Email Author Chris Parker

2005 Stories by Chris Parker

• Suicide Machines

  published August 4, 2005

  Tim Armstrong (Op Ivy, Rancid) must love these guys. Suicide Machines alternates between ska and breakneck-paced old-school punk rock, and it's a... More >>

• Jack Johnson

  published August 4, 2005

  A former pro surfer before a collision with a reef led him to reconsider his options, Jack Johnson got a great jump-start penning "Rodeo Clowns"... More >>

• Sufjan Stevens

  published July 28, 2005

  The Michigan songwriter has promised to write a song for every state, and while that may sound ambitious, with his talent, don't doubt the... More >>

• Ozomatli

  published July 28, 2005

  The members of Ozomatli are a product of their environment. Like their Los Angeles home, their music's a melting pot of foreign and indigenous... More >>

• Lucero

  published July 21, 2005

  You can't take the country out of the boy, but at some point it just becomes a strut, an air, a way of rocking. Though Lucero started out sounding... More >>

• Ray LaMontagne

  published July 14, 2005

  "I don't pay taxes because I never file, I don't do business that don't make me smile," sang Stephen Stills on his 1990 classic "Tree Top Flyer,"... More >>

• Maria Taylor, Statistics

  published June 30, 2005

  The Saddle Creek collective in Omaha remains as busy and intriguing as ever, swinging between solo and group projects. This tour brings together... More >>

• Nekromantix

  published June 30, 2005

  Surprisingly durable and devoted, rockabilly is a vigorous American subculture, much like the Elvis-ites. The slicked-back pompadours, tattered... More >>

• Action Action

  published June 30, 2005

  The Faint were only the first to tap nascent New Wave nostalgia. Action Action is another that's wandered away from the whole emo/screamo/punk-pop... More >>

• Aqualung

  published June 9, 2005

  A grim romanticism has gripped British pop since the days of Morrissey, from Robert Smith's mopey New Wave, through Thom Yorke's existential... More >>

• Link Wray

  published May 26, 2005

  At the risk of oversimplifying his appeal, or understating his accomplishments, when it comes to '50s surf/instrumental guitar, Link Wray is the... More >>

• Snoop Dogg, and The Game

  published May 19, 2005

  A dozen years ago, preparing to make his solo break from N.W.A, Dr. Dre recruited a 20-year-old onetime drug dealer to rap aside him on The... More >>

• Autechre

  published May 19, 2005

  One of the most innovative electronic music acts to emerge from the '90s, Autechre was one of the leaders of the IDM and glitch movements, styles... More >>

• Queens of the Stone Age

  published May 12, 2005

  Formed from the ashes of stoner rockers Kyuss, Josh Homme built Queens of the Stone Age on the same core, but created something entirely new,... More >>

• The Comas, and Mando Diao

  published May 12, 2005

  After two albums of hazy, somnambulant indie-pop, the Comas took a huge step forward with the release of last year's Conductor. The... More >>

• Rasputina

  published May 12, 2005

  Classically trained cellist Melora Creager conceived Rasputina in 1991, and the group opened for Nirvana on its final tour. Comprising three... More >>

• Pigface

  published May 5, 2005

  Martin Atkins, leader of the industrial music collective Pigface, has had a storied career going all the way back to his first big break playing... More >>

• Next Wave

  published April 28, 2005

  The pop ledger is littered with entries for bands that failed to make it despite huge inventories of creativity and talent, but instead found... More >>

• Rory Block

  published April 28, 2005

  The wonder of music is its ability to transcend cultural barriers and speak in a booming voice directly to the heart. Rory Block is white and a... More >>

• Agnostic Front

  published April 28, 2005

  It's one of music's great arguments whether great bands are the product of movements or their creators. Put another way: Had Agnostic Front formed... More >>

• Radar Bros.

  published April 28, 2005

  Rock is like a young Clark Kent still discovering his abilities: sometimes a little immature in the application. Thus rock sometimes feels the... More >>

• Magnolia Electric Company

  published April 21, 2005

  Jason Molina is an itinerant artist, driven to challenge himself and change up his material and approach in search of new "moments." Molina's done... More >>

• The Good Life

  published April 21, 2005

  Leader of the indie rock band Cursive and his side project, The Good Life, Tim Kasher performs drunken, woebegone tales of relational dysfunction... More >>

• MDC

  published April 7, 2005

  Punk is urban folk, born of suburban mediocrity and conformity. But the onetime vehicle for protest is now just another marketing niche for... More >>

• Scott H. Biram

  published April 7, 2005

  I have a dream of a day when there are no longer formats, no longer genres. A day when hipsters, geeks, hillbillies, hip-hoppers, punkers and... More >>