Listening to Peaches is a lot like dating that girl who loves to flash her tits. When you’re too drunk to know better, she’s endlessly entertaining. But in the light of morning, you always find yourself feeling dirty. But what do you expect from a 40-year-old woman whose artistic output…
Amidst the mind-numbing barrage of identical-sounding modern rock and pop starlets, it’s nice to come across something different every now and then. Enter Gogol Bordello. As immigrant punk goes, they’re basically your only choice, so be thankful that they’re also badass. Imagine putting Spoon onstage with a polka band and…
Oh, the ’80s, where have you gone? Back when Republicans meant well enough, U2 albums were badass, and every girl wore hoop earrings. Now it’s almost 2010, and all we’ve got is teabaggers, No Line on the Horizon, and hoopfetish.com, which makes me feel like a pervert — all without…
Oh, the ’80s, where have you gone? Back when national Republicans meant well enough, U2 albums were badass, and every girl wore hoop earrings. Now it’s almost 2010, and all we’ve got is teabaggers, No Line on the Horizon and hoopfetish.com, which makes me feel like a pervert – all…
Amidst the mind-numbing barrage of identical-sounding modern rock and pop starlets, it’s nice to come across something different every now and then. Enter Gogol Bordello. As immigrant punk goes, they’re basically your only choice, so be thankful that they’re also badass. Imagine putting Spoon on stage with a polka band…
It’s pretty much always good news when any of the Wu-Tang Clan decides to show up in town, so Ghostface Killah’s upcoming appearance is probably worth checking out, if only out of prurient interest. He just dropped his latest album, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, which for…
After a meteoric rise that brought them perilously close to the line that separates buzz from hype, Vivian Girls have followed up their self-titled debut album with another that seems to wisely dial things back just a little. That isn’t to say that Everything Goes Wrong is subdued or watered…
It’s pretty much always good news when any of the Wu-Tang Clan decides to show up in town, so Ghostface Killah’s upcom¬ing appearance is probably worth checking out, if only out of prurient interest. He just dropped his latest album, Ghostdini: The Wiz¬ard of Poetry in Emerald City, which for…
After a meteoric rise that brought them perilously close to the line that separates buzz from hype, Vivian Girls have followed up their self-titled debut album with another that seems to wisely dial things back just a little. That isn’t to say that Everything Goes Wrong is subdued or watered…
No one’s sick of talking about Kanye West, right? Because if the Killers are going to keep it up, why shouldn’t I? After Kanye stole the mic and the spotlight from Taylor Swift at the VMAs in a publicity stunt — the blatant scripting of which has been addressed in…
No one’s sick of talking about Kanye West, right? Because if the Killers are going to keep it up, why shouldn’t I? After Kanye stole the mic and the spotlight from Taylor Swift at the VMAs in a publicity stunt — the blatant scripting of which has been addressed in…
On a recent trip to Oregon, I ended up at West Fest, an annual event aimed at drumming up business in the western outskirts of Salem, the state’s capital. Both Boston and The Kingsmen were scheduled to play, so it sounded like it would be worth the $3 admission, even…
Not too long into my first spin of Blood on the Dance Floor’s two full-length albums, Let’s Start a Riot and It’s Hard to Be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World, I have to admit I was feeling old. Because, seriously, when music frightens and confuses you, that’s probably the…
When you call your band Incubus, you’re asking for all the obvious demon-rapist jokes along with references to the ridiculously cheesy B-movie horror classic. But we’re better than that here, so let’s try to focus on the music. While most of the band’s peers in the somehow still-solvent “alternative” rock…
Don’t judge Chris Daughtry by the company he keeps. Touring with Nickelback, Puddle of Mudd, and Finger Eleven, the American Idol hopeful and the band he assembled could easily be lumped in with the pool of indistinguishable Clear Channel rockers. In fact, even if you judged him by his first…
After they were labeled a mix of Sigur Rós, Radiohead, and George Michael in their hometown alt-weekly, you might think Barcelona had been mistaken for the substantially more interesting Swedish mega-group, I’m From Barcelona, a 30-piece ensemble wielding kazoos, accordions, banjos, and tubas. But Seattle Weekly knew which band it…
A few years back, Blue October frontman Justin Furstenfeld went to great lengths to make it clear that music was a business to him, first and foremost. So maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise that his music is devoid of sincerity. He complained about having to be away from…
When you’re tasked with writing about the Jonas Brothers, it can be hard to get enthused. All I could think to myself was, “Couldn’t it have been Miley Cyrus instead?” Then I could have written an epic road trip itinerary to take you out of Arizona and into the promised…
It doesn’t take long to get into El Ten Eleven. Hell, I was hooked a few songs into the L.A. post-rock duo’s self-titled debut. Then, toward the end of my listen, I got a call from a blocked number. It was “Dave,” who had dialed the wrong number, but didn’t…
It’s probably not a coincidence that there’s nothing new to say about Tool. After all, it’s been a while since the band had anything new to add to the world. (Well, presuming they ever had anything new to add to the world.) Whether it’s their cookie-cutter riffs, their interchangeable drum…
It hasn’t been long since Jessica Lea Mayfield played the Rhythm Room. Only six months, actually. But things are a lot different for the singer-songwriter discovered by Black Keys singer Dan Auerbach. Since her gig opening for Annuals in Phoenix, she’s had a South by Southwest coming-out party, opened for…
It hasn’t been long since Jessica Lea Mayfield played the Rhythm Room. Only six months, actually. But things are a lot different for the singer-songwriter discovered by Black Keys singer Dan Auerbach. Since her gig opening for Annuals in Phoenix she’s had a South By Southwest coming-out party, opened for…
