Despite a moment in the sun, screamo increasingly appears a failed experiment without the undying appeal of chocolate in your peanut butter. Blending hardcore aggression with emo’s pop impulse didn’t produce a juggernaut with heart, but a conflicted creature unable to satisfy either impulse. Recent arrivals Polar Bear Club attempt…
Like moonlight on a starless night, The Silent Years project across a crisp, endless expanse both starkly beautiful and with a rich, engaging brightness. The Detroit quintet indulge plenty of textured atmospheres but aren’t as shambolic as their dream-pop antecedents. Keyboards paint in broad shimmering strokes, and frontman Josh Epstein’s…
It’s not hard to figure out what kind of music New Orleans’ Zydepunks play. Their name gives it away: a mixture of zydeco, punk, Cajun music, and Eastern European styles. It’s an overwhelming mixture to comprehend, but it makes perfect sense that a band with such a wide range of…
The early ’90s were ripe for the taking, musically. People were tired of the Sunset Strip’s hair-metal scene. Alternative rock — particularly grunge — ushered in the slow death of hair bands, giving record labels a new genre to fawn over. Although not from Seattle, Stone Temple Pilots reached massive…
Life’s been good to the DJ collective of Above & Beyond (a.k.a. Jonathan Grant, Paavo Siljamäki, and Tony McGuinness). Madonna reportedly is a big fan of the U.K.-based trance triumvirate and requested that they remix two of her singles (2001’s “What It Feels Like For a Girl” and 2003’s “Nobody…
What do we have here? Imagine the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Now imagine Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, and Larry the Cable Guy transformed into homosexual folk singers with flawless hairlines. Yeah, Rock the Folk OUT! is kinda like that — a confederacy of hyper-earnest singer-songwriters who have joined forces to…
Had your fill of clean-living, yoga-mat rock stars? The kind who avoid meat and alcohol like Brandy Norwood avoids brake pedals? Then go to Club Red on Saturday, when six Valley rock bands will perform as God intended: completely effing wasted. No idle promise — it’s a stone-cold guarantee. According…
69 SinsG.F.Y.(Self-released)Phoenix metal act 69 Sins’ debut EP G.F.Y. doesn’t disturb me so much for what it is, as what it hints at. Though it’s a pretty standard metal CD in many ways, there are a few glimmers of what I can only describe as Bro Metal. Now, metal barely…
We almost hesitate to tell you what we did this past Saturday night.And this time, it’s not because we happened to drink too much or stumble in our heels or run our mouths to people we hardly know (even though those things did, indeed happen).No, we hesitate because we found…
Not every rock, pop, or rap tune sounds good jazzified. If you tune your radio dial to that yucky thing called smooth jazz, you’d better have a barf bag handy. But Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine, the LOL cover band from the nation’s capital of jazz corniness, Los…
Alt-country poster boy Ryan Adams might get the lion’s share of accolades, but Jason Molina, the driving force behind Magnolia Electric Co., seems more than capable of giving Adams a run for his money. The similarities between the two artists don’t end with their penchant for brooding, alt-country balladry. Both…
We know what you’re thinking: Napalm Death, the founders of grindcore, circa 1982, are still around? What can they offer the metal world after nearly three decades of sonic brutality and numerous changes in sound and personnel? Well, listen to the group’s newest, Time Waits for No Slaves, and try…
Though San Diego quartet Dredg has toured with Taste of Chaos and major-label metal acts like Hoobastank and Deftones, their atmospheric, undulating sound defies easy categorization. Their willowy guitar drones are melodic enough for post-grunge radio rock, though the arrangements waver, dip, and swerve like a spacey prog act, and…
The intersection of Washington and Second streets in downtown Phoenix is an absolute hip-hop hotspot, as places such as PHX Nightclub and Silver pump out the bumps and beats for thousands of crazed club-goers every weekend. It’s precisely why Sol Martinez and the rest of the peeps behind FUSE Fridays…
PrehabOne is Too Many (A Thousand Is Never Enough)Self-ReleasedIf Prehab’s One is Too Many (A Thousand Is Never Enough) sounds a little too polished to be a debut, there’s good reason. The guys spent five years as The Bedspins in the mid-90s, racking up 500 shows and serving as songwriters…
Good causes always hold a special place in our hearts. That’s why we figured we’d check out the third annual Band Wagon Benefit Show on Saturday, April 25th at Modified Arts.The roster was packed with bands Courtney Marie Andrews, Underscore Orkestra, Dry River Yacht Club, Gospel Claws, In Symmetry, Sister…
I’m not sure who it is, but I think I have a favorite poster artist in town. For the first time, we’re giving a second Flier of the Week nod to the same band: Japanese Monsters. Their “Sarah Palin with bug” poster won back in November, and now this Lebowski…
Putting a cover song as the second track on your CD is ballsy. Either you’ve got ’em right there, or you’ve lost ’em forever. For a metal act to put a cover of an Ozzy song second on their record? That’s pretty much suicidal. Sure, Ozzy and Sabbath can be…
The all-star lineup for this year’s Real Coachella in downtown Phoenix begs the question: Why would anyone waste their precious time driving 3 1/2 hours to the desert wasteland of Indio, California, just to see a bunch of has-beens and never-will-bes performing at an overpriced festival when they can catch…
It’s a testament to the seemingly unflappable pomposity of rock stars the world over that This Is Spinal Tap is as relevant today as it was upon its theatrical release 25 years ago. Over the years, This Is Spinal Tap has become more than just a hilarious send-up of rock…
The sounds produced by Joy Electric range from kitschy, ’70s-style synth beats to video game-worthy blips — but with rigid song structures. The production on the band’s albums is extraordinary, marking a high point for experimental electronic music. The vocals on each track are sincere, with hints of boyish imagination…
If you’re into mash-ups, no doubt you’ve heard of the dope DJ duo A Plus D (a.k.a. Adrian and the Mysterious D. Over the past six years, the punky San Francisco couple have pimped the art form of smashing together songs, either through their own masterful mixes (merging Kanye and…
