Music

Few bands take up as much space on MySpace.com as Sunrise Elementary. The Glendale “pop/synth/piano/rock” quintet lists more than 130 bands as “influences,” from the audible (Reggie and the Full Effect, Hello Goodbye, The Postal Service, The Ataris) to the abstract (Dido, James Taylor, Vivaldi, REO Speedwagon). Sunrise Elementary’s litany…

Phoenix’s other gift to theatrical rock, the Tubes, challenged Alice Cooper’s supremacy with their similarly decadent front man Fee Waybill as Quay Lewd. Where Coop would camp it up with a boa constrictor, Quay Lewd would settle for a feathered boa — and more high heels than a random shelf…

His acoustic melodies and sweet songs come straight from the heart, but do not label Perry Allen emo; he simply won’t have it. Instead, the 16-year-old musician, who plays the piano, guitar and banjo, would rather have his music called “honest,” since the majority of his songs reflect experiences of…

Jon Rauhouse is one of the Valley’s wonders, a local pedal steel player who spends much of his time recording and touring with some of the best-known cutting-edge country talent in America — artists like Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Sally Timms, Jon Langford, and the Grievous Angels. If you like…

Hardcore vets 7 Seconds have been around for 25 years now, and singer Kevin Seconds and gang won’t let you forget it on this 17-track, 28-minute set. “Don’t you tell me I’m being nostalgic/I’m not looking to go back in time,” Kev belts on “Our Core.” But he’s lying; just…

Texas-born maverick Roky Erickson is one of the great insane geniuses of rock ‘n’ roll. Shortly after “You’re Gonna Miss Me” became a huge hit for the 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson pleaded insanity to prevent doing hard time for a petty marijuana bust. After three years of shock therapy in…

Remember in the early ’90s flick Airheads, when Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi are standing at the door of a recently acquired radio station, testing an alleged music exec by quizzing, “Who would win in a fight: Lemmy or God?” Unlike that undercover cop, the men in Rapid Fire would…

The guys in Vistalance will be watching eBay for their stolen instruments, since some asshole stole their van (with all of their equipment inside) back in November. The local metal band’s losses totaled roughly $12,000 including the van, which has since been recovered, riddled with miles and reeking of piss…

The one-man-band scenario always carries a greater potential for silliness than your average act. Scott Wexton, a.k.a. the Voodoo Organist, is no stranger to kitsch himself, what with glow-skull stage props, excursions on the theremin (the geekiest instrument ever devised), and songs about being dipped in battery acid by the…

We’re still happily enjoying the paradise that is our balmy wintertime in the ‘Nix, but clubgoers should be prepared for a chilly blast when Florida’s DJ Icey, lauded as “the King of the Funky Breaks,” hits town Friday, February 25, with an appearance at Myst, 7340 East Shoeman Lane in…

After making an indelible impression with 2002’s seismic Source Tags and Codes, Trail of Dead appeared poised to deliver a pretentious follow-up. When Worlds Apart opens with an “Overture” that includes an operatic choir and an ostentatiously ominous piano melody, it seems as if this track will be the first…

Dr. Dre has discovered a foolproof method for creating superstars. First he casts an unknown with the right profile — in this case, Jayceon Taylor, who hails from Compton, used to deal and has been shot five times. Then he introduces him via a disc whose high-profile producers (Timbaland, Hi-Tek)…

Sound Tribe Sector 9 produces elaborate live shows combining innovative visual effects with a sound that draws on elements of rock, electronica, jazz and hip-hop. Playing live and in real time, the band scrambles up an inimitable souffl that’s wildly appealing to both dancers and space travelers. The 20 tracks…

What you think you hear when you listen to the Golden Republic is bastard strains of the Killers, Interpol, and Nada Surf. What the band hears is an amalgam of Blur, Talking Heads, and T. Rex. But wherever the dial actually lands in the name-the-influences game, it works. So well,…

Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz started Epitaph Records in the ’80s primarily as an outlet for his band’s records, but soon expanded its scope to include other punk and hardcore bands like L7, The Offspring, and NOFX. Surprisingly, the label’s never mounted a company package tour until now. In the…

Every few years, a new ancient voice arrives on the scene to rev up the same ol’ authenticity debates and stale Billie Holiday comparisons. Last year it was Jolie Holland’s turn for both scoffs and well-deserved year-end best-of citations. Holland shares a label (and some vocal inflections) with Tom Waits,…

1. The Game, The Documentary (Aftermath) 2. Krayzie Bone, Gemini: Good Vs. Evil (Ball’r/Thug Line) 3. Lil’ Jon & East Side Boyz, Crunk Juice (TVT) 4. Snoop Dogg, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (Geffen) 5. Gwen Stefani, Love, Angel, Music, Baby (Interscope) 6. Destiny’s Child, Destiny Fulfilled (Sony) 7…