The biggest no-one-saw-it-coming success in music in recent years has to be the multiplatinum O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. Since then, head-scratching record execs have been trying to divine the magic that made that high-lonesome collection such a smash among baby boomers. The latest attempt to recapture that magic…
Page Hamilton’s first big break came in 1992, when his band Helmet’s sophomore album, Meantime, went gold and set the template for ’90s punk-metal. The front man’s second big break happened this past August, when he shattered his collarbone after smashing into a tree while mountain biking in Oregon, thereby…
1. Jimmy Eat World, Futures (Interscope) 2. Usher, Confessions (La Face) 3. Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American (DreamWorks) 4. Mos Def, New Danger (Geffen) 5. Blood Brothers, Crimes (V2./Bmg) 6. Elliott Smith, From a Basement on the Hill (Anti) 7. The Used, In Love & Death (Warner Bros.) 8. Korn,…
So Carrie wasn’t quite in the ’80s (1976, to be precise), but we still think that’ll be our costume inspiration for Hot Pink’s second annual Halloween party this Friday night, October 29. After all, the theme is “’80s Prom Gone Bad,” and Carrie’s prom was about as bad as they…
Unlike most of nü wave’s hottest acts — who endlessly parrot the notion that they just play what they play, without regard for what’s going on outside their heads — England’s Futureheads display a welcome familiarity with the hopped-up rock scene swirling around them. The 15 tunes on their self-titled…
“I don’t want to grow up,” spat Milo Aukerman, singer for pop-punk trailblazers the Descendents, nearly 20 years ago. Now two of their descendants — Good Charlotte and Sum 41 — are doing just that after coming out of the gates as snotty, Hot Topic-ed kiddy-punkers. Peep Good Charlotte’s new…
On the eve of his album’s release — 10 hours, 45 minutes and counting until the unveiling of SMiLE, the fabled lost Beach Boys album a worldwide cult of fans has been waiting some 37 years to hear completed — Brian Wilson is on the phone, calling up journalists to…
Luna front man Dean Wareham is the musical equivalent of one of those old chaps you see at county fairs presiding over an arts-and-crafts booth surrounded by dozens of handcrafted pepper grinders that look identical save for a different wild animal head atop each one. Rendezvous is the New York…
“We are the Sciannas/We drink beer instead of wine/We are the Sciannas/We wear suits and ties.” Any band that pens its own theme song is begging to have its own cartoon series with corresponding lunch box. And the Sciannas don’t disappoint — the band’s theme is a melodic doppelgänger to…
It wasn’t just sharp, tailored suits and leather gun holsters that set Interpol apart from its New York peers back in 2002, when the return-of-the-rock retro frenzy was at fever pitch. For one thing, singer/guitarist Paul Banks’ eerie channeling of the late Ian Curtis was startling enough to put a…
Like a bastard little brother, Megadeth has lurked in the shadow of the band singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine helped found in the early ’80s. Both Metallica and Megadeth have experienced great success, but while Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, et al., became a multiplatinum megalith whose songs are played during baseball games,…
One of indie rock’s most enjoyable new bands, Rilo Kiley’s led by former child actors Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis — though it’s the latter’s sexy singing and thoughtful lyricism that truly elevates the band. Saddle Creek released 2002’s The Execution of All Things, a stunning album that mixed country…
This just in: Travis Morrison is teaming up with Sonic Youth, the Flaming Lips, and Liz Phair for the “Pitchfork Hates Us!” tour. Okay, not really, but Mr. Morrison did just join the elite circle of artists who’ve earned a coveted “0.0” album review from that online arbiter of all…
Drummer Scott Phillips doesn’t seem to shed a tear over his former band, Creed, being finished now that he and Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti, ousted Creed bassist Brian Marshall, and ex-Mayfield Four frontman Myles Kennedy are starting anew as Alter Bridge. He relishes the new democratic songwriting process and even…
When we first saw a club night called Inferno, we thought perhaps our nightlife columnists Kreme and Jett were moonlighting on us, perhaps hosting a lesbian all-you-can-eat buffet dance party. But damn, no such luck. Instead, Inferno (at Anderson’s Fifth Estate on Friday nights) is a backwash of underground ’80s…
Men who treat their women badly, beware: W.C. Clark could steal your woman. He made a whole CD called Deep In The Heart — rich with Memphis soul, Texas blues, and contemporary R&B — seemingly dedicated to that task. “Her husband had his chances /he didn’t treat her right/instead of…
Does anyone remember any of those overhyped Radiohead wannabes who blanketed the marketplace at the turn of the century? Vaguely, right? Ultimately, most of them ended up offering little more than fashionable dystopia, but Clinic stands as an important exception. The band members’ surgical scrubs attire a silly shtick; they…
Primus main man Les Claypool is the undisputed king of the weirdo side project. Lessee, there’s Les Claypool & the Holy Mackerel, a twisted-pop spin on Primus’ chunky alt-prog metal-funk that featured a rant from Henry Rollins and lots of bowed handsaw. There’s Oysterhead, his jam-rock collaboration with Phish frontman…
Joe Cartagena, a.k.a. Fat Joe, is one of mainstream hip-hop’s few Latino rappers, as well as the rare bird able to establish a decade-long track record of success. Hailing from hip-hop hot spot the South Bronx, Joe came out of the box swinging, scoring the number one rap single, “Flow…
After Skinny Puppy’s disastrous recording session for 1996’s The Process, the industrial band vowed to break up for good. Musician Dwayne Goettel, who died of a drug overdose in 1995, was noticeably absent, and earthquakes rattled the session, as did an injury to musician Cevin Key. “It was just horrible…
Often it’s less about creating the sound than crystallizing it. By the time Taking Back Sunday released its first album, 2002’s Tell All Your Friends, emo had been around for years; in fact, guitarist Ed Reyes was in the popular early adherent Movielife. TBS had all the requisite moves –…
While NYC’s Native Tongues posse was kicking off “conscious rap” with acts such as A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, Aceyalone was inaugurating the West Coast alternative, Freestyle Fellowship. Nowhere near as successful as the aforementioned groups, nonetheless it planted the seeds for later groups such as Jurassic…
