Ever since I interviewed Darkness Dear Boy for a column I did back in March, I’ve liked those crazy kids. Heck, we called them up to do one of our very first Sun Sessions. Here they are on video again, this time for “Domino,” the single off their new album…
It always catches us off gaurd, but Arizona-based winemaker and film producer Maynard James Keenan occasionally still dabbles in his side project, making spooky prog metal with his band Tool. The band’s show at U.S. Airways is this week’s biggest show announcement, headlining a list of thin summer offerings that…
Country star Taylor Swift has to be the coolest 19-year-old who admittedly didn’t have any friends in junior high. Now, she has famous friends like Garth Brooks and Miley Cyrus define the word “fearless” — also the title of her latest album — in a pre-show video. She rocks the…
Electric Mustache: Breakfast at Sulimays 21Idolator: Fall Out Boy Bring Some Much-Needed Professionalism To “Today”NME: Nine Inch Nails fans raise thousands for heart transplantRolling Stone: “Twilight” Star Jackson Rathbone Signs On For Black Metal Flick…
Austin indie band The Wooden Birds start their tour at Modified Arts on May 27. The band — which plays a mellow, pretty brand of folk flavored by the vocals of Andrew Kenny, formerly of American Analog Set — just released their debut record, Magnolia, on Barsuk.You can check out…
Rolling Stone: Jay-Z Buys Out Def Jam Contract, “Blueprint 3″ Heads to Roc NationElectric Mustache: Photos: Miniature Tigers at The Phix 5/15/2009Rolling Stone: Allen and Lambert iTunes Hits May Be a Predictor of Future SuccessIdolator: Green Day Knows Its Enemy, And Its Name Is Wal-MartNME: Vampire Weekend to DJ ‘prom’…
In an unfortunate turn of events, New Orleans indie/soul singer Theresa Andersson has had to cancel her May tour due to a chest infection. News like this is never good, and it is especially saddening because of the nature of her infection. I just hope that she rests up and…
Coming into last night’s finale, even the most ardent Kris Allen fans would have to admit that their adorable little troubadour was a long shot for the big title (check this out if you missed the play-by-play). The media (myself included) had pretty much already declared Adam Lambert the successor…
This week’s flier of the week — for Great White’s show at Club Red tommorow night — presented without comment…
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been slogging through You Asked For It submissions for a year, as of today, May 21. My predecessor, Niki D’Andrea, started YAFI as a way of catering to local bands that bitched about her coverage and it still fills that function today though, as…
After conducting a thorough scientific evaluation (involving an array of test tubes and beakers, a Bunsen burner, and some heavy duty tongs) of Fleetwood Mac’s 17 studio albums, I’ve concluded that the veteran Anglo-American band’s music is 8 percent classic and 92 percent booooring. You may or may not agree,…
THURSDAY 21 Bomberos: DJ Rani “g,” dk.strickler, & guests (house, global soul) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cherry Lounge: Scandalous Thursday with DJ Juan Rocha (house, electronica) Club Red: The Blunt Club with Nosaj Thing, Golden Tung, Pickster Uno, DJ Element, Emerg, & more (hip-hop) Coach & Willie’s: The Recession Sessions…
I’ve never understood the obsession with garage rock you’ll find in some corners of Phoenix. I like garage rock, sure, but I’m from Akron, Ohio, a Rust Belt town with strong ties to lo-fi punk and garage. Phoenix? Well, Phoenix was mostly ranchland and desert when “96 Tears” topped Billboard’s…
It’s a liberating feeling to break free from a commitment or relationship that was holding you back. From time to time in the life of an artist, a creative funk comes along with the people and surroundings he previously cherished: situations that had infused him with creativity and ingenuity turn…
Few things symbolize summertime in the Valley better than a raucous pool party. Many a scorched Phoenician has found relief from the triple-digit temps while lounging around the ol’ swimming hole with a few friends and a case or two of brews. But your average beer-soaked backyard bash pales in…
Garage-rock gal pals Rachel Nagy and Mary Ramirez have gone through a lot of men in their day. Drummers. Guitarists. Bassists. All kinds. When an interviewer makes light of the fact, Ramirez playfully props her legs open, as if to receive yet another session-musician servicing. Nagy, her fellow creative principal…
So lovely. So talented. So appallingly young. Can there be any doubt that Taylor Swift was sent to Earth to make the planet’s collective over-20 population feel like a bunch of aging fuck-ups? Though more than a year shy of her first legal white-wine spritzer, the ethereal pop goddess has…
Are you “down with the clown?” Which is to say, are you the slightest bit interested in watching five sugar-crazed Midwesterners don face paint and rap about ax murder? If so, there’s a really strong chance that this Insane Clown Posse-fronted horrorcore supergroup is already figuring prominently in your weekend…
Back when I used to write for another Valley weekly that shall remain nameless, we used to play a game called “Nickelback Or . . . ?” The object was to determine what concerts, if any, could possibly be worse than a Nickelback show. One of the only rules of the game was…
Two things about The Thermals: The Portland, Oregon indie-punk band made its first album, 2003’s More Parts Per Million, for approximately $6 (they recorded it at home on six $1 cassettes) and it was released virtually as-is by Sub Pop; and before forming the group, Thermals principals Hutch Harris and…
Ho-hum. Another week, another militant vegan band comes to town. If you didn’t get your fill (pun intended) at last week’s Earth Crisis show, the lovable “veganarchists” in Propagandhi are stopping in Tempe this weekend to spread the gospel of iodine deficiency to the masses. For a band that professes…
Sunny pop music and summertime are made for each other like two soulmates holding hands on an oceanside stroll. With the weather heating up here in the Valley of the Sun, let’s take a look at some great summer music… Tinted Windows Tinted Windows (S-Curve Records) A power pop supergroup…
