If you have trace memories of immortal Houston blues-rock combo ZZ Top, it’s probably of two bears with long beards spinning guitars, a drummer without a beard (named Beard), and legs (“she’s got . . . ’em”). A few years before that, though, just before punk broke, Circus Magazine described…
Depending on your perspective, Incubus was either the last big alternative band of the ’90s or the first big post-alternative act of the 2000s. Make Yourself, the band’s 1999 release, launched them into radio-dominating superstardom, featuring enough concessions to the burgeoning nu-metal scene to fit in with System of a…
Love connections turned musical duos, like The White Stripes and Matt & Kim, often attract attention, but the unique chemistry sometimes steals the spotlight from the music itself. And, yeah, that often happens with Viva Voce, too. Everyone loves a love story, even if the band doesn’t particularly like to…
Breathe In, Breathe Out is the new record from The Zombies. Yeah, those Zombies, the band that recorded “She’s Not There,” “Time of the Season,” and “Care of Cell 44.” The band that recorded Odyssey and Oracle, which created the framework for most modern psychedelic pop. The new record finds…
Growing old in rock ‘n’ roll is one tricky beast, especially when you are Blondie, a band with a catalog defined by youth culture: sleek, sexy, funky, and ever stylish. Panic of Girls, the new record from Blondie, struggles with the contradiction. At 66, it’s hard to think of singer…
Sophia Gunn has been spinning in the Valley for years, which is exactly how she learned to blend old and new elements. She brings her “younger” humble beginnings to some of the Valley’s hottest nights and mashes them with new technology to give her turntabling skills a fresh edge. She…
Man quits day job. Spends hours a day playing video games. Speaks in rhyme. Travels country for weeks, never settling in one place. This could be a cautionary tale. This could be a diagram of a man’s descent into unemployment, antisocial behavior and, ultimately, madness. This could be game over…
It takes only about 40 seconds of “Up All Night,” the first single from blink-182’s new album, Neighborhoods, for the track to feel like a statement. That isn’t to say that what comes before that mark (skittering electronic flourishes and a punk rock riff huge enough for the stadiums) is…
It’s September, which means that most music nerds are deep into their “Albums of the Year” process. I’m no different. I’ve got about 15 drafts of my list, and the name Unknown Mortal Orchestra appears on most of them. The Portland-via-New Zealand band’s eponymous debut alternately recalls Led Zeppelin, Prince,…
Thursday 29 27th Avenue Bar: DJ Manage (Top 40) Afterlife: Thumpin’ Thursdays (various) AZ 88: Josh One (various) Blue Martini: Rewind Thursday with DJ Mendez (hip-hop, dance, Top 40) Bobby Q’s: DJ Deuce (hip-hop) BS West: Intravenous Thursdays (goth, industrial, electronic, ’80s) Capitol Sports Lounge: DJ JS3 (various) Carly’s Bistro:…
When a legendary band comes out with a new record, it’s easy to get nervous. Such was the case when I received a copy of Breathe Out, Breathe In, the new record from The Zombies, a band celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Could the new songs live up to…
Sunday nights are usually pretty uneventful, but Dutch DJ Fedde le Grand drew a huge crowd of Scottsdale’s finest to Smashboxx on September 25. The turnout was as good as the crowd was attractive. Check out lots gorgeous tans and beautiful teeth in this week’s Club Candids slideshow…
Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly feature, Sound Off, where Jason P. Woodbury is joined by a different guest each week to listen to and discuss three tracks from local Phoenix artists. If you would like your songs to be considered for future Sound Off columns, please email…
You’ll never see another musical duo that’s as energetic and excited about playing music as indie rockers Matt & Kim. There’s just two of them, but they put on one hell of a great show. The first thing their concertgoers often notice is how happy they are when they perform:…
With the exception of a few heartbreaks, New Found Glory has continued to write music for the past 14 years with minimal obstacles. And since the band’s songs largely deal with matters of the heart, you could consider all those bum relationships song fodder. The band is gearing up for…
Last weekend, X103.9 crowned Phoenix-based rock band Halocene winner of the Fall Frenzy Showdown at the Marquee Theatre. That means that Friday, September 30, the band will join Matt & Kim, Jimmy Eat World, and blink-182 at Tempe Beach Park for Arizona Fall Frenzy. The young band just released a…
This year has been kind of fantastic for Phoenix indie-rockers, Snake! Snake! Snakes! Aside from making their way into the trailer of the independent film Tanner Hall, their song “We Come Out At Night” is in The Morning Infidelity’s top 25 list of the year’s best local songs, and the…
Every now and then, the Yucca Tap Room hosts 18 + shows. On Sunday, October 2, as something of a courtesy to Love Me Nots bassist Sophie O. — who’s shy of the 21 mark herself — Valley Fever at Yucca Tap Room will be an 18-and-over affair. Valley Fever…
Luz de Vida, a compilation featuring Neko Case, Spoon, Jimmy Eat World, Calexico, Giant Sand, Lenguas Largas, Robyn Hitchcock, Brian Lopez, The Meat Puppets, and many, many more, is set to see release in two formats, a 37-track digital album, and a limited-edition 12-song vinyl release, on October 18. The…
Today sees the release of Unto The Locust, the seventh album from California-based metal band Machinehead. The heavy follow-up to 2006’s The Blackening, which beat out Slayer and Lamb of God for “Album of the Year” at the Golden God Awards, Unto The Locust displays the band’s varied styles and…
Fans of blink-182 had plenty of reasons to wonder if the band would ever play together again after 2005 found the band splitting in two, with guitarist Tom DeLonge forming Angels and Airwaves and bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker forming +44. But a series of tragic events in…
I can just picture it now. Thirteen seasons ago, each member of the Dancing With the Stars backing band hopped off a bus in Hollywood with stars in their eyes. Little did they know, they’d have the asses of chubby D-list stars in their peripheral sooner than they’d think. It’s another…
