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Classic rock revivalists Greta Van Fleet have a new album, The Battle At Garden’s Gate, dropping tomorrow. Ahead of then, the group stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night for a rendition of album highlight “Heat Above.” For the performance, the band took to a white space, lit in monochromatic tones as they busted out an energetic rendition of the soaring track.

The band’s Sam Kiszka previously said of the song, “There’s plenty of love left in this world, even though it may not seem like it. And that’s what ‘Heat Above’ is about, rising to the stars together.”

In a recent interview, Josh Kiszka offered his thoughts about the criticism his band receives, saying, “Some people are writing their articles in their mother’s basement and they’re pissed off that we’re doing something. If your career is writing negative things about people, I would think you’d have something better to do. If you drop flaming nitrous in someone’s lap, I think they’ll notice. It’s a sign that we’ve done something to arouse people in some way or other.”

Watch Greta Van Fleet perform “Heat Above” on Kimmel above.

The Battle At Garden’s Gate is out 4/16 via Republic. Pre-order it here.

Most of the time, I make a living as a professional music critic. But occasionally, a higher calling takes precedence. In these moments, I must function as a kind of defense attorney for music that is widely maligned. As Atticus Finch once said, “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” Like Atticus, I am morally bound to defend those who have been piled on by my peers.

Enter Greta Van Fleet, the most critically reviled young rock band in America.

Not since Nickelback has there been a popular group that’s been so easy for the press to pick on. Even when their coverage is nominally positive, the music of Greta Van Fleet still garners comparisons to an “ejaculating hyena.” If you’ve heard even a minute of their music, it’s easy to understand why this is the case. To say that Greta Van Fleet is extremely derivative of old-school and very unfashionable 1970s arena rock doesn’t go nearly far enough. This band ransacks the hesher canon with an unbridled, reckless enthusiasm that makes Paul Stanley look like King Krule. They make music for people whose rock nostalgia was shaped by their coked-out uncles blasting Houses Of The Holy before Thanksgiving dinner. Greta Van Fleet is a lot, is what I’m saying.

Singer Josh Kiszka has been endlessly likened to Robert Plant, but he actually sounds more like Geddy Lee screaming at his misbehaving kids in the backseat during a family road trip. (I am also workshopping this comparison: “Like Jim Carrey belting Iron Maiden’s ‘Run To The Hills’ at the drunkest karaoke night of all time.”) Both of Greta Van Fleet’s two full-length albums, including the forthcoming The Battle At Garden’s Gate, can be broadly described as concept records about how — I’m quoting Kiszka here — “we are all sort of interconnected and reside in a global community.” What this means is that Greta Van Fleet songs tend to be set “on the road” or perhaps in a desert. And they typically involve life-or-death tangles with the devil in the midst of something called “the age of Caravel.” At the climax of these sprawling epics, important questions are pondered, such as, “Are we prisoners or are renegades?” The sort of tunes you would expect from Dave Grohl if he suffered a massive head injury. Or Jack Black if he had no sense of irony.

In case it’s not already apparent, I had a blast typing the preceding paragraphs. Yes, Greta Van Fleet is very dumb. But they are also dumb fun. I thoroughly enjoy thinking and writing about this band. On occasion, I even like listening to them. But even if they didn’t have some genuine jams — more on that in a moment — I truly couldn’t comprehend hating a band this exuberantly ludicrous, especially at a time when so much of the indie-rock world is humorless and devoid of silly-for-silly’s-sake outrageousness. To paraphrase the fake Lester Bangs in Almost Famous, there are so many buffoons in modern music posing as poets. But Greta Van Fleet has the courage to be buffoons, which makes them poetic.

Let’s get all valid criticisms of The Battle At Garden’s Gate out of the way right now. For starters, it’s an exhausting listen. At 12 songs stretching for nearly 65 minutes, it would be three times as good if it were at least one-third shorter. Also: Somebody please play these boys side two of Led Zeppelin III. A couple of acoustic ballads would break up the series of MONOLITHIC ROCK GOD ANTHEMS that unfurl mercilessly upon the listener. As it is, there are no dynamics on this album. It’s all massive ponderousness. By the end, your head will feel like Bonzo’s snare drum during a marathon “Moby Dick.”

One more thing: There’s a climate change allegory called “Tears Of Rain” that is almost as preposterous as that title. Actually, is that a criticism? To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed poring over a lyric sheet this much. I love the part in “Heat Above” when Kiszka sings, like a protagonist in an Ed Wood film, “We do not fight for war / but to save the lives of those who do so.” Like I said, poetry.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Kiszka defended his lyrics. “I want people to lean into things that are challenging,” he said, whatever that means, while pushing back in general against criticisms of his band. But all you have to do is listen to The Battle At Garden’s Gate to understand that Greta Van Fleet has doubled down on everything detractors and defenders alike find ridiculous about them. This album is even more overblown, more bombastic, and just plain more than their 2018 full-length debut, Anthem Of The Peaceful Army.

It’s also kind of better. What’s legitimately undersold about Greta Van Fleet is that the instrumentalists — guitarist Jake Kiszka, bassist Sam Kiszka, and drummer Danny Wagner — are capable of kicking up a pretty enjoyable racket that hits the pleasure centers of prog-blooze aficionados with ruthless Pavlovian consistency. The drone-rock riff of “My Way, Soon” displays their knack for crunchy melody, while “Trip The Light Fantastic” musters up some real majesty in the record’s surprisingly powerful closing stretches. Elsewhere, they utilize songwriting and production ringer Greg Kurstin to inject some pop smarts into the hysterical melodrama of “Light My Love,” which sounds like Axl Rose singing a Celine Dion power ballad on the hull of the Titanic as it is set ablaze by dragons.

Call me a pushover, but I don’t detect any smarm in these songs. Greta Van Fleet is frequently misguided, and they unquestionably commit numerous sins against good taste anytime they strap on their Gibson guitars and fringe suede jackets. But they are also guileless, even naive, and I find that endearing. They actually mean all of this hogwash! The whispered accusations about Greta Van Fleet being some cynical industry plant have never rung true to me. In what universe is this considered a can’t-miss proposition in the contemporary music world? It overlooks the utter strangeness of Greta Van Fleet even existing in 2021. Mainstream hard rock — which covers everything from Zeppelin to Van Halen to Appetite For Destruction and Metallica’s “black” album — once ranked among the most commercially successful genres on the planet. Greta Van Fleet is trying to insert themselves in that continuum, even though it doesn’t really exist anymore.

Besides, it’s not as if these guys are toxic. There are no sexist “mud shark”-style antics, no appropriation of music by marginalized musicians without credit or financial compensation, no discomforting bulbous shapes protruding from tight denim pants. Instead, as Josh Kiszka howls on “Age Of Machine” — this one is an allegory about the internet — Greta Van Fleet are simply interested in providing “some healin’” to riff-starved patrons. They are harmless himbos.

Here is my closing statement: These guys are not geniuses. But they are essentially good-natured, and they make me laugh — unintentional laughs are still laughs — and I’m glad there’s a band like this in our lives right now. My only request is that they write a song called “Ejaculating Hyena” and have it go on for at least 12 minutes.

The Battle At Garden’s Gate is out tomorrow via Republic. Get it here.

To be honest, Pooh Shiesty’s performance of “Back In Blood” on The Tonight Show showcases an artist who is still very raw. However, it’s hard to hold that against him; he was signed and experienced his breakout during a global music shutdown that left him very few options to build the experience needed to become a standout performer (and, for what it’s worth, there are plenty of performers who just aren’t comfortable without a crowd to draw energy from, as we’ve seen with plenty of television performances over the years).

With that being said, Shiesty makes the best of a bad situation in his pre-recorded performance, saving the bells and whistles and giving a stripped-down performance in an alley alongside the song’s guest rapper Lil Durk (an artist who is in the midst of his own breakout, after nearly 10 years in the game). We could quibble all day about his mic discipline (keep that thing in front of your face, buddy) but for a television debut, we’ve seen worse — and when we’ve seen better, it’s usually with artists who have a different scale of budget, notoriety, and production value. The important thing is that he draws attention to his debut mixtape, Shiesty Season, and “Back In Blood” is enough of a banger that we can consider that mission accomplished.

Watch Pooh Shiesty’s “Back In Blood” performance with Lil Durk above.

Pooh Shiesty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Every Thursday for the past few weeks, Sharon Van Etten has shared a cover of one of her songs by various artists. These covers are set to appear on Epic Ten, an upcoming anniversary reissue of Van Etten’s Ten album. This Thursday brings the final pre-album release (since Epic Ten comes out tomorrow): Fiona Apple’s contribution to the project, a rendition of “Love More” that is in the same aesthetic realm as Fetch The Bolt Cutters.

Van Etten shared some thoughts about Apple’s cover, writing, “I was in a dark place when I wrote this song, I was in a safer space when I recorded it, and now that Fiona’s version will exist in this universe, it helps me feel even farther away from the darkness I had to experience in order to write this song. She brings it life & light. She’s given me her hand after all these years… & it is with pure joy to finally share this song in a brand new light by someone I always wished I could be.⁣ Thank you, Fiona. It’s so nice to meet you. Xoxo.”

Van Etten previously said of the anniversary release, “Epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist — going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I’ve looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music.”

Listen to Fiona Apple’s cover of “Love More” above.

Epic Ten is out 4/16 via Ba Da Bing. Pre-order it here.

The Matt Gaetz scandal continues to be a treasure trove for late night hosts, thanks to what Stephen Colbert has called it’s “almost too Florida twists.” On Wednesday evening, Jimmy Kimmel took a crack at the latest revelations coming from the investigation, which is being aided by Gaetz’s indicted associate, who has reportedly been aiding prosecutors and proving copious amounts of receipts.

“The odds of Matt Gaetz going to prison are now higher than his hair,” Kimmel joked at the beginning of the segment where he lambasted Gaetz for clearly not paying attention to how his idol, Donald Trump, handles his sex scandals:

“Two women who say they were at these parties told CNN they saw Gaetz taking pills they assumed were party drugs, and he had sex with the women, after which money would change hands. That’s crazy. Has Matt Gaetz learned nothing from Donald Trump? You’re supposed to have your lawyer pay the women after you have sex with them. In secret!”

Jokes aside, Gaetz actually has been turning to Trump for help, and not getting much of it. The former president has reportedly refused to meet with Gaetz after his team warned him to steer clear of the scandal, which Trump has done for the most part. Last week, he did issue a very tame and lame statement denying that Gaetz had asked him for blanket pardon. The whole thing was barely two sentences long, which caused Kimmel to joke about how “sad” the situation is: “Matt Gaetz really was the son Donald Trump never had, even though he had a couple.”

The team that already has Arike Ogunbowale, Satou Sabally and Allisha Gray — all former top-five draft picks — will make three of the first five picks in the 2021 WNBA Draft tonight. That’s what happens when you get lucky (landing second in the lottery), aggressive (trading away Katie Lou Samuelson) and opportunistic (trading for No. 5 and No. 7 over the past year-plus). It also creates chaos, which is what could very well be on the table Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN when the Wings start off the night with the No. 1 overall pick.

One might expect that the Wings were dealing with a barren roster and using this year’s draft to reconstruct the entire team, but that’s not so. Dallas already has 10 players on its roster (a reminder that the WNBA only has 12 per team), including three rookies from last season, when the Wings also dominated the first round with three selections. That means the Wings — who also have the first pick of the second round and — will not likely be able to keep the player it would select at each spot.

Keeping on chaos as a theme, what will instead happen is that Dallas will be active on draft night, working the phones to either deal veteran players and make space for rookies or trading away picks in real time for more talent or future draft capital. Dallas already flipped the 7th pick to the Sparks on Wednesday, but might not be done making moves. They are still young, but the constant turnover and youth makes it hard to build a winner. With Ogunbowale entering her third season having led the league in scoring in 2020 and a new head coach in Vickie Johnson ready to win, tonight could be the first page in a new chapter for the Wings.

Though they control the draft, Dallas is not the only interesting team. The entire first round features players and teams whose futures are going to be determined.

The most fun drafts have the most movement and surprises, so on that note let’s get to our predictions:

1. Dallas Wings: Awak Kuier, F, Finland

The youngest player in the running for No. 1 got a ton of run in Italy this year as a pro, and flashed significant growth as a scorer and defender. Kuier would be the first international player selected at the top of the WNBA Draft since Lauren Jackson (heard of her?) but provides the building Wings a potentially All-WNBA level player who is just 19 and could be developed in-house for many years.

2. Dallas Wings: Arella Guirantes, Wing, Rutgers

I recommend this fantastic New York Times profile to understand what makes Guirantes such a filthy competitor, but the other great thing about her is that she exemplifies where basketball is going. Dallas not drafting Charli Collier would come as a surprise to most, but in Guirantes, they could bring in a two-way wing player who can create her own shot and defend multiple positions. That’s the most valuable player in the game, especially compared to a more traditional post player like Collier.

3. Atlanta Dream: Charli Collier, C, Texas

Collier graduated early and therefore declared after her junior year, meeting the WNBA’s eligibility requirements and giving Atlanta more time to mold her. After an unsteady tournament for her individually (although Texas made a surprise Elite Eight run), Collier will have something to prove as a pro, but few can match her talent and two-way ability in this class. The Dream have a deep stable of guards but could use more scoring inside, which Collier should bring them.

4. Indiana Fever: Rennia Davis, Wing, Tennessee

Similar to the Guirantes pick, this one is about the future. Davis is pretty raw offensively and was inconsistent as a shooter in college, but is a great athlete with size who can also rebound. On a Fever roster lacking toughness and athleticism on the wing, Davis should be a nice fit.

5. (TRADE) New York Liberty: Aari McDonald, G, Arizona

Here’s the deal: The Liberty swap up from No. 6 to No. 5, giving up last year’s tenth overall pick, Jocelyn Willoughby, in the process. Willoughby was uneven offensively as a rookie and McDonald gives more of a secondary ball-handler to play next to Sabrina Ionescu going forward, as well as someone whose point-of-attack defense is better than anyone New York has or could have drafted here.

6. Dallas Wings: Chelsea Dungee, G, Arkansas

The Wings have a ton of options at guard already, including 2020 first-round pick Tyasha Harris, Ogunbowale, and the recently extended Allisha Gray. However, aside from Ogunbowale, the Wings don’t quite have a player who can create their own shot on the perimeter consistently.

7. Los Angeles Sparks: Dana Evans, G, Louisville

The news broke late Wednesday that L.A. acquired this pick (and Dallas’ 2022 second-rounder) for the cost of the Sparks’ own 2022 first. That’s questionable value, and starts to reek of the Wings panicking and selling off a pick (why else would *they* give up an extra pick in the trade?). With No. 7, Los Angeles gets a player in Evans who can play backup guard behind All-Stars Erica Wheeler and Kristi Tolliver this season and potentially be the team’s point guard of the future.

8. Chicago Sky: Kiana Williams, G, Stanford

This week, espnW’s Mechelle Voepel reported in her mock draft that Chicago has zeroed in on a backup point guard, and Williams is the best one available. She was the driving force for a Stanford squad that won the national championship, and plays efficient, balanced basketball as a floor general.

9. Minnesota Lynx: Natasha Mack, F, Oklahoma State

After trading away their last athletic young forward in Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan, the Lynx get one back here, with a player in Mack who has been compared with Natasha Howard, a devastating small ball big that was drafted by Cheryl Reeve and Minnesota once upon a time.

10. Los Angeles Sparks: Michaela Onyenwere, Wing, UCLA

After trading up to No. 7 earlier, the Sparks double dip in the first round as they look to a future without Candace Parker or Chelsea Gray. In Onyenwere, they get a toolsy wing who local fans will know and whom head coach Derek Fisher can hope to mold into a two-way playmaker from the perimeter.

11. Seattle Storm: Kysre Gondrezick, G, West Virginia

A 3-and-D guard, Gondrezick should be able to help plug the holes left by Sami Whitcomb and Alysha Clark, who both departed this offseason. Ideally you’d like a bit more size next to Sue Bird and Jordin Canada, but Gondrezick is an efficient shooter and capable defender who should be able to move around the lineup in the WNBA.

12. Las Vegas Aces: DiJonai Carrington, G, Baylor

In her fifth year of eligibility after transferring from Stanford, Carrington solidified her draft stock, upping her three-point volume, handling more play-making chances, and stepping up as a turnover creator on defense. At 5-11, Carrington should be able to play across the court and brings a physical defensive mindset that is sure to make head coach Bill Laimbeer proud.

Ivanka Trump’s most recent social media post before this week was on January 19, the day before Joe Biden officially became president. In a farewell letter, she wrote, “I hope and believe that America can move forward in a positive way, acknowledge our differences, and find common ground — that is how we will remain the greatest nation.”

The probably culpable daughter of a politically toxic president going full Coca-Cola commercial (Diet Coke, of course) was already ironic, but it’s extra-rich now that Ivanka’s biggest fans have turned on her following her first social media post since her dad left office.

“Today, I got the shot!!! I hope that you do too! Thank you Nurse Torres!!!” Trump tweeted, along with two photos of the former-first daughter receiving the vaccine. As noted by Raw Story, “Her post quickly filled up with angry replies from Trump supporters refusing to be vaccinated and suggesting a government conspiracy — despite the fact that the development of the vaccine began under, and was promoted by, former President Donald Trump himself.” A typical response on Instagram went: “No thanks! With a 99% survival rate, I shall pass. With Bill Gates involved I will not get one,” while another shouted, “Bummer. I was hoping you were above this kind of virtue signaling.”

The tweet replies were equally brutal from both sides:

Ivanka Trump has made one smart choice in her life: staying off Twitter.

(Via Raw Story)

Back in March, there were reports that Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez had called off their engagement. At the time, Lopez and Rodriguez denied the rumors, telling CNN that they were “working through some things.” Lopez also responded to the rumors herself with some help from Saweetie’s “Pretty B*tch Freestyle.” Now, though, it’s official, as the pair has confirmed that they no longer plan to get married and have broken up.

They shared a statement with Today, which was revealed this morning. In it, the now-former couple said, “We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so. We will continue to work together and support each other on our shared businesses and projects. We wish the best for each other and one another’s children. Out of respect for them, the only other comment we have to say is thank you to everyone who has sent kind words and support.”

Prior to today’s official reveal, rumors about Lopez and Rodriguez’s split once again surfaced this week, when some people noticed that in a series of photos Lopez posted on Instagram (taken on the set of her movie Shotgun Wedding), she was not wearing her engagement ring.

Geraldo Rivera’s been feeling particularly punchy lately while helping all hell break loose on Fox News during heated discussions. He even made Sean Hannity look calm earlier this week while clashing with conservative radio host Dan Bongino over the police shooting and killing of Daunte Wright, who Kim Potter “accidentally” shot while reportedly meaning to deploy a taser, leading to nights of civil unrest in Minneapolis.

Things got even uglier on Wednesday night when Hannity welcomed Rivera and Geraldo back, and the conversation did not go well. Bongino repeated his accusation that Geraldo wanted to “see the country burn” during protests, and Geraldo lost it: “I want to see the country burn?!? You son of a bitch!” There was more: “I want to see the country burn, you punk?!? You’re nothing but a punk!” Oh boy.

Here’s how things went slightly earlier, via Mediaite, with Geraldo discussing the taser, and Bongino declaring, “Give me a second to digest the stupidity of that.” That led to Rivera growing angry about Bongino’s alleged dismissal of facts: “You’re nothing but a name-caller! You’re a cheap shot artist!”

Bongino wasn’t impressed and stuck with his take, which is that Geraldo has never been a cop, just like he hasn’t been a baseball player, so he doesn’t know everything. “There’s a big difference between reporting on a baseball game and playing it, Geraldo,” he assessed. “You’ve never worn a badge, period. Not interested in your reporting on it, because reporters deal with facts, and you brought the race card into it the other night when we had this debate, despite having no facts to back that up.”

Rivera was aghast: “What, did you have a ten-minute career as a cop? You’ve been running for office for the last 20 years.”

To that, Bongino responded, “Take a Valium. You’ve really gotta pipe down. My gosh, you’re a 70-year-old man!”

Watch the non-civilized conversation below:

As for Hannity, I wouldn’t blame him if he was vaping in the corner while this all went down. When is round three happening?

(Via Mediaite

Taylor Swift treats her fans as well as any other pop star, and not just with her prolific output in recent years. On occasion, when she hears about a Swiftie with a touching story, she takes it upon herself to reach out and offer some sort of gift to brighten their day. In May 2020, she surprised a nurse with gifts for her 30th birthday. Back in August, she paid tuition costs for a UK student studying to become a mathematician. Now Swift is back with yet another gift.

This time, she helped out another nurse. As BuzzFeed reports, flight nurse Britta Thomason was the subject of a recent profile about her work during the pandemic, by Georgia newspaper The Telegraph. At one point in the piece, Thomason was asked about her interests outside of work and she declared that she is a Swiftie. Swift herself took notice and a few days ago, Thomason got a big box of gifts from Swift, which included merch and a handwritten letter from Swift.

On Facebook, Thomason wrote, “I mentioned in a recent news article with [The Telegraph] that I am a big Taylor Swift fan…and this showed up at work today!! I’ve always seen videos of her fans opening packages she sent them but never did I EVER think I would be one of them! I’m not one to fangirl about anything, but if you know me, you know I’m a Swiftie! Don’t mind me…I’ll be crying the rest of the day. Taylor, thank you!”

In the letter, Swift wrote, “I wanted to write to you and personally thank you for serving on the front lines of this pandemic and for being brave enough to put yourself in danger to help others. I am so inspired by your passion for helping and caring for your patients, and I was so touched that you mentioned liking my music recently! I’ve sent you some cozy clothes for when you’re off duty. I’ll be thinking about you, and forever grateful!”

Check out Thomason’s post here.