Putting a song over 10 minutes long on your debut full-length is masturbatory. Putting three songs that nearly hit the 10-minute mark on the record? That simply doesn’t work, because listeners don’t need much excuse to roll their eyes and shrug as they head off in more fashionable direction. (See:…
La Mala Rodriguez may have runway-model looks, but she sounds more likely to break a heel off in your ass than strike a pose for you. The Spanish rapper is renowned in the Latin hip-hop scene for spitting rhymes with the smoothness of Ladybug Mecca and the ferocity of Ol’…
“Two thousand eleven was kind of like, you know, indie rap’s first big year,” Los Angeles rapper Open Mike Eagle told Up on the Sun in April. “The things that were seen more as interesting — especially in terms of coverage of rap music — were, like, acts that are…
William Fucking Reed is apparently hell-bent on monopolizing the weekends of the Valley’s hipster crowd. He’s already the straw that stirs the drink during the exceedingly popular Friday-night mainstay Sticky Fingers, which draws trendy types by the hundreds to Bar Smith. And starting this weekend, Reed is launching another debaucherous…
Happy Independence Day, Up on the Sun readers. Check out our review of last night’s ’90s nostalgia-festival Summerland (featuring Gin Blossoms, Lit, Sugar Ray, Marcy’s Playground, and Everclear), then hit the pool, drink some cold American beers (or one of these), eat whatever the hell you want to eat, and…
Man, was it ever boiling this past weekend, even during the nighttime hours. Despite the fact that the punishing sun was nowhere to be seen, the sweltering temps stuck around and forced clubgoers and nightlife commandos scene to don a couple of extra layers of body spray to counteract the…
See also: FBI Report Officially Classifies Juggalos a Hybrid Gang; Arizona Boasts “Strong Juggalo Presence” See also: Seven Awesome Things About the Gathering of the Juggalos Last week we examined what the term “selling out” means in 2012, and concluded that it’s hard for bands to make money off the…
Dave Matthews Band announced yesterday that they’ll be dropping their new album, Away From the World, on September 11. Their highly anticipated follow-up to Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King will feature 11 new tracks.People aren’t shy about hating on DMB, but the band’s music isn’t just for frat boys…
The Men have never disguised their appreciation for what’s come before. The Brooklyn band’s 2011 effort, Leave Home, for instance, includes references, nods to, and swipes of some of rock ‘n’ roll’s more revered acts. But it’s always playful and cheeky — a borrowed song title or album name here,…
Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn are the real-deal female country music singers; no one else comes close. But within the modern country realm, look no further than native Texan Miranda Lambert, who easily could kick Taylor Swift’s pretty pop-country ass. Just glance at the cover of Lambert’s latest album, Four…
With their hair teased to the max, black leather outfits, spikes, and caked-on makeup, Phoenix-by-way-of-Florida duo Blood on the Dance Floor (comprising Dahvie Vanity and Jayy Von Monroe) is clearly the face of modern goth. But what could the term — abused for years by confused parents and teachers, currently…
In 1973, Jonathan Richman, then the lead singer and songwriter of a group called The Modern Lovers, wrote a letter to rock rag Creem after a record review that cited a lack of “masculine arrogance” in the music of The Four Seasons. “I always sigh when I hear ‘Candy Girl’ and ‘Marlena,'” Richman wrote…
Although DJ Tranzo doesn’t own a sonic screwdriver or bomb around in a TARDIS, the local mixmaster and scratch king is just as adept as Doctor Who at taking people on a trip through history. To wit: Every weekend at Oaxaca Saturdays, his turntables become a time machine as he…
Mill Avenue is pretty weird regularly, but it gets even weirder on Friday nights. The one-man bands, homeless folks, and gutter punks continue to hit people up for money, though the atmosphere transforms from casually dressed college students to scandalous gals dressed to impress…
There’s a great opportunity coming up to have one hell of a good time at the Trunk Space on Saturday, June 30. Skinny Shamans are gettin’ down at their CD release party for their new EP, Heartbreakers. Bogan Via, Boss Frog, Good Friends Great Enemies, MAN-CAT, and Mom Jeans will also be there to jam.”The…
See also: What Are the Ten Most “Spotified” Songs in Phoenix Last week, NPR blogger Emily White got a whole bunch of discussion started about how musical artists are and aren’t getting paid. (We chimed in, too, discussing music-streaming service Spotify.) If White’s thought — that my peers and I…
There’s always been a connection between horror flicks and heavy metal, so it comes as sort of a surprise that it’s taken Corey Taylor and Shawn M. Crahan of Slipknot this long to start a Living Breathing Films, a film and television production company aimed at creating “psychological dramas.” The…
See also: Roll Acosta Teams With John Vanderslice For This Dreamt Existence We’re diggin’ the simple elegance of the rolling tape on this Roll Acosta flier…See what they did there? Like we’re digging the simplicity of this flier, we’re digging the band’s new record, This Dreamt Existence (we described the…
Welcome to Radio Roundup, a new series in which we’ll occasionally check in with the ever-shifting world of the Phoenix radio (FM, AM, Internet). Read on for June’s news regarding changes at My Phoenix Music 1039 (goodbye, Dave Pratt; hello, Monti Carlo), Magic City Radio on Power 98.3, and why…
See also: Eclecticism is The Elephant in the Room by Banana Gun When I sat down over rounds of Stella Artois to talk about the new Banana Gun album The Elephant In the Room, with Kevin Loyd, Kyle Scarborough, Ian Breslin, Nic Dehaan, and Ross Troost, there were some stories…
In the realm of alternative rock, metal mostly had been regarded as a distant fascination, a weird, drunk cousin from a red state. Nineties bands like Testament and Melvins appealed to heshers and hipster slackers alike. Today, however, the genre is so expansive and unpredictable that it’s no longer solely…
There’s something to be said for going with what you know, but wouldn’t you rather watch artists take some risks? If your answer to that one is “yes,” attending a Quintron & Miss Pussycat show should be a no-brainer. The New Orleans duo consistently has been one of the more…
