Title: The Great Give & TakeBasics: Originally from Alamogordo, New Mexico, Gilbert’s Fat Tree are billed as a rock/funk/jam band. Nowhere in there, however, is the descriptor “painfully white,” because that’s what I can’t help but hear when I listen to this album — a bunch of white dudes trying…
Title: Street of Dreams & Ghetto CafeBasics: Detroit sent us both a 2-song Street of Dreams CD single, if you will, as well as Ghetto Cafe, a 6-song album/EP. The former is from 2010, the latter 2009. Detroit has quite a history in Phoenix – a quick bio on Last.fm…
Angles is hardly their best effort — well any album the band releases won’t be able to hold a candle to 2001’s Is This It — yet many critics claim that 2006’s First Impressions of Earth is their worst. I might catch some shit for this, but I find Angles…
There are lots of three and four-word band names among this week’s just announced shows — Cage The Elephant, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Panic! at the Disco, to name a few. However, as someone who is utterly fascinated with hair metal and early 1980’s Sunset Strip, how can I resist,…
If it seems as though it was only a week ago that Stateside Presents held the first day of their South by Stateside showcase, that’s because it was. Here we are a week later, and eight new bands take The Sail Inn’s stage for yet another top-notch showcase. Two separate…
Title: Hard To Be HumanBasics: Billed as “the new project featuring members of Big Vinny and the Cattle Thieves, Digital Leather, Andrew Jackson Jihad, and The Half Empties,” The Plainfield Butchers have some impressive experience among their four members. Their debut record Hard To Be Human is a tight tour…
There has been a palpable lead up to release of The Big Roar — the band’s 2009 A Balloon Called Moaning EP set the blogoshpere ablaze with the band’s unique brand of rock music, lead by Bryan’s soaring vocals. The Joy Formidable have dates set for this year’s Coachella and SXSW music…
Want to hear the album but can’t wait an entire week? Well The Strokes have you covered — they are streaming Angles in its entirety via their website. The stream will continue right up until the album’s release, which is plainly visible via the website’s own countdown.Now you can finally hear…
This got me to thinking — since nearly everyone and their mother will be reviewing Angles, why not make a list of lines/ideas that are bound to be in these reviews? Sure, the reviews for Angles don’t exist just this yet, but it’s not rocket science to guess the types…
Sunday, March 13, 2011Trunk SpaceWhat’s a band to do en route to next week’s SXSW? Perhaps spend a night on Grand Ave. in Phoenix at Trunk Space whilst they make their way to Austin? Such was the more than decent decision by Portland indie/electronic outfit Starfucker. March is a busy…
March and April are certainly busy months for Pains, as the kids call them. Their time at SXSW in March is followed by a slot at Coachella in April, all with the release of Belong sandwiched rather nicely between. Unfortunately, the band is playing Tucson the same night Phoenix gets…
Title: The Dalliance AlbumBasics: Underground Cities is described as being “formed by old high school friends in the summer of 2009 from the remnants of punk, indie, metal and rockabilly bands.” Thankfully, Underground Cities is not just one of these sounds — the band plays instrumental rock songs in the…
After a quarter-century of showcasing the biggest up-and-coming bands, Austin’s South by Southwest has built enough of a brand to warrant unofficial offshoots in far-flung places. Like, umm, Tempe, which is a convenient stop for Texas-bound bands from the West Coast. Every year, the folks at Stateside Presents toss a…
Let’s say you decide to start a solo project, eventually inviting some friends to play with you. It’s hardly serious — the newly formed band is just a way to see some friends you might not otherwise get to see on a regular basis. Why not give the band a…
Title: For When It’s Sunny OutBasics: Phoenix foursome Snow Songs features the versatile Yolanda Bejarano as their lead singer, and it’s damn near impossible to not to mention Bejarano when discussing the band. She is one of the strongest presences I have come across in my time with YAFI and…
Their live shows, however, are where the band makes their reputation. They coordinate their clothes — usually all white — and pretty much just have at it onstage. Nothing is out of bounds and seemingly everything tends to happen. Luckily for the Phoenix crowd, Man Man are set to release…
While the similarities between Beach House and Wye Oak run deep, their sounds thankfully aren’t exact copies of each other. On Civilian, Wye Oak duo Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner take the Baltimore-based male/female indie rock duo formula and make it their own, infusing a twinge of folk and even…
Title: A Room Full of HatersBasics: Is there room for more haters? I don’t like to start things off like that, but I couldn’t help myself — especially given the title of the damn album. A title, I might add, that was not included on the CD itself and was…
As spring slowly materializes and bands switch gears from their winter hibernation to the festival circuit, more and more new releases are hitting store shelves. With them brings the prospect of that killer new song, one that makes you play it over and over in the hopes of either getting…
Title: The Progression Vol. 1Basics: More YAFI hip hop? You got it. Luckily, The Orphanz have a clue as to what they are doing, as opposed to certain other hip hop artists from last week. Veteran producers Dre Lesean and D.K. Simmons comprise The Orphanz and their Progression Vol. 1…
No song better defines Jarreau’s long and multifaceted career than his 1983 hit “Trouble In Paradise.” While not his most famous song, “Trouble In Paradise” best sums up how Jarreau’s music has appeal across the Jazz, Pop and R&B charts. Oh, I almost forgot — the man has won Grammys…
There’s still the trademark Lykke Li pain and anguish felt in certain songs — “Love Out Of Lust” and “Sadness Is A Blessing,” to name a few — yet songs like “I Follow Rivers” and “Get Some” show a darker, more stark path for Lykke Li’s music. It’s that tenuous…
