They didn’t put Aberdeen on the musical map with their 1987 debut — it took Nirvana to do that. All the same, the Melvins’ place in rock cultdom is assured for being the first post-punks to make it safe to like slow and plodding metal bands like Black Sabbath. Arguably,…
Finally, a reason to break out those checkerboard creepers that have been gathering dust in the back of your closet since the mid-’90s third-wave ska revival! New York City’s Toasters are honest-to-goodness American ska pioneers, and they’ve stayed true to the genre’s Jamaican R&B roots while many of their peers…
Isn’t science remarkable? You can drop a laser beam on a silver disc and be musically transported back to some circa-1958 VA hall, slow dancing to the sound of a smoky-voiced gal accompanied only by her upright bass, some lonesome pedal steel and some minimal snare brushwork, all wrapped up…
It’s a beautiful fall evening, twilight at my house in downtown Tempe, mild temperatures at last, the scent of blooming night jasmine floating through my open windows. Across the street, a gaggle of my skateboarder friends are on their front porch drinking Budweiser and smoking cigarettes. Later on, another friend…
Kimya Dawson was half of the Moldy Peaches, the New York City-based anti-folk supergroup she formed with Adam Green in the late ’90s. The Peaches merged primitive guitar whacking with lyrics that gloried in childlike obscenities. “Who’s Got the Crack?” was a surprise hit in England, but the self-imposed naivet…
Junior Brown is a country artist — if you still think country means drinkin’, cheatin’ and hard-core honky-tonk music — but his omnivorous musical appetite and monster chops defy easy categories. Down Home Chrome opens with “Little Rivi-Airhead,” a Beach Boys-meets-Ernest Tubb rocker that also tips its cowboy hat to…
Nancy Sinatra doesn’t want to be Debbie Harry or Marianne Faithfull or even Nick Cave. Fact is, everybody wants to be Nancy Sinatra. And, it turns out, not the Nancy of Boots and Sugartown and all those Lee Hazlewood numbers, but the Nancy who lives today, apparently undiminished in attitude…
Emerg McVay’s a one-man verbal blitzkrieg, a black Osama bin Laden piloting a lyrical 747 right into the core of your cranium. Preconceived notions? Kick ’em to the curb, yo. Especially if you think that P-town can’t blow up like ATL, the Lou, and Chi-town before it. Just listen to…
Now with their hot-selling Let It Enfold You, the avenging emo-nerds of Senses Fail are gonna put all you mean girls in your place. When they’re empowered, like on “Cute When You Scream,” they might “take you to the top of this building and just push you off/Run down the…
“. . . Holy shit, this is some good shit, man [cough, cough]. The hydro-fuckin’-ponic, dude! Oh, duuude, I almost forgot, man, you gotta check out this band, right . . . what? Oh, I’m watchin’ Aqua Teen Hunger Force, man [cough, cough]. It’s a marathon — sweet, right? Yeah,…
Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Snow Patrol — an alternative for those of you put off by Chris Martin’s floppy Muppet histrionics and questionable baby-naming skills. This Scotland-via-Ireland quartet is led by Gary Lightbody, who is also known in indie circles for leading the low-key supergroup Reindeer Section, which comprises members…
Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter Jill Scott doesn’t indulge in the sweeping generalizations that sometimes bog down work by her peers in the neo-soul scene — moon-June appreciations of honey-dripped thighs and eyes like God’s skies. In tunes like “The Fact Is (I Need You)” and “Family Reunion” she does the opposite, writing…
The main question here is not “Is it good?” but “Is it necessary?” Ever since pent-up indie kids learned to stop worrying and love the Rasta, British labels like Trojan and Soul Jazz have been offering prime, pure lumber to meet the growing demand. And while it’s valuable to have…
Why a trio with such a sunny, uplifting vibe named itself after one of the most annoying insects on the planet is anybody’s guess, but on its second outing, it offers up another generous 15-track helping of twinkling pop gems that fuse the bright, cheery vibe of ’60s bossa nova…
Inexplicably, La Tarea’s nine-song demo finally found its way to this column two seasons after the local shows it was sent in to promote. Pulling back the shroud of mystery deflates the fun somewhat, but know this — Chris, Cory, Devon and Sam are young. They are gifted (Devon can…
If you lived in Manhattan during the ’80s, it was almost unthinkable that you could go out to a club or bar and not hear the blues. The generous called it a blues boom, but aesthetically it was a blues glut — too many musicians playing too many shuffles in…
Galway County lads a long way from their Irish hearths, these boys have been hammering and crooning and rocking for nigh 15 years or more, and have suffered through some fairly devastating lineup changes of late. That said, they are — and always have been — a cracker live act…
Top 10 selling CDs at Eastside Records (217 West University Drive in Tempe) for September 20 through 26: 1. The Dwarves, Dwarves Must Die (Sympathy for the Record Industry) 2. Leftover Crack, Fuck World Trade (Dig) (Alternative Tentacles) 3. The Cramps, How to Make a Monster (Vengeance) 4. Knights of…
Thursday 30 Acme Roadhouse: DJ J. Alan (house) Acme Bar & Grill: DJR (all genres) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (Top 40, hip-hop) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Piranha Room/Area 51 with DJs Jeremy & Ricky (industrial/goth, electroclash) Axis/Radius: Summer Nights with DJ MCB & Josh Royal (all genres) AZ 88: DJ…
The lines are just beginning to be drawn at the Battle of the DJs spin-off competition at Flip Flops in Tempe (216 and 222 East University). This Saturday night, October 2, marks another installment of the first-round eliminations, and next Saturday will be the last chance for you to put…
Like Sloan, the Tragically Hip’s massive success in Canada and anonymity here is more vexing than Alanis and Celine’s popularity here — and that’s saying something! Like Sloan, the Hip have a rich, arena-ready sound that captures the power-pop punch of Cheap Trick. But unlike the Beatles-inflected Sloansters, the Hip…
