EPs can serve several functions: as a way to keep impatient fans happy while they wait for another full-length album; as a cost-effective means for new artists to get material into the hands of the public; as a chance for established artists to get weird and experimental without much risk;…
Last week, I caught Jimmy Eat World’s “secret” appearance at the Mason Jar with Braid. That night, after the show, I had a dream. I was watching Arizona’s favorite indie rock sons at some imaginary outdoor stadium, in hospitably mild sunshine. Before the boys played, they were ferried through the…
Donald Martinez eagerly leans into a thick slab of steak with plenty of nuclear-grade horseradish. In wire-frame glasses and a button-down shirt, the slight, dark-haired musician has the kind of pale skin cultivated from long hours spent in front of a computer screen and inside rock clubs. Aside from his…
They buy vinyl records instead of CDs. Their instruments are older than they are. Their favorite groups were popular 35 years ago. And they’re from New York. But don’t jump to easy conclusions — the Walkmen are not garage rockers. “We used to be, definitely, but not anymore,” says lead…
When Dan Stone took his video camera to film the North Side Kings’ July 3 show in Tuba City, he hadn’t counted on capturing heavy-metal history. The Valley hardcore band didn’t get to play because Danzig, the headliner, went on at 10 p.m. instead of the originally scheduled midnight slot…
TThe small brown vial I’m looking at has a sinister appearance to it, bearing only a white typewritten label identifying the powder inside as 5-MeO-DMT — 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine. It came via UPS from an American chemical company to three inner-space explorers I know; now, a couple days later at a house…
THE NIGHT: Saturdays at Dwntwn Club THE DJS: Luis & Cesar 3ro THE SCENE: Minority rules at this upscale club. Before 1 a.m., most of the 300-plus people here are Latinos in baggy jeans and designer dress shirts, with dates in shrinking mini-skirts or tight dresses. The air is heavy…
How big a success has Eamon’s foul-mouthed breakup song “F*** It (I Don’t Want You Back)” become this year? Here’s all you need to know: Even the song’s subject — the ex-girlfriend addressed throughout as a “ho” and a “burnt bitch” — loves it. Of course, Eamon is quick to…
With Modest Mouse hitting town Friday, July 23, as well as sitting high on Billboard’s albums and modern rock tracks charts, and in heavy rotation on 103.9 The Edge, I feel a responsibility to let you know that, if you’ve recently glommed on to the Northwest troubadours’ latest LP, Good…
Amp Fiddler disagrees with the name of the genre he’s been squeezed into, which in his case is neo-soul. His point is that after two decades of session work as a keyboardist with George Clinton, the Brand New Heavies, Lucy Pearl, and others, what he’s doing now as a solo…
While the Valley’s music scene is still adrift, the punk rock community here in the ‘Nix is congealing — not just onstage, but online, at AZPunk.com. Consider the Dames, a local all-female punk trio that sounds like the demon spawn of the Donnas and Black Flag. After guitarist Heather Shope…
THE NIGHT: Fridays at E-Lounge THE DJ: Domenica THE SCENE: A diverse coterie of same-sex couples (male and female, and the occasional straight couple) busts shameless moves on the dance floor. Narcissists watch themselves in the giant mirror that covers one wall, while exhibitionists gyrate on the platform. By midnight,…
The Bled is the best goddamn rock band in Arizona. On the band’s 2001 EP His First Crush, the album cover bears the line, “Can you still feel the butcher knives?” It’s a clever play on Jimmy Eat World’s chorus to “For Me This Is Heaven,” off the Clarity LP…
Mike Castaneda is mesmerized. An eerie, bluish glow lights up his face as he kneels onstage in front of a computer screen, clicking the mouse and bobbing his head to a frantic barrage of digital beats that blast like machine-gun fire from the amps at Modified Arts in downtown Phoenix…
Tragedy is an unpredictable catalyst, as Mike “Sir Pie” Gomez knows all too well. On May 10, 2003, Chris “CPT” Pangrazi, Pie’s rhyming partner and fellow MC in long-running hip-hop/rock collective Cousins of the Wize, was killed by a drunken driver. Pie and CPT were the backbones of Cousins, the…
Like a trip to the dentist, most bands put off making an album for as long as they can. It’s a put-up or shut-up moment that forces a band to stare at its prospects for success in the cold, harsh light of day — and few are ready for the…
THE NIGHT:Flux at Sky Lounge THE DJ:Rod Carrillo THE SCENE: A diverse crowd ranging in age from 21 to 51 gathers around the bar, scooping up 1 cent well drinks. Yellow and green spotlights, strobe lights and smoke machines cloud the dance floor, but there’s plenty of fresh air –…
THE SCENE: Girls in tight jeans or miniskirts and low-cut tank tops grind on the laps of preppy, spiky-haired college guys in button-down dress shirts, who outnumber the girls (as usual). THE VIBE:Old-school L.A. chic meets modern hipster as a fashionable blend of twentysomethings sips Long Island iced teas, bumpin’…
It would be an answered prayer for most up-and-coming ambient artists: a personal invitation from the members of Sigur Ròs to join them on tour. But when that fantasy scenario actually happened for San Diego musician Jimmy LaValle, his response was unexpected. You see, he really wasn’t that familiar with…
Hours before he takes the stage as the headliner of the Plea for Peace tour, Cursive front man Tim Kasher is looking shaggy. His hair’s grown out considerably, and he’s sporting a ruffian’s beard. “I’ve just pledged that I’m gonna keep growing my hair out until I fix my life,”…
Sometimes, breaking the law pays off. Last year, two young women from Tempe started sneaking into every stop of the Vans Warped Tour to illegally sell a compilation CD that they went into debt to produce. Going a little hungry didn’t stop them, and scrounging for gas money didn’t discourage…
The three guys performing at the Mason Jar on a spring Friday night have a crowd bunched close to the stage, including a clique of teenage girls who occasionally yell “I love you” and “You’re sexy” at the band of siblings — yet another boy brother band, in the tradition…
