Death metal is the most divisive force in the world today. Yes, even more divisive than Palestine, or Europe’s proton-dividing Large Hadron Collider. To fans, death metal’s blast beats and growling vocals are awesomeness incarnate. To others, it sounds like a long, amplified belch. We suggest the latter group steer…
Country-noir singer Jesse Sykes looks like Lara Flynn Boyle and sounds like a cross between Marianne Faithful and Adam Sandler’s Operaman. Her smoky, strained, eerily spectral voice is seemingly poised between genders — like a dude doing a falsetto. Not that we’re complaining. Paired with guitarist Phil Wandscher (formerly of…
It may not be terribly surprising to hear that the local musician performing regularly at the Trunk Space has a spacey, hip-hop/folk song about woodlice called “Grumpy Pill Bugs” on his new album. If anything, it sounds like just another night of lo-fi, indie-pop weirdness that downtown regulars have come…
Blunt Club beat-juggler Pickster One is keeping things simple for his newest nightlife endeavor, Dirty Funk. “We’re just gonna be drinking beer and listening to some cool music,” he says of the event, which happens on Tuesday, January 19, at the Yucca Tap Room, 29 West Southern Avenue in Tempe…
The following is an excerpt from a screenplay I’m working on, tentatively titled Cocoon 2: The Return . . . of Agnostic Front. Scene One: A retirement home for aging crust-punks in Yonkers, New York. Members of old-school hardcore bands Urban Waste, Sheer Terror, S.O.D., The Icemen, and others sit…
Memphis rocker Jay Reatard died in his sleep early this morning, reports the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. He was 29. Goner Records, the Memphis label that released records by Reatard and many of the projects in which he played, including The Reatards and Lost Sounds, released this announcement this afternoon: “It is with great…
[jump] Fleshmap analyzed samples of thousands of songs and calculated the percentage of instances in which a certain body part is mentioned in a particular genre. Genres such as alternative, folk, electronica, country, and hip-hop were included in the study. The results are fascinating, with hip-hop showing some of the…
Every year, I look forward to seeing the March Fourth Marching Band, whether it’s at the Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts or the New Belgium Brewery’s Fat Tire Festival. Tonight, at the Trunk Space another eclectic, upbeat, all-around-fun marching band, Mount Righteous, performs, along with Great Job and Bangarang. The show…
Welcome to “Nothing Not New,” a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about…
Such is the plight of our desert city. We are not a destination for enough musicians. We are merely a stop between Dallas and L.A., Vegas and god-knows-where. Smaller acts are more likely to come to Tucson, and larger ones may skip us altogether. Sadly, it seems that Dr. Dog…
School is almost back in session, but Hoodlums has kept busy even while the students are out of town. Tom Waits is at the top of their sales, local acoustic sereneders Dry River Yacht Club came in second, and Bobby Dylan’s Christmas album is still going strong even though Christmas…
Pickster Uno, DJ Element, and the other members of the Blunt Club will be packing up their record crates and moving to a brand new home later this month. The long-running Thursday hip-hop night (now in its seventh year of existence) is bidding au revoir to Tempe’s Club Red in…
It’s with a heavy heart we tell you that These Arms Are Snakes is no more. It’s been a great run and we’d like to send out a very hearty “Thank You” to everyone that we’ve worked with or anyone that we’ve toured with.R.I.P., TAAS. “Big News” will always remain…
How could a man of such brilliance, who creates such visually stunning pieces of art, who can seemingly do no wrong, allow the likes of Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz to write for the soundtrack of his latest creation, Alice in Wonderland? We may never know,…
[jump] Now, Teen Dream has yet to be released — it’s due for release on January 26 — but in the golden age of the Internet, that didn’t stop anyone from hearing the album and also enjoying it immensely. 2010 needed its early indie juggernaut — Animal Collective was 2009’s version –…
Thee Jaguar Sharks Thee Jaguar Sharks (Wahalla Music) GRADE: B+ Surf rock can’t help but be a bit ironic out of the context of the time and space that it was created. That is to say, in the 2000s and in the middle of the desert, the meaning just doesn’t…
Welcome to “Nothing Not New,” a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about…
Shut your traps, “MMMbop” haters. The Hanson trio proves they know and respect rock legends with this cover of Radiohead’s “Optimistic,” which has been recently making the rounds on the interwebs, even though it debuted on YouTube more than six months ago. Taylor Hanson gives singer Thom Yorke a run…
No Pants Ride Invades the Light Rail and Downtown Phoenix In conjunction with Improv Everywhere’s No Pants Subway Ride in New York, half naked people in cities around the world enjoyed freedom from pants on public transit on Saturday, January 10, 2010. In Phoenix, Improv AZ organized two teams of…
Everyone loves a birthdays party, especially when the guest of honor it is part of a kickass crew with tons of friends and fans. Thursday night’s Bombshelter DJ birthday bash (for DJ Emile) blew up Tempe’s Cherry Lounge & Pit, a venue that has recently gained some street cred thanks…
Transference is out 1/19 via Merge…
Welcome to “Nothing Not New,” a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about…
