gun

Addicted to disappointment

You know how sometimes you hear a song and it gets lodged so deep inside your brain that it feels like it's playing on a constant loop no matter what you're doing? That's what's been happening with me and Militarie Gun's "Big Disappointment."

Dan Ozzi

Dan Ozzi is a Sellout

SELLOUT is a book that finally understands punk's myriad contradictions and hypocrisies, embracing them for what they are instead of dismissing them in some overly simplified, offhand way.

Dazy

Get lost in the fuzz with Dazy

Big fuzzy hooks never sounded so good.

Laura Stevenson

Talking With Laura Stevenson About Her New Album and Learning How To Be a Person Again

There's this thing that some writers say that I find very true, and it's that the hardest artists to write about are the ones you love the most. For me, that's been true of Laura Stevenson more than almost anyone else

Hurry

Talking With Hurry's Matt Scottoline About Making Real Art in a Fake World

A conversation about Matt's new record, his new book, and how to make people pay attention in a crowded landscape.

ska

Ska-Core, the Discourse, and More

Why defending genres is goofy, but necessary.

Out with the old

Introducing formerclarity.com

The Armed

I don't want to know who The Armed really are

Getting some mail from Kanye West.

Regional Justice Center

Talking crime and punishment with Ian Shelton of Regional Justice Center

On RJC's new album and the cycles that make us who we are.

Anika Pyle

Talking With Anika Pyle About Death, Grief, and Her New Album

You know how sometimes a piece of art comes out in the exact right moment in you life and it feels like the cosmos dropped some weird gift on your head? That’s what hearing Cowgirl Blues by katie ellen was like for me. I liked Anika Pyle’s previous

Record Collecting

Rearranging the dust

Why we collect the dumb things we do.

Dillinger Four

The great American going out of business sale

It's a fine line between the newsletter and narcissism.

Good Luck

There's nothing wrong with playing background for this town

Putting on my rose-colored shades for a trip back in time.

SPICE

The dogs are barking again

And again and again and again

Propagandhi

Less rock, more talk

*Staind voice* It's been awhiiiiiiile

Hickey

Food stamps and drink tickets

I’m one of the lucky ones, and I know that. When I got sick, I had a multitude of people reach out and offer their support, be it through kind words, lending me their car, driving me to Cleveland for appointments, cooking and delivering meals after surgery, sending gift

Green Day

Do you have the time to listen to me whine?

See what I did there?

The joys of healthcare in America

Welcome to hell (world)

Bad title, I am aware.

blink-182

blink-182 and the never-ending authenticity test

On blink-182, Pitchfork, reviews, and criticism in general.