Mill Avenue is always busy on the weekends. Just try to find a parking spot among the partying coeds and crazy cab drivers and you’ll know what we mean. Luckily, the ladies of Arizona’s Roller Derby know how to push through a crowd, like they did when they hosted a…
The sound of San Francisco’s Soft Moon is disorienting: A darkly hyperactive Neu! mixed with the dance-floor sensibility of Depeche Mode and the stark despair of Bauhaus makes The Soft Moon one cynically crafted machine. But the most disorientating tactic in frontman Luis Vazquez’s arsenal is his muted vocals. Listen…
Can you imagine how you would have turned out if The Flaming Lips — the same Christmas on Mars/crazy/insane Flaming Lips you’re thinking of — had appeared on Sesame Street? It’s a question we’ll soon be able to answer. The Lips have appeared on Yo Gabba Gabba!, arguably the hippest…
Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids says that when it came time to make the band’s new record, the forthcoming Dear Miss Lonely Hearts (due April 2), they decided to play less to what the band “should be” and more to what it “could be.” “I feel like we started…
I know you don’t care, but I made a Harlem Shake video. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna show it to you. Because I am naive when it comes to the internetz, I actually was a little surprised when it didn’t become an instant viral hit. I’ll be 100 percent honest…
In case you’ve got the memory of Mr. Magoo, Beck’s latest musical release wasn’t an album. Instead, it was just a book of sheet music. Called Song Reader, the book includes over 100 pages of original artwork and 20 songs that Beck wants you to bring to life. Already dozens,…
Singer Stan Devereaux has been playing R&B and soul in Arizona since the 1960s, growing up in Tucson before exploring the Phoenix soul scene after college, then departing for Europe, South America, and Georgia. His journey led him back to Phoenix, and since he’s settled into a groove here in…
Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino do whatever they want. They play with whatever kind of bands they want, they get naked in videos, they do the “Harlem Shake,” and they picked a band name, Matt & Kim, that immediately establishes their singular style of indie/pop. See also: -Matt Johnson of…
The most obvious difference in Hanni El Khatib’s music these days is a sense of control. The former skate punk — “playing the world’s worst guitar” (but “Guitar Hero is helping out),” he jokes — still dabbles in garage, psychedelia, punk, and blues, only now his songs are tighter, more realized…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See New Times’ print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
For someone not even old enough to drink, Sareena Dominguez sure has accomplished a lot: After signing to the River Jones Music label less than a year and half ago, she’s played South by Southwest, released an album (her debut, Moonbeams), and starred in a music video of the same…
The debut album from Seattle’s Pickwick is a shot of gritty, soulful rock ‘n’ roll, with sharp guitar stabs, light organ fills and a groovin’ rhythm section, all hung out on the line of Galen Disston’s passionate vocals. But it wasn’t always so for the band. Pickwick’s first incarnation was…
First, a “dumb drummer” joke: How do you get a drummer off of your porch? Pay him 10 bucks for the pizza. Now, our Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Week…
Brujeria @ 910 Live|3/1/13In 2010, Jan Brewer asserted that “our law enforcement agencies” had found decapitated bodies in the desert along the Arizona-Mexican border. Although undocumented immigration from Mexico does lead to deaths in that region, it turned out that the stories about mutilated bodies were unsubstantiated, another one of…
decker. @ Sail Inn|3/1/13Sedona-based songwriter Brandon Decker bounced around the Sail Inn like a pinball, shaking hands, raising drinks, and grooving intently to the lineup of bands dueling between two stages. Decker’s a humble enough guy, but it was impossible to deny: Last night was his night. The broad smile…
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Of course, it was too good to be true. The ’90s radio rock wet dream of the Mark McGrath and Friends Cruise (haha, water, get it?) will not set sail. The three-day seaward journey back in time that promised strains of inoffensive alt-rock between rounds of pool deck limbo was…
It’s no coincidence local rockers Mergence have been likened to California’s Cold War Kids. Not only is the Phoenix band a quartet, but it also has a knack for crafting bluesy, soul-inspired opuses — kinda like those other guys. So it seems only natural that they would get the nod…
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Sadie Such Such is the owner/photographer/producer at Sadie Such Photography and Films. Learn more here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? I think I may have left it on the country station last time I was in…
When people ask what kind of music I like, I’m tempted to say, “Good music.” I understand the need for musical terminology, but there’s really too much good stuff to limit what you listen to. It’s a lesson Zero Zero teaches well. Nicole Laurenne and Michael Johnny Walker have the…
