Artist: Scissor SistersTitle: Night WorkRelease date: June 29Label: DowntownAt the end of the day, I’m not sure what this new Scissor Sisters record adds up to. But it almost doesn’t matter, because the opening title track is so good that it practically carries the weight of the record all by…
Artist: FoalsTitle: Total Life ForeverRelease date: June 22Label: Sub PopThough I disagree with a commenter on one of my posts this week (Shawn from excellent local music blog Electric Mustache) about the merits of electro-punk Sleigh Bells, I agree with him that S.B. are a band that you either love…
The Canadian band Stars was the first musical act to publicly boycott Arizona in the wake of the passage of the controversial immigration-crackdown bill, SB 1070. The announcement was met with a collective yawn, because who the hell are Stars, right? But with the release of The Five Ghosts, expect…
Artist: Pernice BrothersTitle: Goodbye, KillerRelease date: June 15Label: AshmontIt’s been mostly interesting and fun to hear what young indie rockers are doing to break new ground in popular music or what they’re doing to contemporize the established language of rock and pop. But at times this year, the simplest pleasures…
Dan Haren nearly matched Andy Pettitte for seven innings, but once again, it was the Arizona Diamondbacks’ bullpen that let it get out of hand. With the New York Yankees leading just 3-2 after seven innings, Esmerling Vasquez entered the game to relieve Haren, but Vasquez gave up five runs…
Artist: The RootsTitle: How I Got OverRelease date: June 22Label: Def JamAs we inch closer to the midway point of 2010, the fine gentlemen over at one of Up on the Sun’s favorite blogs, Electric Mustache, have posted their top 10 records of the year. They’ve got two lists up…
Artist: DanzigTitle: Deth Red SabaothRelease date: June 22Label: The End/EviliveOn Danzig’s new record, Glenn Danzig sounds like Waylon Jennings trying to pass a kidney stone. The guy turns 55 years old on Wednesday, so I wasn’t exactly expecting him to sound like vintage Danzig, but listening to him howl and…
Artist: The Chemical BrothersTitle: FurtherRelease date: June 22Label: AstralwerksI knew it would happen sooner with this electronic music genre. I figured that if I listened to enough of it, I would find something that I liked (and I’m not counting LCD Soundsystem because that’s more a rock record than an…
Artist: Eyes Set to KillTitle: Broken FramesRelease date: June 8Label: BreakSilenceYou learn something new every day, as they say. Today, I learned that the particularly comical genre of rock music in which one guy screams his brains out while another guy/gal croons some emotive, vaguely melodic line underneath/over the racket…
Artist: DevoTitle: Something for EverybodyRelease date: June 15Label: Warner Bros.You may be asking yourself, “Why does Devo have a new record out?” Is it for the money? Doubtful, because how much money could they possibly make by releasing a major-label record in 2010? And, anyway, aren’t these guys still living…
Artist: The Gaslight AnthemTitle: American SlangRelease date: June 15Label: Side One DummyOkay, I’m suddenly having a hard time keeping straight my Gaslight Anthems and my Hold Steadies and my Against Me!’s. All three acts are critical darlings who have released albums in the past six weeks. All three seem to be…
Artist: Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersTitle: MojoRelease date: June 15Label: RepriseHow many of you have acts that you’d never call yourself a fan of, would never buy one of their records, or pay money to see in concert, yet recognize that the acts have been around for so long and…
Besides doing super-fun married stuff like yard work, going to Costco, and leaving the bathroom door open, New Times writers Laura Hahnefeld and Jay Bennett go to the movies.Laura: So you watched the A-Team TV show and saw Karate Kid when you were a kid. Did we make the right choice in…
Music editor Martin Cizmar and I are back with a new podcast. We’ve got new 10 songs and Martin’s musings on his favorite record from the grunge era. Here’s what’s in store from podcast #7. Crystal Castles: “Empathy” Sleigh Bells: “Infinity Guitars” The Cool Kids: “Strawberry Girls” Ariel Pink’s Haunted…
Let’s clear off the desk, shall we?Stereo Total: Baby Ouh! — This band on the Kill Rock Stars label is a multi-lingual new-New Wave boy-girl band with songs sung in English, German, and French. It’s quirky with a capital “Q” and not nearly as charming as it thinks it is…
This one’s gotta sting for the Arizona Diamondbacks. First, their hitters are shut down for six innings against young Atlanta Braves future star Tommy Hanson. Then, two big hits — a two-run pinch-hit homer by Chris Young in the seventh and a three-run double by Kelly Johnson in the eighth…
Artist: Gemma RayTitle: It’s a Shame About Gemma RayRelease date: June 1Label: BronzeratThe best part of writing “Nothing Not New” is hearing an artist that, under nearly any other circumstance, would probably escape my attention. Back in the day, when I was more attuned to new music, I probably would’ve…
When you write an album review every single weekday — as I have done at New Times’ music blog, Up On The Sun, since January 1 — you become sensitive to the ebb and flow of new releases. For whatever reason, when it comes to shit worth listening to, sometimes…
Artist: Ariel Pink’s Haunted GraffitiTitle: Before TodayRelease date: June 8Label: 4ADWith an audacious mouthful of a name like Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, how could this band’s debut record be anything but entertaining and occasionally thrilling yet also showy, confounding, and just plain weird?Apparently, Ariel Pink is a cult favorite who’s…
After looking terrible in the first month and a half of the season, Edwin Jackson had put together four of five strong starts. That all came to a crashing halt Tuesday night as Jackson reverted to his old ways against the Atlanta Braves in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 7-5 loss at…
Artist: Against Me!Title: White CrossesRelease date: June 8Label: SireAs a longtime fan of punk music (I made the leap from Styx and ELO to Buzzcocks, The Dictators, and The Sex Pistols in 1982, when I was 13), I’m usually curious about what punk bands the kids are being force-fed by…
Artist: Blitzen TrapperTitle: Destroyer of the VoidRelease date: June 8Label: Sub PopDon’t be surprised if Blitzen Trapper starts another Grateful Dead revival. We’re probably overdue for another one, anyway. It’s not that BT is a proper jam band, but they have that same dry, folky country rock that the Dead…
