Phoenix-based outfit Snake! Snake! Snakes! specializes in a sound well suited for high drama. The group’s 2010 self-titled release proved that the band had its gaze aimed at the big time, filled with tunes that earned comparisons to previous indie bands that wound up playing arenas: U2, The Arcade Fire,…
Last week we wrote about Alice Cooper’s new album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, set to be released on September 13. While the promise of a new “Coopster” (that’s what fans call him) record no doubt excited classic rock fans, we did lack one element in our blog post that could…
Phoenix is a pretty great place to live if you like nerd music. Not only have we got The Minibosses, one of the most respected NES-rock bands in the biz, but we’ve got Mega Ran, AKA Random, who raps serious stuff over video game samples, including sounds from the Mega…
Want to see indie rockers The Globes, El Ten Eleven, and Sister Crayon for free on Tuesday, August 23, at The Rhythm Room? Up on the Sun has two tickets to give away to one lucky reader. Read on to hear a tune from each band, and details on how…
The 2010 biopic Serge Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, about the legendary French singer and general scoundrel, is coming to downtown hot-spot FilmBar next month.Though the film won’t premier at the theater until the “last week in September” according to FilmBar’s Facebook, the staff is counting down the time until the…
Seems like that licensing deal is working out well for Phoenix-based hip-hoppers The New F-o’s. The group’s song “Good and the Bad” will be featured on tonight’s episode of the FX sitcom Wilfred. In case you haven’t got hip to it, the show features Elijah Wood and Jason Gann in…
This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. What rock star is being “memorialized” at Memorium in Bar Smith? Why is Bryan Lightningrod the…
DJ Refleckshin mans the wheels of steel each Monday night at British Open Pub in Scottsdale, but yesterday he got to spin a neo-soul mix for all the interwebs to hear when he appeared on Mattlock and DJ Element’s Sol Shades program…
Directors Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke (of Phoenix bands Less Pain Forever and Runaway Diamonds) are no strangers to “music movies.” The pair’s documentaries, Moog, The Heart Is a Drum Machine, and Blood Into Wine are all insightful looks at the various ways music plays out in our daily lives…
In these economically screwy times, value is an important thing. Apache Lake Music Festival organizer Brannon Kleinlein knows this, and he thinks his music festival is one hell of a deal. “We have over 30 bands, the whole event is $30, so [that’s] less than a dollar a band,” Kleinlein…
It’s a crazy time for radio personalities in Phoenix. Dave Pratt has taken over at X103.9, and now KWSS 106.7 has announced the return of a voice very familiar to Valley listeners. On Monday, August 22, Jonathan L’s Lopsided World of L will make its terrestrial debut on the Phoenix…
The staff at Revolver Records in downtown Phoenix loves vinyl, and according to co-owner T.J. Jordan, the store plans on taking its relationship with wax to the next level. Jordan doesn’t have a confirmed date, but believes that mid-October should see the debut vinyl release from Revolver’s new label, Ammit…
Back in May, Hooves frontman Andrew Krissberg explained to me before the band took the floor at Bikini Lounge that the band’s decision to move to Washington was one step in a grand plan. The band’s plan sounded idyllic –hanging out in the Pac Northwest, touring, and recording a new…
It seems like only yesterday that we were speaking with Colorstore about the band’s “bloated and pretentious” Saturday night gig at FilmBar (okay, so it it was Friday). The gig went off without a hitch, but last night the guys ran into a serious snag: Someone ripped off a bunch…
X103.9’s Facebook fans may still be posting comments like “Maybe you guys can set around in your daily meetings and talk about how great the color red is and the wonders of wearing untied white high tops. You guys really screwed yourselves on this decision” and “Pratt? I thought he…
We’re excited to premiere the brand new video for What Laura Says’ new single, “Girl Not Gonna Leave.” The video is officially released tomorrow, but the folks at Sundawg Records have given us the okay to go ahead and share it exclusively with Up on the Sun readers a day…
Kyuss Lives!, which features most of the members of seminal ’90s stoner rock band Kyuss (but not Josh Homme, who’s apparently too busy being in Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures), is scheduled to play Marquee Theatre on October 6. It should be an awesome show –…
Holy moly, there’s SO many shows going on this weekend. But if The Tubes, Cut Copy, The Ataris, Colorstore, or Laconic aren’t your thing (what kind of music do you like, anyway?), Up on the Sun has you covered. Here are a few eccentric shows that may have not have…
The charm of “Otis,” the first single from Jay Z and Kanye West’s collaborative album Watch the Throne, is simple: Jay and ‘Ye spit great verses over a killer Otis Redding sample. But the track doesn’t make all that much sense as a single — it’s infectious, yeah, but there’s…
The Bled are breaking up, but you’ve got to give it up for the band. 10 years is a mighty long time to play the kind of music the band plays and to put on the kind of show it put on (check out our recent review of the band…
Numbers is an Arizona hip-hop duo, comprised of producer Izzy and rapper I.P.. The duo’s recent EP, Nerds Getting Paper: Attack of the Robots, released in May, indeed finds the group “getting paper,” but the “nerds” part seems a bit self-deprecating. The album features guest spots from Mr. Miranda and…
This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. What “Kingly” possessions are on display at MIM’s new Elvis Presley exhibit? What’s the deal with…
