By Addison Preston

Released three weeks ago, On October 21st 2022, a dynamic masterpiece titled Midnight Rain was released on all musical platforms. This incredible lyrical three minute long song, features a vocal destruction produced by Jack Antonoff, one of Swift’s fellow songwriters and producers. This song is one of the most heart shattering and influential songs off of her newest hit album Midnights. Despite the efforts of a contrasting poppy culture, the true meaning of the song relies on the chorus, and focuses on lyrics. Swift echoes her past lovers throughout this song, telling the tale of heartbreak and the differences in such relationships. 

In her debut of this song, a remix of her vocals are presented to the listeners. However, in her most recent cover of this song, she is accompanied by playing the piano and acoustically singing this song. The chords harmonize and seethe the pain that she stresses throughout the song. The haunting G sharps, synchronizing with E flats dedicate the emotion of the words slipping from her lungs.  Continue reading The Significance of Taylor Swift’s Midnight Rain →

By Lillian Liebke

Tim Burton is an extremely talented producer and artist who has been producing films and short stories since he was a child. He is very well known for his melancholy tones and settings, and famous actor Johnny Depp stars in most of Tim Burton’s films. But, which movies are his best works, and what makes them so captivating?

The third best is Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice is about a couple who dies and is trapped in their home, forced to live with the unbearable new family that moves in. They try to contact a ”bioexorcist” to rid the house of the family, and end up coming in contact with Beetlejuice. The live action film uses different effects and gory costumes to give a scary feel, but the overall tone is comedic. Tim Burton’s exotic costumes and amusing look on the afterlife gives the movie an exotic feel, and it’s amazing acting really pulls it all together.  Continue reading Top Three Tim Burton Movies  →

By Ian Valdez 

Following the release of I’ll Say my Line, Gold Label hops back in the studio to record their second studio album. For Evan and Ian this is their first song that they are recording with the band, Evan stating “it’s honestly so fun and nerve racking to record, but I’m glad I can get this opportunity with such cool guys.” As the band prepares for their show later this month, they want to pump out as much content as they can.

Gold Label’s refined sound is something that the band is very proud of, but with their new song, they are working very hard on perfecting the song. They’ve upgraded their instruments, amps, and got better microphones. They are very serious about putting out a great sound that everyone will love. Their intention has always been to put out music that is new and refreshing, they’ve always kept to their roots with every song that they’ve written and have not tried to change for anyone else’s standards. Continue reading Gold Label’s New Release →

by Malia Esposito 

Music is the best thing in the world. I believe music shapes who we are as people. It connects us to our personalities and inner feelings. Music also helps people connect to their moods. There’s only a small number of people who don’t have a favorite music genre or artist, but I think those people haven’t discovered a connection to a style they like. I love R&B music and artists like Lauryn Hill. Not only do I love her music and voice, but I feel a connection to her poetry. She speaks for the youth and women in the music industry.

Hill was one of the first female R&B singers to win best R&B album. I remember the day my mom introduced me to her music at thirteen. I had no idea how much she impacted and changed my mood in many scenarios. By listening to the artist I love I feel calm and feeling good again. Lauryn Hill first became an icon with her works with the Fugees in the album The Score. The group rose to fame with their album The score and was one of the best selling albums of the 90s. The album has seventeen songs, my favorite being a cover of Bob Marley & The Wailers No Woman, No Cry. Another great song from the album is Zealots. Continue reading Ms. Lauryn Hill →

By Lillian Liebke

There has been an ongoing debate about who the best female artist is for decades. But who really is the best? These three women are the best female artists in the industry currently, and here’s why. 

The third best has to be Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday was an African American Jazz singer when slavery and the Civil Rights Movement was in its prime. Billie Holiday wrote numerous songs speaking out against the violence towards African Americans in America, her most popular being Strange Fruit. In this song, Billie sings about how African Americans are taken off the streets and hung off of trees in the public for everyone to see, comparing them to a “strange” fruit. She sings about the gory details of the horrible acts of violence towards her community, and her songs helped many African American people stay hopeful that one day the world will change. Billie Holiday died in 1959, five years into the Civil Rights Movement.  Continue reading Top Three Female Artists →

By Aleks Jankovic

Local Kenosha indie band “Gold Label” has just played their first public concert this past weekend at the Creative Space, and the turnout was much higher than initially expected. With 170 people in attendance, the band was shocked to see the amount of support they had received from their community, and were nothing but excited to continue their trajectory. 

Following the debut of their single I’ll Say My Line, the band was excited to play their first show in front of a major audience. “Our past two experiences playing live were house parties for a fairly small crowd, so we were pumped to finally start playing for the public and hopefully increase attention,” said drummer Jack Salisbury. The set-up process was fairly smooth, with little to no technical issues during the sound check. Continue reading A Successful First Show →

By Amaiya Diaz

Stranger Things is one of the most well-known shows on Netflix. The popular franchise first took off on July 15, 2016. The Duffer Brothers, the show’s creators, came up with the idea and got the script for the first season in 2012. The show takes place in Hawkins, Indiana, in 1983, following a group of kids, teens, and adults on their mission to find the missing character Will Byers. Will went missing in the first episode of season one, and following his disappearance, a new character Eleven was introduced. She was discovered by Will’s friends, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin while they were looking for Will.

Eleven was introduced as being a more interesting character. At first, she seemed to just be a runaway boy, yet the friend group soon learned she escaped from a lab. Eleven revealed to Mike her telekinesis powers in episode 2 of the first season “The Weirdo on Maple Street”. Throughout the first season, all of the characters continue to try and find Will Byers, but eventually, they learn that Eleven is the key to helping find him. Eleven is connected to an alternate universe that they named “The Upside Down” after the kid’s favorite game Dungeons and Dragons.  Continue reading Stranger Things →

By Lillian Liebke

There have been numerous controversial bands and artists throughout the years, but do some cross the line? Artists like Marilyn Manson, Lady Gaga, and even Elvis Presley all use shock value when they perform, but Insane Clown Posse really pushes it like no other band. Insane Clown Posse’s songs are some of the most controversial in the whole industry, but they are not as scary as they seem.

Insane Clown Posse consists of two members, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, who both wear black and white clown face paint as their image. The black and white face paint then transferred onto their fanbase called the “Juggalo’s.” A majority of Insane Clown Posse’s songs consist of vulgar language and details of disturbing events.  Continue reading Insane Clown Posse →

By Madison Nannini 

Queen is hands down, one of the best bands to ever exist in human history. Queen made their first appearance in the early 1970’s with the release of their first song, Keep Yourself Alive. Instantly, Queen grew a fan base. Later that same year, Queen released their first album ironically titled Queen. 

Queen went on to release many more hit songs and make more albums. But one of the most impressive things Queen ever did was take a symphonic instrumental, and put rock over it, for almost six minutes. Of course I am talking about the most memorable song Queen ever released, Bohemian Rhapsody. With Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen had not only released a song that changed the ideals of Rock and Roll, but they had changed the music industry. It was a risky move to release a song of that duration and with a symphonic sound rather than a total 70’s rock and roll song. But as Queen expected, the song hit the charts and is still the most memorable and admired song by Queen. The legendary use of electronics, vocals, and instrumentals, this song single-handedly changed the music industry forever. Of course Queen had other great hits like We Will Rock You (1977), Killer Queen (1974), Crazy Little Thing Called Love (1980), We Are The Champions (1977), Another One Bites The Dust (1980), and Under Pressure (1981) Continue reading Queen →

By Joe Mendoza

The year after the release of his debut studio album, Apollo XXI in 2019, Lacy followed up with another intriguing album, The Lo-fis, which is composed of 15 tracks, ranging from 43 second songs to more normal, 3 minute songs. After the technical beginning of his career, Steve has stayed true to his philosophy of making music he likes and enjoys, and being sure to experiment with his sound, and with this album he continues this. He starts the album off with a confident track, boasting about his demeanor while at a party(Atomic Vomit), where two tracks later, it’s a more melancholy song describing the nature of change, and leaving people behind in That’s no Fun. 

He shifts his tone and manipulates the topics of his songs all throughout the album, highlighting the versatility he has, although he still manages to keep the same themes of love and loss in all of these tracks. In Jars of It, Infrunami, and Uuuu, he uses one or two verse songs to put out the message of his love for this girl with interesting and appealing lyrics, like in Infrunami, where he sings:

 “Girl, you’re the one I want 

You’re the one I need I’m beggin’ you, please 

Can you come back to me?

 ‘Cause I was blind to see 

That you were right in front of me” Continue reading Steve Lacy: Part 2 →

By Amaiya Diaz

Malcolm James McCormick, born January 19, 1992, is a beloved music artist with the stage name Mac Miller. Mac Miller is a rapper who made a breakthrough for his career with his album K.I.D.S. in 2010 after signing with Rostrum Records. Mac Miller had a successful career for years, gaining billions of streams on multiple platforms. He even starred in a couple movies, like Scary Movie 5, and had a reality TV show on MTV, Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family. After years of upholding his fame, Mac Miller passed away on September 7th, 2018, after an accidental drug overdose. To this day, fans still celebrate his life and love his music. 

Mac Miller released three more albums before his contract with Rostrum Records expired, being Blue Side Park, Macadelic, and Watching Movies with the Sound Off. He then independently released his album Faces after his contract expired, and then later signed with Warner Bros. Records, releasing his albums GO:OD AM, The Divine Feminine, and Swimming. Swimming was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.  Continue reading Mac Miller  →

by Jacob Puhr

The Exorcist is more than a movie.  When it premiered in 1973 it became a cultural event, one that possessed the country in a ghoulish grasp.  Interviews at the time featured responses not unlike the following, “It’s something I never saw in my whole entire life. It’s something different, and I went to a lot of movies but I’ve never seen anything like this myself.”  The Exorcist would mark a pivotal time in cinematic history, one where what was considered acceptable changed; it’s no coincidence that gory slasher movies rose to prominence after The Exorcist’s release.  The terrors and horrors packed into this film resulted in audience member’s fainting, hyperventilating, running out of the theater and some even had heart attacks.  So what about this film evoked such fear never before felt in cinematic history and is truly the most horrific film ever made?  

Many movie goers today can happily remark they’ve never fainted watching a movie in the theater.  The idea of even running out of the theater is uncommon among most moviegoers.  However, those who dared view The Exorcist experienced just the opposite.  The film was so agonizing to watch that theaters kept smelling salts on hand as noted by The Film School Rejects.  Andrew Klavan, an author (an avid ghost story lover) and commentator, noted on his show while attending the movie with his religious friend, the ladder hyperventilated and had to be brought out of the theater into a lobby of sick, crying audience members. Continue reading The Exorcist: The Most Horrifying Horror Movie?  →

By Lillian Liebke

Horror movies have been loved by many for decades, but what really makes a horror movie “scary?” Most scary movies will at least make you a little uncomfortable, but which movies really pushed the limits? These three movies are the most gruesome and unnerving movies ever made. Spoilers ahead! 

The third scariest movie is Hush. Hush is about a deaf writer who lives by herself in a house in the middle of the woods. While at home in the middle of writing her first professional book, the main character is met with a picture of her taken inside the house sent to her computer. The movie quickly turns south when she realizes that someone has broken into her house, and she now has to defend herself against this attacker. The character being deaf gives the movie such a darker feel, as she uses her other senses to defend herself from getting murdered. 

The second scariest movie is Midsommer. Midsommer is about a girl who’s parents and sister all die in the same accident, so she goes on a vacation with her boyfriend and two of their friends. They go on vacation to this remote spot where a small community lives, but they soon find out that the small community they are living with is a cult. The whole film is unnerving as we see the insides of the cult and the rituals that they partake in. From suicide to giant reproduction barns, we see the inside of a dystopian society that is not that far from previous historical situations.  Continue reading Top Three Horror Films →

By Aleks Jankovic

The newest indie band out of Kenosha, Wisconsin, Gold Label has topped the charts with their newest single I’ll Say My Line, which was released on streaming services October 7th. Led by frontman Aleks Jankovic, the band will be playing their first show in several months at the Kenosha Creative Space on October 28th.

Lasting a little over an hour in length, the setlist will have a nice balance between original songs and covers. In anticipation of the long awaited concert, we conducted an interview with the members of the band about their goals and aspirations playing at the Creative Space. “I think our main mission is to spread our name out to more people and start making connections,” stated drummer Jack Salisbury. Along with getting their name out to more of the public, they want to try and have fun with the show at the same time. “I’d love to just get out there and have fun with the show, and try not to take it too seriously. It’s all about enjoying ourselves at the end of the day,” said bassist Evan Arneson.  Continue reading How Gold Label Swept the Nation →

By Ollie Campbell

In my second part of the review, I will go over part 4(Diamond is Unbreakable) and part 5 (Golden Wind). There are three more parts, 7 and 8 are not animated yet, and part 6 is having its last batch of episodes released in December of this year. I have not finished part 6 yet and started to read 7. I have yet to touch 8, so I will be leaving those reviews out. Although I have no opinion on them yet, I’ve heard amazing reviews on them, especially part 7 (Steel Ball Run). My personal favorite part of the series so far is Part 4. 

Diamond is Unbreakable follows our main character, Josuke Higashikita, in the Japanese town called Morioh. Josuke is the love child resulting from an affair Joseph Joestar(part 2’s main protagonist) had. We learn more about the origins of stands throughout part 4. Most of part 4 is narrated by a side character named Koichi Hirose. We are first introduced to him on his way to school, and Koichi bumps into Jotaro Kujo(part 3’s main protagonist). Jotaro traveled to Morioh in search of Josuke, wanting to learn about him and see if Josuke possesses a stand. Jotaro ends up being right, as Josuke has Joestar blood in him. All Joestars had possessed a stand after Dio Brando stole Jonathan Joestar’s body and used it to get a stand. Jotaro decides to stay in Morioh longer than expected as he also found an arrow in Morioh. The arrow may be the answer to how people initially earn stands.  Continue reading JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: A Review on the Best Anime and Manga Series (Part 2) →

By Joe Mendoza

After the release of a couple promising singles and a demo, Steve Lacy, a young 19 year old at the time, showed his potential in the music industry in the late 2010’s. Beginning with C U Girl, Some, and Dark Red, Lacy stirred up the pot, and with the creative beats and appealing lyrics, he began to build a fanbase who immediately fell in love with his romantic sound. Without much wait time, Steve Lacy’s Demo dropped on February 24, 2017, lasting 13 minutes and consisting of six songs that were produced exclusively with his iPhone. The feel of his music was obvious, with most of his songs having a smooth beat which made you wonder how on Earth it was made on GarageBand and a voice even smoother. Many of his songs were full with the heartbreak, confusion, and blindness that comes with love, and with his demo getting a lot of attention, Lacy soon found himself with a combination of fans from his band, The Internet, and new fans who happened to run into his music. 

Following up such a unique and creative demo would prove to be a challenge to most, yet with the release of three more singles, N Side, Playground, and Hate CD, he teased his next album, and with his more developed sound, Apollo XXI released on May 24, 2019. This album kept a lot of the same themes of young love and what comes with it, and his smooth sound was put on display with slow, passionate songs like N Side, Lay Me Down, and Love 2 Fast. He also experimented more with his sound, providing his audience with a violin ballet in Amandla’s Interlude, and touching on the rap side of music with the last song on the album, Outro Freestyle/4ever. This album stamped Lacy’s spot in the music industry as a solo artist, and he was able to step out of the box of just being a guitarist for The Internet. He generated a lot of talk after this album, and his fan base only grew after.  Continue reading Steve Lacy: Part 1 →