Chicago Power Pop Trio The Safes Provide Anthemic Ass-Shakers

Chips off the block, The Safes — three brothers from Chicago — credit their dad, a working musician and record collector for laying down a rich musical foundation that inspired them to naturally progress from siblings into a power pop trio. Their new release, Record Heat, is loaded with muscle-y,…

Black Keys to Play US Airways Center November 10

The Black Keys announced a nationwide tour in support of their forthcoming album, Turn Blue, and they will stop by Phoenix on November 10 to play the US Airways Center. No word yet on ticket price, but if you pre-order the album through the Black Keys’ website you can get…

Phoenix Band Lillith Wants a More Inclusive Hardcore Scene

On a sweltering Sunday night in early May, a young-skewing crowd of roughly 50 black-clad hardcore fans packed around the tiny stage in the sweaty basement of the Nile Theater in Mesa. The main attraction of the evening was Georgia screamo band Circle Takes the Square, but this crowd was…

How a Single Tweet Launched A Cloud for Climbing

Whether it’s through his digital design work or his post-rock music outfit, A Cloud for Climbing (AC4C), Brock Lefferts has one goal in mind: “organically distorting what is perfect.” In AC4C, Lefferts flies solo, using audio software Ableton Live to manufacture loops and beats for him to play alongside on…

Record Store 101: Play These Albums, Sell Records

#477130465 / gettyimages.com Record Store Day has come and gone. By all accounts, it went well and my indie record store geek brethren was elated. Beautiful. See also: 10 Best Record Stores in Metro Phoenix However, as I suggested in my last column, to really appreciate record stores, you can’t…

VagFest 5: Those Women About to Rock, We Salute You

Gone (hopefully) are the days when underground rockers like Kathleen Hanna, Exene Cervenka, Kim Deal, and Kim Gordon needed to prove themselves as musicians. It’s no longer about women in rock; it’s just about women making good rock. Oh, and having a damn good time doing it. It’s one of…

MarchFourth Marching Band Is a Show Unlike Any Other

Last time MarchFourth Marching Band graced Phoenix was in 2012 at Crescent Ballroom — and it went through hell to get there. The Portland band’s tour bus — carrying a troupe of about 30 performers — broke down just as it rolled into town. Midway through a sweaty show for…

10 Reasons Music Lovers Should Avoid Urban Outfitters

Courtesy Flickr user Casey Hugelfink We all know it, but it’s time to show it. Urban Outfitters is a creative wasteland, a shortsighted cul-de-sac of trends and trash culture bent for capital gain — one large, unthinking slab of cultural masturbation. But, by and large, it’s a beast we feed…

Blue Öyster Cult’s Eric Bloom on Video Games and Lady Gaga

Creatures of habit are often seen as boring, but that isn’t the case with Blue Öyster Cult. The band has made a career out of a particular routine: forging new paths and experimenting with the unknown. Since their self-titled debut album in 1972, the band has sold more than 24…

Twenty Years of Urban Bohemia with the Dandy Warhols

Dandys rule, okay? They have never not ruled, they still rule, and I suspect they always will. Turning 20 years old, Portland’s premier rock band, the Dandy Warhols, can claim one of its generation’s most eccentric careers, making the quartet one of the last great rock ‘n’ roll acts in…

Guided by Voices’ Robert Pollard Brings His Art to Phoenix

Few people in popular music today are as prolific as Robert Pollard. Pollard is best known as the leader of the influential indie rock band Guided by Voices, a low-fi legend whose albums are densely packed with pocket-size exercises in hooky rock magic, and he’s also released a steady stream…

MIM 2014 Summer Concert Series Begins May 1

Summer in the Phoenix Valley doesn’t wait for any official proclamation — it just comes on hard in early May. With that in mind, the Musical Instrument Museum’s summer concert series officially begins May 1. “We get some of the greatest [musicians in the world] here,” MIM music director Lowell…