I’ll forgive you if you hadn’t noticed Last Train to Paris, the album that Sean “Puffy” Combs released in December, and the debut of his R & B collective Diddy Dirty Money, comprised of Combs, Dawn Richards (of Danity Kayne fame) and singer/songwriter Kaleena Harper.You may have been distracted by…
To call balladeer Tim Eriksen’s career varied would be a colossal understatement. Few artists can claim such expansive work: He’s shared stages from CBGB to Carnegie Hall with Nirvana, Weezer, Jack White, Ralph Stanley and Doc Watson, playing punk, jazz, world music, folk and gospel. He also appeared on A…
At its best, metal music is always ridiculous. To describe Ensiferum as ridiculous would be like describing Michael Scott in the seventh season of The Office as “kind of annoying.” Their name means “sword-bearer” in Latin, they play symphonic speed-metal, wear kilts, pose with swords in their publicity shots, sing…
More than 40 local bands will be playing the New Times Soundcheck Festival 2011, a two-day event that finds Grand Canyon State rockers taking over the stage at Club Red, but without a doubt the two most popular bands are the two reserved to close out their respective nights, Digital…
Handsome FamilyRhythm RoomSunday, January 30th, 2011″We stopped for coffee, in the redwood forest,” Handsome Family guitarist/vocalist Brett Sparks sang, opening Sunday night’s cozy show at the Rhythm Room. The lyrics, written by his wife and Handsome Family bassist/banjo-playing vocalist Rennie, are typical of the duo’s gothic Americana; specific to time…
L.A. based noise-punk band No Age had the year in 2010. They had some nice tours and their third album, Everything in Between, wound up on plenty of year-end lists. The duo started 2011 even better, appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman, where they performed their single “Fever…
At any given point in a man’s life, he’s got that one shirt — be it a tee, polo, western, or over-sized Packers jersey — that just stands a bit taller than the rest of the crowd. A shirt with such a distinguished place in the normal shirt rotation, that…
Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast sounds pretty rough as she answers the phone for our Monday afternoon interview, but given her week, it’s understandable. A few days before, she and her bandmates — guitarist Bobb Bruno and drummer Ali Koehle — made their television debut on Late Night with Jimmy…
Social Distortion Marquee Theatre January 13th, 2011It’s a testament to Social Distortion’s prominent influence on younger punk rock n’ roll bands that two songs in to opening band Dead Relatives’ set, I thought they were Social Distortion. It’s either a testament to that or how crappy a music critic I…
Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of Jimmy Lee Lindsey, better known by his stage name, Jay Reatard. This year will see a flurry of Reatard-related activity: Reatard’s official site states that two songs Lindsey recorded two days before his passing, “You Get No Love” and “I…
Someone in Concrete Blonde’s licensing camp really dropped the ball. 2010 saw the release of the 20th-anniversary edition of their seminal 1990 album, Bloodletting, described by the kind folks at Amazon as “a gothic tapestry of danger, vampires, alcoholism, and passion,” but I didn’t hear a single one of their…
It’s hard to know what to make of Social Distortion’s over-30-year-cling to their signature sound. Take their new single, “Machine Gun Blues,” from their forthcoming album, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes: The three-minute ’30s gangster parable sounds exactly how you would expect the first single from a new Social Distortion…
Welcome to Obscuro, a weekly feature where Up on the Sun dives deep into the world of vinyl oddities: private press jobs, major label cast-offs, and general thrift shop clutter that’s thus far escaped anyone’s attention. These LPs have been hiding out, collecting dust, until we come along, investigate, probe…
Phoenix-based Greeley Estates have long been one of the Valley’s most prominent post-hardcore acts. Their last album, Go West Young Man, Let the Evil Go East, earned the band glowing reviews from sites like Absolute Punk, and the band’s participation in the Vans Warped Tour helped them garner a national…
Welcome to Obscuro, a weekly feature where Up on the Sun dives deep into the world of vinyl oddities: private press jobs, major label cast-offs, and general thrift shop clutter that’s thus far escaped anyone’s attention. These LPs have been hiding out, collecting dust, until we come along, investigate, probe…
I first met Nate Allen a couple of years ago, when he played a house show in downtown Tempe where he rolled up in a ramshackle van full of ‘zines and self-pressed CD-Rs. I don’t think the cops were called that night, but if they were, they would have stumbled…
Welcome to Obscuro, a new weekly feature where Up on the Sun dives deep into the world of vinyl oddities: private press jobs, major label cast-offs, and general thrift shop clutter that’s thus far escaped anyone’s attention. These LPs have been hiding out, collecting dust, until we come along, investigate,…
Evolution is a tough trick for any band. Savages, the sophomore record by New York duo The Gay Blades (think Errol Flynn, not Glee) shows a marked progression from their debut, Ghosts. The record finds them trying to blend glam rock, janky blues riffs, and arena-ready melodrama into their post-emo…
Funny how things work out. When a violent dustup with a choirgirl in Arkansas ended Joseph Williams Perkins’ budding career as a guitarist, it started him down his path as a pianist. Better known as “Pinetop” Perkins, Joseph holds the distinction of being one of the oldest Delta blues performers…
Funny how things work out. When a violent dustup with a choirgirl in Arkansas ended Joseph Williams Perkins’ budding career as a guitarist, it started him down his path as a pianist. Better known as “Pinetop” Perkins, Joseph holds the distinction of being one of the oldest Delta blues performers…
It’s tough being one of hip-hop’s elder statesmen. Take Jay-Z’s spot on the recent Kanye West single “Monster,” for instance. It isn’t that Jay’s verse is terrible, but surrounded by Rick Ross, Kanye, and the unstoppable Nicki Minaj, Hova lacks vigor. Next to the other MCs, he comes across as…
Welcome of Obscuro, a new weekly feature where Up on the Sun dives deep into the world of vinyl oddities: private press jobs, major label cast-offs, and general thrift shop clutter that’s thus far escaped anyone’s attention. These LPs have been hiding out, collecting dust, until we come along, investigate,…
