In this episode of the Books of Some Substance podcast, Nick chats with Alex Edkins of the Toronto punk band METZ on the day that their latest record, Atlas Vending, came out. Alex highlighted J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise as a favorite, so we talk through the psychological, inner-space prophecies of the book and relate it back to our current technology-saturated landscape.  Spoiler alert: we are all animals and the internet isn’t exactly helping.

METZ’s latest full-length, Atlas Vending, is available now via Sub Pop Records. Listening to it might just provide enough cathartic release to prevent you and your fellow trendsetting urban condo-owners from sliding back into a lawless, primitive existence and reveling in constant acts of hedonism and violence. No promises, though — results may vary.

In this episode of the Books of Some Substance podcast, Nick chats with Michael Berdan from the New York City noise-rock-slash-industrial-metal band Uniform about Hubert Selby Jr.’s The Room.  We talk about the importance of tone and aesthetic in both vocal delivery and fiction’s prose, about Berdan’s deeply personal connection to Selby Jr.’s writing, and, perhaps most importantly, about how art can be coarse while still delivering a message of hope and compassion.

Uniform’s latest full-length, Shame, is available now through Sacred Bones Records and is, truthfully, the absolute perfect musical accompaniment to Hubert Selby Jr.’s writings.  Grating, boundary-pushing perspectives of humanity abound. We might all be isolated, but we're not all alone.