Injury Reserve enthusiast and fellow Tempe hip-hop artist Will Neibergall (the artist once known as Glass) boldly proclaimed that “these guys are up next” in the press release preceding Injury Reserve’s second video, “Washed Up,” off the group’s new album, Live From the Dentist Office. (Listen to the full EP…

Is there anything more adorable in the world than nerd love? There just can’t be, and therein lies much of the appeal of nerdcore duo Snailmate, which is made up of local music nerd and former Sister Lip drummer Ariel Monet and her rapper beau Kalen Lander, formerly of TKLB?…

Phoenix’s (and quite possibly the world’s) only klezmer funk band, Jerusafunk, is all about firsts in the summer of 2015. Not only will J-Funk put on the first great local show of the summer — along with the Stakes, the Hill in Mind, and Pro Teens on Thursday, July 2,…

According to Phoenix hip-hop maven Mike Cosentino there aren’t enough hip-hop nights going on in the Valley on Friday nights, and when they do exist there is just too much “bull shit” attached. Whether it be a cover charge, dress codes, bad vibes, or bad music, something about the current…

While negativity towards transgender people was making waves in Tempe the Phoenix-centric Sidepony Express Music Festival in Bisbee has been working on an event with Bisbee Pride to shine some light on the artistic contributions made by transgender people. This will be the first year that Sidepony Express and Bisbee…

“Punk is life” was seemingly the main point Manoz Zuziaz lead singer Jamie Laguna tried to get across during an interview with his band at Laguna’s home in Mesa. Based on his wardrobe, which consists entirely of studded denim vests and band T-shirts (except for his work Dickies), Laguna and…

Phoenix Comicon may have wrapped up, but downtown is still abuzz with nerd culture as Rob Poe, a.k.a. DJ Tristan Iseult and his cohorts, prepare for Haxan: Dark Lords of the Sith dance night at Club DwnTwn in downtown Phoenix on Friday, June 5.  Organizers are billing the evening as…

I Want You To Crowd Surf My Body At My Funeral is a fitting name for Red Tank!’s upcoming album because their frontman Clipper “Danger” Arnold crowd surfs pretty much every show he plays. But the appeal of Red Tank! goes much farther than the chance to carry Arnold around…

Music videos are the way in which bands and performers share the vision of their music with their fan base, and many of Phoenix’s best musical acts are almost as creative visually as they are musically. It’s the musical visionaries who keep the Phoenix music scene fresh, exciting, and always…

Comic books may have been considered kids’ stuff or something for nerds and geeks in the ’90s, but in 2015, comic book conventions are springing up all over the country and attracting thousands of people with programming and activities for just about anyone. Phoenix Comicon has taken to calling itself…

Songs for Savages by the Freaks of Nature has been a long time in the making. It’s been more than a year and two personnel changes since Daniel Shircliff led his band of freaks into the studio to begin recording what would become his band’s long-awaited debut. But goddammit if…

“If you’re down with the SS say yes yes,” is one ad-lib that Bronze Candidate and Liaison of Shining Soul are going to be leaving in Phoenix this June when “the most targeted band in Arizona,” as Liaison AKA Alex Soto likes to say, takes their first tour outside of…

There’s a lot of talent floating around the Phoenix music scene both musically, and otherwise. Some people are creative promoters, others tremendous performers, and every once in a while you even bump into a devastatingly talented musician. Another talent that a few members of Phoenix’s musical world have shown quite…

There may not be a more affirming happening for a hip-hop group than to get press from The Source magazine, and following the release of their newest video, “Washed Up,” Tempe-based three-piece Injury Reserve attained that milestone. Like all of Injury Reserve’s previous music videos, “Washed Up” is intelligent and…

There are quite a few musical acts in town that would make just about any casual music fan stop and ask themselves, “What in the world is going on here?” But none of them dive as deep into the waters of “high weirdness” as proto-industrial Americana five-piece RPM Orchestra. “‘High…

To many people, open mics are nothing but the last-ditch effort of a bar, coffee shop, art space, or music venue to draw customers. Some might say they’re bottom-scrapers, providing the least-talented and least-experienced musicians a stage they wouldn’t get otherwise. We asked those in the music scene about open…

What else can be said about Roger Clyne of Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers? The guy is basically the Bruce Springsteen of Arizona. Legions of fans, packed in shows at every venue around, roots in the local scene that go deeper than the Grand Canyon — Clyne really has all…

It’s no easy feat to maintain a popular free weekly residency in downtown Phoenix and still be one of the biggest-drawing bands in metro Phoenix. But desert reggae band Black Bottom Lighters manages to find a way. Even though the group cranks out acoustic tunes every Wednesday at Copper Blues…