Diversity and adversity often go hand in hand. In the case of England’s Culture Club, the two words have always come bundled together, even if the former is more descriptive of what the group represents, and the latter is something they seemingly love to create. A product of the early-1980s…
“Come over here / let’s make some time,” pleads singer/guitar player Daniel Shircliff at the start of “Baby Wants More,” on the Christian Family’s new self-titled, seven-inch EP on Slope Records. The record contains four tracks of stripped-down, gospel- and blues-tinged garage punk perpetuated by Shircliff, who also fronts local…
One of the things that hasn’t changed in the past 30 years is how much ass Flotsam and Jetsam continues to kick. From the opening notes of “Seventh Seal” off their latest album, the self-titled Flotsam and Jetsam (AFM Records), which was released in late May, it is apparent they…
An Arizona (by way of Michigan) candidate has not only thrown their top hat into the U.S. presidential election, but also the British Prime Minister race, and is running on one of the more unique platforms ever. That’s right, Alice Cooper, shock rocker extraordinaire and guillotine proponent, has launched a…
Before the torches are lit and the pitchforks are sharpened, read the next line. Most of the often over-rated records mentioned in this opinion-based blog/list do NOT completely suck. Admittedly, some do suck quite a bit, but some are really good and even ground-breaking but are often held in too…
Ted Nugent. Ted “Fucking” Nugent. He calls himself this frequently. During a 45-minute phone conversation, he must’ve said “Ted fucking Nugent” at least a dozen times. The man is mesmerizing and drunk on confidence, even if he never takes a drink. There really is no one else quite like him,…
Punk rock is many things. It’s fun, it’s furious, it’s chock-full of rebellion, and for some, it’s a labor of love. With any luck, it’s all four of those things. Enter Brendan Kelly, singer/guitar player of the Falcon. Kelly’s a busy man. The Chicago-area native is married, a dad to…
Comerica Theatre was almost full on Sunday, June 25, when Kenny Rogers said farewell to his Phoenix fans. The almost two-hour performance/retrospective was highly entertaining and, at times, bittersweet, as the 77-year-old singer sang a great many of the hits from his near-60-year career. For those who came to hear…
Growth is good, and POWER 98.3’s Tino Cochino is looking to expand his footprint. The leader of the 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. show on one of the Valley’s leading hip-hop stations now has a program on KSAW CW6 called After The Show, and he’s looking to syndicate outside the…
Fishbone played 22 songs last night at the Rebel Lounge over what seemed like half a day. The 37-year-old Los Angeles-based group played one of the more perplexing sets I’ve ever seen them play. It was good, even really good at times, but maybe it’s me or maybe it’s them,…
You’ve always wanted to experience “Onion Rings of Fire,” haven’t you? On Saturday, June 25, the Musical Instrument Museum in Scottsdale will honor Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash with a day long celebration of their musical legacy. If you decided to go and choose to get some food, “Onion…
Relapse Records obviously knows a good band when it sees (and hears) one. The Pennsylvania-based label is home to an absolutely killer lineup of grind, death, and the heaviest of metal bands including household names (at least in cool households) like Cephalic Carnage, Exhumed, Obituary, and Iron Reagan. And as…
Note: Rest in peace Ron “Ronnie Reckless” Grotjan, who died of cancer on June 6, 2016, and was the reason I was listening to his band, Mighty Sphincter, as I wrote this. Peace to those of loved him in this time of transition, especially his wife Robin and daughter Athena…
Zack Carmichael, guitar player for The Freeze, remembers vividly why the band moved to Phoenix in 2009. “I had just moved to the Cape [Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where The Freeze originated] to join the band in October of ’08. It was a brutal winter, and we were having trouble booking…
There are times when journalistic integrity and putting one’s self well outside of the story are simply too difficult to entertain, let alone do. When the opportunity to speak with drummer Jean-Paul Gaster of Clutch about the band’s upcoming Phoenix show popped up, I met it with, quite honestly, a…
Few bands have had the power to unify youth the way the Violent Femmes did in the early- and mid-1980s. The band, which stops by Marquee Theatre in Tempe on Tuesday, March 3, had an extraordinary ability to unify the various cliques found in American high schools and colleges. Putting…
When Slope Records began releasing vintage Phoenix punk records toward the end of 2015, there were a few jewels in the crown for the fledgling label. One of those jewels was a 1987 live recording by the infamous Mighty Sphincter, which was released under the title Undead at Hammersmith Odeon…
When a band like the Valley’s own BroLoaf tells you its new record has “pop sensibilities,” you just have to roll your eyes. Those who have witnessed the spectacle of the almost 8-year-old band’s live show understand the general need to eye-roll when the subject of the “Loaf” comes up…
Nonpareil is a band that want to tell it like it is. Locally grown but internationally influenced, the Phoenix-area quartet plays a noisy brand of post-punk carefully designed to enthrall and motivate the listener and will please even the most discerning devotee of the great Dischord Records label out of Washington,…
Like most well-known, middle-aged personalities, Punk Rock, known by friends as simply Punk, is a little coy about disclosing its true age. For the most part, though, Punk’s fans and critics tend to agree it was born in 1976, making this year its 40th birthday. We thought it would be…
There have to be moments of existential angst for every worthwhile pursuit. There really does. If the universe is fair, everybody out there — working away at some job or profession, hobby, labor of love, whatever it might be — has to have some moment where you look within your…
Formed in the good old days (see: early ’90s and 1992, specifically), Tempe, Arizona band Alison’s Halo enjoyed a healthy run as a fully functional recording and live band for the majority of the decade. Founded by married couple Adam and Catherine Cooper (guitar and vocals/guitar respectively), and Lynn Anderson (bass,…
