Samuel L Cool J Harks Back to Motown for Vinyl Release

Plenty of bands profess bizarre origins, but few are quite as violent as Samuel L Cool J. According to the Phoenix-based group, lead vocalist Haendel Balzora and rhythm guitarist Joel Marquard teamed up after assassinating each other’s respective gang leaders, “Bernardo” and “Tony.” Instead of the electric chair, an extremely…

Twenty Years of Urban Bohemia with the Dandy Warhols

Dandys rule, okay? They have never not ruled, they still rule, and I suspect they always will. Turning 20 years old, Portland’s premier rock band, the Dandy Warhols, can claim one of its generation’s most eccentric careers, making the quartet one of the last great rock ‘n’ roll acts in…

STS9 on Giving Back to the Community and Why “Time Is Art”

Like many jam bands, Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) leave no sound unturned, no rhythm unexplored, and no genre unappreciated. Everything from jazz fusion to hip hop beats to funkadelic licks to psychedelic twists gets represented on the Atlanta-based group’s 11 album catalog (with another on the way) birthed from…

St. Vincent and Noveller – Orpheum Theatre – 3/18/14

St. Vincent & Noveller Orpheum Theatre 3/18/14 Downtown Phoenix’s Orpheum Theatre is kind of a surreal place, as the stunning concert hall blends both the past and present in grand fashion. And St. Vincent deserved to perform at no other venue in town, as her show on Tuesday evening was…

Getting High with Stoner Rap Wizard Hot Rock Supa Joint

A hazy night with Hot Rock Supa Joint, Arizona’s premier stoner rap wizard, begins with a hazy idea. Let’s smoke a joint from the Bob Marley bong. A joint bowl! It only works about halfway, so we give up and give my five-foot BuddyBong® a try, so named because it…

St. Vincent and the Elusive Nature of Her Genius

Why does brilliance so often offer a dichotomy of two contradicting personas? You won’t likely get an answer from Annie Clark, better known as the gentle fierceness behind St. Vincent. She’s keen to keep you at arm’s length, but whether it’s shyness or mania that compels her to shroud her…

Dum Dum Girls’ Too True Departs Into Darker Territory

Dee Dee Penny, founder and frontwoman of Dum Dum Girls, is known for her shy disposition. She’s probably also tired of hearing about it in the press, but only one second into our phone call, it’s obvious how reserved, quiet, and thoughtful she is. The way she speaks is absolutely…

Dum Dum Girls’ Dee Dee Penny on Embracing the Pop Aesthetic

Dee Dee Penny, founder and frontwoman of Dum Dum Girls, is known for her shy disposition. She’s probably also tired of hearing about it in the press, but only one second into our phone call, it’s obvious how reserved, quiet, and thoughtful she is. The way she speaks is absolutely…

Phoenix Rock Lottery – Crescent Ballroom – 2/9/14

What happens when you take 20 well-known (to varying degrees) local musicians, shuffle them around, and give them only 10 hours to start a band? Crescent Ballroom decided to find out, hosting the Phoenix Rock Lottery on Sunday night. Not only was this a pretty damn cool idea, it benefited…

4 Albums From 2013 Everyone Else Hated That I Loved

It’s understandable if you believe end of the year “Best Of” lists are largely self-indulgent, because it’s fucking true. Music critics write for other music critics and no one else. When the musicians in question sometimes actually read the review, it’s largely by accident. All of us writing simple bullet…

Fake Snake: I’m Drawn To That Insane Kind of Sound

Screeches cycle through the drone and reverberate off the cratered concrete walls of [venue name redacted] as Fake Snake frantically claws through their set. We’re out among the dilapidated shitholes of Phoenix’s industrial parks, inside this warehouse shed doubling as crashpad and venue for several underground acts. Here, the Phoenix…

Small Leaks Sink Ships Fights Big Problems to Play Again

Benjamin Franklin warned that small leaks can sink great ships, meaning you should sweat the small stuff. But for the progressive math-rock quintet that borrowed Franklin’s aphorism, it’s mostly been one big leak after another. Two nearly fatal car accidents — one involving a motorcycle, the other a Vespa –…

Bryant Vazquez Muses On Dying, Traveling Aimlessly On Dear Brother Death

One of Hermann Hesse’s lesser known collections, Wandering, reflects on anxiety, death and the arts while aimlessly meandering through the countryside. Alt-folk singer Bryant Eugene Vazquez left Flagstaff, Arizona barely two months ago to ramble on to Philadelphia, but he’s still releasing records here in the desert. On his latest,…