“This whole interview is just going to be us trying to figure out how an assembly line works” I am at the house of Mark Glick, the founder of Anxiety Machine records, along with all the members of the hardcore band Gay Kiss. Together we are packing copies of their…
Touring with New Found Glory seems like a dream come true for any up and coming pop punk band…especially one that takes its name from the closing track of Sticks and Stones, like California band The Story So Far does. The group just wrapped up a tour with NFG, where…
Laura S. Strickland Strickland is the Principal Flutist for the Arizona Pro Arte Ensemble and a soloist in the upcoming concert, The Winds; Woodwind Masterworks, on Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26. For more info, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the…
Curious about what’s going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions where to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don’t fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend…
Ian WitlenYes, this happened.By Liz Tracy Most of the people we met on the S.S. Coachella had never been on a cruise before. Like us, they weren’t so sure what to pack or how to dress for three days of awkwardly saying hi to their favorite bands on a floating…
There are only five shopping days left of Christmas…are you sick of hearing dogs “sing” “Jingle Bells” yet? At least the Sprint commercial with animals singing “Deck the Halls” is pretty cute. Fortunately, Emby Alexander breaks out of the obnoxious Christmas cover routine by putting its own spin on a…
By Michael Alan Goldberg Jess Rotter truly racked up the frequent flyer miles this year. The long-time in-house publicist and marketing wiz for Brooklyn-based indie record label Mexican Summer practically lived in airplanes, repeatedly jetting out west and back to handle her duties repping Best Coast–the label’s biggest success story…
As 2012 draws to a close, we’ll be looking forward to the 2013 and spotlighting 13 Phoenix bands that will be making a mark on the Southwest throughout the new year. This entry concerns Body of Light, the mutating synth pop outfit fronted by Alexander Jarson, one of the members…
Just how many side project pairings can Sister Cities come up with? I’m not good with math, but I have a feeling they’re approaching max capacity – if not in arithmetic, then definitely with their own free time. Drummer Keith Walker has Being Cool is Lonely, his sexed-up electronic side…
As 2012 draws to a close, we’ll be looking forward to the 2013 and spotlighting 13 Phoenix bands that will be making a mark on the Southwest throughout the new year. Prog rockers The Oxford Coma just so happen to be featured in this week’s issue, in a story written…
For musicians, there are songwriters you like — the songwriters you try to emulate — and then there are the songwriters who live as kindred spirits. Tucson’s Al Perry says he and Kevin Daly, whose 30-plus-year music career in the Valley has included elements of rockabilly, honky-tonk, blues, and punk,…
For some reason, I was led to believe, in my initial research, that The Story So Far was from somewhere in south England. This created an original foundation for this write-up and my cheeky positioning of the band as “the Hugh Laurie of pop punk bands, an import from the…
The snare drum hits that open Sedona-based decker.’s forthcoming new record, Slider, sound like shotguns. It’s an appropriately menacing sound for what follows, as singer/songwriter Brandon Decker seethes: “I burned the boat / I swam ashore / I’m out of breath / I slammed the door / I laid the…
This is it, folks. The grand finale. The end of the world — or is it? It still remains to be seen exactly what is going to happen when the calendar page turns to December 21, but if what some interpreters of Mesoamerican archaeology say is true, the end of…
The Oxford Coma doesn’t sound like any other band you’ve ever heard, and that’s the idea. With thumping, funky-to-furious bass lines mixed with propulsive drumming and searing guitar action, the band blurs the distinctions between modern rock, alt-metal, and punk. The band’s debut album, Adonis, is not something that easily…
At any point in the next 48 hours or so, the ground might start shaking, flaming objects might zoom from the heavens, or the undead might rise from their dirt naps and turn the populace into a gigantic brain buffet. While you shouldn’t take our word for it (or the…
Spirit Cave is a young band, but members Ryan Breen and Michael Bell have been playing shows together for more than a decade, each with his primary band, Back Ted N-Ted and Lymbyc Systym, respectively. It was only a matter of time before they struck out together. Given Breen’s expressive,…
Keith Jackson stops short of officially canonizing Joe Strummer — but seriously, just short of it. “I don’t know how to describe the guy’s personality,” Jackson says of the frontman of The Clash, actor, and leader of global-punk outfit The Mescaleros. “I don’t want to say he was saint-like, but…
Thursday 20 Afterlife: Touch Thursdays (Top 40, electronica, dance) AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Bar Smith: International Thursdays with DJ EC, DJ StarMarz, & DJ Clavo El Parientito (hip-hop, Latin) Bobby Q’s: Day Before the End Party with DJ Phlava, MC Focus, DJ Dark Vader,…
2012 is at its end, and just like I did last year, I thought it would be good fun to try and recap the reissues and compilations I couldn’t seem to get off my phonograph this year. So here they are: The 10 reissues and compilations I dug most in…
Finding holiday cheer can be difficult in Phoenix at times, save for a decked out saguaro cactus or two. The change in season would be a bit more noticeable if it actually snowed. We can’t complain though, wearing shorts and flip flops through most of December is nice. Coach House…
Photo by Liz TracyIs that Jarvis Cocker? Nah … Just Gaslamp Killer.By Liz Tracy No one’s really interested in reading about the actual performances taking place on this musical ship of contradictions, the S.S. Coachella, amirite? Instead, you want a spoonful of gossipy anecdotal sugar, straight from the decks of…
