Before eight well-oiled, orange-skinned cultural phenoms took over the sandy beaches of Seaside Heights, the Jersey shore was just another beach where kids could frolic and escape the pressures of everyday life. Although Tracey Rappa has called Phoenix home for the better part of her life, she grew up there…
While the GOP presidential candidates debated in Mesa last night, folks at Zia Records in Chandler gathered for a different kind of spectacle: NYC-based pop band Fun. (featuring Nate Ruess formerly of Tempe rockers The Format) played an acoustic set and signed autographs for about 400 fans. The band isn’t…
Within seconds of watching this video, it’s obvious that Boys and Frogs is not performing “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.” Instead, they play a fuzzy version of Kanye West’s “All Of The Lights,” which transitions into The Smiths classic. “I’m a fan of Kanye and The Smiths…
This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. Want to listen to (almost) all of our 100 Songs that Defined Arizona? Why is Megadeth…
Our new issue is on stands now (look for that big, tabloid-y looking cover), but you can catch up on all our stories online now. Our main feature showcases Boys and Frogs, a visually minded indie-pop band whose videos have quickly earned them internet attention. Christina Caldwell explains that the…
They don’t come much more genteel than modern-day Nick Lowe, and they don’t come more with a more hell-raising reputation than Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead. Yet on a recent episode of Marc Maron’s podcast, WTF with Marc Maron (consistently one of the best interview programs out there), Lowe discussed his…
Few bands can retain a dedicated following after throwing fans for stylistic loops the way Cursive has. Yet the long running Omaha-via-Los Angeles quartet pulls it off. The genre-defying group first turned heads with its post-hardcore-meets-cello masterpiece, The Ugly Organ, before jettisoning said stringed instrument for a horn section on…
What’s in a name, anyway? Well, when you go by “Joe Grind,” plenty. Since 2003, Grind has released records under the name Toxic Holocaust, taking cues from the most disparate recesses of heavy metal, influenced by thrash, black metal, and d-beat punk. His latest, Conjure and Command, finds Grind and…
It never fails: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks release a new album (like they did last spring, issuing Mirror Traffic) and just about everyone says “It’s the most like Pavement he’s sounded since . . . well, Pavement.” As you might imagine, it’s a common statement, and only sort of…
There’s no quicker way to alienate listeners than to be so pretentious as to describe a band as an “experience,” “lifestyle,” or “state of mind.” Still, despite the groans the following statement may elicit, there’s no way to get around it: Boys and Frogs is more than a band; it’s…
If ever there was a time to jump on the electronic dance music bandwagon, it’s right now. Skrillex just took home an armful of Grammys (while Deadmau5 and David Guetta put on showstopping performances during the awards ceremony itself), the epic electronica documentary Re:Generation is screening in theaters nationwide, and…
Although he operates in a genre of music that tends toward innovative extremes — either lionizing the traditions of the past or rejecting them outright — Buck 65 is a particularly forward-thinking MC and turntablist. He’s always been willing to play with convention and weave a healthy amount of folk,…
Despite the quick rise of his punk outfit Cloud Nothings through the blogosphere and the warm critical reception of the band’s latest record, Attack on Memory, 20-year-old singer-songwriter Dylan Baldi remains calm. The big, black all-ages Xs drawn on his hands surely negate any ego-tripping. “Some cities on the West…
Thursday 23 16th Street Bar & Grill: Kickback Thursdays with DJ Cedric Ceballos (hip-hop, classics, neo-soul, reggae, R&B, Top 40, old school) Afterlife: Beat the Scene Thursdays (electronica, dance, remixes) Bar Smith: Ladies Night with DJ Idenaty, DJ EC Rock, & DJ Oh-Jezus (various) Bobby Q’s: DJ Phlava, Judge Da…
Hope those thinking caps aren’t too snug: Phoenix New Times’ Big Brain Awards are back. The annual awards designed to recognize innovative artists in the fields of design, visual art, fashion, performing art, and culinary art, and give each $500 for their creative endeavors…
It seems like Old Town Scottsdale would be pretty busy on a holiday weekend, but against all odds, it wasn’t. For once parking was easy to find and Shoeman was eerily quiet, but once you turned the corner to Saddlebag Trail, it was the same ol’ loud and crowded Old…
Ambition goes a long way — just ask Sareena Dominguez, who signed with River Jones Music Label a scant six months ago, is releasing her debut in the spring, and is currently booking her first tour — and she’s only 19. Raised in Gilbert, Dominguez came from a rather large…
Now that we all know most record companies are the loss leaders for their conglomerate parent company we always believed they were, you kinda wish just once someone at the label would say “I don’t know how to do my job” instead of “We don’t have a way of marketing…
Roderick James Byers — known to two-tone fanatics as Roddy Radiation — has got ska credentials locked down. Not only did he play guitar in the seminal rude boy band The Specials, but he wrote some of the band’s catchiest tunes, like “Concrete Jungle” and “Hey Little Rich Girl.” Radiation…
Here’s a familiar story: Conservative candidate plays a rock song at a rally, liberal artist complains. Ronny Reagan and Bruce Springsteen. Mike Huckabee and Boston. Michele Bachmann and Tom Petty. Ron Paul, on the other hand, has a handful of diehard musician fans that are willing to travel and perform…
It’s hard to find music videos on TV these days. Sure, one could argue that the internet has ushered in a new era of DIY or underground video creativity, but it’s hard not to miss the days when you could waste hours watching clips on MTV or VH1. If musical…
Hanging out at Bar Smith on a Friday isn’t just another night out on the town. It’s pure adventure, especially when trying to navigate the crowd on either floor during the phenomenally popular Sticky Fingers weekly.It’s doubly difficult if you’ve had a few, as some of the drinkologists at Bar…
