The other day I happened, to my great surprise, to walk by a cheerleading camp, a small army of kids with words like “TIGERS” emblazoned across their trim, peppy asses. Sometimes I forget that real, nonironic cheerleaders, who are very serious about what they do, exist — and not just…
If you were a Phoenician and a Beatlemaniac between 1964 and 1966, you had your choice of venues to see the Fab Four: the Convention Center in Las Vegas, the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, the Cow Palace in San Francisco, or the Hollywood Bowl. But John, Paul, George and…
When the Bravery followed its ballyhooed South by Southwest appearance with the release of its debut disc, the backlash began. Wise witnesses saw hacks cashing in on a hip sound. But the group’s detractors were so vitriolic that some misguided souls made appeals on the band’s behalf, creating Bravery-backlash backlash…
With caterwaulin’ wanna-beasts everywhere you look, it’s hard to know where real hardcore ends and mainstream screaming begins. But judging by the ear-shredding received after one application of Art Damage, the second album from this scrawny Aurora, Colorado, foursome, these guys are the for-real deal. They’ve got the growl call-and-response…
Iron and Wine isn’t an “it,” but a “he” — one Samuel Beam, a Floridian who was discovered by Sub Pop via his introverted lo-fi bedroom tapes. His beautifully calm, almost whispered music was widely heard in the film Garden State alongside Nick Drake, which makes Beam a shoo-in for…
Smokin’ Joe Kubek sure lives up to his moniker, and not because this wild-haired, tattooed, guitar-slinging mountain of a man is often seen clutching a coffin nail in his meaty paw. Instead, the towering Dallas-based axeman regularly sets audiences ablaze with his blistering and bluesy guitar stylings, picking and pulling…
If you end a sentence containing the phrase “Asian American hip-hopper” with a question mark, you probably haven’t heard of Tom Shimura, formerly known as Asia Born, now known as Lyrics Born. He started rapping in the Bay Area, but when he could find no takers for his music, he…
Vaguely folky, kinda psychedelic, slightly jammy, and decidedly challenging, Animal Collective makes records that are impenetrable on first listen. Though its profile raised with last year’s Sung Tongs, the band’s higher visibility hasn’t blunted its musical meanderings. But while Feels succeeds at being sonically enigmatic, patient ears will discover that…
Lawless Element is an odd combo, a mixed-up mash-up of old-school posturing and neo-futurist neon tubing. Instead of rat-a-tat drum machines or screwed-up soul samples, the band lays conversational rhymes over icy, pulsing electronics and a bass boom bigger and deeper and colder than a black hole. It’s sonic schizophrenia…
The headline on the Franz Ferdinand feature in the July 30 NME reads: “Our New Album? It’s Like Nothing You’ve Ever Heard!” Well, no. In truth, Better sounds like plenty you’ve heard, either during the early ’80s or in the year-plus since the Scottish band’s debut hit these shores. Strangely,…
Teetering between corny and classic, Junior Brown bangs out a set of Americana-tinged fare that features his acclaimed double-necked plucking and baritone crooning. Bottling the essence of Tex-Mex, Western swing and even surf music (an instrumental jog through the Johnny Rivers classic “Secret Agent Man”), Junior swerves through a varied…
Hot Pink!, the long-reigning queen of the glam-dance scene, seems like it ought to have petered out. Instead, even with founder DJ Nimh spending most of his time in NYC, Hot Pink! continues to evolve and keep all the pretty sparkly kids showing up to shimmy. This Friday, October 14,…
All hail X, the band that has somehow remained un-embarrassing as it ages, a most difficult task for punk rockers. Just look to their contemporaries the Germs to witness how sad punk rock has become. Despite the 1980 death of singer Darby Crash, the remaining members of the band want…
Have you seen Gwen Stefani onstage, on the red carpet, or on camera in one of her countless MTV appearances? She’s a living testimony to the joys of caffeine. She’s a human energy drink. And, in case you haven’t noticed, she’s critic-proof, too, whether we’re talking those outrageous styles she…
You know a band is moving up in the world when the members are excited about their new tour van’s air conditioning. In the past, apparently, The Gossip just had to sweat it out. Luckily for us, new vans mean new albums, and in January, Standing in the Way of…
When Ian Curtis took that final spin on the ceiling fan in May 1980, he momentarily took with him the stern gray guitar rock that was dominating Manchester. In its place came stern gray electropop, bands like Minny Pops and Quando Quango, who essentially copied JD’s M.O., but used synths…
Once an irresistibly goofy Brit-pop trio with ungainly mutton-chop sideburns, Supergrass has reached a point of maturity where it finally seems more interested in studying the menu than in making goo-goo eyes at the waitress. On their fifth full-length, Oxford’s retro-groovers have outgrown monosyllabic teen anthems to embrace the emotional…
Thursday 13Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) Axis/Radius: “Simply in Demand” fashion show and dance contest (dance) e4: “Eve” Ladies’ Night in the Earth Room with DJ Tranzl8r (dance) E-Lounge: 18+ with DJ Adrian (hip-hop) Garcia’s: Latin…
1. Atmosphere, You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having (Rhymesayers) 2. Against Me!, Searching for a Former Clarity (Fat Wreck Chords) 3. Reatards, Not Fucked Enough (Empty) 4. Curt Kirkwood, Snow (Little Dog) 5. Blackalicious, The Craft (Anti) 6. Various Artists, Scribble Jam 2005 (Scribble Magazine) 7. Glass Heroes,…
The rock ‘n’ roll wife has always been a martyr figure of sorts. She raises the children while her husband’s on tour, endures his infidelities, supports his successes, consoles his failures, and usually ends up a mere footnote in her famous husband’s biography. Unless, of course, she writes her own…
As reports of rock’s resurgence in the music world have continued to flood the press, so has there been an increase in stories of rock breaking down on concert stages in the U.S. and abroad: Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age collapsing onstage. Nine Inch Nails drummer Jerome…
As a songwriter with nearly a dozen country chart hits to his credit — including four Top 10s with his former band, McBride & The Ride, and a few other chart-toppers for the likes of Kenny Chesney, Aaron Tippin and Lee Greenwood — Arizona-born singer/guitarist Ray Herndon is used to…
