Everyone is aware you’re all hopped up because Neutral Milk Hotel is reuniting for the first time since Jesus fed the 5,000 and because Boards of Canada will have a new album for the first time since Hatshepsut constructed the Temple of Karnak. But before you pee your pants a…
Few bands mix God and rock ‘n’ roll like Switchfoot, who hit the mainstream with the anthemic “Meant to Live” a decade ago. Their ninth album, Fading West, is due out in June, but their previous album, 2011’s Vice Verses, offered further evidence that Jon Foreman is one of today’s…
In 2013, we’ve reached the point where Beatles tribute bands should, given the time that’s elapsed, have some of their own tribute bands by now. 1964 the Tribute — that’s their name — has been re-creating the British Invasion-era Beatles since 1984, which means they’re now coming up on a…
The stickiness is back and it’s spreading. About six months after he pulled the plug on his ultra-popular DJ/dance event Sticky Fingers, William Fucking Reed has resurrected the event and given it a reboot of sorts, renaming it Sticky Fingers Mobile Disco. Instead of staging the shindig (self-described as a…
If you’ve been reading this whiskey-drenched, devil-horn-throwing column every week for more than a year, here’s a little thank-you flashback to the beginning. In one of the first Metal Mondays installments, I talked about the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles — basically the heavy metal Grammys. I couldn’t…
Miss Krystle has no problem holding her own on stage, thanks to operatic vocal chops and bright red hair that’s as fiery as her personality. But the former beauty pageant queen turned local YouTube sensation vows audience members will keep all eyes on her five-member backing band of local musicians…
It’s easy to wonder why some bands continue to perform at all. Just look at all the formerly larger-than-life acts now relegated to the casino circuit. Ratt isn’t part of the casino circuit, but they once were larger than life. Essentially defunct by 2000, Ratt re-emerged in 2010 with original…
Metal act Mushroomhead is rarely mentioned in the mainstream music media, and if it is mentioned, it’s usually because it’s being compared to Slipknot. Not that the comparisons don’t make sense — both bands are similar-sounding seven-piece groups in creepy masks. Except Mushroomhead has been around since 1993 (Slipknot was…
Eating Mexican food and getting drunk on tequila is so much more fun when there’s good music. And on this Cinco de Mayo, the Rhythm Room is the place to be if you’re 21 or older and want high-quality local tunes while you’re sipping margaritas. More than 10 Rhythm Room…
The enormous wave pool at Tempe’s Big Surf hosted more than just doggy paddles and belly flops during Wet Electric this past week. It was a giant twerkin, Harlem Shakin’ mass as local EDM fans raved, raged, and unleashed incalculable amounts of fist-pumps and ass-bumps in the shallow water while…
It’s about time someone finally brought heavy metal and sex toys — a match made in heaven — together in one package. And Swedish heavy metallers Ghost (also known as Ghost B.C.) was just the band to do it. Known for their eccentric on-stage presence — five of the members…
When I heard Zakk Wylde was coming to town, I immediately assumed it was by way of Black Label Society. I couldn’t wait to see his guitar prowess once again — including his wonderful dedication to the pinch harmonic — and his hits from more than two-dozen albums spanning almost…
Earlier this month, Gwar and Warbeast kicked off a tour and brought down the house at Tucson’s Rialto Theatre. But the thrash metal gods, lo and behold, have forsaken us here in Phoenix, and the tour didn’t come our way. Hell, the duo is even going through spots like Des…
Old-fashioned common sense dictates that you don’t want to get electricity-powered equipment near a body of water, much less a swimming pool. The newly opened Maya Day & Nightclub, 7333 East Indian Plaza in Scottsdale, flips the script on that particular notion, as its does with a few others. The…
The best way to encapsulate the sound of the early-’80s punk squalor collected on legendary Chicago indie label Touch and Go is with a lot of Home Depot imagery: buzzsaw guitars, hammering drums, sandpaper shrieks. Toronto post-hardcore contractors Metz would have been right at home there. Metz’s self-titled full-length channels…
Paramore is looking lighter these days. Since the band released its most recent album almost four years ago, it lost founding members Josh and Zac Farro. The experience is documented on Paramore’s newly released self-titled disc, which contains several songs about singer Hayley Williams’ feelings about a split the brothers…
Alkaline Trio has appealed to the pop-punk-loving masses for nearly two decades now by finding the midpoint between the macabre themes of The Damned or The Misfits and the hopeless-romanticism of bands like Saves the Day and New Found Glory. Tales of love and woe are what attract many female…
You’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but fuggit, man — you can go ahead and judge Fu Manchu by its album covers. It’s all there: launching dune buggies, UFOs, shredding skateboarders, babes in bikinis, hot rods, vans. It’s not rocket science; it’s simply Southern California rock…
Ryan Avery, wearing a safari hat, ran around with a megaphone. JRC turned on a record player and asked the crowd to arrange themselves from shortest to tallest. Then he grabbed random people, spun them around three times, put a cardboard box over their heads, and had them hit a…
Lots of artists stand out for designing some kick-ass metal covers — like the recently deceased Storm Thorgerson, for example, who lent his art to everyone from Led Zeppelin to Black Sabbath over the course of 30 years. But when it comes to weaving together the heavy metal standard of…
The annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California is attended by thousands of music lovers who pilgrimage to the mountains each year for their fill of live performances from emerging and established acts, including Grimes, the Wu-Tang Clan, and Local Natives. The Real Coachella is a local music…
Record Store Day, the annual event in which stores put out their best inventory, dorks jostle for those elusive RSD exclusive releases, and everybody throws down a nice all-day party, is back again. There are plenty of festivities at all the Valley independent retailers, and, hey, maybe this year you’ll…
