Drive-By Truckers

Top Five Must-See Shows This Weekend in Phoenix

Kelly Clarkson may have slept on his phenomenal Kaleidoscope Dream, but that didn't stop Los Angeles-based crooner Miguel from having one hell of a 2012. He tops our list of must-see shows this weekend in Phoenix, stopping by the historic Celebrity Theatre to showcase sulty jams like "Adorn." We can ... More >>

Reckless Kelly @ Wild Horse Pass

13 Phoenix Bands You Need to Know in 2013: The Complete List

As 2012 draws to a close, we couldn't be more optimistic about the state of music in the Valley of the Sun. With new bands emerging from various scenes and subgenres, it can be hard to keep up with the latest in Phoenix music. What follows are our picks for 13 acts that will make an impact on the S ... More >>

Top Five Must-See Shows This Weekend

Curious about what's going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions where to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don't fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend.

Futurebirds @ Sail Inn

The Best of SXSW Music: Saturday 3/17/2012

So, we come to it: the end of all things. Four days of madness, Doritos, Skrillex and finally, St. Patrick's Day. Before we bid SXSW 2012 farewell, allow us to share our favorite moments from SXSW day four. Later, we'll let you know which shows weren't so hot. Find our favorites below, and if there ... More >>

Lucero's Brian Venable on Metallica Being Dead to Him, ATO Records, and Women & Work

Memphis rockers Lucero have a timeless quality, a lowdown, from-the-gut, blue-collar rock 'n' roll sound that could have been recorded any time since the late '60s (save for a few flashes of class of '77 punk strut). Timeless, but not timely, according to guitarist Brian Venable. After nearly a de ... More >>

Drive-By Truckers Shy From the Sunny Side

Miniature Tigers, Andrew W.K., Drive-By Truckers, and More in This Week's Issue

​This week in Phoenix New Times (on stands and online now): Melissa Fossum catches up with Miniature Tigers, a band that's lineup spans the distance from the OC to NYC. The band's got a sexy new album, Mia Pharaoh, and returns to Phoenix tonight. Dan Gibson brings us a look at Andrew WK's seminal ... More >>

Shurman Finds Inspiration in Independence

Now that we all know most record companies are the loss leaders for their conglomerate parent company we always believed they were, you kinda wish just once someone at the label would say "I don't know how to do my job" instead of "We don't have a way of marketing you." That was the speech Aaron Be ... More >>

Drive-By Truckers' New Rock Doc to Screen at FilmBar

​Restored prints of Fritz Lang's Metropolis are cool and all, but what really thrills me about FilmBar, downtown Phoenix's brand-new boutique movie house/drinkery FilmBar is the programming coup like the one Steve Weiss and gang pulled off for Tuesday night. That's when FilmBar will screen The ... More >>

Six New Times Contributors Name Their Top 10 Records of 2010

Five Beatles B-Sides That Foreshadow Entire Genres of Rock Music (with Video)

The Beatles: Unquestionably the most influential rock band of all time.​Today The Beatles and the company formerly known as Apple Computer Inc. struck a deal resulting in the release of the band's music on iTunes for the first time.The band's entire output -- 12 studio albums with 193 tracks from ... More >>

The 88: The 88

​Artist: The 88Title: The 88 Release date: September 28 Label: Rocket ScienceWhat do you do if you're a band like The 88? You're top-flight songwriters and musicians, you get your songs placed in all kinds of big-name TV shows and high-profile TV commercials, you tour the country opening ... More >>

Warpaint: The Fool

​Artist: Warpaint Title: The Fool Release date: October 25 Label: Rough Trade The musical path taken by L.A. foursome Warpaint is well trodden -- but this kind of ultra-moody, sort of experimental, Joy Division-indebted music is usually plied by men. But Warpaint is a quartet of women, and in ... More >>

Screaming Females: Castle Talk

​Artist: Screaming Females Title: Castle Talk Release date: September 14 Label: Don Giovanni Back in the day, I'd hate to miss a good show (I'm still not happy that my parents wouldn't let me drive to Kalamazoo one Monday night to see Scratch Acid and Big Black play, ditto the time I couldn't ... More >>

Kings of Leon: Come Around Sundown

​Artist: Kings of LeonTitle: Come Around SundownRelease date: October 19Label: RCAI think it's funny that people are getting all bent out of shape over the supposed "selling out" of Kings of Leon, saying their new record sucks worse than that sucky one that sold a bajillion copies a few years ago. ... More >>

Grinderman: Grinderman 2

​Artist: GrindermanTitle: Grinderman 2Release date: September 14Label: Anti-Most of the indie rock I've heard this year (well over 200 records and counting, with 11 weeks to go in this series) is really pretty toothless. Even the harder-rocking stuff, with its big drums or wall-of-sound guitars or ... More >>

Authority Zero: Stories of Survival

​Artist: Authority ZeroTitle: Stories of SurvivalRelease date: June 22Label: Suburban NoizeI have a friend who's a native Phoenician and longtime fixture in the Valley punk scene, both as fan and musician. He loves West Coast punk, thinks Southern California spawned the best of the best punk, espe ... More >>

13 Must-Hear Songs from the First Half of 2010

Dum Dum Girls​Today marks the halfway point of Nothing Not New. That means I've listen to nearly 140 records in their entirety in the first six months of 2010. Just another 140 or so to go before I can retreat to the familiarity of my record collection.To recognize the occasion, the Up on the Sun ... More >>

Mill's End: Mill's End

​Artist: Mill's EndTitle: Mill's End, the band's self-titled, debut EP.Basics: Billed as a band that "carries on a tradition of American Alt-Country that blends modern influences with folk/Americana songwriting," Mill's End's sound is "firmly rooted in a style reflective of Drive By Truckers, Whis ... More >>

Foals: Total Life Forever

​Artist: FoalsTitle: Total Life ForeverRelease date: June 22Label: Sub PopThough I disagree with a commenter on one of my posts this week (Shawn from excellent local music blog Electric Mustache) about the merits of electro-punk Sleigh Bells, I agree with him that S.B. are a band that you either l ... More >>

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Mojo

​Artist: Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersTitle: MojoRelease date: June 15Label: RepriseHow many of you have acts that you'd never call yourself a fan of, would never buy one of their records, or pay money to see in concert, yet recognize that the acts have been around for so long and written songs ... More >>

Odds 'n' Sods: Delta Spirit, Stereo Total, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Cringe, The Dig, and more

​Let's clear off the desk, shall we?Stereo Total: Baby Ouh! -- This band on the Kill Rock Stars label is a multi-lingual new-New Wave boy-girl band with songs sung in English, German, and French. It's quirky with a capital "Q" and not nearly as charming as it thinks it is. Still, most songs are un ... More >>

Odds 'n' Sods: CocoRosie, Natalie Merchant, Disco Biscuits, The Sadies, Small Black, and more

​It's been a pretty big past two weeks for indie rock: Hold Steady, New Pornographers, Flying Lotus, The National, The Dead Weather. That's a lot of heavy-hitters. Meanwhile, some lower-profile stuff has been piling up on my desk, so it's time to give you a rundown of the other stuff I've been lis ... More >>

Male Bonding: Nothing Hurts

​Artist: Male BondingTitle: Nothing HurtsRelease date: May 11Label: Sub PopRemember all the buzz about Wavves last year? I thought they were just okay. Hopefully, their next record (slated for release this year) will be better. In the meantime, I'll be listening to the new record by Male Bonding, ... More >>

Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma

​Artist: Flying LotusTitle: CosmogrammaRelease date: May 3Label: Warp RecordsA while back, a reader posted a comment on one of my Nothing Not New posts asking why I continued to listen to electronic/laptop music even though I don't care for it all that much.Well, first of all, in the spirit of the ... More >>

She & Him: Volume 2

​Artist: She & HimTitle: Volume 2Release date: March 23Label: MergeMy editor has claimed this project a triumph for no other reason than I've chosen the new over the old -- sort of. See, I told Martin Cizmar a while back that I wanted to review tonight's Ray Davies concert. I love the Kinks. T ... More >>

Nothing Not New: The Podcast

Peter M. StorchI've promised my loyal readers a podcast featuring some of the best songs I've been listening to in the first three months of 2010.That day is finally here. The podcast is below. You'll hear 10 songs and a little bit of discussion about each of them. This is my best and last shot at b ... More >>

March 16 In Blogs: Barack Obama, Drive By Truckers, Jac's Pizzeria, and ASU

​​In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries: Feathered Bastard: Barack Obama's Bloody Hands: 85 Dead in the Arizona Desert and Counting Up on the Sun ... More >>

Susan Sarandon Of Montreal Pig Spankings = Real Life

Yeah. The on-stage antics created by Of Montreal were pushed just a little bit further. Right over the edge of the cliff. They had Susan Sarandon come one stage and spank a man in a pig suit with a ruler. Even for those who aren't easily shocking, this is pretty disturbing. Warning: You may have a ... More >>

Year in Music: Phoenix, Passion Pit, Neko Case, and the Rest of the Village Voice Music Editor's Rob Harvilla’s Records of the Year

Deer Tick Gets Sweaty At Modified

Despite sweltering heat and scarce air conditioning, about 160 folks crammed into Phoenix's Modified Arts last night to watch the much-hyped Deer Tick as they rolled into town in their converted school bus to support their new record, Born on Flag Day.  The boys, lead by singer/songwriter John ... More >>

Lucero Live: Moshing to Pedal Steel

Martin CizmarLucero: Music to mosh to!Dear ex-hardcore kids,Please stop ruining roots music.Look, I get it, you're pretty much aged out of hardcore shows, but you're covered in tattoos and have plugs in your earlobes, and it's hard to find a scene. Every band you've ever liked seems to be starting a ... More >>

Lucero Live: Why Country Music Needs Some Punk Blood

I love discussing music with our new Music Editor, Martin. More often than not we basically agree on most things. But I could not disagree more with his review of the Lucero show last night at the Rhythm Room. The first of my complaints is when talking about how the crowd was reacting (or the fact t ... More >>

You Asked For It: A Few Random Drunks

A Few Random DrunksWorld Famous County Wide(Self released)If you ask me, there's too many alt-country acts doing the Old 97s thing, and not nearly enough doing the Drive-By Truckers thing. Now, granted, I prefer the former to the latter, but unless you've got Rhett Miller's worn-denim vocals -- and ... More >>

The Best Album of 2008? Sorry 'Science,' I Go With Girl Talk

Can an album comprised solely of samples really be an artistic achievement? Honestly, I'm a little bit torn about naming Girl Talk's Feed The Animals the best album of the year. After all, it is a record made up entirely of mashups, so, strictly speaking, there's not a note of new music in this ba ... More >>

Elf Power

Elf Service

Athens outfit has been rocking for a decade and a half

Two Cow Garage

Fabulously sad

Lucero

The Bakersfield school

Lucero

Two fingers of punk and a splash of country-rock

Americana Pie

Grab a slice of 2004's best roots music while it's still hot.

Drive-By Truckers

The Dirty South
(New West Records)

Refried South

Southern rock, once stigmatized and left for the comedians, has entered a new era of appreciation

Drive-By Truckers

Decoration Day (New West)

Stumbler Party

Slobberbone may just be the best bar band in America. They have the 'hacks' to prove it.

Drive-By Truckers

Alabama Ass Whuppin' (SecondHeaven.com Records)