Wednesday for happy hour I spent a couple of hours watching Chip Hanna play acoustic at Last Exit. If you’re not familiar with Chip, he’s the former drummer for punk stalwarts U.S. Bombs and One Man Army, but currently he’s honing his chops as a country singer/songwriter. That might seem…
Back in the late ’90s, I was getting pretty tired of Drunken Immortals — the group was playing a weekly hip-hop night at the now-shuttered Arizona Roadhouse Brewery and, after that, weekly at a place called Donny Brasco’s. I’ve always believed in the laws of supply and demand as far…
Dark Star Orchestra is as close to the Grateful Dead as you’ll get these days, but don’t think of them as a tribute band. No member tries to look like any of the Dead. There’s no effort to talk like them, either. Instead, the DSO picks a different Dead show…
Few artists have spoken more eloquently — or more passionately — about the high cost of life during wartime since Bush took the wheel as commander in chief than indie-punk hero Ted Leo. On his latest effort, Living With the Living, Leo sizes up the prospects of a soldier’s life…
She’s been part of The Spirit Squad, Runaway Diamonds’ life-affirming wall of vocals, for nearly a year now. But when people ask Rhianna Riggs what the Phoenix band sounds like, she has no idea what to tell them. “You’re just like ‘Well, Gabriel plays the beat machine and piano and…
Just got my hands on this new video from Back Ted N-Ted, it’s a collaboration by Coppé and Back Ted N-Ted, and it’s pretty awesome. It was done by Tokyo’s Ben Sheppee, who also directed the video I posted a while back here of Back Ted N-Ted with Chronic Future’s…
Last weekend’s Casket Life/Liar’s Handshake/The Revenge show at the Yucca was completely out of control, just like I expected. It was the first time I’d seen the Revenge before, and goddamn do they bring the punk rock. Homeboy was swinging from the PA’s mounted to the ceiling, the guitar player…
Yeah, the Ear Infection URL is switching to http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/infection/, so if you’re smart enough to have this bitch bookmarked, make a note of it. The old steez is still working for now, but I don’t know how long it’ll last…
If you’re the road-trippin’, hip-hop-lovin’, war-hatin’ type, you’ll want to mark your calendar to take a trip on April 9 down to the Tucson stop of the Make Hip-Hop Not War tour, where local rap-activist Grime will be representing onstage. It’s coming straight from Camp Crawford in Texas, where peace-mom…
Northside Danny’s Idea of a Good Time? It may come as a surprise to those who know Danny Marianino, singer for the North Side Kings, as simply the Danzig-pounding hardcore dude (check the video below if you haven’t seen it), that he’s actually something of a renaissance man. By renaissance,…
The Casket Life boys The weekend’s almost here, and this particular Friday and Saturday there are a buttload of dope shows happening that you ought to be at. First, you’re a damn fool if you miss the Casket Life, Liar’s Handshake, Mike Skullbuster, the Revenge, and some NOFX cover band…
I’ve had Insects on the mind the last few days, and not just because the goddamn wasps are back using my pool to build their nests. Naw, these Insects are MC Brad B and producer Foundation from Drunken Immortals, the latest spinoff project from the prolific collective to hit the…
I’ve finally found it — my get-rich-quick plan that’ll land me a job in Hollywood as a reality show executive producer. The idea goes like this: Take a band, book them four shows with completely disparate audiences in a 24-hour period, give them all the liquor they can drink, and…
It’s been 40 years since the Doors stood the Summer of Love on its head with a self-titled statement of purpose that sent the brooding fuck-me pop of “Light My Fire” all the way to No. 1 but also included the Oedipal midnight rambling of “The End,” a terrifying, album-closing…
As the singer for namesake L.A. fusion metal band Otep, as well as a self-published poet, Otep Shamaya views herself as a serious artist and Otep’s music as a serious art. Most of the band’s fervent fans, with whom Otep interacts extensively online, agree with that idea. And right now,…
Seems that straight edge kids get a little sensitive when they’re being made fun of, judging from this video of west side death metal purveyors E.T.T.S. razzing the sober ones. Check it…..
Tonight promises to be a wild one at the Stray Cat’s weekly BANNED! in Tempe night, with both DJ Johnny Volume and wanna-be-startender Tyler King celebrating their birthdays at the punk rock DJ night (which I wrote about here, if you’re curious). Here’s the word from Mr. King’s computer on…
Hellas’ Pedals – Justin’s box Things have been a bit quiet here at Ear Infection HQ over the last few days thanks to a fractured and sprained wrist that’s been immobilized by an evil splint device which I’ve recently removed… There was some tomfoolery between brothers and instead of landing…
Pickster One In last week’s installment of my column Revolver in New Times, I issue a call to arms for DJ’s to kick out mix cds and hit me up with them, because I don’t see enough of that shit. Well, a few days ago when I was interviewing Brad…
I was all gung-ho about hitting up the free Army of Robots/Back Ted N-Ted/Loveblisters show in Flagstaff at the Monte Vista tonight until I saw a physician yesterday who told me that my wrist and tibia were fractured and splinted my entire right arm until I can see an ortho…
The Liar’s Handhsake, in a sober moment I told you last week about the marathon I was going to attempt with the Liar’s Handshake on St. Patrick’s Day – playing four different venues to four disparate crowds in the 24 hours that constitute the holiday. Since then I’ve been getting…
A few weeks ago, I helped judge the Ultra DJ Spinoff at Myst in Scottsdale. Six finalists had 25 minutes each to impress the judges (who also included DJs Pete “Supermix” Salaz, and Inertia, and the crowd), with the winner receiving an expenses-paid trip to Miami Beach for the Winter…
