It might be easy for some people to dismiss “Weird Al” Yankovic as an ’80s relic/Dr. Demento rip-off — if it weren’t for the fact that since he started his comedic music career in 1976, he’s sold more than 12 million albums and performed more than a thousand live shows…
You know how powerful Cake is? When you Google the word “cake,” the band’s website is the first search result. That’s serious stuff, a band being able to muscle its way to the top, beating out all the love actual cake earns on the Internet. What’s even more impressive is…
The Meat Puppets are rightly considered legends by just about everyone in Arizona. The band’s records for SST are generally regarded as classics, unique keepsakes from a time when the band’s blend of psychedelic rock, dusty country, and punk rock was inspiring guys like Kurt Cobain, who famously covered a…
It isn’t fair to call Mercurius FM a “retro artist,” but there is a definite “old school” tone to his work. His 2007 remix of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” augmented the sexy vibe of the original song with squiggly synths and brisk tempos, and established a steady stream of hype…
S.L.F.M.’s upcoming show at the Trunk Space quickly caught my eye. There’s no bad day that a bold top hat and a variety of mustaches can’t fix.S.L.F.M. has been described as “one-woman distorted ukulele blues” from Salt Lake City, Utah.Also performing that night will be Relatives, a harmony trio from…
As far as nightlife is concerned, Mondays are among the slowest nights of the week. Sure, most clubs won’t have a line and the bartenders are a bit more attentive, but it can be a little boring to see the same small group at your neighborhood watering hole. Fortunately, this…
The New York Dolls’ new album, Dancing Backward in High Heels, comes out today, June 7. As one of the most influential acts in the punk and glam rock genres, the New York Dolls’ body of work mostly consists of gritty garage rock and glam punk songs — you know,…
However, may I direct your attention towards Canadian electronic pop duo Junior Boys? Their latest album, It’s All True, is set to be released next Tuesday. A solid follow-up to 2009’s rather excellent Begone Dull Care, It’s All True finds Junior Boys producing yet more electronic pop-driven music, complete with…
If there were ever an artist who has passed the half-century mark in age and is making new works every bit as engaging, if not more so, than what was created in their so-called “prime,” it has to be Nick Cave. Well, we can throw Bob Dylan and his last…
British garage pop rockers Arctic Monkeys’ next album, Suck It and See, hits American store shelves Monday, June 6 — but some stores are going to censor the album cover, according to singer Alex Turner in a recent interview with London radio station XFM 104.9.Turner wouldn’t name specific stateside stores,…
Old 97’s should have hit it big in the late ’90s, when fellow alt-country bands like Whiskeytown were riding the No Depression wave to success. Over the course of their 18-year career, Old 97’s (named after a Johnny Cash cover) have toured consistently with the original lineup. And although they…
Kansas’ 1977 hit “Dust in the Wind” is a pretty serious song. Penned by guitarist Kerry Livgren, it’s straight out of the book of Ecclesiastes, a mournful, solemn existential statement that nothing lasts, no one lives forever, and at the end of the day, we aren’t much more than dirt…
Over the years, Aceyalone (pronounced Ace-ee-alone) has released enough smart, meandering rhymes that his collection could have driven even the most dedicated hip-hop heads to boredom — maybe even himself, if his last two albums are any indication. After a sensible collaboration with RJD2 on the critically acclaimed Magnificent City…
The official blog of old-school OC punk rockers CH3 might not be the first place you’d think to go to in search of a review of Glee. But don’t miss out; it’s well worth a read. Over the course of more than 1,200 words, a CH3 member band articulates a…
You won’t catch Tim Neilson (a.k.a. Johnny Volume) loading up the latest remixes by The Twelves or fiddling with Serrato Scratch Live on a Macbook when performing during Delinquency. Nope, the 36-year-old keeps thing far more lo-fi during the biweekly punk night at Yucca Tap Room, 29 West Southern Avenue…
When the dreaded hour of 2 a.m. approaches at most Scottsdale joints, clubgoers start sucking down the last few gulps of their drinks and start shuffling towards the door. At Pussycat Lounge, however, that’s when the action really seems to get going. Maybe it’s because there’s only a few scant…
In anticipation of their debut album, In Light, being released next Tuesday, NPR Music has deemed Givers worthy of their Exclusive First Listen label, offering up a full album stream of their much-anticipated debut. Oh, did I mention Givers are playing Phoenix this Saturday?…
Mother Mother will be sharing the stage at the Rogue Bar with the lovely local talents Super Stereo, Prague, and Sun Ghost.Here’s the full scoop: doors open for the 21-and-up gig at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 10. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.Until the show begins,…
Irish-American Celtic punk band Flogging Molly release their fifth full-length studio album, The Speed of Darkness, today. Like Flogging Molly’s previous records, the new one’s full of furious fiddles laid over backdrops of supercharged punk guitar riffs and fast-paced beats. Unlike the band’s previous albums, all the songs on Speed…
New bars and clubs are constantly popping up in Scottsdale as of late. But no matter how hip and hype the latest sensation might be, we prefer coming back to old favorites like American Junkie. The sports bar-meets-danceteria is almost always a popular playground for drinking, dancing, and debauchery, as well…
For those too impatient to wait two weeks, Grooveshark is currently streaming the album in its entirety…
On the surface, John Vanderslice seems like just another in a long line of melancholy singer-songwriters. Frankly, even if a slew of mopey indie-folk songs were his only contribution to the American music canon, he’d still be worthy of praise, just because he does that whole mopey indie-folk thing so…
