Have you had you’re eyes glued to the psychedelic prog-rock message boards? If not, maybe you missed the news that The Mars Volta broke up, due in large part to lead guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s focus on his other band, Bosnian Rainbows. But you probably didn’t miss the news, because The…
For the excitable Generation Y character in all of us 20-somethings: Fall Out Boy has returned. With their 2005 mega-album From Under the Cork Tree, the Chicago-based four-piece put a poetically self-aware spin on the theme of pop-punk. They laced the album with ironic and lengthy song titles, true pop…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…
The Benefit Dinner Concert for Pueblo Band combines two goods — music and charity. Pueblo del Sol School will host performances by Field Tripp, Snake! Snake! Snakes!, Catfish Mustache, and A Life of Science so that the eighth-grade class can raise money to perform in a music showcase in Anaheim,…
Hey, Morrissey fans, you weren’t, like, really looking forward to the legendarily dour British indie icon performing on Sunday, February 10, at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, were you? Because we’re bummed to report that Moz has rescheduled his date AGAIN, following a postponement in November 2012…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
If you haven’t seen Ben Andersen out at any Valley clubs lately, it isn’t because the house and nu-disco DJ/producer known as Swookie Monster is hiding out at home or anything. In fact, he isn’t even in the Valley at all. Although his two-man collaborative project TABS with Tempe’s Eric…
Amber Harrold Harrold is the owner of CamelBackpackers: A Phoenix Hostel. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? NPR or 106.7 KWSS-FM. What’s the first album you bought? Salt-n-Pepa, Very Necessary. I remember…
Zia Records’ “You Heard Us Back When” compilation has a solid history. The comp has been going strong since 2008, giving a bevy of local acts from Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas a chance to shine. The likes of Snake! Snake! Snakes!, Kinch, Courtney Marie Andrews, Scorpion vs. Tarantula, Dry…
It’s a whirlwind few years that have landed Los Angeles rapper Murs in Tucson. A prolific artist and collaborator, the 34-year-old rapper spent a dozen years grinding before scoring a major label deal for 2008’s Murs for President. Since then, he’s been dropped by Warner Bros., gotten married and adopted…
Despite cultivating an audience that includes both folk lovers and metalheads, the gorgeously downcast songwriting of Chelsea Wolfe has been mistakenly typecast: The stark cover of Wolfe’s feral, cacophonous 2011 album, Apokalypsis, showed a portrait of the California native with whited-out eyes, an image she has said was intended to…
Looking on the surface is often deceiving. A simple glance at local band Element a440’s press photos might lead you to believe it’s a typical industrial/goth outfit. At first listen, you may compare the band’s sound to Marilyn Manson, ’80s punkers Big Black, or Stabbing Westward. But Element a440 doesn’t…
Editor’s note: Last November Daniel Johnston missed a flight and was forced to reschedule his stop at Crescent Ballroom. But time flies, and this weekend, on Sunday, February 3, he’s slated to make up his date with a special performance. We ran this piece from New Times contributor Chris Parker…
Among all the reigning veteran British rock bands, The Who is the world champ of releasing greatest hits compilations. These days you can buy the studio version of “My Generation” on 12 officially sanctioned best-of-The Who albums and live versions across 10 concert albums. Yet there are some songs even…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…
Epileptics beware: the new Black Moth Super Rainbow video for “Hairspray Heart” warns you against seizures. But watching WWE pro wrestler Goldust (Dustin Runnels) perform as “The Pink One” in this juicy Jacuzzi jam will give you quite a few other convulsions. See also: -My Bloody Valentine Might Release Its…
22 years after the shoegaze masterpiece Loveless was released, My Bloody Valentine main man Kevin Shields has announced that the band could finally release its third album any day now. According to the band’s Facebook page, the album was mastered on December 21, meaning the long-awaited release might actually see…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
It’s been almost a year since local rock group The Tremulants played their last show following the death of frontman Marco Holt who succumbed to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. His passing left the music community grieving and family and friends reeling. Tremulants bassist Isaac Hensleigh stepped away from music in the subsequent…
Jake Goldsmith is one funny dude. Whenever we get to speak with the 30-year-old selector and member of the Rebel Disco collective, he tends to be quick with quips or some sort of wittiness that always makes for a lively interview. Such was the case when Up on the Sun…
Jack Howell Howell has been the producer/engineer/musician/owner of WilloDisc Production House since 1989. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? KWSS 106.7 FM. What’s the first album you bought? Michael Jackson, Off the…
The Father Figures started with a 50th birthday party, which is either the least or most punk thing ever. Traditional agitated punk wisdom would suggest that guitarist/vocalist Michael Cornelius, bassist/vocalist Tom Reardon, and drummer Bobby Lerma lead pretty square lives: All three are married with children (Cornelius is actually a…
