Yucca Hosts Credence Clearwater Revival Night

Has your tapedeck — and your Credence — gone missing? Yucca Tap Room will host another of their cover nights (previously Bob Dylan and Tom Petty got their turns) Wednesday night, this time paying homage to Credence Clearwater Revival. Solid lineup and no cover, as always…

Lily Allen Quits Music Biz, Instantly Regrets Decision

It seems British singer Lily Allen set out to make today one of her worst in a long, long time. Allen has recently devoted her time to her new blog “It’s Not Alright” to speak out against music piracy. As you can see by clicking the link, her blog posts…

Jenny, He’s Still Got Your Number

I’d be willing to bet exorbitant sums that most of you readers weren’t aware that California-based power poppers best known for the eternal torment of anyone cursed with the digits 867-530-NI-EE-I-INE, Tommy Tutone, still gig around. Don’t let their web site tour section, which hasn’t listed a show since late…

Flier of the Week: Green Lady Killers

Having followed their fliers for a year or so, I’ve always been impressed with the varied styles of posters for shows with punky trio The Green Lady Killers. Depending on the week you may see a flier that leads you  to believe they’re a Psychobilly band, riot grrrls, lazy indie…

David Cross at The Orpheum: Who Should Be Most Offended?

David Cross is a very funny guy. As such, he got away with saying things about deaf people, blacks and native Americans that the rest of polite society can’t conceive of uttering at his Orpheum Theatre gig on Wednesday. Dressed in a blue polo shirt, plaid shorts and hiking shoes…

Stephen Steinbrink, a.k.a. French Quarter, Is Hyper-Productive

Valley singer-songwriter Stephen Steinbrink wears many caps. Not just in the obvious sense — though Steinbrink is rarely seen without his trademark trucker cap or feathered Peter-Pan style headgear — but in the sense that though many Phoenix artists are content to sit around bitching about the state of the…

The Killers Are Fun but Vapid, Like Their Hometown

No one’s sick of talking about Kanye West, right? Because if the Killers are going to keep it up, why shouldn’t I? After Kanye stole the mic and the spotlight from Taylor Swift at the VMAs in a publicity stunt — the blatant scripting of which has been addressed in…

The Get Up Kids Really Were Worth Writing Home About

For all its hazy definitions, there was a time when “emo,” maligned as the genre has always been, indicated the smart, melodic pop-punk of The Get Up Kids and their breakthrough 1999 sophomore record, Something to Write Home About, instead of conjuring up images of mopey girls in heavy eyeliner…

Seven Nights of DJs & Dancing

THURSDAY 24 Baja Tilly’s: Electric Thurdays with DJ Flair (Top 40, pop, hip-hop) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays (hip-hop) Bomberos: Rani G., dk.strickler, Deon Pearson, & Alkeme (house) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays (hip-hop) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cherry Lounge: Scandalous Thursday with DJ Juan Rocha (house, electronica) Club Red: The Blunt…

Nova

Cameron Rosewicz (a.k.a. DJ mig50) used to sail the high seas of soft-rock cheesiness as the esteemed captain of the bygone Yacht Rock night over at downtown Phoenix’s Ruby Room. These days, however, the 27-year-old Shizz scenester and music junkie has been rocketing through the starry universe of “synthed-out, cosmic,…

Bon Iver

Bon Iver may mostly be just a dude and a guitar, but don’t go thinking singer-songwriter. Justin Vernon’s French-named one-man band is much more, thanks to cobwebs of hazy effects and home-recorded imperfections. That’s because Bon Iver wasn’t intended to be anything more than a respite from Vernon’s freshly broken-up…

The Cave Singers

Those Seattle indie-rockers sure are an incestuous bunch, ain’t they? Swapping singers here, sharing keyboardists there. Consider the tangled genealogy of this Emerald City folk-rock trio, founded two years ago by guitarist-bassist Derek Fudesco when his old band, the much-admired Pretty Girls Make Graves, dissolved at the seeming height of…

!!! (CHK CHK CHK)

While bizarro their name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, it doesn’t seem to be hurting !!! (CHK CHK CHK). The group, which originally formed to play an all-night party in Sacramento, has been called one of the most inventive dance-punk bands around. Their catchy tunes will infiltrate your noggin…

KUPD End of Summer Scorcher

If you’re recovered from last weekend’s three-day Fall Frenzy at Tempe Beach Park and are ready to continue partying this weekend, check out 98 KUPD’s End of Summer Scorcher Saturday. The rock radio station is saying adios to summer with a cock-rock roster of hardcore acts for an all-day music…

Insane Clown Posse

The self-styled “most hated band in the world” has a true friend in us. No, not “us” literally — we’d sooner listen to Feist — but “us” as in, the Valley of the Sun. The horror-core rap pioneers always draw well here, whether touring in league (their Dark Lotus supergroup…

BOP Extra: Psych 101 Writes a Song for Phoenix

Pardon us as we take a moment to give Psych 101 a round of applause for being such good sports with their “Wonderland” submission. A few months back, New Times asked Jeff Miller of the local psych-rock ensemble to write a song based on this year’s Best of Phoenix theme…

Pearl Jam Finally Defeats The Music Industry (You’re Still Screwed)

Pearl Jam’s new album, Backspacer, which hit store shelves Sunday, is a landmark record. Not musically. Despite what critics are saying, it sounds like every other Pearl Jam album since No Code, neither possessing any real New Wave vibe, nor sounding obviously “like the band is having fun again,” as…