Intense Apparatus

Florida emo/screamo-pop quintet Red Jumpsuit Apparatus may be one of the quietest success stories in recent years, having jumped from the pack of Warped Tour forgettables to platinum-selling stars — via 2006’s Don’t You Fake It and the recently released Lonely Road — without a ton of fanfare. Frontman and…

Lessons Learned from George Thorogood

Some people look to holy texts for guidance on how to live their lives. Me, I look to George Thorogood. See, George is from Wilmington, Delaware, and I grew up in nearby suburban Philadelphia. Around those parts, Thorogood was, and is, a god. When I was a little kid in…

Starlight Mints

One day, perhaps, Oklahoma psych-pop ensemble Starlight Mints will finally escape the long shadow cast by fellow Okie weird-rockers The Flaming Lips. But that day isn’t coming anytime soon. The gratuitous use of the word “jelly” — echoing the Lips’ breakthrough “She Don’t Use Jelly” — in “Zoomba,” one of…

Crocodiles

Being in a tribute band is like being a porn star: Once you get famous for doing it, that’s it; sure, you can try to cross over and make original music, but no one will take you seriously and you’ll always be remembered as “that dude who was John Bonham…

Telepathe

Virtually everything that musician/producer Dave Sitek touches — including albums by his own band, TV on the Radio — turns to gold, and the Sitek-helmed Dance Mother from Brooklyn avant-synthpoppers Telepathe is no exception. The previous material that emerged from the duo of Melissa Livaudais and Busy Ganges was compelling,…

Loretta Lynn Is a Legend, but She’s Also Just Plain Kind

Put simply, Loretta Lynn is the “Queen of Country Music.” The just-turned-74 singer occupies rarefied air in the pantheon of country musicians, and deservedly so. She’s enjoyed a slew of chart-topping hits since the early ’60s, including “Don’t Come Home A- Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind),” “One’s on the…

Telepathe

Virtually everything that musician/producer Dave Sitek touches – including albums by his own band, TV on the Radio – turns to gold, and the Sitek-helmed Dance Mother from Brooklyn avant-synthpoppers Telepathe is no exception. The previous material that emerged from the duo of Melissa Livaudais and Busy Ganges was compelling,…

Dazzling duo

Who’s your favorite two-piece act? The White Stripes? Mates of State? Local H? Donny and Marie? After this show, it might be the Portland duo Helio Sequence — singer/guitarist/harmonica player Brandon Summers and drummer/keyboardist Benjamin Weikel (late of Modest Mouse, where he spent a year subbing on the skins for…

The Thermals

Two things about The Thermals: The Portland, Oregon indie-punk band made its first album, 2003’s More Parts Per Million, for approximately $6 (they recorded it at home on six $1 cassettes) and it was released virtually as-is by Sub Pop; and before forming the group, Thermals principals Hutch Harris and…

Lindsay Lohan in Steve Nicks’ Life Story?

After conducting a thorough scientific evaluation (involving an array of test tubes and beakers, a Bunsen burner, and some heavy duty tongs) of Fleetwood Mac’s 17 studio albums, I’ve concluded that the veteran Anglo-American band’s music is 8 percent classic and 92 percent booooring. You may or may not agree,…

Lindsay Lohan in Steve Nicks’ Life Story?

After conducting a thorough scientific evaluation (involving an array of test tubes and beakers, a Bunsen burner, and some heavy duty tongs) of Fleetwood Mac’s 17 studio albums, I’ve concluded that the veteran Anglo-American band’s music is 8 percent classic and 92 percent booooring. You may or may not agree,…

The Thermals

Two things about the Thermals: The Portland, Oregon indie-punk band made its first album, 2003’s More Parts Per Million, for approximately six dollars (they recorded it at home on six one-dollar cassettes) and it was released virtually as-is by Sub Pop; and prior to forming the group, Thermals principals Hutch…

Dying in the Desert

A lot of really hideous things can happen to you in the desert. You could get stung by a highly poisonous scorpion. You could get lost without any water, wander around for a couple of days, and then drop dead of dehydration. You could get sucked into quicksand. But probably…

Carcass

Grindcore, for the uninitiated, is the extreme genre of metal that prizes blast beats (i.e., drumming that mimics both the speed of a machine gun and the impact of percussion grenades); ultra-heavy, lightning-fast guitars that aim to disembowel you with every riff; and scary, demonic slaughterhouse growls. Basically, the kind…

Foul Players

Grindcore, for the uninitiated, is the extreme genre of metal that prizes blast beats (i.e. drumming that mimics both the speed of a machine gun and the impact of percussion grenades); ultra-heavy, lightning-fast guitars that aim to disembowel you with every riff; and scary, demonic slaughterhouse growls. Basically, the kind…

Pandy Raye on the Chicks with Picks Music Festival

Co-founded by Phoenix musicians Pandy Raye and Rhonda Hitchcock, the inaugural Chicks with Picks Music Fest — featuring Sedona-bred popster Michelle Branch, singer-songwriter (and Waylon Jennings’ widow) Jessi Colter, country newcomer Sarah Buxton, and 70 other female performers — will take place Saturday, March 21, at Tempe Beach Park. We…

Katy Perry Versus Jill Sobule on the Kissing of Girls

As you probably know, there are two different and well-known songs called “I Kissed a Girl.” One is by upstart 24-year-old pop singer Katy Perry and became a huge hit in the summer of 2008; the other is by veteran singer-songwriter Jill Sobule and was a hit in 1995. Which…