No doubt the landscape of modern music has become considerably beardier over the last few years. When it comes to indie and rock these days, if you don’t have a beard, you’re not authentic. (Lumineers, it’s the only thing standing in your way!) When you’re cultivating your own face mitten…
Even when you’re in a relationship, Valentine’s Day seriously blows. You’re with someone for an extended amount of time, and just because some stupid cherubic jerk with heart shaped weaponry decided it’s his day, you have to spend extra money on the person you spend an absurd amount of money…
The writer in charge of FutureKind’s Facebook biography has a lot to say. This is not standard press-kit chatter; this is three-syllable-plus words that could put your everyday thesaurus user to shame, terms like “artisanal,” “amalgam,” and “visceral.” We’re not talking about the most-mind blowing cheese to ever hit your…
There’s nothing quite like an unwelcome third wheel to spoil a perfectly beautiful romance. Unlike the third point in a love triangle, the third wheel manages to roll its way into a romance that doesn’t involve it in the least. It’s the basis for many classic love stories and just…
Almost every full-time musician can tell of a serendipitous series of events that led him or her down the path of becoming a professsional. Maybe Mom and Dad had some old records that sparked an interest, or tuba spots in the school band were all taken up, so they had…
Iamwe @ Crescent Ballroom| 1/19/13We’re going to need another venue. Iamwe is a rare exception in indie music. Last night, the local rockers packed Crescent Ballroom to release their album, Run Wild. After touring the East Coast with Anberlin, the boys returned to their hometown to play their first headlining…
In recent months, Lady Gaga has taken a small step away from the bizarre. Abandoning all egg portals and meat dresses, she’s taken to a more demure look with auburn locks and simple black dresses. Oh, and face masks. Don’t forget the face masks. Even though she’s toning down the…
As the clock struck midnight this past New Year’s Eve, you became older. All right, technically you’re always getting older. But when your birthday swings around in 2013, you’ll be some ungodly age you probably won’t want to reveal. And do you feel like an adult yet? You know, a…
Try not to dance when there’s a Daft Punk song playing. We dare ya. It’s not humanly possible. There’s an involuntarily reflex rooted deep within our DNA that makes us move, no matter how resolutely we resist. The futuristic French duo has a knack for getting bodies moving, but they’re…
Plenty of people take off for exotic destinations during the holidays rather than heading to their hometown. Hawaii over creepy Uncle Greg? Yes, please. Tahiti instead of sitting around, eating, and getting fat in your grandmother’s freezing Cleveland apartment? Uh, yeah. Choosing to avoid the annual awkward family reunion filled…
As 2012 draws to a close, we’ll be looking forward to the 2013 and spotlighting 13 Phoenix bands that will be making a mark on the Southwest throughout the new year. Today, Christina Caldwell brings us a look at PALMS (all caps, babies), the fast-rising indie/surf outfit that recently signed…
Just how many side project pairings can Sister Cities come up with? I’m not good with math, but I have a feeling they’re approaching max capacity – if not in arithmetic, then definitely with their own free time. Drummer Keith Walker has Being Cool is Lonely, his sexed-up electronic side…
Well folks, it turns out that shitty movie with John Cusack was right. We’re all doomed to die in a series of natural disasters and freak occurrences on Friday, December 21, with the intolerable company of Amanda Peet. But, if you know you’re going to parish, you might as well…
Ah, the sinful sensuality of rock ‘n’ roll. Hey kid, you were lucky to be born when you were. In the old days, folks had to hide their records from their parents. “The devil’s music,” they called it. Yes, Beelzebub himself supposedly created the classic four-chord progression and hip swivel…
Give a little taste of a great product and people are naturally going to want more. That’s the solid logic of drug dealers, soft pretzel peddlers at the mall and Sun Ghost. Failed Kickstarter campaigns be damned: The Valley pop rockers took a new approach to crowd sourcing the funding…
The holidays are a time for going over the top. Think you might need a speedboat? Someone might get you a speedboat! Feel the need to wear a cat hair-coated snowman sweatshirt you recently purchased from Goodwill? Hey, ‘tis the season! Feel the need to tell Uncle Greg what you…
Sufjan Stevens @ the Rialto Theatre in TucsonIt was a night of deliberate holiday kitsch. It was an ugly Christmas sweater gone awry. If someone told me I mistakenly traveled down to Tucson for a Katy Perry Christmas celebration, based on the costumes, blow up unicorns, and giant game show…
The DIY method might be the record-releasing choice of local bands around the country — after all, the Internet opens all kinds of possibilities for self promotion, recording, and pressing — but increasingly, Phoenix artists seem to be signing to small labels. And it seems the Valley’s Mike Zimmerlich is…
As Arrested Development character Gob Bluth found out, no one really respects a grown man who claims to be a magician – especially if he totally sucks at magic. No amount of tossed pennies or frozen pigeons can change that. For street cred, you have to back up your passion…
In the scope of human history, women’s rights are a fairly new thing. Seeing women as equals? Well, that’s even newer. History favors men. But that’s okay, because history is in the past. Now it’s time for women to mold how they’ll be seen in the future. It’s less, “Anything…
Once a Marine, always a Marine ®C or so the saying goes. You can see it in the demeanor of anyone who has served. There’s the hard attitude, the post-service high-and-tight, the blatant self-confidence. Once the motto “Semper Fidelis” finds its way into the psyche, some of its adherents have…
It’s easy to write. Learning to edit, however, takes time. It’s a lesson IAMWE is intimately familiar with. When we last talked to the local indie rockers in depth, they fully anticipated pushing out a record in December of 2011. Today, nearly a year later, they release Run Wild, or…
