Craig Finn (ex-Minnesotan, ex-Lifter Puller) has the voice of a semi-drunk punk, or maybe a manic street preacher — an exuberant, phlegmy grumble-stumble in line with such brilliant non-singers as Paul Westerberg, Elvis Costello, Shane MacGowan, and Bob Pollard, spitting sharp, wry, highly charged stories of the sacred and the…

Stereolab singer/multi-instrumentalist Laetitia Sadier confers with her recording engineer on the first day of sessions for A Few Steps More, the second album from her side quartet, Monade. “It’s so nice to get a break from Stereolab and work on another project for a while.” “Yeah, I like Stereolab a…

The last time Dan Snaith came through town, he was operating under a different moniker: Manitoba. But thanks to the threat of a lawsuit by grumpy ol’ Handsome Dick Manitoba (of the NYC punk band The Dictators), the Canadian-born tunesmith has changed the name of his outfit to Caribou. It’s…

Subject: Quirky Actress Seeks Rockin’ Band Reply to: juliettel@craigslist.org Hey all you musicians out there! My name is Juliette Lewis. You might remember me as the girl who sucked Robert De Niro’s thumb in Cape Fear or the crazy chick who went on a bad-ass rampage with Woody Harrelson in…

Is there any doubt by now that whenever Neko Case opens her mouth, amazing things happen? Through a string of fantastic solo albums beginning in 1997, the flame-haired, 34-year-old Virginia native has established herself as one of the most dynamic country singer-songwriters around. Her pipes are powerful but frayed in…

If you haven’t been to Japan or watched the Cartoon Network of late, you might be unaware of the aidorus known as Puffy AmiYumi — the female twosome that’s at least as big, if not bigger, on the streets of Tokyo than even heyday Britney or the Backstreet Boys ever…

“I don’t go to singer-songwriter shows anymore because they’re boring,” Seattle alt-folkie Damien Jurado recently told Paste magazine. “I don’t care if you’re Conor Oberst or Nick Drake. Boring. Who wants to stand there? Not me.” While I respect Jurado’s opinion, he’s dead wrong, at least when it comes to…

My eyelids fluttered open, and there, peering down at me, was a six-foot-tall platypus wearing a paisley vest, a monocle, and a mischievous smile. “Wh-wh-where am I?” I stammered, sitting up in the purple grass and gazing at the grove of marshmallow trees in front of me. “Now, now, my…

Choose Your Own Adventure #296: Papa Roach You are in a rap-rock band from California. You hit it big in 2000 with your multi-platinum album Infest, and its smash single, “Last Resort,” but your 2002 follow-up, lovehatetragedy, tanked amid the decline and fall of nü-metal. You want to keep the…

From the bright crackle and spark-spewing pop of Throwing Muses to the smoldering intensity of her semi-acoustic solo career, the songwriting fire inside Kristin Hersh has burned for more than 20 years. Golden Ocean — the debut longplayer from her new trio, 50 Foot Wave (following last year’s self-titled EP)…

Dateline Duluth, Minnesota — On Tuesday, a Minnesota district court judge threw out a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by 37-year-old Duluth native Brian Swerzyk against the indie rock trio Low and its label, Sub Pop Records. Swerzyk had claimed breach of contract and severe emotional distress after purchasing the band’s 2005…

Sure, they’ve become an arena band, at least in their native U.K., but Welsh trio Stereophonics have needed a serious kick in the ass for a while now. It’s been extremely frustrating to watch the promise of their vibrant 1997 debut album, Word Gets Around, steadily dissipate via a string…

ash_cash: hey ry ryanc: hey ash ash_cash: i saw you on the carson daly show the other night ryanc: really? did you like it? my band’s got 40 kind of sadness sounding really good I think ash_cash: your hair looked awesome! did you use the alterna sculpting putty i told…

Love — as Pat Benatar sagely noted — is a battlefield, and on the remarkable third album from Montreal indie-rock collective Stars, the bullets have been spent, the mines exploded, and all one can do in the aftermath of romance gone awry is somehow find a way to survive a…

Since there’s only room for one indie rock savior at a time, Okkervil River leader Will Sheff currently gets to play Mark Lanegan to Conor Oberst’s Kurt Cobain. Sheff’s an equally gifted songwriter with moderately similar stylistic sensibilities, but sans Oberst’s magazine covers and prominent positioning on Wal-Mart CD racks…

If Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me didn’t steer you (no pun intended) away from the McDonald’s drive-through, listening to vegetarian grindcore warriors Cattle Decapitation’s “Lips & Assholes” as you’re about to pull up to order that Big Mac just might: “The juice off the floor becomes an additive/A…

Imagining next year’s alt-rock “Class of ’96” reunion . . . “Look over there,” says Duncan Sheik to Tracy Bonham. “It’s the singer from Dishwalla!” “Wow,” Bonham replies. “Instead of ‘Counting Blue Cars,’ I hear he’s washing blue cars these days.” “Oh, you are so terrible,” Sheik says, laughing. “Hey,…

Awrite, Alex Kapranos frae Franz Ferdinand here. Since ye can’t gie pest one article abit our friends an’ occasional toormates frae th’ U.K., The Futureheads, withit some loon “joornalist” comparin’ or relatin’ them tae mah bain, Franz Ferdinand, ah thoot I’d jist sae ‘a fook th’ trooble an’ shaw up…

Hardcore vets 7 Seconds have been around for 25 years now, and singer Kevin Seconds and gang won’t let you forget it on this 17-track, 28-minute set. “Don’t you tell me I’m being nostalgic/I’m not looking to go back in time,” Kev belts on “Our Core.” But he’s lying; just…

Despite Andy Bell’s health problems in recent years — he’s been HIV-positive since 1998, and has suffered through a degenerative bone condition that’s required two hip-replacement surgeries — the Erasure singer’s distinctive voice is as vigorous, dramatic, and passionate as ever on the long-running Europop outfit’s 11th studio platter. But…

Okay, kids, hope you’ve been watching MTV and reading your “Next Big Thing” issue of Revolver, because it’s time for an Atreyu pop quiz! Answers at the bottom (no cheating!). 1. Orange County quintet Atreyu is named after the hero of the 1984 fantasy film ______ . 2. British post-punk…

The statistics are sobering: Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24; each year in the United States, more people die by their own hand than by homicide; and, most tragically, 90 percent of suicides result from undiagnosed yet very treatable…