Jane’s Addiction fans reached for the Zeppelin, and Strokes fans uncovered the Velvet Underground. All’s well in geekdom. But now El Paso, Texas, outfit the Mars Volta returns with a second full-length, challenging indie rawkers to reference their . . . King Crimson and Yes albums?!? Frances the Mute is…
Love — as Pat Benatar sagely noted — is a battlefield, and on the remarkable third album from Montreal indie-rock collective Stars, the bullets have been spent, the mines exploded, and all one can do in the aftermath of romance gone awry is somehow find a way to survive a…
Woe to hip-hop. Sometime in the past year, mainstream MCs became so venal that you don’t so much listen to them as vicariously experience their bloat of self-importance. Meanwhile, a once-hot underground got colonized just enough to lose its thunder, blurring the line to the point that DJ Hi-Tek and…
Sometimes, the early band on the bill is the one worth your dollars. Last year, when that glorified ’80s tribute band The Killers rode the success of their debut record, Ambulance Ltd. opened for them, promoting a far superior rookie effort. Without a sexy marketing hook to guide them, these…
If you think this is a reunion of the U.K. Mono-monikered band that won trip-hop infamy with Formica Blues in the ’90s, forget it. But don’t expect to be disappointed — this altogether different Mono is an instrumental band from Tokyo that’s heavily influenced by Mogwai and Godspeed. And who…
1. Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams (Universal) 2. The Mars Volta, Frances the Mute (Universal) 3. 50 Cent, The Massacre (Aftermath) 4. Death Cab for Cutie, The John Byrd EP (Barsuk Records) 5. Living Legends, Classic (Legendary Music) 6. RZA and Keb Darge, Kings of Funk (Rapster) 7. Gratitude, Gratitude…
With its previous albums, Thievery Corporation’s adoration for the cocktail lounge could wear thin. But The Cosmic Game embraces a broader song-based collection, buoyed by outside vocalists both familiar and exotic. And Rob Garza and Eric Hilton make the most of their A-list guests. “Marching the Hate Machines (Into the…
Back with thicker bounce and deeper funk than 2003’s brittle Bazooka Tooth, NYC MC Aesop Rock takes a step toward his musical origins while backpacking ever closer to the perfect flow. Rock’s loopy, wide-mouth baritone is easily one of the most recognizable voices in hip-hop, and its near-manic intensity is…
By calling itself Robbers on High Street, this Brooklyn band dares you to guess its influences, and many of them are fairly obvious. There’s snarling guitar reminiscent of the Kinks, vocal harmonies inspired by the Beatles, and a lead singer who could double for the Zombies’ crooner Colin Blunstone. What’s…
On its third studio album, Daft Punk lays on the irony as thickly as the distortion. Ditching the glittery nouveau-disco textures of 2001’s Discovery, the French duo renovates the gnarly crusts of tweaked noise that animated the best cuts on its debut disc, Homework. They loop absurdly rudimentary synth riffs…
As befits a band that’s a teen-culture purist’s dream, Ash spent part of the four years since its last album producing its own horror movie. Innocent of all things emo or artsy on its new album Meltdown, Tim Wheeler’s Belfast quartet rips through glam-casual anthems about clones, vampires and breath-stealing…
The Rogue, south Scottsdale’s infamous punk rock bar, isn’t normally the sort of place you’re likely to see people bustin’ out dance moves. But lately it’s been known to happen, according to DJ William, host of the almost-two-months-old Shake! night on Saturdays. “It’s not really a dance night, but people…
Shooter is the son of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, and knows expectations can scuttle a career before it starts. Sound too much like dad and you’re a sellout; sound too different and you’re being ornery. Shooter left Nashville for Los Angeles, hoping to avoid the inevitable comparisons, and put…
Kasabian is scheduled to perform with The Music, and Morningwood, on Tuesday, March 15, at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe.
Ben Nichols was a child of punk, inducted as a youth into the underground world of VFW halls, basement shows and illegal public park performances rife with underage drinking. When he started Lucero after moving to Memphis, it was something of a lark to cheese off his old punk cronies…
This Northwestern quintet plays jagged post-punk with a dash of goth verve (thanks to keyboards and singer Andrea Zollo), sounding like Siouxsie Sue fronting Fugazi. Formed with ex-Murder City Devils bassist Derek Fudesco shortly after that act’s demise in 2001, Pretty Girls has put out two full-lengths, progressing from West…
Awrite, Alex Kapranos frae Franz Ferdinand here. Since ye can’t gie pest one article abit our friends an’ occasional toormates frae th’ U.K., The Futureheads, withit some loon “joornalist” comparin’ or relatin’ them tae mah bain, Franz Ferdinand, ah thoot I’d jist sae ‘a fook th’ trooble an’ shaw up…
Imagining next year’s alt-rock “Class of ’96” reunion . . . “Look over there,” says Duncan Sheik to Tracy Bonham. “It’s the singer from Dishwalla!” “Wow,” Bonham replies. “Instead of ‘Counting Blue Cars,’ I hear he’s washing blue cars these days.” “Oh, you are so terrible,” Sheik says, laughing. “Hey,…
If Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me didn’t steer you (no pun intended) away from the McDonald’s drive-through, listening to vegetarian grindcore warriors Cattle Decapitation’s “Lips & Assholes” as you’re about to pull up to order that Big Mac just might: “The juice off the floor becomes an additive/A…
This Michigan quintet sounds like the orphaned children of several genres, mixing supple post-punk, a distortion-drenched wall of guitar riffing, and indie rock melodicism in a gumbo of dynamics and aggression. There are echoes of emo in the band’s ’90s alt-rock influences; some tracks stumble forward, limping with obvious pain…
If you wonder why former Clive Davis wonderchild Whitney Houston is such a mess these days, look no further than current Clive Davis wonderchild Alicia Keys, who has not only excellent pipes but jaw-dropping songwriting skills that she’s been showcasing since age 14. Without the vocal conceit a diva like…
1. 50 Cent, The Massacre (Aftermath) 2. Mars Volta, Frances the Mute (Universal) 3. Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams (Universal) 4. Judas Priest, Angel of Retribution (Sony) 5. Green Day, American Idiot (Warner Bros.) 6. Norma Jean, O God the Aftermath (Tooth & Nail) 7. The Game, The Documentary (Aftermath)…
