While The Earlies’ . . . uh, earliest collaborations (1998) didn’t necessarily constitute a band, their first EP in 2002 did. What began as a file-sharing project between two Texans (JM Lapham and Brandon Carr) and two chaps in northern England (Christian Madden and Giles Hatton) who all loved prog,…
One of the most original bands ever to gain a bankable following is beginning to sound a little too comfortable in its own self-invented genre. Not that any other band has duplicated the formula: metalcore mosh with auctioneer-gone-mad vocals, followed by incantational harmonies and exotic-stringed acoustic breaks. And few other…
Anyone confused by 2003’s worldwide Darkness phenomenon — How does a band this goofy compete with U2 on the charts? — shall remain so. The Darkness has nothing up its spandex sleeve but exuberant hard rock and satire. Nevertheless, One Way Ticket to Hell . . . and Back does…
All hail Chuck D! Oh, how the uptight and old white pundits parsed his every word. From the days of “jungle rhythms” to the French riots today, the frightened, white and withered have shat themselves over black music. But some musicians deserve protection from the beshitted more than others do…
The marriage of death metal muscle to industrial smarts might not be one you’d care to throw rice at, but you can’t deny these two crazy kids make a handsomely bleak couple. Fear Factory is credited as being one of the first to witness this unholy union, with Soul of…
Picture this: It’s three in the morning, long past last call. The parties have wound down, and the only place to go is the 24-hour Quick Mart. Still awake, you need a soundtrack to a dream, something soothing, yet not boring: music to lull you off to another world. The…
While other kids in the dawn of their 20s wax artistic, Atlanta’s Black Lips are stalwart in their scuzzy retro glory. Let It Bloom, their third album as the favorite little brothers of Sonics freaks everywhere, may sound like it was recorded on tin in 1968 — with wisps of…
Thursday 24Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with DJ Jeremy (goth, industrial) Axis/Radius: Ladies’ Night with Josh Royal (all genres) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (jazz fusion, funk) Club Dwntwn: DJs Kirby and Chris Shannon…
1. 50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (Interscope) 2. Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi (Island) 3. Young Buck, T.I.P. (M.A. Records) 4. Young Jeezy, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (Def Jam) 5. Three 6 Mafia, The Most Known Unknown (Sony) 6. Kanye West, Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella) 7…
Power pop, for far too long, has been music wasted on the old. Throughout the ’90s, it seemed only to emanate from bitter people over 30, but now you have accomplished bands not much older than the teen constituency power pop was originally intended for. And self-sufficient ones, too –…
On the most recent First Friday, at midnight, I’m in a former Mormon church with immense ceilings. Psychedelic colors are dancing on the walls courtesy of some old-school overhead projectors while old-school funk is jumping out of speakers. Even more incongruous is that I’m at a party in the Great…
It’s not easy fronting a band that’s the darling of the rock press. Just ask Spoon front man Britt Daniel, who’s busy collecting five-star accolades for his group’s latest effort, Gimme Fiction. The love that critics heaped upon Spoon in the wake of 2002’s Kill the Moonlight helped make Fiction,…
Aside from a bottle of wine and my couch, something that really makes a Friday night for me is music. Loud music, with hypnotic, booming bass. On a Friday night not long ago, I’ve found it right in downtown Phoenix. I’m in the groove with hundreds of warm bodies at…
Battle Acts for week of November 17 through November 23 Battle Act Simple Plan Where & When Friday, November 18, Marquee Theatre, free Strongest Selling Point Time is money, so in order to get TWO FREE TICKETS, you must demo the new Samsung n330 phone and endure a long, hard…
Tim McTague, guitarist for UnderOath, place your right hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth . . . New Times: How do you feel about being labeled a Christian metalcore band? Tim McTague: I think that’s exactly what we’re…
Punk’s not dead, and thanks to the booming local music site AZPunk, it’s not exploited, either. AZPunk.comp Volume 4 offers equal-opportunity aggression from a mind-boggling 37 bands from across the Valley and such far-flung punk enclaves as Tuba City and Yuma. In almost 75 minutes of music, there’s old-school anarchy,…
Vader? I thought you said Veda, that chirpy adult pop band that sounds like Cocteau Twins if they left the reverb pots alone and stopped being so doggone ethereal. What? Veda is playing the Marquee on Saturday? Sheesh, what are the odds that Indian chanteuse Mira Veda is also playing…
People who bewail shiny, happy new country music but don’t wanna water down their beer with tears should check out this Vancouver quintet, which blurs the line of whatever traditional music you’ve got with its every-song-can-have-banjo-and-fiddle credo. And on this year’s offering, Smart Kid, resident singer-songwriter Trevor Rogers demonstrates he…
It’s been called dance music for people who like rock, but the tag’s too reductive. While The Crystal Method’s “big beat” sound has often featured a rock roar (including guitarists Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello), it also accompanies layered loops of pop, soul…
Funny they’re calling this union of nü-metal refugees (and one newcomer) the “Fall Brawl” tour, since none of the bands could really be associated with the hateful, ultra-aggressive wing of the nü-metal movement so rightfully maligned and hardly missed. Even while they were sucking up to mentor Fred Durst (from…
Poor Paul McCartney: a Knight of the Realm, with a personal fortune of more than $1 billion, a new wife (an ex-model) and kid (to join his other three), and an early career so monumental that journalists still manage to perform critical fellatio while bashing him. You’ve got to feel…
Get geared up for a turkey coma by sampling some of the Valley’s most delicious bands, pitch in to feed the hungry, and get a scrumptious DVD of the show mailed right to your door — all for 10 bucks. Hosted by longtime Valley promoter Harold Morales, the first AZ…
