“You might not think there’s any wisdom in a fucked-up punk rock song,” sings Greg Graffin in “Kyoto Now!” summarizing Bad Religion’s ethos in one fell swoop. Classic punk songs like Black Flag’s “TV Party” and The Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments” are fun and riotous but offer little substance. Bad Religion…
Excuse our local beat-juggler boosterism for a moment, but there are some turntablists in town whose skills are so unearthly we reckon they might just have brokered their everlastings soul to Lucifer in trade for prodigious abilities. And if they haven’t, they might want to consider the deal. Every extra…
Thursday 18 Afterlife: Touch Thursdays with DJ Tsunami, DJ Michael Ryan, & DJ Matt Fox (Top 40, EDM) AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Barney’s Boathouse: Thirsty Thursdays with DJ Pulse (Top 40, rock, dance) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (juke joint, R&B, French pop) Bobby…
It’s been a long time since the music industry had musicians’ best interests in mind. And it’s not just the greed of the industry; it’s the fans, too. I’m not talking about the multimillionaires in Metallica. I’m talking about the underground punk band whose album you downloaded for free last…
In the social media era, it seems unfathomable that an artist, no matter how trivial, could completely disappear off the radar. In the 1970s, it was a different story entirely. Sixto Rodriguez was one musician who not only fell through the cracks but was thought by many to have died…
It’s as though the lamentable death of recorded music was accompanied by a kick-ass wake. Sure, label executives have had to sell their fancy homes and put their kids in public schools, but the rest of us have feasted on a musical smorgasbord. Nothing better exemplifies this than this month’s…
The weekend drinking and dancing action at EPIQ Nightclub in Scottsdale gets so fierce that it appears as though people are climbing the walls while frenetically partying their brains out. Okay, that ain’t literally the case, mind you, but damned if don’t look that way, thanks to all the smoke…
Phunk Junkeez and Jimmy Eat World do not have a lot in common. The Phunk Junkeez’ major-label video was about “Me N Yer Girl” booty-shaking; Jimmy Eat World’s was about two kids who fall in love and put their clothes back on. Jimmy Eat World hit on the mixture of…
A famous series of ads for Rosetta Stone tells a fictional narrative about some Midwestern farmboy intensively learning Italian to get with an beautiful Italian woman. The pitch seems to be that learning a new language opens up new opportunities, and since it is advertising, the sexual opportunities are top…
If you went to Coachella last weekend, you’re probably still sunburned, dehydrated, and physically exhausted. Sleeping in your own bed is a glorious feeling after camping out or crashing on a friend’s hotel room floor, but some aches and pains are bound to persist. Fortunately, if you had a good-enough…
On Saturday That Damn Show is back for 2013 at the Mesa Amphitheatre, featuring national acts like Bad Religion and local favorites like the Veragrooves. Check out the full schedule here and read on for a preview of Canada’s own Bend Sinister. (Full disclosure: We’re co-promoting this show with KUKQ.)…
Kai Flanders The Coachella campgrounds are the Wild West of the festival. They are the sort of place you can imagine Hunter S. Thompson running around with his pants around his ankles. Drugs are more plentiful than food and going to bed before 4 a.m. is considered an early night…
Put on almost any Rolling Stones record and it is instantly recognizable as the Rolling Stones. There is no mistaking the gritty sound and straight-up rock ‘n’ roll riffs. Now, put on a Portugal. The Man album. It, too, is instantly recognizable by the complex layers and textures in each…
That Damn Show, the Phoenix music institution most likely to lead into an extended, vulgar Abbott and Costello routine, is less than a week away: On Saturday, Bad Religion and 11 other local and national bands will file into Mesa Amphitheatre and play music that is probably going to be…
A good 90 percent of my job as a music journalist is keeping my finger on new music, continuously discovering the vast spectrum of sound that human beings can create. Another 9 percent is attending concerts, where I destroy my liver and my hearing for shits and gigs. That final…
Faith Hill leaving Sunday Night Football is interesting mostly because it reminds us that Faith Hill was — for something like six years — employed by Sunday Night Football. “This Kiss,” and then helmet-to-helmet hits, every week. Counterprogramming, I think they call that. We’ve seen cultural institutions move in this…
It’s Monday, and I’m sorry about that. There was nothing I can do. But I bring good news: This week’s Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix is further proof that they play live music during the week, and even on school nights…
There’s definitely something special about carnival rides and deep-fried foods that brings out the inner kid in all of us. I still remember living near 19th Avenue and Grant in Phoenix, about three miles south of the Arizona State Fairgrounds, and during that cool time of the year I would…
Vial of Sound @ Crescent Ballroom, 4/13/2013 Obviously, I was not at Coachella. But I don’t get what the big deal about it is, so I didn’t care. Besides, something great happens when a bunch of local talent comes together. Sure, music scenes have their pitfalls, their petty grudges, the…
It looks like all these Record Store Days are paying off. In 2012, global sales for vinyl records hit $171 million, their highest point since 1997 — the same year that Hanson’s “MMMBop” topped the charts. This Saturday, April 20, marks the sixth annual Record Store Day, when artists and…
Having solved all the country’s economic problems, come to an agreement on DOMA, and figured out what to do about gun control, the American government finally has time to focus on what really matters: where richer-than-God superstars Jay-Z and Beyoncé spend their obscenely luxurious vacations. More: Treasury department confirms Jay-Z,…
Credit: Marco TorresAs we mentioned earlier, the bros are freaking bringing it this year! Sure, we all know about the women who wear just about nothing, but the guys are getting exceedingly creative, particularly when it comes to their funny T-shirts. So it’s time to give the men some props…
