
After his father bought a mine in Tucson, Arizona, Joseph Byrd grew up and found himself drawn to music. Initially, it was vibraphone and accordion in pop groups, he soon branched out into local TV arrangements and college jazz combos. A talented kid, he found himself in a fellowship at Stanford, where he rubbed shoulders…

Orville Peck is one of the leading alt-country voices – thankfully, that means his musical choices, rather than simply branding him as ‘alternative’ because he isn’t a heterosexual man – although you’d be forgiven for thinking that’s the case. He’s got a new EP coming out on November 14th called ‘Appaloosa’ and there’s a song…

We wanted to write something about this Whole Thing with Roisin Murphy, but didn’t get much further than “why can’t some people just shut their mouths about other communities, especially ones who loved them so much?” Well, we just watched a very sensitive and well thought out video essay from The Last Mixed Tape, which…

There’s a certain twang in alternative rock that really works the gears of music nerds. You look at Pavement, Television et al, and you find that the discordant guitars aren’t simply playing out of key, but makes you feel a bit smarter. It’s a cunning trick. Well, we got that feeling from the new song…

Hello there. We remembered that listeners of our related radio show – FREE RANGE – might like to read the tracklisting for the show, instead of just listening to the words being pronounced badly throughout it. It’s the last show of the year before the round-up of 2025’s best music, so the last time where…

Anita Bryant may have been nominated for Grammys, landed the gong of being Miss Oklahoma and had a number of hit singles, but that’s not why she’s remembered, now that she’s dead. Bryant was an outspoken campaigner AGAINST gay rights in the USA, under the thin premise of ‘protecting’ children and the usual hackneyed talking…

Jade Thirlwall continues to be an absolute treat as her solo career continues in the cuntiest of manners. We’ve already sung her praises, wondering if she’s the most interesting popstar we have, and this single only underlines that notion a little harder. She’s got a new single out called ‘IT Girl’ and it’ll be on…

Oh how times change. Early on, on these pages we wrote that we were really in the mood for a silly, party rapper who didn’t take themselves too seriously. We said we ‘needed’ Ice Spice, not because she was a generational talent, but rather, a cocky, young, irreverent thing who looked kinda cool and made…

‘Silly Demon’ from Pat’s Soundhouse was one of our favourite LPs last year, but it vanished from Spotify which slightly detracted from our Best Of The Year playlist. We were left cherishing the Bandcamp download in the meantime, with it’s gorgeous pocket symphonies and Pet Sounds-ish ambition and beauty. Since then, there’s been a number…
THERE’S NO MONEY IN THIS GAME ANYMORE, BUT IF YOU WANT TO WRITE SOMETHING FOR THE POP CORPS, YOU ARE WELCOME TO GET IN TOUCH. HAPPY HUNTING.
POP CULTURE IS WORTH TALKING ABOUT.
CONTACT: HOWDYPOPCORPSATGMAILDOTCOM