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3 Dollars perform in Debonair Music Hall, Teaneck, NJ – 3/28/25 - WMSC 90.3 FM

I first discovered 3 Dollars at their performance at Kudo Society in 2023 – WMSC had the pleasure of hosting them for an episode of our live music performance show WMSC Unplugged, and I had the incredible displeasure of being out of town on that date.  Disappointed, I welcomed them BACK to our studio the following year where my partner-in-musical-crime (and now music director) Amber Bintliff asked the inevitable question – Why three dollars? 
The answer to that question is one I won’t spoil – Yo...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus performs in Teaneck, NJ – 3/14/25 - WMSC 90.3 FM

If I was tasked with making an “emo essentials” playlist, there is no doubt that several songs by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus would be among the first additions. 

Listening to this band… honestly since I’ve understood music as “a thing”… I was delighted to see they were performing at a venue so close to me. What did I do to deserve this?
 
The openers of the night were incredible, setting the tone (and setting the bar) for the rest of the night– First up was Philly’s own alt-rock band Sleep Cycl...
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Alt duo MISSIO rocks Mercury Lounge in NYC - 3/12/25 - WMSC 90.3 FM

Electronic duo MISSIO never fails to impress. MISSIO announced their I Am Cinco North American Tour in late November, supporting their fifth studio album “I Am Cinco” in May 2024.  
MISSIO were one of those bands that got me through the rough parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. While it was a troubling time for everyone, they made sure that their fans knew that they were never alone. They released a great documentary titled “Love Me Whole” in May of 2020, giving a behind the scenes look into the pr...
Montclair Local •

Montclair Life Captured by MSU Photojournalism Students

In the fall of 2024, students in Professor Thomas Franklin’s Intro to Photojournalism class at Montclair State University documented Montclair life. This photo essay features a selection of their work, capturing a variety of scenes that reflect the town’s diversity. From busy streets to quiet moments, the photos offer a straightforward look at the community through the lenses of student photographers.
WMSC 90.3 FM •

NIGHTMARE BEFORE SPINSMAS SPREADS MUSICAL CHEER ON DEBONAIR MUSIC HALL - 12/20/24 - WMSC 90.3 FM

It was like The Spins knew exactly what I needed to celebrate the end of the fall semester… 
New Jersey band The Spins celebrated the holiday season with their debut Nightmare Before Spinsmas at Debonair Music Hall in Teaneck, NJ. The WMSC Unplugged alum explained that they typically have an annual Halloween show, but missed out on the chance this year – And thus, the Halloween Holiday Bash in the middle of December was born! 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The lineup was New Jersey through and through, beginn...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

Cage The Elephant and Young The Giant – in Holmdel, NJ, 8/24/24 - WMSC 90.3 FM

I would see this lineup a thousand times over again if I could!
 
I listen to a lot of music (like… a lot). A question that is often asked of music enthusiasts is “what is your favorite song?” What a daunting question that is! Luckily, I have landed on an answer years ago that remains true to this day: “Cold Cold Cold” by Cage the Elephant. 
The moment the “Neon Pill” tour was announced, I knew I had to be there. If Cage the Elephant alone wasn’t enough to convince me, seeing that Young the Gian...
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SOUNDTRACK TO DEMOCRACY WCRD 2024 MUSIC PICKS - WMSC 90.3 FM

“Thoughts and Prayers” – grandson
Review by Emily “Emol” McCormack
When prompted to write anything relating to political music, my go-to is always a song by grandson. While I typically review his song “Blood // Water,” the song that started my love for him and his music, he has plenty of other politically motivated songs in his discography. Released the same year as the Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting, his 2018 single “Thoughts and Prayers” is just as applicable to our present political climate as it was six years ago...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

SUMMER 2024 MUSIC PICKS! - WMSC 90.3 FM

“whatthehellishappening?” – Glass Animals*
Review by Emily McCormack
When a favorite artist of mine releases a new album, sometimes it takes me a little while to “get around” to listening to it. I want to fully absorb it… I didn’t quite get to listening to Glass Animals’ latest album I Love You So F**King Much in time for their concert at Madison Square Garden in NYC, and decided I rather listen to some of the new songs in person for the first time, rather than rush to listen to the studio recordings beforehand. This was an AMAZING DECISION. The UK band never disappoints with their upbeat energy, story-driven visuals, and making for an overall enjoyable experience from all ends of a concert venue. The set opened with “whatthehellishappening,” and upon first listen I LOVED this song. The song doesn’t skip a beat, and the audience was immediately brought into the space-themed story that is Glass Animals latest project through a space-ship journey – leaving the audience wondering what the heck is happening, but more than happy to go along for the ride![...]
WMSC 90.3 FM •

Totally Tubular Festival Takes On The Rooftop at Pier 17, NYC, 7/18/24 - WMSC 90.3 FM

I was repeatedly asked “Wait, how old are you? Do you really like this music?”
Of course, I like this music! Where do you think our 2020s alternative songs would be if it wasn’t for the bands that came before them?
A few months ago my mom asked me if I wanted to see the “Totally Tubular” Festival in the summer. My answer was “Duh!” Without looking at the lineup, I knew that I was in for an epic night of 80s music.
I was even more excited to find out that the show was at the Rooftop at Pier 17 wh...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

WMSC Music Picks: Spring 2024 - WMSC 90.3 FM

“John” – Jeris Johnson
Review by Emily “Emol” McCormack
Jeris Johnson is my favorite find of 2024 so far. Opening for Kim Dracula (my favorite find of 2023, haha) at Irving Plaza in March, I found myself in awe of his music. His stage presence was funny and real, and his voice has a power behind it that I wish I could find the words to properly describe. Throughout the set I came to realize I already knew tracks like “Battling My Demons” (2023) and “damn!” (2020), but fell in love with some of his latest tracks like “When The Darkness Comes” (2023). The medieval-esque vibe to his music and imagery is fun and new to me – And the flaming sword in his music video? Hardcore. (I have a better, non-FCC safe term in mind but alas) While I love his latest 2024 song “Here’s To The Years,” I chose his March single “John,” which was released just a few days before seeing him in person. The lyrics paint a beautiful, bittersweet image of what I come to find the song is about.
WMSC 90.3 FM •

WMSC Music Picks: Pride 2024 - WMSC 90.3 FM

“Edge Of The Earth” – The Beaches
Review by Emily “Emol” McCormack
I cannot get enough of this song. It’s about someone who is so madly in love with another woman, nervous about if her feelings are reciprocated because she needs her more than life itself. The chorus includes the lyric “Spin me like a globe and drop your finger on me,” which I interpret as the longing to be somebody’s number one person. Of all the billions of people in the world, I want to be the one who is wanted by you – that sort of thing. While this can certainly be a universal experience regardless of gender or sexual orientation, there is an added nervousness to a potential wlw relationship, worrying if the other person is into the same gender at all… but desperately hoping she may be. The rest of the chorus sings: “You push me in circles / To the edge of the Earth / Where I can’t go any further / Till I start coming back to you.”
WMSC 90.3 FM •

Interview with Morgan Cole Brown - WMSC 90.3 FM

Morgan Cole Brown is a singer/songwriter from Boston, MA, who, after years of different projects and aliases’, is now performing as his true self!
Tune in to hear Morgan and music director Emily ‘Emol’ McCormack talk about his debut album “Watching Your Friends Get Famous,” his musical theatre inspiration, the importance of local music, and how he faired releasing his project on the same day as Taylor Swift’s latest album!

Keep up with Morgan through social media, @morgancolebrownmusic, or Spot...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

WMSC Music Picks: Alternative Through The Decades - WMSC 57th Anniversary! - WMSC 90.3 FM

“A Question Of Time” – Depeche Mode (1986)
Review by Emily ‘Emol’ McCormack
I grew up listening to my parent’s favorite bands in the household. Since birth, I’ve been hearing bands like The Smiths, Tears For Fears, New Order, and The Talking Heads as a soundtrack to my growing up, but no band of theirs has stuck with me like Depeche Mode. When I think about my favorite band of the 80s, it is by far this band.
I have a playlist named after my parents for the days I am stuck on campus for weeks at a time and miss the music my mom plays in the car or the songs my dad plays in the kitchen after dinner. The majority of the playlist is, admittedly, Depeche Mode – Their 1986 album Black Celebration is my favorite go-to, start-to-finish album of the decade, and it’s hard to pick just one favorite. But, for the sake of only writing on music pick, I lean on my go-to favorite, standout song – “A Question of Time.”
WMSC 90.3 FM •

TBT: Fall Out Boy performs So Much For (Tour) Dust Leg One in Holmdel, NJ - 8/5/23 - WMSC 90.3 FM

Let’s start with a confession: When this tour was announced, I fell to the floor outside of our general manager’s office and hyperventilated. I was immediately brought back to middle school – the good part: the music. 
Now that we got that embarrassing moment out of the way… onto the show!

Fall Out Boy performed for the first leg of their So Much For (Tour) Dust at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, located just 45 minutes or so away from Montclair State’s campus.
The first act of...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

Kim Dracula: America’s Gradual Decline In Morale - Irving Plaza, NYC 3/10/24 - WMSC 90.3 FM

The genre-bending metal artist dominates the New York City stage as they perform in their first-ever headline tour in the U.S. 
Alternative-metal-trap-screaming-everything-in-between artist Kim Dracula has quickly developed a following after their debut album A Gradual Decline In Morale released in July 2023. Just before, they were the opener for Avenged Sevenfold’s Life Is But A Dream Tour that same summer. 
After becoming an instant fan of this album (Unfortunately, this was just after they pl...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

TALK: Lord Of The Flies & Birds & Bees Tour 2024 - Irving Plaza NYC 3/8/24 - WMSC 90.3 FM

The family-oriented talent dominates the stage in his return to the States for his North American headline tour.
Canadian singer-songwriter TALK rose to fame for his 2021 single “Run Away To Mars,” which topped rock-alternative charts over the years – landing a spot on Sirius XM’s Alt-36 of 2023. 
He returns to the States for his first-ever headlining tour for his debut album, The Lord Of The Flies & Birds & Bees, after his 2023 tour supporting rock icons Young The Giant and Milky Chance. 
Talk...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

WMSC Music Picks: Spring Break 2024! - WMSC 90.3 FM

“Los Ageless” – St. Vincent
Review by Emily “Emol” McCormack
A play on the famous (perhaps, infamous) city in California, “Los Ageless” by St. Vincent is a criticism of the warped atmosphere of L.A. In her album Masseduction (2017), St. Vincent sings of how people can chase their dreams of being famous to their breaking point, but it will never be enough to make it or for people to feel fulfilled – they are always chasing something they cannot grasp, forcing them to become a slave to Hollywood, or becoming a shell of their former self. Taking a look at the lyrics, there are so many unfortunate true-to-reality critiques of celebrity expectations...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

“Overcompensate” - Twenty One Pilots Releases First Song Since Scaled and Icy - WMSC 90.3 FM

Twenty One Pilots are back at it again – confusing and intriguing fans with vague, cryptic messages throughout the globe with their latest single, “Overcompensate.”
Alongside this new track, Twenty One Pilots announced their upcoming sixth studio album Clancy will be here on May 17, 2024!
The music video for the latest track premiered on Thursday, February 29 via the band’s official YouTube.

“Overcompensate” is the first release since the duo’s 2022 album Scaled and Icy, which received mixed fe...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

WMSC Music Picks: Heartbreak Feels So Good! - WMSC 90.3 FM

“A Potion For Love” – AURORA
Review by Emily “Emol” McCormack
When you pair the most tragically realistic song about heartbreak with the beautifully graceful voice of Aurora, even just the first notes are enough to make you tear up. While a lot of other “heartbreak” songs I listen to lean towards the more aggressive side – hating an ex-partner for something they did or for how they made someone feel – this one explores the concept of accepting that a relationship is over, while still thinking fondly about how the relationship once was. She quite simply sings about something that is arguably harder than splitting up because of an incident or outside forces: the idea of falling out of love. As Aurora puts it, “Forgetting why we fell in love hurts me the most..."
WMSC 90.3 FM •

Songs For Sadness - The Latest in Palaye Royale - WMSC 90.3 FM

Never let them know your next move – Palaye Royale yet again switches up the game with grace, and beauty. 
The three piece band of brothers have been making music under the title Palaye Royale since 2012. While they have certainly experimented with their sound and have grown as musicians, the fashion-art rock stars have returned to their roots in their latest EP, Songs For Sadness.
This drop came only about a month after their previous EP, S-xtape, released in December 2023. That EP features bot...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

WMSC Music Picks: Favorites of 2023! - WMSC 90.3 FM

I Love You, I’m Trying – grandson
Review by Emily McCormack
I don’t think there will ever be a day when I’m disappointed with a song by grandson. He has been teasing fans with singles since the release of his 2020 debut album Death of an Optimist – and while those songs (all collaborations!) were awesome, I nearly cried at the announcement of a new grandson album. The first hint of what I Love You I’m Trying had in store was the single “Eulogy,” which has a sound that I can only describe as the heart of his sound. With elements of electronic rock, hip-hop and political motivation, this single was certainly just a peak into what was to come...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

A Gradual Decline in Morale - Kim Dracula Album Review - WMSC 90.3 FM

Kim Dracula said it first, and I’ll back them up – “This may end up being one of your favorite albums of all time.”
As music director, I would say it’s safe to say that I consume a lot (a lot) of music… despite living in an age where all music, past and present, is available at my fingertips, in June I somehow found myself in a strange rut of listening to the same few songs over and over again. The kind of music that I never thought I would get bored of grew stale… I was starving for something n...
WMSC 90.3 FM •

WMSC Music Picks: FOCUS Food 2023 - WMSC 90.3 FM

“Tangerine” — Glass Animals
Review by Emily “Emol” McCormack
This song takes me back to the middle of 2020 when Glass Animals released their album Dreamland after several COVID-19 pandemic and other related delays. I became increasingly obsessed with their discography during that year, and cite this album as what carried me though such an isolated period. Even before the album release, singles “Your Love (Déjà Vu)” and “Tokyo Drifting” took over my daily playlists, and I had no doubt the rest of the album would be just as delicious – what I didn’t anticipate, however, was how juicy this track would be. “Tangerine,” which became a post-album-release single in October 2020, made its way onto the radio and my personal daily playlist, and I simply could not get enough of this song the latter half of the year...
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