Email Author Andrew Marcus

2006 Stories by Andrew Marcus

• Hidden Cameras

  published December 21, 2006

  While it's tempting to compare the Hidden Cameras' Joel Gibb with other literate gay singer-songwriters, if Rufus Wainwright or Stephin Merritt... More >>

• Various Artists

  published November 23, 2006

  We'll take the esteemed word of Vogue — along with reports of Karl Lagerfeld's collection of 60,000 CDs — as evidence that this... More >>

• The Clash

  published November 23, 2006

  The Clash may have scavenged the past for inspiration — calypso, Beat poets, film idols, rockabilly, the Spanish civil war — but never... More >>

• Northern Cree & Friends, Vol. 5

  published November 9, 2006

  The last time you encountered Native American music, you were probably in the middle of a deep-tissue massage. Long Winter Nights, on the... More >>

• Ghoul Talk

  published November 2, 2006

  In the 1997 Groovie Ghoulies song "Graveyard Girlfriend," bassist/vocalist Kepi sings, "One day I'll lay next to you in a beautiful coffin built... More >>

• Xiu Xiu

  published September 14, 2006

  If the creepy painting on the cover of Xiu Xiu's The Air Force is supposed to depict singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart as Jesus, it's ironic... More >>

• Rollins Band

  published August 31, 2006

  Henry Rollins' personal multimedia campaign, based on his ripped abs and smart ass, has made him the closest thing to a mainstream celebrity... More >>

• New York Dolls

  published July 20, 2006

  Inventing punk was a dirty job. You had to make up new rules for the guitar, cram your hairy appendages into ladies' pumps and lingerie, get... More >>

• Steve Forbert

  published July 20, 2006

  Like Popeye and Jonathan Richman, Steve Forbert is what he is. In 28 years of playing sun-dappled heartland rock with the occasional sidelong... More >>

• Throw Rag

  published July 20, 2006

  Hailing from the shores of the California desert's Salton Sea, a leviathan fed by agricultural runoff and ringed by crumbling ghost resorts, Throw... More >>

• Sinfully Good

  published June 29, 2006

  In case you haven't figured it out after all these years, Joan Jett is still the "tough girl." When her name is mentioned in print, that... More >>

• Under Cover

  published June 22, 2006

  "Some songwriters are extremely sensitive about any liberties being taken with their songs," says Dave Alvin. "God forbid you should touch... More >>

• Buckwheat Zydeco

  published June 15, 2006

  Stanley Dural's blend of styles -- including (gasp!) pop -- may have once raised hackles among aficionados of southwestern Louisiana... More >>

• Tapes 'n Tapes

  published May 25, 2006

  The Loon is right, and not the bird, either. And I see the high-jump kings with roadside stirrups on when I come back to meet the... More >>

• Big Daddy

  published May 4, 2006

  Andre Williams -- the Godfather of Rap, the last rock 'n' roller, the don of dirty R&B -- has lots of kids. There are the five he sired... More >>

• Goo Goo Dolls

  published April 20, 2006

  In a past life, the arena-striding Goo Goo Dolls were thought quaint by their critics and artsier alt peers: too in love with their punk heroes,... More >>

• Back From the Attic

  published April 6, 2006

  Rock bands, as anyone who's been in one for more than a week will tell you, can be as contentious as an episode of Hardball. Boston's... More >>

• Johnny Thunders

  published April 6, 2006

  The title of this one's a scam, as the 19-track comp only includes the earliest and latest of Johnny Thunders' post-New York Dolls output, prior... More >>

• The Little Killers

  published March 30, 2006

  Imagine an emergency room doctor gauging a patient's health according to the originality of his symptoms: "Hmm . . . unclassifiable cough,... More >>

• The Suspicions

  published March 16, 2006

  Here's one explanation for the lack of female-fronted power-pop bands through the years: While girls might appreciate the power, as well as the... More >>

• The Subways

  published March 16, 2006

  Back pockets stuffed with unassailable influences like T. Rex and The Jam, The Subways' guitarist/vocalist Billy Lunn and bassist/vocalist... More >>

• Eastern Youth

  published March 16, 2006

  Despite the way it sounds, "Japan's greatest emo band" is not faint praise along the lines of, say, "Israel's best Oi! band" or "Spain's finest... More >>

• Mudhoney

  published March 9, 2006

  Something is wrong with society when the most impish bands of the '90s start making resonant social statements. But on Under a Billion... More >>

• The A-Bones

  published February 23, 2006

  Rock 'n' roll flicks that aspire to quality are usually a waste of time. The ones sincerely committed to being dumb, however, can be treasure... More >>

• Test Icicles

  published February 23, 2006

  If the theme of 2006's party is art damage, then Test Icicles -- originally called Balls, in case you've missed the sketchy word play -- provide... More >>