As far as bands with unassailable names go, you don’t get any better than Awesome. See how we’ve bolded the word Awesome right at the top of this paragraph? Every reviewer writing up this band’s debut CD or one of its shows is gonna be doing the same thing whether…
Here’s an interesting story, as told by D.O.A. front man Joey Keithley in his autobiography, I, Shithead: A Life in Punk: Back in 1987, the band was opening for David Lee Roth (yes, really). After D.O.A. almost got booed off the stage, Roth’s road manager kicked the entire band out…
Though they hail from Brooklyn, the Damnwells traffic in a loping, Americana-pop sound that seems endemic to the middle of the country, from the Replacements to Wilco to the Old 97’s. Not as ragged as the ‘Mats or as adventurous (if precious) as Tweedy, lead singer/guitarist Alex Dezen’s reedy tenor…
About five years ago, Adam Cohen, son of Leonard, released a pleasantly forgettable disc of jazz-tinged singer-songwriter material and got slammed for not being more like his father. That won’t be a problem this time. While Cohen writes the songs, Low Millions sounds like a rock band now, and the…
Dolly Parton has always been one tragedy away from country sainthood. No plane crashes, widowhood, stalker or savage attack, or devastating scandal has ever really toted Dolly to the stars; Dolly’s natural shocks have all been in the realm of bad taste, which Dolly in fact has always embraced –…
So much for the afterglow, indeed. While well-advertised career retrospectives from Nirvana and Pearl Jam celebrate those heavyweights of ’90s rock, some of the lesser-known bands from that era struggle on, largely forgotten and misunderstood. Case in point: Everclear’s Art Alexakis, a frank, empathetic songwriter who delivered consistently melodic anthems…
Radioabandonment Tour is more like it. Nobody’s singing “We Want the Airwaves” anthems anymore, and since Joey Ramone’s look-alike Howard Stern announced he’s abandoning broadcast for satellite radio, the end is drawing near. Radiotakeover.com has been an invaluable source for independent music on the Internet, and its smorgasbord tours are…
Not since the Great Split of 1972 — when the Jefferson Airplane splintered into Hot Tuna and the Jefferson Starship (later, just Starship) — has debate raged so passionately about the co-existing offspring of a revered band. The revered band of which we’re speaking is At the Drive-In, and when…
Brooklyn-based Most Precious Blood, which includes former members of Indecision, creates an honest and raw East Coast hardcore sound without metal frills. Carrying the banner of old-school NYHC ethics, these musicians are all either strict vegans or vegetarians, and have dedicated their lives to relentless touring. In return, many dedicated…
1. U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope) 2. Gwen Stefani, Love, Angel, Music, Baby (Interscope) 3. Lil’ Jon and Tha Eastside Boyz, Crunk Juice (TVT) 4. Eminem, Encore (Aftermath) 5. Korn, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (Sony) 6. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Greatest Hits (Ruthless) 7. Various artists, AZPunk.compVol. 2 (independent…
A consummate showoff, Rufus Wainwright has never had reason to doubt his gorgeous voice, his lush arrangements, his coy sense of romantic drama. Substance, however, presents a bit of a problem for him. Last year’s Want One addressed that deficiency in bracing terms — Wainwright celebrating his 30th birthday with…
On their 1999 debut, So . . . How’s Your Girl?, the faux-stylish studs in Handsome Boy Modeling School (a.k.a. super-producers Prince Paul and Dan “The Automator” Nakamura) emptied their imaginations and Rolodexes, creating an alternate musical universe with room for everyone from Mike D to Father Guido Sarducci. Yet…
The Dustys specialize in the archaic sounds of the ’50s and ’60s, with emphasis on the dance-happy backbeat that used to be the hallmark of the hit single, bouncing from rockabilly to jumpin’ jive, barrelhouse blues, hard-core honky-tonk and other roots-heavy forms. Lead vocalist Billy Joe Huels has a larger-than-life…
Garage rock seemed a better bet, but acts like the Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, and Modest Mouse have made the case that indie pop, not rock, is the next “thing.” If so, expect Pinback to come through the door and establish itself ahead of the legions of wanna-bes and…
Whether it inspires you or just leaves you pummeled, the Arcade Fire’s Funeral is a staggering debut. Over the course of just one album, the band bursts out of the rigid beats and chopping chords of its post-punk influences and straight into arena-rock territory; lead singer Win Butler’s raw-throated bombast…
Hip-hop hooray! It’s that time of year again, when the ‘Nix’s infamous Furious Styles Crew celebrates its anniversary with a flavor-filled blowout. This is the Styles’ 11th year reigning as the Valley’s premier b-boy and b-girl crew (that’s break-dancing for all you crackers out there). It’s also the first anniversary…
No one’s questioning the Badger State’s musical cred. After all, who among us is not devoted to the band Squirrel Bait or the vaudeville novelty hit “Mention My Name in Sheboygan”? But until 2004, Wisconsin seemed not to have a music scene vital enough to escape the state’s web of…
Tonetraeger is an electronic duo from Düsseldorf whose dissatisfaction with being an electronic duo from Düsseldorf is its biggest problem. Rather than just sticking to layering willowy vocals over humming organs and hiccupping percussion — a trick the group turns nicely for the bulk of This Is Not Here –…
Oakland’s Phenomenauts produce an energetic mash of ’80s dance beats — fueled by the sci-fi sound of the theremin, the primitive synthesizer favored by early prog rockers — and rockabilly thrash. They have the energy of the Clash, the party vibe of the B-52’s and the merchandising savvy of Devo,…
Every disgruntled, erstwhile band member (except food chain bottom-feeders, drummers) has probably thought, “Fuckin’ A. I could build something that plays better than these fools.” So it was that in his hubris, Jason Vance forged the instruments of his own doom — literally. A member of Chicago ska-punkers Blue Meanies…
If you’ve ever wondered, “When does retro get old?”, you’re probably not going to see Deke Dickerson and then eat at the 5 & Diner after the show. Dickerson’s albums look like the kind of lost late ’50s/early ’60s artifacts you almost never see at thrift shops anymore because eBay…
Before puke-punk legend G.G. Allin died of a drug overdose in 1993, critics always wrote disclaimers about his gory, self-mutilation-driven live shows. One pundit wrote, “Unless you’re trying out for a very tough detergent commercial, don’t sit anywhere near the stage.” The same warning holds true for twisted theatrical metal…
