Email Author Chris Parker

2004 Stories by Chris Parker

• Tsunami Bomb, and Audio Karate

  published September 2, 2004

  Punk rock is largely a boys-only club, which makes Tsunami Bomb's sexy lead singer, Agent M, something of a novelty. But she's more than that.... More >>

• John Hiatt

  published September 2, 2004

  Success came neither easily nor quickly for John Hiatt. Though he worked in Nashville as a songwriter within a few years of graduating high... More >>

• Mastodon

  published August 19, 2004

  Boasting a pair of members from metalcore/noise rock pioneers Today Is the Day, Atlanta's Mastodon follows a similar path, breaking the... More >>

• Camper Van Beethoven

  published August 19, 2004

  The very essence of wacky irreverence, Camper Van Beethoven created music like sonic Unabombers, lobbing folk-inflected conundrums into the... More >>

• Out of Step

  published August 5, 2004

  Metal is metal and punk is punk, and never the twain shall meet. Or at least that's been the story for the last 20 years since the two movements'... More >>

• The Damnwells

  published July 29, 2004

  Former D Generation singer Jesse Malin's made no bones about his love for Paul Westerberg, following Ryan Adams down that now well-worn... More >>

• Sloan, and The Reflection

  published July 22, 2004

  Great music is often born in obscurity, and, at least in this country, that's where it usually dies. Thankfully, the members of Sloan reside in... More >>

• Sarah McLachlan and Butterfly Boucher

  published July 15, 2004

  The voice that launched a thousand careers (from ATB to Paula Cole and dozens of other imitators), Lilith Fair founder Sarah McLachlan took... More >>

• Braid

  published July 15, 2004

  Before the pop punk wing took control of emo, the genre was influenced by the churning, contrapuntal guitar acrobatics of math rock and post-core... More >>

• Devendra Banhart

  published July 1, 2004

  Part of Devendra Banhart's appeal is the sheer magnitude of his iconoclasm. Nobody sounds quite like him. With his wobbly, warbling falsetto,... More >>

• Maritime

  published June 24, 2004

  The Promise Ring's reign as one of emo's flagship bands had nearly ended by the time kiddy pop-punkers like Good Charlotte or New Found Glory... More >>

• X-ecutioners

  published June 24, 2004

  When Hip-Hop strolled into the debutante ball in her homespun garb, she barely got a glance. Those who did look scoffed at her lack of... More >>

• Armand Van Helden

  published June 17, 2004

  In the mid- to late '90s, Armand Van Helden was the name in American progressive trance and house, penning hits like "U Don't Know Me" and... More >>

• Califone,and Rebecca Gates

  published June 10, 2004

  Crawling like a sunrise across a parched desert landscape, Califone's rootsy folk-blues has all the spacious grace of an Ennio Morricone spaghetti... More >>

• J.J. Cale

  published May 27, 2004

  J.J. Cale moves to the beat of his own drummer, and invariably it's a blues shuffle, the laid-back snare snap mirroring his laconic vocal... More >>

• Don Caballero

  published May 20, 2004

  With their mutating time signatures, intricate guitar interplay and ever-shifting syncopations, math rock bands can produce more glazed... More >>

• Th' Legendary Shack Shakers

  published May 20, 2004

  A Halloween joy ride through the rockabilly side of town, Th' Legendary Shack Shakers conjure a backwoods boogie that recalls Southern Culture on... More >>

• Johnny Winter

  published May 13, 2004

  Old man Winter is white enough in hair and pallor to carry off the moniker, but his heart is full of deep, poignant blues rich enough for the... More >>

• Bob Schneider

  published May 13, 2004

  Husky-throated Austin, Texas, singer Bob Schneider is a musical jack-of-all-trades. In the '90s, Schneider fronted a funk-rap combo (Joe... More >>

• D:Fuse at Freedom

  published May 13, 2004

  His cowboy hat should clue you in, but if you're slow on the pickup, let's just say DJ D:Fuse isn't your typical dance-club spinner. Raised on... More >>

• Ben Kweller

  published April 29, 2004

  Ben Kweller could be America's answer to Australia's Ben Lee, who, like Kweller, made news in the '90s with his teen band (Noise Addict as opposed... More >>

• Punk Voter Tour

  published April 15, 2004

  are , at the , More >>

• Okkervil River

  published April 1, 2004

  Once, the roar of punk rock noise rallied a cry of anomie and alienation like a shot across the slowly steaming and sprawling suburban bow,... More >>

• The Get Up Kids

  published March 25, 2004

  As the shelf life of pop confections shortens and our flash-cut attention span for artistic growth and progression shrinks, so has the number of... More >>

• Dysrhythmia

  published March 18, 2004

  Tired of pop stars and the drama of their daily existences? Sick of snotty Brits and has-been pop tarts adjudicating a glorified karaoke contest?... More >>