Naming no names, but after listening to an album by a certain “alt-bluegrass” combo, a mini-epiphany alighted: Why listen to a half-assed, smug-hipster version of bluegrass when the real thing — Ralph Stanley, Gibson Brothers, even Alison Krauss — is available? Listening to the Avett Brothers posed a similar argument…
Before punk rock worked its way onto the airwaves via pop-infused bands who paid more for a single pair of pants than all four Ramones spent on their entire wardrobes, diehard fans of the genre could be downright scary — volatile creatures with safety pins through their noses who used…
After scoring a couple of songs on TV shows like Smallville and One Tree Hill (and briefly frolicking with Mandy Moore), one would think Greg Laswell might be a pretty cheerful guy. But this San Diego singer-songwriter’s latest six-song EP, How the Day Sounds, is dripping with melancholy and tension…
Ode to the Ghetto is Guilty Simpson’s debut LP, but independent hip-hop heads will be familiar with the cocksure delivery from this Detroit-raised affiliate of the late J Dilla. Check “Clap Your Hands” from the Chrome Children comp for an airtight testimony of a guest spots-heavy résumé, or even beatmaker/emcee…
Times New Viking takes a cue from fellow Ohioans Guided by Voices, recording its fuzzy indie rock under a thick gauze of guitar noise. There’s little to no production on the feedback-soaked Rip It Off, which includes zero bottom end to balance out the meter-tipping squall. It’s an inspired move…
While musicians who play “old time” music tend to be reverent toward bygone traditions, reverence is just about the last thing the Asylum Street Spankers have on their minds. An almost entirely acoustic ensemble that revisits old-timey forms and updates (read: skewers) them with a modern twist, the Spankers come…
Punk Bunny peddles smutty, slutty, über-cheesy ear candy that sticks to orifices like a pink feather boa on a fresh fly strip. But the Hollywood trio’s throbbing love songs about blowjobs, prostitution, and mustache rides are too silly to sicken — their odes to oral joy would fall in the…
There are some sort of natural bridges among prog rock, thrash and heavy metal, and grunge, and Phoenix trio Sectas attempts to cross them. The band’s latest album, Voices of the Damaged, manages to mix disparate elements from each genre and still sound cohesive. From the prog-rock world, we have…
Your social schedule for this weekend is looking quite barren, and the probability of you scoring with that hottie from that costume party is running about 2:1 against. But don’t panic! There’s still a possibility of having a really hoopy time on Saturday, March 22, at The DJ’s Guide to…
When we hear The Lisps — the sassy sound of wind blowing through a melodica, the jangly gypsy guitars, the coed vocal harmonies sung with the speed of auctioneers — we can see a caravan in our mind’s eye, trekking across some unsettled plane at dusk, on its way to…
We love Art Detour weekend. Not only does it bring out the best of downtown, but it’s also one event we can cover that doesn’t result in a hangover the next morning. On Friday, March 7, the weekend kicked off with an evening tour of the galleries. And while there…
“We can talk about anything you want, long as you’re naked.” — Congressman David Dilbeck (Burt Reynolds) in the 1996 movie Striptease Striptease is a terrible movie. And there are, without a doubt, a lot of terrible strip clubs. But why is it that we feel we can say anything…
In a world, as Elvis Costello recently described it, full of noisy things, it takes a lot of perseverance and guts to be quiet. If Ceilings, the Equal Vision debut album from local four-piece Alive In Wild Paint is any indication, the band is on a mission to spread tranquility…
Despite An Abstract Love Story’s playfully ribald themes, orgasmic vocal snippets, and big-person talk of wine and toking cabbage, one just can’t shake a rather juvenile image: that indecisive protagonist from childhood cartoons, the voices of heavenly reason and deviltry whispering in each of his ears. On one shoulder there’s…
It goes without saying that Sepultura’s indelible impact on metal hinged on the chemistry between the band’s sibling co-founders, Max and Igor Cavalera. But despite the buzz surrounding their reunion, Inflikted (the pair’s first collaboration in more than 10 years) sounds more like the product of a weekend spent jamming…
Sheryl Crow is back to her old self after the fiasco that was 2005’s Wildflower. By renewing her partnership with Bill Bottrell (who produced her first CD in 1993), she comes up with a selection of infectious pop tunes reminiscent of her earliest efforts. “Gasoline” and “Love Is Free?” have…
In the beginning (i.e., 1978), the music gods created The Beat. And verily, the firmament known as Birmingham, England, brought forth a mighty 2-tone ska revivalist group, infused with sped-up reggae beats and poppy dancehall sounds and fronted by co-vocalists Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger. And it was good. Their…
Everybody together now: Anoint my phallus with the blood of the FALLEN!! With that quaint little sing-along, South Carolina death metal institution Nile takes cock rock to an all new level. Potential latent menstruation envy aside, you gotta give Nile leader Karl Sanders credit for sticking to his, uh …
Last time we checked, the Scandinavian cognoscenti don’t dole out Nobel Prizes for genius DJs. But if they did (and Lord knows they should), we’re sure DJ Nos would get such an honor. Why, pray tell? Simply because the cat brained up the brilliant idea of pairing bangin’ beats with…
The East Valley beckoned once again for a Saturday-night gallivant. This time, we poked around in Old Town and slid into Pattie’s 1st Avenue Lounge to drink a few rounds with the locals.(Click here for more photos.) Things started to fire up around 10, evidence that the place is a…
In the past five or 10 years, indie rock’s subgenres have been multiplying like bacteria. Dream pop, shoegaze, sadcore, slowcore . . . one has to be a scholar to keep them straight. Ida deserves a tag all its own — “minimalist folk” or “quietcore folk-rock.” We can’t comment on…
Lenny Kravitz hates it when critics call him retro, contending that love, revolution, and smooching should belong to every generation. But the problem with Kravitz’s new album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution, is not just its bland message; it’s that it rips off artists like David Bowie, Led…
