​With news this week of Bruce Springsteen's upcoming album, Wrecking Ball, as well as a U.S. tour that will find him 'round Austin way for SXSW, we asked our resident old-days expert what he thought about the Boss' new stuff.

What do you think of the new Springsteen single, "We Take Care of Our Own"?
First of all, good morning everyone. I'm fairly upset about this. Clearly, we are long from the days of "Mansion on the Hill." After a first listen, I whispered to myself, "Calm down, lad, you've just heard the one song." The heavy producing really sent me down the rabbit hole! It was like Phil Spector's ghost shit his signature cascading wall of sound all over the track. Producer Ron Aniello, you can leave the rhythmic claps and children's choir to Guster, which you also produced. Congratulations on your success, Ron, and for the work you did on Lifehouse. Geez.

One more thing: the writing. The line, "Where's the promise from sea to shining sea" sounded more like a contagiously bad line from U2's "Miracle Drug." "Freedom has a scent /Like the top of a new born baby's head." Ugh.

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Radiohead

​With the release of Coachella's lineup yesterday, we decided to ask our resident curmudgeon and "good old days" music expert, Indie Grandpa, what he thought of the annual desert festival, which has now expanded to two weekends.

What do you think about Coachella's lineup?
First of all, morning everyone. Second, why in fancy Jesus does the font make the non-headlining bands so hard to read? I need a goddamn microscope to see if Dawes is playing.

Thirdly, let's talk Radiohead. If I wanted to see the UK's greatest band of 2000-2010 (nothing tops their album run starting at OK Computer, people) in a sea of dilated pupils and sweaty hipsters, I'd head back to my alma mater, Loyola Marymount University. No thanks. Honestly, there's no better Radiohead experience then listening to Hail to the Thief's "There There" with a scotch in your hand. Ignore the noise and the Ecstasy, I say. Didn't someone die in a tent out there last year?

So, it's hard to see myself there. I must say, after the rough weekend I had last year at Bumbershoot, I'm not inclined to buy airplane tickets to Palm Springs yet.

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