It takes colossal cojones to release a song called “Obscurity Knocks” as your band’s debut single, which the Trashcan Sinatras did in 1990. “I think it was a wee bit of not so much tempting fate, but it just seemed to fit our personalities at the time,” says singer Frank…
What do you get the man who has everything? Hit records, a literal harem of reality-show women, a vast collection of bandannas and motorcycles — and it’s still not enough for Bret Michaels. You would think Poison’s 1988 power ballad “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” would be the high point…
Eric Sean Nally has a big voice — like, Freddie-Mercury-on-poppers big. He also has a mild theatrical streak, having been known to eat smoldering cigarettes on stage, and sing while hanging upside down like a bat. For these reasons, Nally and his Foxy Shazam band mates have elicited comparisons to…
The music of Gospel Claws is filled with meandering, sweet chord progressions, gentle percussion, and an excitement that is restrained everywhere besides the vocals. Joel Marquard’s voice, in contrast, is raw, unpolished, and strained. That voice adds an unfamiliar and unexpected twist to the garage-informed pop songs (the band’s first…
Let’s begin with the costuming: Multi-colored ribbons hang like bunched-up fringe on a deconstructed jacket, with feather embellishments and mismatched swatches patched on. If as a 5-year-old I could’ve gotten away with dressing like a fairy tale creature, I certainly would’ve been on board. Jonsi projects this childlike aura, not…
Syracuse is famed for a few things: basketball, the college that has the basketball, and, according to my viewing of a Syracuse-based episode of Man vs. Food, hearty American grub. Those pop-rockers with a hint of chamber, Ra Ra Riot, formed there, too, and took off during the East Coast…
You can’t keep a good pseudo-metal band down. So it goes with the Deftones, whose new album, Diamond Eyes, follows a disastrous mid-career detour that nearly derailed their shit permanently. It all started in 2008, when founding bassist Chi Cheng suffered massive brain damage in a car wreck, rendering him…
Anyone who happens to hang out at Giligin’s in Scottsdale on the weekends should automatically have an interesting story to tell. Por que? Because of Chuey the Rock ‘n’ Roll Midget, that’s why. (For instance, how many of your tales of memorable nightlife exploits include the phrase “…and then the…
Locals were all about supporting hometown musicians this week at Revolver Records.Phoenix experimental improv rockers Sun City Girls came out on top at with their latest release.Indie darlings Belle & Sebastian were pretty trendy too, as were New York chamber pop musicians Antony & the Johnsons and the psychedelic Japanese…
Miley Cyrus, writhing around in a blindfoldThese days, it seems like a lot of female singers in their late teens are trying to out-do each other when it comes to sexing it up. You’ve got Selena Gomez soaked and singing in the rain. Then there is Taylor Momsen, whose outfits…
Title: Castlecore Pt. 1Basics: Enough of this hip hop stuff, our weekly locals-only review column YAFI was built on emo-tastic pop punk.What better way to return to the fold than with Tigerface’s latest album Castlecore Pt. 1? Now, had this album — which is stretch for something clocking in just…
Michelle DonovanIwrestledabearonceAs if their name isn’t cool enough, Iwrestledabearonce totally hit the jackpot with this flier. There is an army of cutesy looking bears creating a bevy of psychadelic eye candy to the viewer, and they look so cool, they probably won’t have any people trying to wrestle them any…
He sometimes DJs while covered in fake blood. A paper-bag mask or other strange disguise frequently obscures his face. And the grinding electronica tracks he produces feature such nasty titles as “Kill These Fucking People” and “Sexual Sacrifice.” Yup, it’s safe to say that Screamer Clauz is probably about as…
Vince Gill’s star has dimmed in the past decade. He hasn’t scored a country Top Ten single since 2000’s “Feels Like Love,” but it certainly has more to do with Nashville’s shift toward younger, pop-inflected artists than the 53-year-old Gill’s having lost his golden touch as a writer and performer…
It’s been over 20 years since “Love Shack” reached the Billboard Top 40. Since then, there hasn’t been one wedding, bar mitzvah, sweet 16, or retirement party that is safe from the song. Actually, though, the B-52s formed a dozen years before “Love Shack” hit the mainstream. Though they may…
Affixing a tidy genre label to most music these days isn’t a daunting task. In fact, it’s almost like bands want to fit into a certain genre, for marketing ease, lest their eager fans be left in the dark. Toronto’s Holy Fuck have become adept at actively avoiding easy classification…
Paul Oakenfold is getting long in the tooth. Although the 47-year-old British-born trance superstar isn’t ready for AARP membership just yet, he’s been bringing forth the beats since the Studio 54 era and has outlasted his peers from London’s early-’80s DJ scene to become arguably one of the most successful…
Psychobilly legends The Quakes shook Chaser’s Bar and Nightclub on Friday night and New Times was there to assess the damage. Check out our slideshow…
Bring in Le Noise, bring in da funk.Neil Young stole the top spot on the chart this week at Hoodlums Music and Movies.Guitar king Eric Clapton also made the list with his latest album, as did classic rocker Robert Plant with his most recent release. English indie pop band Mumford…
Far East MovementOh, how much fun it is to use gibberish.There is plenty of nonsensical vocab in Far East Movement’s first hit single, “Like a G6,” from “slizzard”, to “sizzurp,” to “808 bump”–partially in thanks to the hook from Dev’s “Booty Bounce”. It is as if the band took a…
TItle: The J & D Experience EPBasics: More YAFI hip hop? I could get used to this. This EP was passed along to me by resident PHX hip-hop expert Mike Meyer, so I knew I was in for something decent — if not actually good. Well, you know what? Miranda…
Travis EnglerMike Mangan’s Big Organ TrioOrgans aren’t just for church, as the rock n’ roll stylings of Mike Mangan’s Big Organ Trio prove. The band, with a Hammond B3 organ taking center stage, perform tonight, October 7 at The Rogue Bar in Scottsdale, and the show is sure to be…
