Helmet

Page Hamilton’s first big break came in 1992, when his band Helmet’s sophomore album, Meantime, went gold and set the template for ’90s punk-metal. The front man’s second big break happened this past August, when he shattered his collarbone after smashing into a tree while mountain biking in Oregon, thereby…

What’s Selling

1. Jimmy Eat World, Futures (Interscope) 2. Usher, Confessions (La Face) 3. Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American (DreamWorks) 4. Mos Def, New Danger (Geffen) 5. Blood Brothers, Crimes (V2./Bmg) 6. Elliott Smith, From a Basement on the Hill (Anti) 7. The Used, In Love & Death (Warner Bros.) 8. Korn,…

80s Prom Gone Bad

So Carrie wasn’t quite in the ’80s (1976, to be precise), but we still think that’ll be our costume inspiration for Hot Pink’s second annual Halloween party this Friday night, October 29. After all, the theme is “’80s Prom Gone Bad,” and Carrie’s prom was about as bad as they…

Turntable

Thursday 28 Acme Bar & Grill: DJR (all genres) Acme Roadhouse: DJ J.Alan (Top 40) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (Top 40, hip-hop) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Piranha Room/Area 51 with DJs Jeremy & Ricky (industrial/goth, electroclash), Panic with DJ Manchester (Britpop/indie/New Wave/’60s mod) Axis/Radius: Ladies’ night with DJ MCB &…

The Conservative Rap

The air is thick and weird as I follow conservative talk radio personality Bruce St. James down the hallway past KTAR-AM 620’s studio toward his office. When we reach the lair of the white worm, we settle in across his desk from one another, exchanging small talk until I ask…

The Futureheads

Unlike most of nü wave’s hottest acts — who endlessly parrot the notion that they just play what they play, without regard for what’s going on outside their heads — England’s Futureheads display a welcome familiarity with the hopped-up rock scene swirling around them. The 15 tunes on their self-titled…

Good Charlotte/Sum 41

“I don’t want to grow up,” spat Milo Aukerman, singer for pop-punk trailblazers the Descendents, nearly 20 years ago. Now two of their descendants — Good Charlotte and Sum 41 — are doing just that after coming out of the gates as snotty, Hot Topic-ed kiddy-punkers. Peep Good Charlotte’s new…

Mr. Happy

On the eve of his album’s release — 10 hours, 45 minutes and counting until the unveiling of SMiLE, the fabled lost Beach Boys album a worldwide cult of fans has been waiting some 37 years to hear completed — Brian Wilson is on the phone, calling up journalists to…

Luna

Luna front man Dean Wareham is the musical equivalent of one of those old chaps you see at county fairs presiding over an arts-and-crafts booth surrounded by dozens of handcrafted pepper grinders that look identical save for a different wild animal head atop each one. Rendezvous is the New York…

Home Grown

“We are the Sciannas/We drink beer instead of wine/We are the Sciannas/We wear suits and ties.” Any band that pens its own theme song is begging to have its own cartoon series with corresponding lunch box. And the Sciannas don’t disappoint — the band’s theme is a melodic doppelgänger to…

Interpol

It wasn’t just sharp, tailored suits and leather gun holsters that set Interpol apart from its New York peers back in 2002, when the return-of-the-rock retro frenzy was at fever pitch. For one thing, singer/guitarist Paul Banks’ eerie channeling of the late Ian Curtis was startling enough to put a…

Megadeth

Like a bastard little brother, Megadeth has lurked in the shadow of the band singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine helped found in the early ’80s. Both Metallica and Megadeth have experienced great success, but while Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, et al., became a multiplatinum megalith whose songs are played during baseball games,…

Rilo Kiley

One of indie rock’s most enjoyable new bands, Rilo Kiley’s led by former child actors Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis — though it’s the latter’s sexy singing and thoughtful lyricism that truly elevates the band. Saddle Creek released 2002’s The Execution of All Things, a stunning album that mixed country…

Travis Morrison

This just in: Travis Morrison is teaming up with Sonic Youth, the Flaming Lips, and Liz Phair for the “Pitchfork Hates Us!” tour. Okay, not really, but Mr. Morrison did just join the elite circle of artists who’ve earned a coveted “0.0” album review from that online arbiter of all…

Alter Bridge

Drummer Scott Phillips doesn’t seem to shed a tear over his former band, Creed, being finished now that he and Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti, ousted Creed bassist Brian Marshall, and ex-Mayfield Four frontman Myles Kennedy are starting anew as Alter Bridge. He relishes the new democratic songwriting process and even…

Inferno at Andersons

When we first saw a club night called Inferno, we thought perhaps our nightlife columnists Kreme and Jett were moonlighting on us, perhaps hosting a lesbian all-you-can-eat buffet dance party. But damn, no such luck. Instead, Inferno (at Anderson’s Fifth Estate on Friday nights) is a backwash of underground ’80s…

Turntable

Thursday 21 Acme Roadhouse: DJ J. Alan (top 40) Acme Bar & Grill: DJR (all genres) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (Top 40, hip-hop) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Piranha Room/Area 51 with DJs Jeremy & Ricky (industrial/goth, electroclash) Axis/Radius: Ladies Nights with DJ MCB & Josh Royal (all genres) AZ 88:…

Fresh Produce

Hip-hop producer extraordinaire RJD2’s slight frame is nearly encircled by a heavy weave of electronic wiring and a half-ton of clumpy amplifiers and miscellaneous sound equipment. It’s the sound check for RJD2’s San Francisco album release party, and although he’s politely fielding questions, he’s also obviously distracted with the task…

W.C. Clark

Men who treat their women badly, beware: W.C. Clark could steal your woman. He made a whole CD called Deep In The Heart — rich with Memphis soul, Texas blues, and contemporary R&B — seemingly dedicated to that task. “Her husband had his chances /he didn’t treat her right/instead of…

Tastes Like Teen Spirit

The joke’s on Peachcake. When Stefan Pruett and John O’Keefe started a band last summer, they weren’t serious. Then 18, the two college kids were used to being in punk and hardcore groups with actual guitars and drums, and O’Keefe was only just getting the hang of his new Roland…

Buck Hunting

The plastic action figure I’m staring at several hours before the show is about eight inches tall, with a weather-beaten wrinkled face, probably in his mid-40’s, a club in his left hand, right hand outstretched in a ‘hey now,’ sort of gesticulation. He’s a centaur, found at a local thrift…

Clinic

Does anyone remember any of those overhyped Radiohead wannabes who blanketed the marketplace at the turn of the century? Vaguely, right? Ultimately, most of them ended up offering little more than fashionable dystopia, but Clinic stands as an important exception. The band members’ surgical scrubs attire a silly shtick; they…