Dismiss them as twee or cute if you want, but nearly 30 years into their career, the duo of John Fansburg and John Linnell — better known as They Might Be Giants — can’t be accused of being lazy. The pair have never stopped challenging themselves, trying to top oddball…
Say what you will about the changing commercial landscape of the music industry, but record labels still matter. Anyone can upload some tunes to BandCamp, but the stamp of approval from a great record label can still inspire confidence in the heart of a record browser. Labels still serve as…
How’s this for cred: Michael Cornelius, of JFA fame and current guitarist of The Father Figures, shouting out a cover of “Avon Lady” by famed PHX hardcore band The Feederz? That’s pretty much punk-on-punk-punk action, but the results certainly don’t sound like a history lesson. No, just like the songs…
You know that scene in Spinal Tap, where Rob Reiner is reading the band a review of the Shark Sandwich album and he says, “This one is simply two words: Shit Sandwich?” Scanning through most of the reviews of IV, the fourth album by Alabama Christian rockers Maylene and the…
30 years is a long time. You might think that after 30 years in a career as unique and unpredictable as They Might Be Giants, (college rockers to children’s rockers) principals John Linnell and John Flansburgh might be wondering how much longer they can keep it up, but that’s not…
Okay folks, the finish line is in sight. February 14 marks the Arizona Centennial, and that means we’re just about ready to break out 100 Greatest Songs of Arizona list. It’s been fascinating reading your suggestions, which range from freakout post-punk to classic rock to Phoenix-based blues jams. But there’s…
Looks like the Coachella runoff just keeps on…uh…running off. Florence and the Machine, scheduled to play the Indio Festival on Sunday April 15 and 22, is making a side trip over to Comerica Theatre on Friday, April 20. 2011 was big for singer Florence Welsh — her sophomore album, Ceremonials,…
Urban Dictionary defines “Beard Rock” like this: A little-known form of music originating in the 1990’s as a throwback acknowledgement to the early folk rockers…The difference from regular indie/folk music is that each group tends to sport facial hair, styles including but not limited to: the chin curtain, Grizzly Adams,…
Wilco Gammage Auditorium Saturday, January 21, 2012 Plenty of derisive things get said about Wilco being “dad rock.” You can’t get around the fact that songwriter Jeff Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, drummer Glenn Kotche, guitarist Nels Cline, and multi-instrumentalists Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen, are indeed pushing or well into…
Though it’s not quite as impressive (or unlikely) as the recent story of Peter Frampton’s long-missing-but-now-returned guitar, the story of how Tucsonian Brian Lopez reconnected with his favorite guitar is still a pretty cool one. “I received the guitar as a gift from a family friend. It meant a lot…
The Village Voice’s 39th annual Pazz and Jop critics’ poll is live. Drawing from some 700 ballots, tUnE-yArDs’ w h o k i l l topped the favorite albums list, and Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” topped the singles list. Those looking for familiar New Times bylines in the individual…
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. • What’s up with MY103.9’s format? • Why did Red Hot Chili Peppers cancel their tour?…
Years and years of rock ‘n’ roll writers repeating it doesn’t make it untrue: Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 song “Born in the U.S.A.” might be one of the most misunderstood tunes in pop history. Though lyrically elegiac, the song’s pumping synths and typically ’80s snare hits (how they reverberate on forever)…
In this week’s issue of Phoenix New Times, Melissa Fossum asks an important (well, important to us at least) question: What keeps old punks going? Who better to ask than The Adolescents and Youth Brigade, bands easing into middle age despite youthful names? The bands are hitting The Clubhouse on…
How do you define a good “bummer jam?” It’s a tough call. Break down the term, and you’ve got two distinct goals: The song has to convey some serious sadness (the bummer) but it also has to jam (the, uh, jam). Many songs are bummers (see much of the Red…
At some point in the early 2000s, I downloaded a track by Alaskan singer/songwriter Matt Hopper called “This Is the Sound (Of My Heart Breaking).” It was a slight thing, just an acoustic guitar, a lone electric lead, and some harmonies, something Hopper wrote for some sort of 365-songs-in-365-days deal,…
It’s been a long time since The Secret Fox, Phoenix’s brightest (only?) Guided by Voices tribute band took the stage. Like, over 10 years long. “I’m not exactly sure of dates,” says guitarist Jim Adkins (yeah — that Jim Adkins). “But you could still smoke in bars, so it was…
We’ve covered the disappearance of 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley over at Valley Fever, our news blog, for the past few months, and it is a story that has shifted from a missing person investigation to a homicide investigation, with Shockley’s mother, Jerice Hunter, as the number one suspect. The story has…
Though the Wilco lineup has solidified since 2007’s Sky Blue Sky, the years leading up to that album were marked by turnover. Of the original lineup, only songwriter Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt remain. In fact, Stirratt’s ties to Tweedy stretch all the way back to Uncle Tupelo, the…
Last week, Valley alternative station X103.9 became My103.9, shifting its focus from alternative and punk to a “Gen X” format, with a playlist heavy on ’80s hits and an open call for listeners to request songs. Dave Pratt Live, the divisive morning show that launched in August of 2011 was…
The Pistoleros, Ghetto Cowgirl and Dead Hot Workshop at Crescent Ballroom Vintage jangle rockers Dead Hot Workshop, The Pistoleros, and Ghetto Cowgirl brought back a little of Mill Avenue’s glory day sound to downtown Phoenix. Check out the slideshow. Wooden Indian, Spafford, Dry River Yacht Club, Sugar Thieves at Crescent…
Jason Devore of Authority Zero is going to be a busy dude for the next couple months. Not only is Authority Zero on tour with the Voodoo Glow Skulls, but the band is prepping the release of a new live album, Less Rhythm More Booze. The band is playing a…
