To metalheads everywhere: There appears to be some confusion about a particular number in reference to me and my eminence. Somewhere between the misinterpretations of numerologists, that movie with the scary kid, and the occasional nod from a handful of spandex-wearing musicians in the late 20th century, all of you…
Barbecue envy. You know you’ve had it. You feel it every time you arrange that finger-blackening pile of Kingsford charcoal on your half-baked hibachi. If your heart races when you finger the Sunday Weber ads and you whisper sweet nothings to the stainless-steel 53-inch Vikings at Lowe’s, you know what…
Most bands would kill for the fan base and rep of a band like Tool. How does Tool do it? Probably not like you’d imagine. While most bands release new material and tour annually, Tool has released only three LPs in 16 years, with its fourth album (and first in…
So, Tub Ring is playing the PHiX. “Who the hell is Tub Ring,” you ask? Only Chicago’s premier experimental rawk practitioners, a band that tastefully merges the off-the-wall crush of Tomahawk with the pop appeal of Only a Lad-era Oingo Boingo. Tub Ring has also toured relentlessly with acts like…
The Phoenix hardcore scene just can’t seem to get a break. Between bad press about feisty hardcore gangs and more venues refusing to book bands that have a reputation for attracting violent fans, now the scene has taken another hit — high-profile local posi act Where Eagles Dare is closing…
Hundreds of miles from home, Lance Linderman’s having his hair straightened while a buxom makeup girl dusts his nose with powder. Linderman, the lead singer for Desole, Phoenix’s rising indie act, is standing in a smoky warehouse sandwiched between sweat shops in Los Angeles’ seedy garment district, where his band…
When Kurt Cobain growled “Here we are now” in the early ’90s, he unwittingly sounded the death knell for the classic speed-metal thrash scene. Fifteen years later, most thrash acts have hemorrhaged crucial members and credibility, and either thrown in the towel or converted. Look no further than any barf-worthy…
Famous Sam’s new Sumo Wrestling and Gong Karaoke affair makes Saturday nights all right for fighting again. After all, what better way for friends and co-workers to blow off steam than by donning inflatable sumo suits and wiping the mat with each other’s behinds before downing Gekkeikan sake bombers? Winning…
Be careful where you listen to the new self-released xrayok EP Like Life — you’re likely to find your pulse quicken and your body move without permission to the throbbing, ’80s-informed dance-rock sound. With atmospheric vocals and haunting keyboard lines, xrayok mixes enough New Wave appeal to tempt you to…
Can you say “mainstream”? Seasoned Phoenix-based rock outfit Fivespeed has officially grown up with Morning Over Midnight, an album packed with alternacore radio hits destined to top sales charts and incite rabid fist-pounding and panty-wetting on a national level. Fivespeed has in spades what mediocre nausea-inducing radio bands like Nickelback…
Oh, the bittersweet memories — hooking up with that nose-ring girl at the Bash on Ash, getting your teeth kicked in at the Nile, seeing some of the greatest local talent around at Neckbeard’s. . . . If you’re like most Phoenix music lovers, you’ve probably lamented the loss of…
Music cognoscenti everywhere will probably agree that 2005 was the year of “New American Weird.” From Sufjan Stevens to Iron & Wine, nu-Americana, folktronica or whatever you call it is fast becoming the new American sound, at least among the mop-top and Puma set. Tempe-based Skybox’s new release, Arco Iris,…
Ch-ch-ch-changes! Always in favor of mixing things up, the local punk/dub genre-blenders of Authority Zero are all about switching gears lately. In a chat with New Times, Authority Zero guitarist Bill Marcks drops the skinny on AZ’s move from Lava/Atlantic, its new acoustic CD, and its ballooning DIY plans for…
Try to explain the depraved ethos behind films like Eli Roth’s new grindhouse pic Hostel to anyone other than a fan of the horror genre, and you’ll most likely elicit a series of concerned looks. The same goes for explaining hardcore death metal. Some people just don’t get it. And…
Local indie-artsters Asleep in the Sea’s new untitled six-song EP would make a succulent cake — mouth-wateringly catchy choruses (“Butterflies”), a creamy filling of graduate-level wit (“U R What U Eat”), all spread over with post-mod art rock frosting (“Heartback”) and sprinkled with hooky harmonies (“Punk Girl”) for good measure…
Rocking for 25 years and still going strong, The Blasters began trailblazing in the surf-inspired, rootsy rockabilly genre long before the mid-’90s craze that made rockabilly radio-friendly. Singing of post-war suburbanism and California culture, The Blasters recently released their first studio CD in 19 years, 4-11-44, which flows with songs…
Most bands falsely advertise — they describe their sound ad nauseam as different and unclassifiable, but a good listen usually outs them as either deceived or uninitiated. In contrast, Tempe’s Batter the Drag (a hip ’50s term for playing music on the street) oozes originality. BTD succeeds because it knows…
In a scene awash with hardcore kiddies and cooler-than-you indie acts, the local reggae-punk hybrid renegades in Fayuca stand out like potheads at a policemen’s ball. The band’s highly improvisational new CD, Black Market, ebbs and flows with a fusion of south-of-the-border soul and barrio punk, complete with chunky guitars,…
Start a band, post music on MySpace, and get a record deal. Isn’t that how it works? Not quite, but that’s what happened when Earache Records grindcore mogul Lee Barrett discovered Abigail Williams’ fan-bloated MySpace page. The result: Barrett quickly ushered the local death metal hellions (named after the McCarthy-like…
Christmas comes early this year in a pair of intimate Stiletto Formal shows, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve been naughty or nice. In fact, the arty, sex rocker-hipsters of Stiletto probably prefer the former. The band members are fresh off a string of tours and a sweaty sold-out show…
It seemed like scenesters Mr Kline + The Wizards of Time’s new CD might never see the light of day. But after overcoming personnel setbacks, tape-machine failures, and synth man/co-producer Bob Hoag’s hiatus to record with The Ataris, the band saw it fitting to release two CDs simultaneously — the…
Breaking into your 20s can be harder than breaking into the music industry, but the acoustic-driven alterna-rockers in the band Micah Bentley have done both with a guileless acquiescence. Between 18 and 23 years old, these strapping young lads — including Micah Bentley himself — dish out lovingly listenable tunes…
