If you’re ignorant, punk may seem barbaric, aggressive or nothing but thrashing mosh pit zombies screaming about anarchy. But one of the genre’s founding fathers pushed progressivism and social consciousness throughout his career — in his lyrics, politics, and free for all fornication. When the Buzzcocks (who will perform Thursday at The Ace of Spades), rose from Manchester England to world fame and acclaim during punk’s first late-1970’s wave, guitarist Steve Diggle stood firmly by the side of frontman Pete Shelley, the first openly bisexual performer in an era and genre that seemed violently intolerant. “He had a few relationships with guys, but it was never a big problem. In fact, he’

Adam Carolla’s wheels aren’t spinning. In fact, his engine has literally stalled. “I’m down in the garage trying to get a Lamborghini 400GT to start. And I narrowed it down to the fuel pump or the fuses right before I came up here to call you,” the comedian, podcast host and amateur mechanic says in an exclusive phone interview with The Sacramento Press. He’ll perform his stand-up routine at The Crest Theatre on Friday. In some ways, Carolla’s career has switched to high gear. A decade ago, he co-hosted goofy fare like “The Man Show” with Jimmy Kimmel and “Loveline” with Dr. Drew. Now he’s taken more creative control on projects like Fox Sports’ “The Car Show” and his own wildly popular

Amongst the buzz saw riffs lies a tale twisted as knotted lumber’s grain. It was chiselled, grinded, and chipped at until the words surrounding that deep woods howl splintered as if to catch beneath your skin. That, at least, could be one way to look at the fresh cut tune “Curl of the Burl,” from the latest album by heavy metal craftsmen Mastodon. The song’s title refers to the bloated burr growths swelling under the bark of injured hardwood trees. Such deformities hold a special beauty to certain artisans. “There’s a group of people in the Pacific North West… They get hopped up on meth, get in their trucks and go into the woods with their chainsaws to hunt for the burl in various tree

Few might expect to find salvation inside a prison’s walls, but that’s exactly what rap’s most famous supposed Satanist glimpsed. Tech N9ne (performing at the Ace of Spades on Oct. 24) visited fellow hip-hop eccentric Lil Wayne at Rikers Island while the latter MC served a year- long sentence in 2010 for weapon possession. The three hour dialogue touched on everything. They started with their families and children. Then, their peculiar career paths. Before long, N9ne was opening up about how his success had been hindered by years of anonymous blog posts and whisperings about his supposed 'devil worship.' Then, he revealed to Wayne why those rumours could never be true. “We talked about s

The teenage drug dealer slung a belt around his stocky waist and through the loops of his newly pressed khakis before tightening a necktie around his throat. In the streets below, a junkie who was all too similar to the young hustler’s crack clientele, wrapped his own belt around one of his track-marked arms. Both seemed to strangle themselves enough to make their veins pop. And neither saw any other way to escape. “It was hard for me to get a (legit) job. I tried everything in my life. My moms made me put suits on and everything. I was just a loser,” said rapper and reformed hustler Raekwon, who will perform at Ace of Spades on May 1, of  his humble beginnings in an exclusive telephone i