Title: Get a RoomBasics: Who wants a dose of fun, lighthearted countrified rock music? Yeah, me either. “But this is Arizona, every other local band plays some sort of tame rock music with a country influence,” you say. I know, I know — it’s inevitable to the point that mocking…
It doesn’t matter how hot Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias is–in his song “I Like It,” he proves he’s also a douche.His girlfriend Anna Kournikova better watch out, because he starts the song singing, “Girl, please excuse me if I’m coming on too strong, but tonight is the night we can…
This flier pretty much speaks for itself–but it’s still really bad-arse. Seriously, how many fliers do you see these days with random goopy creatures coming out of sludge-filled ravines? Not many.The lovely piece of art was created by Mantooth Group promoter Michelle Donovan, who admits she took the most literal…
You can always count on Kimber Lanning and the good people at Stinkweeds Records to be ultra supportive of local bands. So are the customers who shop there.it’s always a nice treat to see homegrown kids chart on a record store’s top ten list of what’s selling for the week…
Jeremy Kittel is a young, fairly attractive young man who plays violin. Now, before your mind is cluttered with images of Andrew Birds, Owen Palletts, and Tobie Milfords, let’s get this straight: Kittel doesn’t play indie violin-folk, he plays classically minded jazz, bluegrass, and Celtic music. When he does veer…
Things have been fairly quiet on the Pinback front since the math-y, emo-rooted San Diego indie-pop outfit led by Rob Crow and Zach Smith finished the short touring cycle behind their last album, 2007’s widely acclaimed Autumn of the Seraphs. Crow’s been away from Pinback, doing the semi-jokey doom-metal thing…
Most of the free world — including Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, we hear — would probably love to see Robert Plant move past his recent O Brother, Where Art Thou? phase and get on with a full-scale reunion of (what’s left of) Led Zeppelin. No dice. Ol’ Bob…
Jersey Shore’s offspring, Jerseylicious and Jersey Couture, are two trashy reality TV shows giving the Garden State a bad name right now. But not all things Jersey are as nauseating as the sight of Snooki without makeup. Take The Gaslight Anthem, for example. The ’59 Sound, the New Brunswick quartet’s…
Hidden amongst the dozens of rock, punk, and hardcore bands that DJ Johnny Volume cites on his MySpace page as musical influences are many of country music’s greatest rebels. There’s David Allan Coe (of course), not to mention Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and all three generations of Hank…
Thrice walk a fine line. Though their sound is raw, and leans toward the heavier side of alternative rock, their lyrics are more philosophical than those of the average rock band. Well, maybe “religious” is the better word. Though it’s not entirely clear what the distinction is between “Christian music”…
Sometimes the best time and place to dance will surprise you. More often than you’d expect, a Thursday night at Tempe’s Yucca Tap Room is a way better time to “get down” than a Friday night at [insert any typical dance club here], thanks to the killer DJs and zealous…
Artist: The trickily named .listen.Album: A CD-R containing one song from .listen’s future album Atomic Sunrise, “Defiance,” was all that was submitted.Basics: .listen is a young man named Eric who moved from Vermont to Scottsdale and has been a MySpace member since April 5. .listen is billed simply as such: With…
Hoodlums has been the indie-rock home for ASU kids for many years. This week, the kids are branching out a little bit. While there are no great surprises in Hoodlums’ top 10 list of bestsellers, classic rocker Tom Petty comes in at number one, and the Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne,…
Leave it to Justin Bieber to make a gentleman out of Usher.Usher, a player notorious for demanding threesomes and using big boobies as criteria for hooking up, actually sounds sweet on the track featuring him and The Biebs, “Somebody to Love,” which is all about commitment and showing a special…
This flier is not exactly the most uplifting image to look at before going to a rock show. A man is getting his flesh burned off in what appears to be a very toxic substance, revealing nothing but bones under the liquid. Perhaps the poster’s a warning to people, that…
Elizabeth Quintanilla (a.k.a. DJ Alkemé) prefers her jams to be sexy and slow. We’re talking seductive joints like Sade’s “The Moon and the Sky,” John Legend’s “No Other Love,” or even Estelle’s “Come Over.” The kind of torrid tracks that provide a sultry slow burn and are sure to heat…
Guitar Shorty is in his 70s, yet the bluesman can still rock a mean blues guitar better than most youngsters. Shorty has been in the music industry for five decades, breaking into the business as a fixture in Ray Charles’ band after working as an auto mechanic. He’s also worked…
Not so long ago, Kings of Leon and Built to Spill inhabited the same college radio territory, with Kings of Leon the plucky up-and-comers and Built to Spill the wily veterans. We all know what happened next — the youngsters got haircuts and became international megastars, and the senior band…
Kepi Ghoulie’s bottomless servings of sugary sweet musical candy make him the ultimate pop-punk confectioner. Though he hails from Sacramento, California — hours north of pop-punk’s ground zero — he shares a kinship with such SoCal progenitors as Descendents, Redd Kross, and The Vandals. He got his start in the…
A decade after O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the word “Americana” is about as specific as “beer.” Portland combo The Beautiful Train Wrecks take advantage of the loose boundaries, working from lonesome pedal steel and loping trad-country twang to heartland roots rock with a pop sensibility reminiscent of Counting Crows…
Drake has player written all over him.The 23-year-old rapper’s sexy as hell, he’s good friends with lady lover Lil Wayne, and he’s young and one of the brightest stars in the music industry today–the perfect formula for getting with as many ladies as he wants, whenever.But the second single off…
Artist: Mill’s EndTitle: Mill’s End, the band’s self-titled, debut EP.Basics: Billed as a band that “carries on a tradition of American Alt-Country that blends modern influences with folk/Americana songwriting,” Mill’s End’s sound is “firmly rooted in a style reflective of Drive By Truckers, Whiskeytown, the Jayhawks and the Old 97’s,…
