Treats, the debut record by the Brooklyn boy-girl duo Sleigh Bells is one big sugar rush, a summertime explosion of electro pop that, by autumn, likely will reveal itself as just another guilty pleasure or, worse, just another indie band with more buzz than sting. The 11-song record is a…
The Vig in Arcadia has been a frequent card we’ve played when we’re deciding on a place to stop for a bite to eat and a tasty cocktail. So when we heard about the opening of the Vig Uptown, we were more than willing to check it out. The restaurant…
The kids who shop at Zia in Phoenix always manage to do a pretty good job of keeping on top of the latest hip hop and metal trends with a healthy dose of indie rock peppered in. This week is no exception. The Deftones top off their weekly charts, E-40…
Phoenix’s Lilith Fair concert was scrapped last week though the reason why still seems to be a mystery. Headliners The Go Go’s released a statement about the cancellation of the Phoenix Lilith Fair date announced Friday. The Arizona Republic has the press release, which sure seems like a cop out.”The…
Band: Ringo Jones Gang/Band, whichever one floats your boat.Title: The Vulture City Bank RobberyBasics: It appears I need to do a better job ascertaining the all important fact of You Asked For It — if a band is actually from Phoenix/Arizona. This week’s subjects, Ringo Jones Gang, is actually based…
The world is seriously so lucky to have Miley Cyrus as a role model for young girls.The popster recently released her latest single, “Can’t Be Tamed,” off her upcoming album of the same name, to be released June 22. From the song, we learn Cyrus goes “through guys like money,”…
If you’re the type to boycott circuses because of animal abuse or just think 10 clowns in one car is downright scary, here’s a big top event you can get behind: The Sunset Rider’s Rock and Roll Circus this Saturday, May 22 at The Sail Inn.The show won’t feature any…
Concept albums can be tricky. Get it just right and you’ll earn plenty of critical praise. Make it too complicated and your average listener may not get it. Of course, if you’re already in a successful band and you don’t want a forgettable record on your discography, your best bet…
The EDM impresarios and party promoters behind this weekend’s outdoor extravaganza The Big Event are charging anywhere from $25 to $65 for the privilege of attending (depending on when and where you buy admission). And believe us, it’s worth every damn penny. Described as the “Arizona’s largest dance music event,”…
The blues take a back seat on The Black Keys’ sixth record, Brothers, and the results are impressive. The two-man band from Akron, Ohio, has mostly dispensed with the dirty, garage-blues riffage that made them famous, turning to down-home glam before easing into a lonely soul vibe that finally gives…
Fart jokes. Nudity. Getting laid. Not getting laid. These were a few of the topics that often came up at Blink-182 shows and helped the band secure a place in the hearts of girls and boys everywhere. The “equal parts comedy and music” formula proved successful for the guys, helping…
Were these Tempe-based punkabilly legends simply whisked off the planet in 2005? Visit their flatheadaz.com Web site and you find nothing but dead links to six-year-old newspaper stories and a heartfelt plea from the band to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. (Coldly, they overlook that tragic business in Chicago…
A hard-knock life? Eh, not so much. In stark contrast to so many of his fellow Brooklyn-born MCs, Talib Kweli was raised by two university-professor parents and spent part of his childhood in a posh Connecticut boarding school. As such, matters of Afrocentric conscience, not urban street survival, informed his…
Farewell tours often end up an ongoing tease, giving fans a “we gotta see them now because we’ll never ever get to see them ever, ever, again” sense of panic and finality, only to have the “extended” farewell tour roll through town again a year later. Kiss has been saying…
Sundays in Tempe can be kind of a drag, but with Southwest Psycho’s new endeavor at the Big Fish Pub, anyone whose musical interests include the suffix “billy” has a new Sunday spot to see live music and shake a tail-feather. Cruise the slideshow to see for yourself…
Welcome to FemPop, a weekly feature that examines a current popular song and its message to women–whether that’s empowering or demeaning, or both.Oh, Katy Perry.It’s probably to be expected that the hottest woman alive, as named by Maxim magazine, would have a titillating new single, too, and the pop songstress…
Title: Vacation LocationBasics: Did you know there was an Arizona Parrothead Club? Well, now you do. I am sure every state has one, and Arizona’s is led by Sam L. Rainwater. At first glance at this album screams Parrothead, and the music sure as hell didn’t disappoint. There’s not much…
This flier might look old-fashioned, since the image is from a vintage cigarette advertisement for Tiplaet, but don’t think the show at Yucca Tap Room this Friday, May 14 will be fuddy-duddy. The bands on the bill, which include Mergence, Banana Gun, Honey Pistol, Sister Cities and Wizards of Time,…
¿Dónde está Dos Gringos? It certainly ain’t anywhere near ASU. At least not anymore, as the local chain of party-hard Mexican bars divested itself of its north Tempe location last year. The hacienda-like frat shack lives on, however, in the form of Trailer Park, 1001 East Eighth Street, with a…
Before there was JT “the ‘Dick in a Box’-endorsing Madonna-molester,” there was JT “the methadone-smooth folk-rock lothario.” And from almost the beginning, Carole King was there, too. Taylor first collaborated with singer-songwriter King on his breakthrough album, Sweet Baby James (1970), and her contributions to his career probably can’t be…
If LCD Soundsystem’s third record will indeed be the band’s last (as main man James Murphy has indicated), at least they’re going out on top. Not since New Order’s mid-’80s heyday has a band seamlessly fused dance music with rock music all the while reconciling an indie spirit with the…
The Besnard Lakes are more than a band whose name kind of looks like “Barenaked Ladies” if you look at it really fast. They’re also a four-piece from Montreal, centered on husband Jace Lasek (lead vocals and guitar) and wife Olga Goreas (vocals and bass). Yeah, a married Canadian couple…
