There’s no better illustration of the fine line between brilliance and madness than Daniel Johnston. Indeed, the childlike simplicity and directness of his lyrics suggests the two are inseparable at times. A talented cult fave who spent years and years listening to and dissecting the Beatles, Johnston has a gift…
“Don’t rock the boat, sink it!” commands the anonymous scribe behind I Hate Indie Rock, a fiery Twitter account that has been launching crust-punk-tinged salvos at publicists, nostalgia and vapidity in the indie rock realm. The account has been around only since October, and at this point, the feed has…
Do you hear that? Off in the distance? It’s the sound of a bass guitar being slapped. Furiously slapped. That’s kinda what Les Claypool (Primus, Oysterhead, Frog Brigade) does, and I’m betting that’s what he’ll be doing with his Duo de Twang (Claypol plus MIRV) on Sunday, March 24. The…
Titus Andronicus and Ceremony @ Crescent Ballroom, 11/6/12″Good night, good luck, and four more years!” said Patrick Stickles as he high-fived fans from the stage as Titus Andronicus wrapped up a solid set that ran almost two hours. The night wasn’t as political as it could have been, both bands…
Retox and Regents @ Yucca Tap Room|11/6/12By Mike Bogumill While most people were at the Titus Andronicus and Ceremony show enjoying a bar rock act and a hardcore band, both of which escaped their respective niches to achieve crossover success among general indie audiences, two bands with similarly prefixed names,…
The Blasters will be hitting The Rhythm Room on Saturday, December 15th. They’ll no doubt be pushing their latest album, Fun on Saturday Night, a 12-track joyride through rockabilly and blues territory. The album also includes a June Carter Cash cover of “Jackson” with X’s Exene Cervenka. After thirty years…
Football fans can be a rather crazy lot. Setting aside the fact they spend around four months out of every year obsessing over a single team and practically living and dying on their every move, pigskin addicts are more than willing to watch games in the freezing cold, while wearing…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…
The journey known as “Vintage 2012” is almost complete. Not finished, but it’s most certainly arriving at a fairly calm station. No more 2 a.m. panic-related insomnia attacks, where I stare at the ceiling going over and over the logistics of a tiny workspace. I’m not about to kid myself;…
Well folks, this is it. Election day is here and that means one thing: regardless of how you vote today, campaign season is over. Uncoincidentally, local hip-hoppers Random a.k.a Mega Ran, Mouse Powell, Mr. Miranda and DJ DN3, wrapped up their campaign tour a few weeks ago and as a…
It’s easy to write. Learning to edit, however, takes time. It’s a lesson IAMWE is intimately familiar with. When we last talked to the local indie rockers in depth, they fully anticipated pushing out a record in December of 2011. Today, nearly a year later, they release Run Wild, or…
Seattle math rock-meets-electronic indie band Minus the Bear has been going strong for 12 years now, spending most of its time on the road or in the studio. As a testament to how much the band tours, take a look at how many times we’ve reviewed the band over the…
Following the disintegration of electroclash hardcore hip-hop outfit Death Grip’s relationship with their label, Epic Records, has been as drama-filled as a reality TV show. It seems to have started when Epic pushed back the due date for a follow-up to their debut, The Money Store, so Death Grips leaked…
[Editor’s note: Deathmatch pairs two things that have something in common, and determines who is better. It’s a concept we sort-of ripped off from MTV, except that instead of claymation it’s the printed word!] By Paul T. Bradley Released in 2003, 14 Shades of Grey is the fourth studio album…
Starfucker’s highly danceable beats put the band in league with Neon Indian and Passion Pit, but frontman Joshua Hodges brings enough lyrical insight to the table to have you thinking and boogieing. Hodges has something of a fetish for The Grim Reaper’s handiwork, even searching out the original copy of…
Eddie Vedder @ Comerica TheatreEddie Vedder lists his tools. In the booklet handed out to concertgoers at last night’s packed performance, the Pearl Jam frontman laid out a detailed list of gear he’d be using during the evening: guitars, ukuleles, amplifiers, a modified kick drum made from a Corona box,…
Once a week Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
Led Zeppelin was, is, and always will be a driving force in the evolution of heavy metal. Their heavy, guitar-driven blues rock opened the world to an intriguing new sound, influencing generations of bands. Now, more than 40 years after they first came together, they are still one of the…
Nina Diaz was only 12 years old when she joined up with her sister Phanie and Jenn Alva in the power trio band Girl in a Coma. Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, the trio recalls the height of ’90s indie rock, with melodic melodies and crunchy guitars. Up On The…
Yeah, yeah, yeah…we get it. Mondays suck (we’ve read Garfield). But it means the start of a new week, which means a bunch of killer shows in and around Phoenix. And here are a few of the coolest — our top five must-see shows this week…
The news waits for no one — at least that’s what we read somewhere — so it’s perfectly understandable that you, the reader, might have missed out on a musical tidbit, breaking news about your favorite venue, or one of our rants. So enjoy this digest-style sampling of some of…
Alanis Morissette @ Comerica Theatre|11/1/12A lot has changed for Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette since the release of her 1995 breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill. She no longer pens angry songs about the “Mr. Duplicity” who wronged her; she now focuses on her role as a wife and a mother on…
