Heavy, aggressive, and sludgy, local boulder-crushing band Destruction Unit tears through some steady-rocking Germanic grooves. Ryan Rousseau (guitar, vocals, synths) heads up the gang; his bassist brother Rusty, guitarists J.S. Aurelius and Nick Nappa, and drummer Justin Keefer round out the five-piece. Freshly back from SXSW, including a well-received set…
There’s nothing stately about Mariah DeRaet. She’s an unassuming character offstage, a 25-year-old barista with a warm demeanor that could belong to any college-aged girl next door. Yet when she straps on a parlor-sized Martin acoustic as the vocalist of Tempe’s Avery, she and her band (drummer Eric Estrada, guitarist…
Gangbangin’ doesn’t excite Brotha Lynch Hung anymore, nor does the topic of his cult following, one that’s grown exponentially throughout his 27-year career. At 42, the seminal Californian rapper lights up when talking about his upcoming barbecue cookbook or the screenplays he’s working on. But make no mistake — Lynch,…
For as long as metal has been around, people have associated the sound with “The Devil” and “Satanism.” Locally, it’s slim pickins’ finding an actual Satanic metal band to chat with. I’m not talking “dressed in black” here; I’m talking blood-guzzling, church-burning, javelina-murdering dudes donning corpse paint with greasy long…
Now that Ultra Music Festival has passed, the next stop festival-wise is Electric Daisy Carnival. There’s nothing like the sights: people in neon green, yellow, pink, and orange tutus running around; spirit hoods that look like animal heads, beaded bracelets that cover forearms, sparkling bras, fuzzy boots, goofy glasses, and…
There are an estimated 300 Grateful Dead tribute bands (by one website’s account), including the Tempe-based Xtra Ticket. But of all those bands, only Dark Star Orchestra actually play the Dead. Let us be a little clearer. DSO picks a Grateful Dead show from a list of thousands spanning the…
Some guys have all the luck, not to mention effloads of talent to boot. Steven Chung is one of those guys. Things have been extra rosy for the 32-year-old Scottsdale nightclub veteran and house music guru, who performs as both DJ Tranzit and his darker alter ego Juheun, including inking…
American Juggalo ScreengrabBy Paul T. Bradley For those among you who are “down” and perhaps for those who are not, you know that much brouhaha was made by the FBI’s inclusion of Juggalos — ie fans of Insane Clown Posse — in their 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment. This, of…
It took three whole years for Stellacutta to finish its self-titled debut album, which finally saw the sweet monitor glow of their Bandcamp page in January. The record is a pristine showcase of the Tempe outfit’s bombastic, jazz-inflected indie rock — the melodic heights reached within it show that the…
You want depressing? Try this: Bobby Brown on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club. In healthier, happier times, Brown wouldn’t have come within 50 feet of VH1, cable television’s premier clearinghouse for vanity reality shows. But Brown isn’t what he used to be. He’s no longer a suave, stealthy playa with the…
Golden, Colorado, features a bar called the Buffalo Rose. Bands are flanked on stage by stuffed standing polar and black bears. The walls are lined with animal heads. About 200 people squeeze inside. It’s where once-popular top-selling, stadium-filling bands go to die. Soul Asylum hasn’t yet played there, but the…
Sacramento, California-based hip-hop duo Blackalicious has released three full-length records in the two decades it’s been in action: 1999’s Nia, 2002’s Blazing Arrow, and 2005’s The Craft. But don’t dismiss Gift of Gab (Timothy Parker) and DJ/producer Chief Xcel (Xavier Mosley ) as slackers. Though they might not appear to…
Mammoth, Arizona-based Al Foul’s website proudly proclaims the rockabilly singer as the “One, the Only Al Foul.” It’s more than just an accurate boast: The duder performs solo, snarling over a fat Gretsch guitar and stomping on a bass drum. But his songs aren’t rowdy BBQ Show/Bob Log-style tirades. No,…
Some guys have all the luck, and Steven Chung is one of them. Things have been rosy, to say the least, for the Scottsdale house music guru who performs as DJ Tranzit. When EDM superstar Bad Boy Bill swung through the Valley recently, it wasn’t just to perform at Axis/Radius…
Max Cavalera of Soulfly is a very mellow speaker. His Brazilian accent is thick, and there’s a lilting quality to the way he punctuates his sentences with phrases like “You know?” or “It’s killer, man.” He’s buzzing about a lake house in unincorporated Phoenix, a second home in addition to…
Up on the Sun has learned that Norteño soul guitarist Eddie Dimas, author of the classic Latin instrumental “El Mosquito,” passed away March 8 of natural causes. Dimas was 65. See also: -100 Years of Music That Defined Arizona…
Nineties nostalgia — with its grungy flannel shirts, giant Gameboys, and crunchy guitars — is upon us. The next “remember the days” wave will undoubtedly be for the late ’90s/early 2000s, when nu-metal first took hold of the radio dial (it’s held on ever since). So expect Coal Chamber, Sevendust,…
From Up on the Sun’s “Fire Marshall Beck” rant in 2007 to praise of his project Staren Black in 2010, the relationship between the New Times and local metal figure Marshall “Fucking” Beck has always been, um, “complicated.” Certain members of the New Times staff — past and present –…
You can’t go wrong with a healthy dose of Anthrax in the morning. At least, that’s what I thought as I listened to their new EP Anthems, released on Tuesday, March 19. Add that to the fact that these thrash metal legends are coming through town this Sunday on the…
Once again, it’s a sort of apprenticeship with Woody Guthrie that’s drawn Billy Bragg into a new realm. Thirty years since his debut, the seven-song Life’s a Riot with Spy Vs Spy, Bragg is back with a new album, Tooth & Nail, out this week on Cooking Vinyl. Bragg calls…
“I’m a writer, not a rapper,” Masta Killa brags on “R U Listening,” one of the standout songs from his latest, Selling My Soul. It’s a tricky distinction to make, of course, but Killa has a solid case. Though none of his fellow Wu-Tang Clan brethren are lyrical slouches, Killa…
A lot has changed for Flyleaf since we first heard Lacey Sturm’s throat-shredding bellows on the band’s breakout hit, “I’m So Sick,” in 2005. The most notable is that she no longer is the band’s singer, having stepped down in October, a week before the band’s latest album, New Horizons,…
