Rock N Roll Gutter

This week in the gutter, we’re diving headfirst into the gloriously underrated world of late-’80s Sunset Strip rock with Shark Island and The Scream. Two bands. Endless talent. Horrible timing.

During the dying days of the Strip, Shark Island unleashed Richard Black’s legendary, hypnotic stage swagger—the literal DNA a certain Axl Rose may have “borrowed”—alongside the razor-sharp riffs of S...

This week in the Gutter, we’re chasing the beautiful wreckage left behind when one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most unpredictable gunslingers refused to call it a day. At the center of it all: Andy McCoy—songwriter, guitarist, and full-time agent of chaos—stepping out of Hanoi Rocks’ shadow and straight into two short-lived, hard-living projects that burned fast and flamed out.

First up, we dive into...

Long before Guns N' Roses took over the world, a gang out of Helsinki had already perfected the art of volume, chaos, and beautifully bad decisions. This week, we’re diving headfirst into the swagger and wreckage of Smack—the band that built a filthy little bridge between Finnish grit and L.A. glam.

Smack became the ultimate musician’s band—worshipped by the future legends, ignored by the charts, and living j...

 This week in the Gutter, we dive headfirst into a technicolor blur of sequins, swagger, and electric riffs with modern Glam rocker Gyasi (Pronounced Jah-See). In this episode, we explore how the Nashville-based artist revives the theatrical spirit of Bowie and T. Rex while carving a sound and vision that’s entirely his own. He’s not living in their shadow. He’s kicking the door in, platform boots first, drag...

This week in The Gutter, we get a little emotional over Love/Hate.

While the Sunset Strip was choking on Aqua Net and major-label promises, Love/Hate came in wired, wild-eyed… and just a little weird. Fronted by the feral charisma of Jizzy Pearl, they had the hooks. They had the riffs. They had the attitude. What they didn’t have was timing.

Their debut, Blackout in the Red Room, felt sharp, dangerous, and a little too r...

This week in The Gutter, we crank up Sweden’s sleaziest soul survivors: Diamond Dogs. Born in the early ’90s with riffs in their teeth and a full-blown addiction to the ragged glory of the Stones and ’70s glam, these guys built it the hard way — sweat-soaked clubs, piano-pounding swagger, and sticky hooks. We dig into the glam-streaked roots, the bar-band hustle, and the unkillable groove that kept them stru...

This week in The Gutter, we’re dragging Company of Wolves back into the light — a New York band that had the songs, the swagger, the connections… and the worst timing imaginable. Right place. Right attitude. Wrong time.

Company of Wolves fused East Coast grit with radio-ready hooks, big choruses, and killer riffs. Their 1990 self-titled album is slick enough for radio, rough enough for the streets — and some...

This week in The Gutter, we take on The Zeros —  the glam-leaning power pop outsiders whose album 4, 3, 2, 1  deserved to be more than a cult-status footnote. Big choruses, neon hooks, and street-level swagger. And yeah — these are the same guys who wrote the long-running Howard Stern Show theme song… and still got ignored. We’re breaking down the records, the bad timing, the purple hair, and Samm...

This week in The Gutter, we dive into the chaotic mythology of Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction — one of the most unhinged, testosterone-fueled bands to ever crawl out of late-’80s Britain.

Spawned by former music journalist turned rock ‘n’ roll menace Mark “Zodiac Mindwarp” Manning, this wasn’t just a band — it was a rotating cast of misfit heathens. Built on boogie riffs, cart...

This week in The Gutter, we’re doubling down with two bands who shared a name — Johnny Crash and Johnny Law.

First up: Johnny Crash, straight outta late-’80s Los Angeles, where Sunset Strip dreams were colliding head-on with reality. Sleazy riffs, street-level swagger, and a band that looked like the next big thing right as the whole scene was about to implode.

Then we head to Austin, Texas, where Johnny Law were te...

This week in The Gutter, we’re digging into one of the strangest footnotes in late-’80s/early-’90s hard rock history: Stuttering John’s band.
Yeah, that Stuttering John — the wise-cracking, mic-swinging chaos magnet from The Howard Stern Show who somehow wound up fronting a legit rock outfit with real chops, real swagger, and two albums that deserved a hell of a lot more than punchlines. We’r...

This week in The Gutter, we’re digging into one of the sleaziest, most soulful cult bands to ever stagger out of the Lower East Side: The Throbs. These lipstick-smeared street poets were fusing a darker, grittier glam-sleaze sound full of dangerous bluesy swagger. We’ll dive into the making of their criminally overlooked debut, The Language of Thieves and Vagabonds, and the cast of characters—famous, infamous, and...

 This week in The Gutter, it’s the Kings of Stomp and Glitter — Slade!! —These four hooligans from the English Midlands slapped on platform boots, mirror-ball hats, and built a sound that could level a pub. Before they were blaring out of every jukebox and football stadium in the U.K., these Black Country lads were just four scrappy kids hammering it out in sweaty pubs. We’ll trace their rise from Wolve...

From smoky East Coast clubs to MTV superstardom, Cinderella clawed their way up with busted knuckles, big hair, and a frontman who sang like his heart was on fire. We’ll dig into their rise from the Philly bar scene, the Bon Jovi connection that changed everything, and the blues-soaked albums that proved glam could have teeth. These guys weren’t sipping champagne on Sunset Boulevard — Tom Keifer and the boys were ...

This week in The Gutter, we’re sliding face-first into the deep-fried, beer-soaked world of Nashville Pussy—the dirtiest rock ‘n’ roll band to ever crawl out of the South. This Georgia gang took AC/DC’s boogie, Motörhead’s bite, and a whole lotta whiskey-fueled sleaze, and turned it into one roaring middle finger to polite society.

And stick around 'til the very end! We're bringing you live show b...

 This week in the Gutter we are getting down and dirty with the hard-rocking, LA-based powerhouse, The Four Horsemen. Signed by the legendary Rick Rubin, this band was the real deal. They were a raw, bluesy beast with the dirty swagger of AC/DC and the soulful stomp of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their 1991 debut, Nobody Said It Was Easy, was an absolute monster that gave us anthems like "Rockin' Is Ma Business". But rock and roll has a p...

This week in the Gutter, we’re diving into the glorious chaos of Jetboy—the San Francisco misfits who crashed the Sunset Strip with mohawks, leather, and a raw blend of punk sneer and sleaze-rock swagger. From Bay Area dive bars to major-label deals, from tragedy to…triumph?? Jetboy never fit the mold—and that’s exactly what made them dangerous. 

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Forget your power ballads and pretty-boy primping—this week in the Gutter we’re throwing down with the loud, the dirty, the unstoppable Rhino Bucket. These guys didn’t need glitter, gimmicks, or Hollywood flash. They came armed with jackhammer riffs, four-on-the-floor grooves, and rock star swagger. We’ll dig into their albums, their endless road warrior grind, and how they managed to stay raw, sweaty, and g...

This week in the Gutter, we’re howlin’ at the moon with the criminally underrated Salty Dog. Forget the hairspray and the power ballads—Salty Dog was a different beast entirely. These sleaze-blues bastards rolled in with long hair, loud amps, and a debut album that hit like a bar fight. Join us as we uncover how a bunch of long-haired hellraisers with Zeppelin in their veins and Sunset Strip swagger landed a major...