There’s something about an emo band that talks shit about emo — the genre dedicated to self-deprecation — that seems overly appropriate. The Letter Kills are that band. The Southern California five-piece is highly vocal about its disapproval of the notion that being classified as emo makes one popular. Sure,…
Let’s eliminate any potential confusion right off the top: The Explosion is not the Blues Explosion. Besides, the Explosion couldn’t be more different from Jon Spencer’s garage-rock project. This Boston five-piece digs into punk rock the way it was done in Berkeley’s Gilman Street club, D.C.’s F Street club, and…
1. Apathy, Where’s Your Album?!! (Demigodz Entertainment) 2. Atmosphere, Headshots: Se7en (Rhymesayers) 3. MacGuyver vs. Rainbow Revenge 7″ (iXodes/Drachenwerkstatt04) 4. Pig Destroyer, Terrifyer (Relapse) 5. Handsome Boy Modeling School, White People (Elektra) 6. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Ruin Jonny’s Bar Mitzvah (Live) (Fat Wreck Chords) 7. Against Me!,…
New York-born DJ Kid Capri is one of the most recognized names in hip-hop turntablism, having been scratching since the tender age of 8. With a résumé that includes tours with P. Diddy, LL Cool J, Jay-Z, Usher, and Aaliyah, a stint as the live DJ on Russell Simmons’ Def…
Talented as he is, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy has never particularly struck me as “fun.” Same goes for R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, unless he’s (allegedly) throwing yogurt around an airplane cabin. But Minus 5 singer/commandant Scott McCaughey, he of Young Fresh Fellows, Tuatara, and late-period R.E.M. fame? Now that dude oozes…
It would be easy to name off the big hip-hop hitters who participated in the production of Pokafase’s self-titled debut album for Artist Direct Records (including Warren G. and Kokane from the Doggystyle All-Stars) and let hype build from there. But the truth is, what makes Poka’s CD so good…
Good band names can be hard to come by. Budding groups have to conjure up something catchy and unique that nails their sound exactly. For instance, there’s San Diego-based indie Tristeza, whose moniker sticks in your brainpan but also describes the emotional makeup behind a bulk of its songs (the…
Zao is a powerhouse of the metalcore scene, following the example of genre icons Earth Crisis, forging a hardcore/metal act unafraid of dabbling in other genres, and becoming known for passionate performances. But where Earth Crisis’ sociopolitical stance is decidedly secular, Zao is faith-based, working the Christian music and Cornerstone…
Black Flag was once accused of being neo-Nazis, and so were the Ramones. But when NYC hardcore pioneers Agnostic Front came along, maybe the alarm-ringers couldn’t be blamed for perceiving racism in the lefty world of punk. After all, the cover of 1984’s Victim in Pain is an archival photo…
Nowheresvilles have always produced more than their fair share of good bands. The alchemy that breeds inspiration from frustration works overtime when the only place open late is Circle K. But while most bands wish themselves out of the dust of their home turf, Throw Rag frolics in it. On…
Recently back from a six-month tour, brothers Mike and Jared Bell of the Lymbyc Systym display their intense musical relationship via jaw-dropping keyboard and percussion performances. Their sound blends electric jazz with elements of electronica and indie rock, and winds up being unique with strong beats and impressive grooves. The…
Many local bands rush to put out a CD as soon as they have enough material. Not Sistrum. The band’s debut CD, Ashes & Whispers, has been nine years in the making. Biding its time through several lineup changes and budget constraints, Sistrum continued to develop songs and tighten the…
The flyaway pages of the calendar bring us to 2005, midway point where some exciting new music has got to emerge to atone for this decade’s stagnant first half. You can take heart that the appearance of Kongos on our local scene is a sign of things finally getting interesting…
Even the briefest essay about Rosanne Cash requires a list of her reckonable accomplishments: the 11 number one singles, the Grammy award, and always, always her royal musical lineage. But if being Johnny Cash’s daughter got her foot in Music City’s door, and while all those hits kept her on…
Punk has grown as a term to encompass an eclectic array of approaches, and its infiltration of guitar-based underground music is now so complete that everything that’s at least midtempo seems to bear some imprint of the style. It’s to the point where calling a band punk is no more…
Perhaps it’s the omnipresent gray skies, but whatever the cause, the Brits are masters of a strain of gloomy romanticism traceable from Bowie to Blancmange to Morrissey. NYC quartet Elefant channels this dark, synth-driven pop sound (which hit its high-water mark during New Wave’s ’80s reign) with supple melodies and…
Y’all rellies ready to get your gurp on? Kill Mill resident DJs Foundation, Dirty Napz, and Ether One are bringing that crazy-ass Z-Man, the verbal innovator, and Awol One, of the Shape Shifters, to town on Tuesday, January 18. It’s a duo not to be missed; Z-Man is one of…
In the popular imagination, Grammy equals fame and fortune, but it’s unlikely most people reading this will know the name of Grammy-winning troubadour and storyteller David Holt. Holt (an O Brother alumnus) plays washboard, banjo, guitar, harmonica, spoons, bones and other instruments, sometimes all at the same time, with a…
Cutthroat Logic is “representin’ Phoenix to tha fullest.” The band’s song “Phire City” may be the best hip-hop shout-out ever to our desert metropolis, with flows like “I’m from where it’s hotter than fuck/And all they bump on the radio is the most commercial rap/Eminem, Puff, or P-Diddy/Whatever the fuck,…
Here’s a band that’s a cluster of contradictions. It’s called Bowling for Soup, but the members are admittedly terrible bowlers and not big fans of soup. It’s a punk band, but it was nominated for the “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group” Grammy in 2003. It’s made up…
1. Arcade Fire, Funeral (Merge) 2. Handsome Boy Modeling School, White People (Elektra) 3. Pinback, Summer in Abaddon (Touch & Go) 4. Tom Waits, Real Gone (Epitaph) 5. Elliott Smith, From a Basement on the Hill (Anti) 6. Joanna Newsom, Milk-Eyed Mender (Drag City/Caroline) 7. Kings of Convenience, Riot on…
What? You’ve never chain-smoked three packs of unfiltered cigarettes, gone without seeing daylight for six weeks straight, sauntered around town with a dime-store noir in the back pocket of gasoline-soaked jeans, nodded off in the corner in a heroin stupor, or screeched through the dodgiest part of town in a…
