TKLB? F-Bom Residency Long Wong’s 1/31/14 Kalen Lander, known to many in the local music scene as TKLB?, wrapped up his Friday “F-Bom” residency at Long Wong’s Tempe last night, and it was quite the epic finale. The Tempe indie rapper, who’s the brother of The Sugar Thieves’ Mikel Lander,…
Captain Squeegee Crescent Ballroom 1/29/14 If David Gilmour and Jerry Garcia linked up in Phoenix and decided to begin playing jazz music, it’s a safe bet that said collaboration would sound something like Captain Squeegee. The local atomic jazz-fusion act, still riding high following the release of their sophomore album,…
The Rebel Set, The Oakland Raiders, Freaks of Nature Rogue Bar 1/24/2014 There were a few lessons to be gleaned from The Rebel Set’s record release show at the Rogue Bar on Friday night. The sound guy, for example, learned in the middle of the second set, that one might…
If there’s an answer to that eternal local-music question — who’s the next Phoenix band to break? — it might well be KONGOS. The familial four-piece announced Tuesday that they’ll be appearing at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware, along with headliners OutKast, Foo Fighters, and Jack Johnson. “When…
Oregon-based reggae five-piece Synrgy played Tempe’s Sail Inn on Friday night, along with locals Kush County and Vegas-based Lady Reiko and the Sin City Prophets. The entire show was played on the Sail Inn’s indoor stage, which generally would be a bad thing. (Even jovial Synrgy fron man Brian Zach…
The Freaks of Nature have It. Whether it is charisma, spunk, panache, chutzpah, or a mix of everything and more the Valley-based proto-punks are entertaining as hell. They play a fast-paced style of rock that is as easy to shake and shimmy to as it is to mosh. At their…
Fans of Phoenix music already know that Dry River Yacht Club can rock all the best local music venues. They get down at the Crescent, they can pack the Sail Inn — Marquee Theatre, Rhythm Room. Check, check, check. But a lot of local bands can do that. Where the…
Rubber Brother Records is really cool — the cassettes, the amazing DIY shows, the sincere work with high-school-age musicians, and now a seamless transition from an epic underground festival to a sardine-can-tight all-ages show at Crescent Ballroom along with one of Phoenix’s premier acts, Wooden Indian. Like a lot of…
Pop music has a proud tradition of socially awkward lead singers — the Brian Wilsons, the shoegazers, the Rivers Cuomos. They are not what this list is about. This is about the other kind of frontman and frontwoman — the one who gets inside your head or maybe right up…
It feels as though about once a month the Crescent Ballroom puts on a free show that could make you think, “Are you sure we weren’t supposed to pay for this?” And January 7 was definitely one of those nights. The evening kicked off at 8 with D.G. Scherrer backed…
Wally Boudway of Wooden Indian isn’t sure about the word psychedelic. “I don’t like it when people call our music psychedelic because I don’t like the idea of making music to do drugs to. It’s the opposite of what I’m trying to do. I like to make music that gives…
For anyone who has ever made the claim that Phoenix has no music scene, I direct you to Robbie Pfeffer, Gage Olesen, and Rubber Brother Records. Since June, the partners have been running their successful cassette tape label and providing Phoenix with some of the most eclectic, community-based, do-it-yourself shows…
According to Sister Lip drummer Ariel Monet, the “Lippians” have been playing Long Wongs at the Firehouse every Monday for the past seven months. But even playing the venue once a week and competing with the day before Christmas Eve couldn’t stop Sister Lip from packing the room December 23…
When some bands have a big show coming up they throw up a couple of posters, set up some well-timed posts on Facebook, cross their fingers, and hope for the best. When indie-progressive-disco six-piece Future Loves Past has a big show coming up they get weird. With their final show…
On some weekends, it’s a toss-up as to what’s the best show in town. The weekend of December 20 was not one of those weekends. Black Carl and Dry River Yacht Club playing their final sets of 2013 was obviously the place to be for Phoenix music aficionados Friday night,…
Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra really packed the people in to the partitioned Crescent Ballroom on Sunday night having easily more than 200 people arrive ready to dance for their fifth show ever, and their first since June. The group, which describes itself as a “musical collective,” consists of 14 musicians–and among…
Whether they were adding a bit of flair to an old favorite, taking the scene by storm, or continuing their march to the top, 2013 was a big year for Valley musicians under 21. Here’s 10 of our favorites who spent most of 2013 in the all-ages sections of their…
Aydin Immortal is rock ‘n’ roll, and Wolvves is more fun than any other band in Phoenix. Those are the two most important lessons the 25 to 40 people who showed up to Funny World on First Friday learned when they saw the Phoenix-based skate-punks headline a local house show,…
The Hourglass Cats released their video for their single “Sense,” on Monday. The video is their first from their May 2013 EP, 432. The video is a plotless ode to the summertime day trips that Phoenicians take to get out of the sweltering Phoenix heat. “I mean, obviously, it’s an…
The Black Bottom Lighters are the biggest thing on the Valley reggae scene since white guys learned how to dreadlock their hair. The six-piece Glendale-based desert reggae crew has been jamming together for more than two years in their current form, and that’s all it’s taken to grab the ear…
Sedona-based decker. has been playing atmospheric desert-folk jams across Arizona and beyond for years, making multiple nationwide tours and earning a place on the main stage at last year’s McDowell Mountain Music Festival. The group’s music possesses a certain quality that fills in the empty space at all its live…
TMI on KWSS brought out just about every big local act they could for their Feast For The Famished concert at Tempe’s Sail Inn on the day before Thanksgiving. More than 300 people piled into the beloved local dive to hear great tunes ping-ponging back and forth from their outdoor…
