Few bands have made the trashy side of rock ‘n’ roll feel dirtier or more inviting than The Cramps, a psychobilly force of nature with a Ph.D. in EC comics, drive-in movies, striptease sexuality, and the fuzz-guitar genius of Nuggets. With Lux Interior channeling Elvis as the undead, G-string-wearing host…
It’s tempting to talk about guitarist Adrian Belew only in terms of the company he has kept throughout the past 30 years. He’s been a sideman for Zappa and Bowie, was integral in King Crimson v2.0, and played on the best records the Talking Heads, Paul Simon, and Nine Inch…
If you’re gonna have an organ player in your group and call yourselves Oh My God, you could be mistaken for a Christian rock band. So indie trio OMG has this clarification on its MySpace page: “This Chicago rock band is not affiliated with God or Satan (though the band…
Remember Candy Land? You know, that ultra-vibrant and ultra-enjoyable confection-laced board game that dominated your childhood and sent you on a jubilant journey traipsing through such realms as the Peppermint Stick Forest or the Molasses Swamp? This weekend’s Kandieland III rave on Saturday, November 4, at the Starlight Room, 16731…
Thursday 2 Bunkhouse Lounge: DJ Doom (dance) Chilly Bombers: DJ Statik (hip-hop, dance) Club Central: DJ Luis (salsa, merengue) Coconut Club: DJ Coolstylz (Top 40, dance, hip-hop) The Door: DJ J. Nasty (hip-hop, Motown, Top 40) e4: “Passport” with DJ Tranzl8r (hip-hop mash-ups) E-Lounge: DJ Domenica (hip-hop, house) Harley’s 2303:…
Jack Ripper A couple of nights ago I hit up a private company party (some masonry outfit, i was just crashing it for the buffet & drinks), and witnessed this kid who calls himself Jack Ripper annihilate his guitar, giving Hendrix’s “Star Spangled Banner” a run for its money, busting…
or make fun of your band, at the very least. Send mp3’s, show information, gossip, etc. to Brendan Kelley. Otherwise I’ll be listening to “Just Lose It” by Eminem all day long…..
Glass Heroes The spot to be tonight is at the Clubhouse, to see longtime local rawkers the Glass Heroes open up for UK punkers Vice Squad, which has been around in various forms since freakin’ 1979. You want some old school punk rock authenticity, this is the show for you…
courtesy of Bryan Sandell of AZPunk.com Don’t Piss this Dude Off Tomorrow, 11/2, I dig into the trouble magnet that is Danny Marianino of the North Side Kings, and scope out the local hardcore legends’ (the dude beat down Danzig, that certifies him as a rock legend) new album, Suburban…
Elmo Kirkwood There’s been rumors flying since mid-summer that we’d soon see a reunion of the ‘Nix’s weirdest rock legends, Curt & Cris Kirkwood’s Meat Puppets, with Primus drummer Tim Alexander joining the brothers. After years of estrangement and Cris suffering drug and a prison sentence (you may remember a…
The members of Psychostick are explaining how they came to pack a CD as crushingly heavy as We Couldn’t Think of A Title with lyrics weighing in on everything from itchy balls to beer and diarrhea when guitarist Josh “Special J” Keys comes clean about his deep respect for “Weird…
“My house is like a crash pad for aging punk rockers,” Keith Jackson tells me over the phone one day. But not just any old aging punk rockers. The singer/guitarist for local punk band Glass Heroes has hung out with some of the most legendary names in the genre, including…
There is a street in Omaha called Happy Hollow. But the characters who live in Cursive’s Happy Hollow are fictional Middle Americans dealing with actual Middle American dramas in a tiny rural town where people aren’t particularly bright or wealthy. And because Tim Kasher grew up Catholic in a small…
XrayOk was one of the most promising indie rock/electronica groups in the Valley. Formed in Phoenix in December 2002, the band’s self-released first album, Reflex, debuted at No. 158 on the CMJ Music Charts and stayed there for three weeks. At the time, it looked like XrayOk was going to…
Go ahead, call them a “novelty act.” This nine-member group from NYC is asking for it with songs like “Nipples” (with eloquent lyrics like “Na-uh-na-uh-na-uh-nipples”). But once you’ve heard “Connecticut’s for Fucking,” the leadoff track to JHC&tFHotA’s debut album, there’s no denying this band’s snarky brilliance. The song’s ridiculously catchy…
Bodhisattva’s 20-minute, three-track EP Magnetar may not appeal to those who are prone to popping headache pills whenever they hear time signatures other than the common 4/4. The ambient jazz-metal-indie fusion duo, consisting of guitarist Justin Cory and drummer Shane Sittig, gives followers of wacko bands like Primus, Mr. Bungle,…
Let’s face it — on paper, a band that plays classically influenced operatic rock like a new-world Bonnie Tyler or Meat Loaf has about as good a chance of hitting it big as the next Pussycat Dolls (Lord, don’t get us started). That is, unless said band has the jet…
Damon Gough makes the same album every time, only more so. Recording under the name Badly Drawn Boy, Gough came to prominence with The Hour of Bewilderbeast, the sort of lush, overly ambitious debut that promises a career filled with even higher peaks. And while nothing he’s made since has…
This is typically when Beck would hit you with a change-up — dim the lights, warm the milk, and go quietly into the darkness to follow the party-rock high jinks of Guero with an album more in keeping with his introspective side. And Nigel Godrich did produce Beck’s two most…
“When we quit, indie rock will die,” Robert Pollard famously boasted about the breakup of his long-running band Guided By Voices. That was 2004, and no matter your feelings about the scrawny, albino art form, you have to admit the sucker hasn’t quite kicked the bucket just yet. Neither has…
Phoenix may not be known for a huge Eurobeat scene, but that hasn’t stopped the cool kiddies of The Kohl Heart from blazing a snotty trail of New Wavery through the cookie-cutter communities of the Valley of the Sun. Formerly known as XOXOXO, the band — singer Rachel Taylor, bass…
Lindsey Buckingham has always admired Brian Wilson, but beyond their shared studio perfectionism and reliably good pop instincts, their other great similarity is their strangeness. The former member of Fleetwood Mac thankfully didn’t have to suffer the emotional problems his hero has faced, but a look back at Buckingham’s oeuvre…
