Fun Bobby and his wife Lisa with Tammy Faye Bakker A little more than a year ago, I wrote here about Hollywood Alley-based promoter Fun Bobby Birmingham leaving town with his family for the greener pastures of rural Oregon where he’s been working at the infamous Dante’s bar/venue up there…
About a year ago, a former girlfriend asked me why this town seemed so culture-less. She’s from Los Angeles and is the sort of girl who likes to dress up and go to the ballet. “In L.A., people our age get dressed up and go to the symphony; you’ll see…
The music opens with flowery acoustic guitars double-tracked for a 12-string feel and shimmying with opulent drama, reminiscent of records made in the ’60s by acid-hungry British rockers prowling green country lanes in faux-druidic rituals. After a drawn-out introduction, drum hits recorded backward make way for a chorus of singers…
“I haven’t seen a band with that much intensity in a long time.” That’s what Korn frontman Jonathan Davis had to say last summer about his Family Values tourmates Dir en grey, a versatile quasi-metal Japanese band that has met with baffling success in Europe and, more recently, the United…
In the suburbs outside Detroit during 1994 and 1995 — the years I followed horror-rap duo Insane Clown Posse’s rise to local infamy — there was, I now realize, nothing more uncool than an ICP fan. In any parking lot, in any neighborhood that wasn’t actually in Detroit, you could…
Yesterday was yours truly’s birthday, so it almost seems like a late present that one of my favorite bands, Bright Eyes, is playing tonight at the Marquee. I’ll be there to rock; meanwhile, this is one of their dopest videos (and birthday related)…..
I mentioned earlier today that I at first suspected What Laura Says Thinks and Feels was an emo band because of the name (I was wrong on that one). Then I was working on a column that references North Side Kings, and I remembered this video from a while back…
In case you haven’t heard already, we’ve abandoned the New Times Music Festival of the past in favor of a summer-long series of shows featuring the nominated bands in each category all playing together at one venue on one night with a national headliner for each. We’re calling it Summer…
Perhaps it’s unfair to pick on bands for choosing silly names (like I did with the boys in An Aesthetic here a while back), but sometimes the words just beg for it. Like with What Laura Says Thinks and Feels, which I assumed was an emo band (because of the…
By now, you’d think Silversun Pickups frontman Brian Aubert would be ready to slap the next critic he catches comparing the shimmering splendor of Silversun Pickups’ fuzz-a-delic breakthrough Carnavas to Smashing Pumpkins. There’s clearly more to Carnavas than a recurring Siamese Dream. And you’ll find none of Billy Corgan’s more…
Introducing tonight’s bachelors in no particular order: One is a don in the Puerto Rican Costa Nostra. The second is a rap star who likes to call himself The Snowman. Our final bachelor is proud of his resemblance to his daddy and always rolls with cash money. Why should I…
Since this Saturday is Cinco de Mayo, a totally cracker-ass holiday which happens to cause bands to play in excess all in the same day, I’m pimping some of this weekend’s shows early. Friday night, if I’m not at the Ghostlife show, then I’ll be checking out the Earps’ CD…
It’s pretty goddamn rare that when I get a random local CD with only my name printed on a white slip-sleeve and a flyer for an upcoming show in it that the band’s any good. Actually, sometimes it’s rare that the disc will get more than thirty seconds of playing…
I hadn’t heard from my old pal Marshall “Fucking” Beck in a while, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a comment on my Myspace page from him today. Apparently his old band Rebirth is releasing a CD soon (he’s got a band called Reign of Vengeance these days). Here’s…
Don’t let the photo above scare you, it’s only my homeboy Ryan Breen, a.k.a. the one-man electronic machine known as Back Ted N-Ted. He’s just finished up his debut album, Pop Animal, that’s scheduled to be released soon by Ohio indie Abandon Building Records. If you click on the tag…
I missed the Crowded House/Liam Finn show last Thursday at the Marquee, but one of the swell guys who occasionally takes photos of bands for my column was there, and sent me these shots as well as a pretty rave review of the gig. The photog is Luke Holwerda, and…
As a music critic, it’s a given that I see a shitload of local bands. I also see a lot of bad local bands, or at least ones that could really use some adjustments. Even talented acts around town bore the hell out of me if I see them a…
Now that extreme metal with an arty edge hardly seems trailblazing anymore, the concept of super-short albums stocked with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bursts of noise is losing its postmodern thrill. Though several acts have worked this angle with fresh results, including Daughters and the Locust, both of which appear with Cattle Decapitation…
There is no better way to dismissively sum up a rock band than by labeling it “emo.” This has almost universally worked for the past six or seven years, with few exceptions. But when those few exceptions do occur, music aficionados and pop culture, in general, have to scramble to…
Actually, there’s a whole hell of a lot to do, and in the interests of honoring the artists/designers that make up the (mostly) dope flyers around town, here’s a truncated round-up… Look at the pretty pictures and see what gets a rise out of you; seems like a busy week/weekend…
Over at AZPunk.com, my friends and detractors are polling and discussing the state of punk here in Arizona. The thread is here, and this is what overlord TPStank has to say about it: I’m trying to determine the current state of our community, and it’s got me somewhat disappointed. In…
Above – Chippy’s first drum set, 1971 Not to beat a dead country horse, but I was remiss yesterday in not mentioning that Chip Hanna, who I wrote about in my column Revolver this week, is playing at Mardi Gras tonight – the reason I mention this although I already…
