Austin’s The Meat Puppets Have New Album, Tour

Austin, Texas based-band The Meat Puppets (How much do you old Mill types hate seeing that? But that’s how they bill themselves!) have a new album, Sewn Together, coming out next month and will tour extensively in support of it, playing everywhere in the continental United States. Well, everywhere except…

Benefit for Lit Drummer Saturday at Club Red

I know a lot of people are planning to go out to The Loveblisters’ last show Saturday night, but there’s another cool show that night, this one for a good cause. Allen Shellenberger, drummer of the California band Lit, was diagnosed with brain cancer a year ago and the age…

For Folk-Rock Trio Sisterbrother, Music Is a Family Affair

With a name like Sisterbrother, it’s probably not surprising that family has played a big role in the Gilbert-based band’s musical development. The three members of Sisterbrother aren’t actually siblings, but their respective families have been instrumental in the band’s early success. Drummer Chris Albers’ father plays both guitar and…

Conor Oberst’s Chemistry Set

Conor Oberst is a man known to take on any and all musical ventures, starting when the 13-year-old Omaha singer-songwriter self-released an album, Water, recorded on his father’s four-track. Most know Oberst as lead man in Bright Eyes, his most popular project, which cemented its spot in the indie consciousness…

Lazarus A.D. is Bringing Thrash Back from the Dead

For a genre that never received much attention, even during its heyday, thrash metal is enjoying one of music history’s more unlikely renaissances. In the past few years, a slew of retro-thrash bands has emerged from the underground. With names like Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, and Merciless Death, these bands…

Green Day’s 2-Year Hiatus Ends With SF Show

Ever since we got a press release about Green Day’s impending album, 21st Century Breakdown, a few weeks ago, I’ve been eager to see when the band would start playing live again. Turns out our sister paper in San Francisco was there to see Billie Joe, Tre, and Mike play…

AZPunk.com Returns

Looks like AZPunk’s not dead after all. The infamous local website was reborn last week with a completely new look after taking a year-long hiatus from the Internet. For those of you unfamiliar with AZPunk, it functioned as an information resource and meeting ground for P-Town’s punk and hardcore community…

The Flaming Lips Do Madonna’s “Borderline”

You excited for McDowell Mountain Music Fest yet? No? Not yet? Well, that’s about to change, kids, because no one in their right mind would want to miss The Flaming Lips Saturday set after seeing this amazing cover of Madonna’s “Borderline.”By the way, we’re doing our own little covers project…

Why Don’t Phoenix Clubs Post Craigslist Ads Like This One?

From our sister paper in St. Louis comes a funny blog post about a Craigslist ad for a new indie rock club that’s requiring a mix CD with applications for bartender, barback, and doorman.mix cd should contain music in and around the neighborhood of indie rock/pop. the more unknown the…

Micachu – Innovative Pop Genius, Bona Fide Album of the Year

Armed with subtle yet snarky British vocals and a staggering amount of originality, Britain’s Mica Levi has assembled an album that stands as one of 2009’s best so far. I know I have already deemed Reintegration Time by Edmonton’s Shout Out Out Out Out as my favorite of 2009 (and…

Just Announced: Incubus, The Offspring, Loretta Lynn

Am I the only one who didn’t realize people were still listening to Incubus? The band’s been around 1991, and seemingly peaked in 1999 with the double platinum Make Yourself, but is somehow still has a #1 album, and is playing Jobing.com Arena. Go figure. So, I guess that’s a…

Simon & Garfunkel Plan Long Awaited Reunion Tour

It makes sense these days for some older acts to get out on tour and start playing some shows. Just looking at this past weekend in the Valley, we saw Springsteen, Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen all unravel some shows well in the twilight of their respective careers. Paul Frederic…

Follow Our Twitters From Tempe Music Fest

Hey guys, still figuring out liveblogging possibilities from Tempe Music Fest, but if you wanna keep track of the happenings go to twitter.com/NewTimesKelly or (for another hour or so) me at twitter.com/martincizmar. Shiny Toy Guns, our web editor Jonathan McNamara’s personal Beatles, are currently on stage, and Little Stevie from…

Fall Out Boy Grow Up

Fall Out Boy have a few ties to Phoenix that you may not be aware of. The band released Live in Phoenix, a DVD it recorded last year at Cricket Pavilion. Kyle, the band’s soundman, is from Phoenix. And the guys used to chill with Valley promoter Will Anderson years…

Leonard Cohen Returns

One of the reasons we love Leonard Cohen is because we don’t know him. That’s not to suggest he’s hiding sinister skeletons in his closet, but his 40-year-plus career has been significant precisely because of its air of eternal mystery. It’s even more amazing given he emerged in the late…

Roger Clyne Needs To Do Some Peace-Making?

It’s rare we have a juicy update on good time guy Roger Clyne, and rarer still we have a local music scoop from the Arizona Republic, but, while trying to figure out who Richard Ruelas (guest DJing on The Blaze this week) is last night I came across an interesting…

Guest DJ Week on The Blaze: We’re Loving It

Around the New Times office we’re really loving The Blaze’s Guest DJ week (which I participated in yesterday). ASU’s student radio station does this once a year, pulling in people like Murph from So Much Silence, Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World and, right now, our man Steve Chilton.But, seriously…