When the inevitable Hardcore Hall Of Fame hosts its opening ceremonies at the Huntington Beach Quality Inn’s main ballroom in spring of 2014 (even as debate over the eventual location of the actual Hall is still being debated in the letters pages of Maximum Rock And Roll), Bad Brains will be among its first inductees. From the time of their first recordings in 1979, the influence these DC Rastafarians held over a swath of pimply white teenagers was equivalent to any band of their era: Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Minor Threat, DOA, anybody. Their sheer other-ness, the fact that they didn’t look or sound anything like the other bands, their ability to bust into a reggae jam at any moment, served notice that this scene could be expanded in any direction its participants wanted to take it. more ›

Oh look, the squares at the Burbank Police Department are being investigated by the FBI and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department after seven members of the force, current and former, have filed lawsuits regarding human resource issues, sexual harassment and racial discrimination. The latest lawsuit filing comes from a captain who says he was demoted after pushing for an internal investigation on other officers' misconduct. more ›