Awesome Rock

Pop thrash metal band Babymetal’s girls are teenagers now, and they’ve gone mainstream globally. So we hate them now. Just kidding. Their new album Metal Resistance gives us more of their unorthodox mix of hair-raising music and kawaii singing.

Mental Floss‘ John Green expounds on some of the many strange and random bits of trivia about famous rock musicians. We’re wondering what ever happened to those stolen Green Day recordings, and in case you were wondering – here’s an excerpt from that Foo Fighters’ rider.

Musician Rob Scallon once again digs out his one-string shovel guitar and shows that it doesn’t take multiple strings or frets to rock out, as he turns in a very respectable performance of RATM’s Killing in the Name on a garden tool.

Put on your headphones, crank up the volume, and drink in this 15-minute history of rock music, as remixed by Ithaca Audio. The clip includes sound bites from 348 rockstars, 84 guitarists, 64 songs, and 44 drummers, from Elvis to Foo Fighters. Download the audio track here.

Andre Antunes shreds a finger-blistering 13-minute medley of tracks by one of today’s greatest rock bands (accompanied by the original vocals of Matt Bellamy). We dare you not to nod you head in rhythm to Hysteria, Knights of Cydonia, and Uprising.

Please won’t you be our neighbor? Musician 331Erock puts on his comfy cardigan, takes off his loafers, and turns the classic childhood theme song from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood into a rock tune.

(PG-13: Language) The talented jerk that is Mark Kozelek aka Sun Kil Moon goes on barely controlled rambles about being mystified and being grateful for love amidst the droning waves by post-metal band Jesu. Even if the first track isn’t your thing, give the others a chance.

The music video for Courtney Barnett’s Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party sees the silly Aussie rocker perform at London’s Camden Town. The song appears to be from the perspective of an introvert who’s talking to her outgoing friend.

Musician Andre Antunes shows off his skills while demonstrating the distinctive playing styles of 10 iconic guitarists, performing a cover version of Daft Punk’s hit Get Lucky with each axe man’s individual flair.

Meliani Siti Sumartini (aka “Mel”) may be just 15 years old, but she proves that rocking out has no age, gender or cultural boundaries, as she shreds with the best of them on her electric guitar. Hit up her YouTube channel for more headbanging.

Leave it to heavy metal guitarist Charlie Parra del Riego to find a way to take Gershon Kingsley’s head-boppingly catchy classic 1969 synthpop tune Popcorn and make it rock. It’s the official theme song for making popcorn this way.

We’ve been watching Game of Thrones, so now we have that Rains of Castamere song stuck in our heads. We can bang our heads to it now, courtesy of Eric Calderone. As one commenter put it “A Lannister always slays his frets.”

You’d never know that this guy is about to kick out the most impressive vocal impression of Axl Rose that you’ve ever heard. They should do what Journey did and hire this guy to go out on tour with Gn’R. Also, he loves Game of Thrones.

A documentary about the rise and fall and rebirth of musician Alice Cooper, from his beginnings as a preacher’s son to his outlandish antics onstage and off, and his battles with addiction which at one point landed him in a sanitarium.

The three-member GAG Quartet performs a rock and roll medley of classic arcade and console games that will have you reaching for your controller and plugging in your old NES or Genesis. Be sure to stick around for the big finish.

Whether you’re in the K.I.S.S. Army, or The Boss is your cup of tea, these bold and dynamic prints by Ryan Rabbass are just the thing for true rock n’ rollers. His technique brings musicians to life despite being still images.

One of two new songs included in Direct Hits, the upcoming greatest hits compilation by Vegas alt-rockers The Killers. If it sounds familiar, you must be a fan of M83: Shot at the Night was produced by Anthony Gonzalez.

Queens of the Stone Age is releasing their latest album on an 8GB flash drive that’s also a bottle opener. It also includes freebies like photos and music videos. They even made a cheesy infomercial starring SNL’s Fred Armisen.

Rocker Julien Brasart cranks out another head-banging rendition of a classic theme song – the opening credits from The Simpsons. To be honest, we wouldn’t mind if FOX went with Julien’s version to freshen things up.

The official video for alt-rockers Suede’s latest single features the wanton destruction of countless pieces of art, and the most excitement you’ve ever seen in a museum. Ironically, the video itself is a work of modern art.

The debut single from Queens of the Stone Age’s upcoming album …Like Clockwork. Frontman Josh Homme recorded the album with pretty much the same lineup as when they did the stellar Songs for the Deaf.

We’re not strangers to early rock bloomers, but little Elisabetta’s naturally harsh vocals may just be the hardest we have heard so far. Little Red Riding Hood and doing laundry were never more metal. Original video here.

Another cool cut-paper video from animator Eric Power, this clip features an invasion of paper creatures descending on a city and wrecking havoc, backed by The Boxing Lesson. Get the track here.