Surf rock has come a long way since The Ventures, and to be honest, most of that journey has not made for pleasant listening. Sure, there are the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean, but, typically, purveyors of Orange County’s lamest export have been generally indistinguishable: all mid-tempo, reverb, whammy…
Some assume that being in a punk band means surrendering your sense of humor and giving up all claims on musical maturity. Fortunately, there’s the occasional outfit that dispels that stereotype. The Ramones were goofy from the get-go, while Green Day proved that irreverence can garner you a Grammy. For…
There’s a standard formula that’s worked well for the PHX’s DJ/dance scene. If something hits it big in another city, be it S.F. or NYC, chances are it may just work here as well. (Just look at how well electro played out at Valley clubs after being imported to our…
Electric Mustache: Electric Mustaches ALBUMS OF THE YEAR!!!Idolator: Sean Kingston Tweets Song About Tweeting As The Internet ExplodesNME: Lily Allen confirms break from musicNME: Flaming Lips to cover Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side Of the Moon’ at New Year’s Eve gigPitchfork: Radiohead’s Marching Band Collaboration ReleasedRolling Stone: Enter to Win…
Here’s a sampling of today’s new album releases:Il Divo- An Evening with Il Divo- Live in BarcelonaJuvenile- Cocky and ConfidentPrimal Fear- Eye of an EagleAllison Iraheta- Just Like YouR. Kelly- UntitledMartha Wainwright- Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, A ParisNow it’s time to see whether Allison Iraheta can hold her own against…
For the last four years, Homme Lounge has hosted dance nights for every music scene from hip hip to industrial to indie rock; but its most consistently crowded affair for the last year and a half has been its Party Foul Friday nights. Now that Homme is closing down for…
1. Leonard Cohen – Live at The Isle of White 19702. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug3. Flight of the Conchords – I Told You I Was Freaky4. Flaming Lips – Embryonic5. Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young6. Grand Archives – Keep in Mind Frankenstein7. Vagina Panther – Vagina Panther8. Lhasa…
Any act fronted by horror rocker Joseph Poole — better known as Wednesday 13 — may seem like the natural complement to Creepsville 666, a local punk-metal outfit that fancies itself so dangerous that children should hide their album from the folks, but Poole’s latest project, Gunfire 76, may leave…
I wish I had more critically relevant things to say about Lil’ Dave Thompson, but the truth is that when it comes to the blues, I’m not much for intense discernment. Even the slapped-together, dime-a-dozen any-bar-in-town bands sound good to me. The chord progression, the slow-walking bass groove, the lyrical…
As we all know, Carson Daly isn’t good for much. But I have to give him — or, more accurately, Last Call’s talent booker — credit for bringing the excellent Los Angeles band Nico Vega on the show to play a couple of songs last spring, after which the buzz…
It comes as no surprise that Phoenix band The Crush would choose their hometown as the locale to launch their winter tour. The young quartet, which ranked No. 23 on the Top Unsigned Albums on Smartpunk, is touring in support of its debut, Physical Education. The disc is a combination…
Is it just me, or is “folk” as a descriptive term battling “indie rock” to the finish line of complete uselessness? Take the Monsters of Folk, the singer/songwriter collective that spawned an eyesore mural on Roosevelt and that lots of folks bitched about. Their self-titled debut leaned heavily on blue-eyed…
Better bid a fond farewell to Homme Lounge, 138 West Camelback Road, as the CenPho danceteria/gay bar/hotspot is shutting its doors for good after this weekend. But before co-owners Jeremy Johnson and Terry Walter turn over their keys to the landlord, the joint’s gonna go out with a big-ass bang…
Band: American Gods, a Phoenix hard rock/metal/industrial twosome with a sense of humor. Record: EC-10, which is either a very long 8-song EP or a very short 8 song LP. Basics: The band claims Fear Factory, Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie, and KMFDM as influences and you’ll hear plenty of…
We decided to get back to our roots here at Club Candids so on Saturday, Nov. 21st, we just strolled into a bar and took photos of unsuspecting patrons. The Lost Leaf has long been one of our favorite downtown bars so it’s no wonder the place made it into…
College kids and Mill Avenue nutters flock to Zia Tempe for their bountiful, jam-packed selection. They had a big week with Wale topping out their charts, and Nirvana snagging two seats in the top 10. Here’s what has their customers are going gaga.1. Wale – Attention Deficit2. Slayer – World…
Band: Mike Lennon, a country-tinged classic rock-y sideproject from the the bassist of Psychobilly Rodeo Band, the house band at Scottsdale’s Rusty Spur saloon. Record: The Dateline Phoenix 2009 album. The included press materials make it clear the record was actually written and recorded in 2007, making this “dateline” inaccurate…
As we told you in this week’s paper, CenPho.TV is celebrating its one year anniversary. Sure, it’s going up against the 2009 Independents Bowl, but with The Love Me Nots, The Surfside IV (who I suspect may have had something to do with this flier) and The Necronauts at The…
Dierks Bentley knows where his bread is buttered, which is why the country superstar’s upcoming benefit concert at Tempe Marketplace has a Harley-and-highway theme and not, say, a redecorate-your-loft theme. “Miles & Music for Kids” will offer fellow road warriors the opportunity to cruise from Cave Creek to Tempe with…
You can’t blame Pete Yorn for wanting to cut an album with Scarlett Johansson. After all, the Match Point actress is freakin’ hot. Still, that doesn’t mitigate the fact that Yorn cut an album with Scarlett Johansson. What’s the big deal? Well, imagine if Michael Chabon agreed to co-author a…
Whether it’s music, news, or the arts, when you want the best roundup of everything going on in downtown Phoenix (and only downtown Phoenix) you go to CenPho.tv. But when you want to actually hear the best music from downtown Phoenix? Well, you go to the CenPho.tv One-Year Anniversary Bash…
In a way it seems appropriate that the second full-length album from Polka Dot Dot is entitled Syzygy, a term used to describe the alignment of three or more celestial bodies in the same gravitational system along a line. If you were feeling sufficiently poetic, you could say that was…
