Special Features

Elizabeth "Bipsy" Amirian was an aspiring singer-songwriter from Northern California whose promising career was cut short by an act of horrifying violence. On Feb. 12, 2009, Amirian died after being stabbed, raped and kept prisoner for two days by her fiancé, Mikey David Beauchamp Wagstaff, who was later sentenced to life in prison...

Sounding like a more agitated version of Minor Threat/Fugazi legend Ian MacKaye, Ink & Dagger singer Sean McCabe had an unruly vocal delivery that perfectly complemented Don Devore’s rubbery guitar riffs. McCabe’s magnetic stage presence and dark yet often humorous lyrics -- something sorely lacking in the '90s Philadelphia punk scene -- helped the group set itself apart from the rest of the V

Georgia musician Nate Niec might not have been a household name, but the bassist definitely left his mark in his community. In addition to playing bass in punk bands like No Holds Barred and Das Maniacs, Niec worked at a camp for traumatized children and even did some acting work, playing a monster in an indie film...

Formed in 2004, Australian metalcore quintet the Red Shore had everything going for them when tragedy struck in 2007. During a tour with All Shall Perish, the band’s minibus veered off a highway on the east coast of Australia, crashing and ultimately killing lead singer Damien "Damo" Morris and merchandise man Andy Milner...

Born in Port of Spain, the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Pete de Freitas joined Liverpool post-punkers Echo & the Bunnymen in 1979, right before they recorded their seminal 1980 debut album, ‘Crocodiles.’ He stayed on for four additional Bunnymen studio albums and played on the hit singles ‘The Cutter,’ ‘The Killing Moon’ and ‘Lips Like Sugar.’...

The alternative music community has unfortunately bid farewell to some of its key members in 2013. From pioneering DJs to keyboardists who never became household names, all were artists who helped change the course of the music we love, and for that, we salute these late greats with the brief tributes below...

One of the best things about those early Beach Boys records is the complete lack of cynicism and irony. To Brian Wilson and the gang, Southern California was a paradise of hot rods and hotter girls -- "the only place," as Best Coast would later put it...

Eddie Argos has never been worried about looking uncool. Since forming Art Brut in 2003 -- an event he geekishly chronicles on the tune 'We Formed a Band' -- he's penned four albums of self-skewering songs about heartbreak, sexual dysfunction and his love of comic books, among other embarrassing subjects...

Like most of the tunes on our list, 'Summer Shudder' doesn't sound particularly gloomy. In fact, it's quite rousing, what with its stadium-size guitars, slick synths and colossal chorus. But then you listen to the lyrics. "How can this be so miserable...

Were we to make a list of super happy summer songs, we'd surely include something by No Doubt, but here, the generally sunny SoCal rockers set aside the sunscreen and let the clouds roll in. Singer Gwen Stefani sounds positively worn out as she tells her lover why he's wrong for her, and why she'll likely never leave him...