Curious what’s going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions as to how to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don’t fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend. Friday, June 8: Action Bronson @ Club Red in Tempe Action Bronson, who hails…
Alternative/industrial rock darlings Garbage released its fifth album, Not Your Kind of People last month, and the record shows no signs of wear or dust after a seven year break. The band steps slightly away from the alterna-pop that earned them radio domination in the ’90s, with synths and slower…
See also: Nicholas Petricca of Walk the Moon Wants to Jam With Michael McDonald (Let’s Make It Happen)Walk the MoonRhythm RoomWednesday, June 6, 2012Walk the Moon have conquered kiddie rock, impressed the masses at Sasquatch, and they’ve got the song of the summer. They’re coming up quickly, and they can’t…
It can be tough to get into rockabilly or psychobilly because, let’s face it: a lot of the bands blend together. Yeah, upright bass and horror movies are cool, but watching a guy with a pompadour stand on top of his bass while singing about cars gets a little old…
It took bassist Rich Tokatyan and guitarist John J. Yohimbe of Phoenix outfit Dynamite the Liberator three years to see their vision of a rock ‘n’ roll band come to fruition. They searched high and low for potential suitors — musicians who could not only jive with their philosophy and…
In this week’s issue of Phoenix New Times, we profiled ten new(ish) bands we expect to dominate Phoenix iPods and boomboxes this long, hot summer. We’ll be focusing more deeply on those artists over the next couple days here on Up on the Sun. See the entire list: 10 Local…
In this week’s issue of Phoenix New Times, we profiled ten new(ish) bands we expect to dominate Phoenix iPods and boomboxes this long, hot summer. We’ll be focusing more deeply on those artists over the next couple days here on Up on the Sun. See the entire list: 10 Phoenix…
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 does DJ Jason Ayers hate about “brostep?” What does pop star Santigold have to say…
Some things in life are totally worth the wait. Like, for instance, a return visit to the Valley by electronica wizards Lazer Sword. It’s been almost two years since the team of L.A.’s Lando Kal (a.k.a. Antaeus Roy) and Berlin-based beathead Low Limit (better known as Bryant Rutledge) hypnotized locals…
Thursday 7 16th Street Bar & Grill: Kickback Thursdays with DJ Cedric Ceballos (hip-hop, classics, neo-soul, reggae, R&B, Top 40, old school) Afterlife: Throwback Thursdays (electronica, dance) Azucar Cuban Lounge: Latin Night with DJ Los & DJ Yoshi (cumbia, reggaeton, bachata, rock en Español, old school, funk) Bar Smith: Double…
It’s a common question: What does the Phoenix area sound like? The answer — a resounding and emphatic “who knows?” — is upsetting only to the kind of people who want easy, tidy answers to questions like that. The truth is, Phoenix sounds like a lot of things, and if…
You probably knew a kid like Steve Brooks in school. He was the rugrat in the Kiss T-shirt flipping the devil horns and flashing heavy metal attitude. He was in training for stoner-pop bruisers Torche from a tender age. “I had an early cousin who got me into Kiss in…
In Brian De Palma’s 1983 film Scarface — a touchstone film in the rap world — the title character, played by Al Pacino, lays out a simple path to domination as a ladies man: First you get the money, then you get the power, and then you get the women…
There just aren’t enough musical groups out there that allow grown women to cheer for barely legal eye candy. So thanks, One Direction, for filling that void. The British-Irish boy band has conducted a hysteria-inducing worldwide invasion that has won over fans of all ages, with Justin Bieber-esque good looks…
It’s a whole two minutes before the airy New Age flutes break the waves of ambient, billowy synth sounds and plucked nylon-string acoustic guitar that opens “Suicide Demo for Kara Walker” from Canadian art-rock crew Destroyer’s 2011 release, Kaputt. Then the drums — as canned and processed as the synth…
We wish we could tell you exactly what to expect when David Liebe Hart and his band take the stage at Trunk Space, but we don’t know. On second thought, it’s much better that way. An outsider artist more “outsider” than most (he claims he was abducted by Korendian aliens…
In an age when Henry Rollins does Acura commercials, what does “selling out” even mean any more? Tempe “futurepop” band Super Stereo knows a thing or two about product placement: Their ditties have been featured on The Real L Word, TNT’s Rizzoli and Isles, and E!’s Keeping Up with the…
El Hefe Super Macho Taqueria brings the classic taqueria environment to Old Town Scottsdale by making it a place to see and be seen. There was no shortage of that, patrons were dressed to the nines while sipping on beergaritas…
Although they possess a passion for Heavenly Father — not to mention the nutty belief that all disease can be healed solely through prayer — the folks at the Christian Science Monitor apparently don’t possess a sense of humor. To wit: The publication has brought down the thunder from the…
La Llegadora and Grupo Poderozzo La Casa del Mariachi Tuesday, June 5, 2012 Arizona’s banda scene really knows how to party. Decked-out dudes and chicas filled the music hall side of La Casa Del Mariachi last night and danced their asses off. It didn’t matter to anyone that it was…
The men of TwinGiant aren’t asking for a lot. They want some beers, and they wanna turn the amps up (way up), and tell a cosmic yarn about “the space hobo,” a character they created when imagining a theme that would conceptually link the band’s songs. Huddled around a table…
Southwest Arts and Music and Jackrabbit Lounge are up to a new collaboration: an original live music showcase — the only of its kind — held every Wednesday night in the Valley of the Sun. I know, I know, Jackrabbit Lounge, right? Well, after being completely refurbished, the managers are…
