The next guy who calls 2007 “the year of the reunion” is gonna get his nose separated from his face. Sure, 40 years removed from the Summer of Love, it’d be nice to think there were larger Utopian forces at work beyond common greed and stalled solo careers bringing together…
No Use for a Name has been around for 20 years now, which is staggering when you consider that just about as many people know the punk band’s name today as in 1987, though that may have something to do with the fact that it has no use for one…
Vampire Weekend is a quartet of Columbia University graduates who are not vampires and do not sing about them. They do, however, sound a lot like what would happen if Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and one or two members of the Walkmen decided to record an album…
The man they once called Tiger Tom was savvy enough to secure all the rights to his ITV variety show, which ran in England and America from 1969 to 1971, but securing rights from some of the performers proved harder. That’s why review copies of the DVD This Is Tom…
After seeing CTS live, I was impressed by the musicianship and the band’s earnest approach to gimmick-less rock songwriting. There’s nothing trailblazing in the tunes here, but fans of artists like the Gin Blossoms and John Mayer will appreciate the deftness with which CTS recycles the rock paradigm — soaring…
Depending on where listeners were introduced to Bodhisattva’s sonic mania, they may harbor two significantly different profiles of the duo fronted by vocalist/guitarist Justin Cory and drummer Shane Sittig. Compare their brutal first release, Brain Candy for Insanity, with the deranged (yet more accessible) fare contained within the follow-up, Magnetar,…
Rock ‘n’ Western, country ‘n’ roll, twang and Taylor Ham — there’s nothing new here, and that’s fine. The Earps say it’s about the ’70s and they’re right. These guys could be the Apache Junction descendants of David Allan Coe at his orneriest, a mutant barstool baby that is part…
With stunning production from old rival Marley Marl, KRS-One delivers a sharp retort to Nas’ recent proclamation that Hip Hop Is Dead — but not without kicking some dirt on gangsta culture. The highlights on this 12-track disc are many, including “Nothing New,” in which the Teacha delivers his indictment…
Those of you hoping Smashing Pumpkins’ comeback record is an unmitigated disaster will be disappointed: It’s not. Those of you afraid that head Pumpkin Billy Corgan made another The Future Embrace (his über-synthpop, somewhat cheesy solo album) will be happy: He didn’t. With drummer Jimmy Chamberlin the lone member of…
Interpol’s major label debut, Our Love to Admire, isn’t as monochrome (or monotonous) as its previous two albums. “Pioneer to the Falls” is arguably the richest song they’ve ever recorded, a track that channels the stormy textures of the Cure’s Pornography. Death-march piano and woodwinds add counter-melodies, a giant quivering…
Since the Beastie Boys released License to Ill more than two decades ago, all paths into New York nostalgia and downtown have led back to them. So what’s a guy named Adrock, or MCA, or Mike D to do? No wonder, with The Mix-Up, they’ve got nothing to say. It’s…
You know that warm, contented feeling you get when it’s woundingly cold outside and you’re snuggled up in your favorite blanket sipping cocoa and watching Roseanne reruns? You can get nearly the same effect, minus the calories and eyestrain, from the fanciful sounds of What Laura Says Thinks and Feels…
Ever since Motion City Soundtrack frontman Justin Pierce announced his trepidation for what is to come on the insanely catchy “The Future Freaks Me Out,” from the Minneapolis fivesome’s 2003 debut, I Am the Movie (Epitaph), it’s been nearly impossible to deny the band’s infectious hooks. Combining the immediate likability…
Kajak — the sophomore long-player from namesake/frontman Benedikt H. Hermannsson’s Icelandic easy-listening band — may not be the textbook definition of a guilty indie pleasure, but it’s close. The lyrics aren’t in English; the cover art looks like it was designed by your 3-year old nephew; the musicianship’s a smidge…
Neither a critic’s band nor a super-popular radio sensation, Gary Lightbody’s Glasgow group was, once upon a time, just a struggling indie-rock outfit, more Belle & Sebastian insular than Coldplay make-out music. By the time their breakthrough record, Last Straw, finally got to the States in 2004, Snow Patrol had…
The hipster headquarters known as Glam, 3174 East Indian School Road, isn’t just a hotspot for seeing faux-hawked emo kids making out with chicks wearing American Apparel on a glowing, multicolored dance floor straight outta Saturday Night Fever. The joint’s like the world’s coolest jukebox come to life, with bomb-ass…
Thursday 12 Andersons: S.W.A.G. Thursdays with DJ Essence, DJ Astonish, & Bryce Breeze (hip-hop, reggae, R&B) Baja Tillys: DJ Adrian (old school, R&B, cumbia, reggaeton) Bikini Lounge: Sophisticated Boom Boom with DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro, R&B) Bobby Cs: Willy B. (old-school R&B) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom…
I am drunk, and I’m standing in the middle of a baseball field, dancing with Governor Janet Napolitano. No, this wasn’t a dream, although I have to admit I woke up the next morning and wondered, “Did that really happen?” But it did, and on the 4th of July. And…
We remember when “nightlife” at 40th Street and Indian School consisted of a run-down Taco Bell and a super-scummy dive bar. But now that the Arcadia neighborhood is suddenly sexy, there’s a little scene happening at The Vig that we decided to tap into on Saturday, July 7. (Click here…
Yes! Finally, Club Candids punked out on the weekend circuit and cruised to Covet Boutique in Scottsdale on Wednesday, June 27, for its in-store party. (Click here for more photos.) The spot was super chi-chi but with a hipster indie vibe. Kids sipped beer and super-tasty vodka lemonade while they…
In a time when the opportunity for unsigned musicians to jump-start careers via MySpace seems already to have come and gone, the steadily building success of Tempe’s Eyes Set To Kill is both encouraging and confounding. Since posting a profile on the ubiquitous Web site in March 2005, the band’s…
Becky Stark, frontwoman for psych-pop/indie-folk foursome Lavender Diamond, is on a mission for peace. “All of our concerts we open by saying something like, ‘Congratulations, everyone, for peace coming to planet Earth . . . let’s hear it for peace on Earth,’ and everyone always wants to applaud,” she says…
