Following a major-label disaster, much-hyped and beloved San Diego band Three Mile Pilot broke up before the dawn of this millennium. The group’s splintering allowed members to focus on other projects: Armistead Burwell Smith IV turned his focus to the proggy Pinback, while Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathanial turned their…
Maynard James Keenan isn’t known for being forthright, but he’s pretty open in his description of Conditions of My Parole, the latest album from his folk-electro-hard-rock project Puscifer: “This is an Arizona project. Its inception was in ’95, when I was living in L.A., [but] when I turned on the…
Hipster dance nights have a shelf life, burning brightly before flaming out into obscurity and leaving only hazy memories of drunken exploits, goofy photographs, and tales of hedonistic bliss. Party Foul was no exception, as the weekly electro affair at the old Homme Lounge earned a serious and scandalous reputation…
There’s an amusing photo meme that’s been traversing the Internet in recent months depicting alter kocker rockers Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins and declaring: “Punk isn’t dead. It just goes to bed at a more reasonable hour.” Try telling that to the pack of aging punks who have forgone an…
Most people remember Cake for the band’s quirky, funky novelty hits: “Never There,” “Short Skirt/Long Jacket,” “The Distance,” the profane take on Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (Gaynor hated it). Achieving radio success with such a singular blend of mariachi, funk, rock, and hip-hop is weird, but Cake is even…
Nineteen-eighty was a strange time for music. First-wave punk was finished; disco was on its way out, and practically every pop song on the air was sporting synthesizers. Despite the fact that its uncompromising rockabilly-meets-punk sound was never particularly in vogue, Los Angeles band X held the gaze of the burgeoning…
Thursday 8 Afterlife: Thumpin’ Thursdays (various) Bar Smith: Ladies Night with DJ Idenaty, DJ EC Rock, & DJ Oh-Jezus (various) Blue Martini: Azul Thursdays (Latin) Capitol Sports Lounge: DJ Danny Peru (old school, Latin, Top 40) Cream Stereo Lounge: Blush Thursdays (dance) Crescent Ballroom: Boomstick! with Strobes, DJ Sean Watson,…
Just four months after it opened, Tempe’s Venue 104 is closing its doors. The combination coffee house, art gallery, music venue and theater will finish out its final play, Tape by Stephen Belber, on December 17. A final musical blowout is currently in the works with locals Executives, Hometown Letdown…
When it comes to local music (and apparently, everything) all things must pass. So goes the reign of punk promoter Will Anderson, whose belly laugh, dirty Avail hat, and jovial smile have been a near-constant presence at punk shows in the Valley for 20 years. Benjamin Leatherman brings us the…
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 songs have we picked to soundtrack your Festivus festivities? What will the upcoming local Jim…
If sunshine were audible, it would probably sound a lot like Allen Clapp’s music. Based in the Bay Area, the Northern California native has been producing a gorgeous soundtrack to the Golden State lifestyle for almost two decades under his own name and with his band The Orange Peels. Mixed…
UPDATE: For more photos of Tennis, Miniature Tigers, and Gospel Claws click here.Let’s just put it out there: The first time I heard indie boy-girl buzz band Tennis, I absolutely hated them. For starters, I generally hate chick singers who don’t have anything spectacular to offer (though a few of my…
What can we say? We’re suckers for a good cause. Hoodlums Music’s Art Rocks! event is certainly a good one. The indie record store is teaming with Arts Council for Youth, Marcos de Niza High School, Kyrene Middle School, and the City of Tempe for the Saturday, December 10 gig,…
We’re legit bummed that X103.9’s Bush and MuteMath show was cancelled, but since it would have been tonight, we decided that our interview with MuteMath is definitely still worth a read. Mutemath drummer Darren King had a lot to say about stop motion photography, comparisons to the Black Keys, what…
Organizers of the annual Air Guitar World Championships oughta consider holding next year’s event at Rockbar Inc. in Scottsdale, particularly since many folks in attendance at it’s grand opening on Friday, December 2, were strumming faux Fenders and invisible Ibanez while classic rock hits came from the sound system. When…
We here at Up On the Sun are a tad local-centric. We like it that way. We love our local bands and, when it comes to expanding our interests, typically American bands get the attention. But hey, you have to give credit where credit is due. There are plenty of…
Tom “Soda” Gardocki spent years playing guitar in SoCal rockers Wax (go rewatch the credits of Mallrats; the band plays right after its pals Weezer) but more recently he’s devoted himself to more rustic purposes. Either performing with his Large Band, his “Million Piece Band,” or solo with his 12-string…
Attention rock and alternative acts around Arizona: The Phoenix Zoo wants you for 2012’s Rock the Zoo event. “We’re looking for rock and alternative acts,” says zoo PR & Marketing Manager Linda Hardwick. “In the past, we’ve done ’80s music, but this year we really wanted to involve the community,…
Neil Hamburger is not your typical comic, and DJ Horsepussy is not your typical DJ. Hamburger’s “anti-comedy” style has certainly inspired an entire crop of alt-comedians, and while Phoenix has a few DJs with “fucking” offensive names, none go as far to remain anonymous as the lucha libre-masked rocker. Both…
In the latest installment of “Wait, Fox said whaaat?” Eric Bolling, host of Fox Business’ Follow the Money had a conversation with Media Research Center guest Dan Gainor and Andrea Tantaros, co-host of The Five, where they discussed the staunch anti-corporate tone of The Muppets. Jason Richard Kron, of local…
Out of Reverie, Come On Die Young, Alaurabyrd, Just Animals, and Death By Routine will all be bringing down the house this weekend for what is sure to be a very punk rock Christmas. Just look at that Mexican folk-skull dressed as Santa. The flier just screams visually. Not only…
X set itself apart from its first-generation punk contemporaries with Exene Cervenka and John Doe’s dueling vocals and a serious dose of roots and rockabilly in its sound. X has a difficult and fascinating history. Cervenka and Doe started the band as a couple, got married, divorced, wrote a few…
