Singer-songwriter Torquil Campbell trades in opposites. With Canadian indie pop group Stars, he’s often at his most grandiloquent, as befits the band’s often sweeping, grandiose sound. With Memphis — a Canadian indie pop duo with longtime friend Chris Dumont — Campbell is subtle, as befits the combo’s more intimate jazz-tinged…
Title: WednesdayBasics: Billed as “funk-based blues and straight-ahead rock n’ roll,” Third and Maryland (TAM) play more blues than rock on their first full-length. The majority of the album is stripped-down, mellow rock with a few upbeat tracks bookending everything. This all leads to an unfortunately disjointed effort that feels…
Title: The Great Give & TakeBasics: Originally from Alamogordo, New Mexico, Gilbert’s Fat Tree are billed as a rock/funk/jam band. Nowhere in there, however, is the descriptor “painfully white,” because that’s what I can’t help but hear when I listen to this album — a bunch of white dudes trying…
Take a walk on a warm, sunny day through any college apartment complex near Arizona State University that houses Caucasian stoners (read: every college apartment complex near Arizona State University) and you’re guaranteed to hear someone blasting reggae. Chances are, a few Rebelution songs will be scattered in that playlist…
As much as she tries to out-weird herself, Lady Gaga can’t exactly be called original. When the singer — most recently chastised for ripping off Madonna — comes through town for a second Phoenix date on her Monster Ball Tour, don’t expect many surprises. The tour that never stops has…
Tribute bands are a dime a dozen, but few are on the level of The Pink Floyd Experience, headlining a venue only a little smaller than the one Roger Waters himself played a few months ago. Playing the songs of the psychedelic prog-rock mega-group requires an advanced level of observation…
In the late ’80s, sexual objectification of women in music was primarily limited to hair-metal bands and gangsta rappers. In other words, it was a “guy thing” (even if some of those guys wore lipstick and mascara). So imagine everyone’s surprise when Lords of Acid vocalist Jade 4U opened the…
Just like Charlie Sheen’s career, the residents of Fuse Fridays will never say die. They’ve endured both lineup changes and venue changes and are still coming back for more. Led by DJ Mara and Disko Da, the Fuse crew will make their re-debut on Friday, March 25, at their new…
All of the Westgate bars were bursting with St. Patrick’s Day festivities, but McFadden’s Irish décor made it the place to be. The bar was packed all night as guests were entertained by live music, jello wrestling, a bikini judging contest, and green beer that flowed like water. Some of…
Title: Street of Dreams & Ghetto CafeBasics: Detroit sent us both a 2-song Street of Dreams CD single, if you will, as well as Ghetto Cafe, a 6-song album/EP. The former is from 2010, the latter 2009. Detroit has quite a history in Phoenix – a quick bio on Last.fm…
Perhaps, your son or daughter yearns to become a professional whiner/lyricist. There is always the slimmest chance they’ll make it, but most people are kidding themselves. And then they turn out like America’s newest sweetheart, the young and oh-so-unlovable Rebecca Black.Black, 13, has managed to embarrass herself in front of…
The wait has been cruel — it’s been two-years-plus since we reviewed Jesus of Cool, Nick Lowe’s first solo album and the debut of a long overdue reissue series of the singer-songwriter’s catalog — but the re-release of Labour of Lust, Lowe’s second solo outing, is kind. Out of print…
In October 2007, Girl Talk performed as part of a liquor-company-sponsored event in Tempe Marketplace’s parking lot. Though Night Ripper had been out for more than a year, much of the audience was confused about it what it was witnessing. Since then, a lot has changed for Girl Talk’s Gregg…
With previous addresses in California and North Carolina (and a current one in Kansas), this emo/post-rock quintet has lived like hipster Gypsies — settling here, resettling there, uprooting always. Not coincidentally, The Appleseed Cast sounds like a little of everything. On “Steps and Numbers,” from their 2001 album Low Level…
Sharon Van Etten’s 2010 release, Epic, was a welcome change from her first self-released album, which had some great songs but suffered from being a starkly acoustic album from a singer-songwriter who obsessed over an unknown “you.” Epic is a fuller record from an artist whose growing confidence is also…
Hardcore punk bands started using the double kick drum breakdown nearly 20 years ago. It became one of the defining characteristics of the metalcore movement, which draws elements from death metal, post-hardcore, and emo. Over the years, metalcore has taken a more melodic approach, as vocal and guitar stylings have…
No other band on Earth presents music to their fans quite like Umphrey’s McGee. The progressive jam band recently announced its second annual UM Bowl in Chicago. The event is a one-of-a-kind concert in which fans, via live text-messaging, call the shots on song choices and special collaborations in four…
To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever correctly assigned blame for inspiring the squeaky-clean brand of second wave emo/pop-punk plied by bands like Fall Out Boy and Jimmy Eat World. I’ll start with FOB’s fellow Chicagoans The Smoking Popes. In the early ’90s, these lovesick suburbanites carried…
Let’s face it: Monday nights are downright dull. Not only are there four grueling days of work still ahead of, there’s also never anything good on the tube to help dull the pain. Thank heavens, then, for Tricky T, who’s helping turn Monday into a fun day again with his…
Title: Hard To Be HumanBasics: Billed as “the new project featuring members of Big Vinny and the Cattle Thieves, Digital Leather, Andrew Jackson Jihad, and The Half Empties,” The Plainfield Butchers have some impressive experience among their four members. Their debut record Hard To Be Human is a tight tour…
That includes upscale spot Primebar, which is where Club Candids visited this past weekend. Check out the pics from the experience in this week’s slideshow…
Want to hear the album but can’t wait an entire week? Well The Strokes have you covered — they are streaming Angles in its entirety via their website. The stream will continue right up until the album’s release, which is plainly visible via the website’s own countdown.Now you can finally hear…
