Let it be known that I do not take the release of a new U2 album — or the public disparaging of same — lightly. Harsh personal experience taught this lesson. For after writing a few discouraging words about the band’s last record, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, for…
From 1971 to 1974, the New York Dolls were the best rock ‘n’ roll band on the planet. They never rose above their cult following, but they planted the seeds of glam and punk, and fanned the flames of guttersnipe art in the grim years of singer/songwriter hegemony. The Dolls…
These hotly tipped Londoners are sloppier than Franz Ferdinand, not as sloppy as the Libertines, bitchier than the Strokes and more butch than the Killers. Which means they kind of get lost in the shuffle. Up All Night, the debut by the foursome, led by extravagantly braggadocian singer-guitarist Johnny Borrell,…
Beatle people are already debating the merits and marketing of a four-CD boxed set that reissues the first four American Beatles albums as Capitol released them, when they skimmed off tracks from the longer U.K. albums to make more dough. But like a lost crush on a junior high school…
Those wacky kids on the Shizz Web-board sure do love off-the-wall theme bands. When they aren’t gushing over the whacked-out acts of the Minibosses, Treasure Mammal, or I Hate You When You’re Pregnant, they’re frothing at the mouth for a return of Denver’s Mr. Pacman. Clad in the “Pac-tastic PacFashion”…
The Clumsy Lovers began falteringly at first, befitting their name, but developed a grassroots following for their fluttering Americana blend while performing around their native Vancouver, British Columbia, and later the American Northwest. Like a sports team that jells in the playoffs, the Clumsy Lovers hit their stride in 2001,…
It feels like it was just weeks ago that I was touring the West Coast with DJ Z-Trip, the Phoenix native who became known as king of the mash-ups before turning his back on the subgenre he helped launch. But really, it was 2001, and I was helping lug Z-Trip’s…
In the 18 months captured in this seven-disc set, Miles Davis is between milestones. His astonishing early ’60s sextet (which gave us, among other things, the seminal Kind of Blue) is no more, and he is searching for what will eventually become his groundbreaking mid-’60s quintet. The collection encompasses an…
Remember the scene in Tron, when the laser atomized Jeff Bridges and then re-created him, in digital form, inside of that old TRS-80? 8 Ft. in the Air does the same thing to old funk records. Drop the worthless Gap In-Store Dance Track “Beautiful” (and when you do, drop it…
Other than chedda, what separates the up-and-coming flowmaster from a baller whose SoundScan numbers rival the deficit? The answer depends on the gamespitta in question, but when it comes to PHX lyricist N.O.K. (None of a Kind), the difference between this talented MC and bigger playas in the game could…
Life has given Mike Ness plenty of opportunities to fold his hand. The 42-year-old Social Distortion leader has battled heroin addiction, seen the inside of a jail cell more than once, gotten dropped from a major label after failing to rack up the “hits,” and watched an endless parade of…
The U.K. Subs never were quite as glorious as the Clash, the Damned, or the Sex Pistols, but rather operated just a tier below, releasing an astounding debut LP, Another Kind of Blues, at the height of England’s punk craze in 1979. With such classics as the R&B-and-reggae-tinged “Stranglehold,” the…
How can you pack this much arena rock into one arena? Wait 35 years and you can have Keith Emerson as a supporting act. In his day, rock’s key showman would stab daggers into his synths, strap himself to a Steinway piano spinning upside down, and rig his piano with…
When East Side Records owner Ryan Stamen dressed as comedian Neil Hamburger to emcee an October 30 Halloween party at The Rogue, he didn’t expect to get into a scuffle with a rock star. But that’s what Stamen says happened, after four guys dressed in black suits — allegedly members…
1. Eminem, Encore (Aftermath) 2. Dispatch, All Points Bulletin (Universal) 3. A Perfect Circle, Emotive (Virgin) 4. Handsome Boy Modeling School, White People (Elektra) 5. Green Day, American Idiot (Warner Bros.) 6. Elliott Smith, From a Basement on the Hill (Anti) 7. Jimmy Eat World, Futures (Interscope) 8. NOFX, The…
Thursday 18 Acme Bar & Grill: DJR (all genres) Acme Roadhouse: DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Tsunami (Top 40, hip-hop) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Piranha Room/Area 51 with DJs Jeremy & Ricky (industrial/goth, electroclash) Axis/Radius: Ladies’ night with DJ MCB & Josh Royal (all genres) AZ 88:…
Four death-metal guys from northwest Phoenix say they are proud to be more disgusting than you. And with Genital Hospital, ETTS (Evicting the Testicular Squatters) has met its goal. It’s obvious from reading the song titles (e.g., “I Got Kicked Out of N.A.M.B.L.A. for Being a Pervert”) that the band…
Calling all At the Gates fans! Darkest Hour is coming to town. The Swedish-sounding metal band may, in reality, be from the Midwest, but with a little schooling from Fredrik Nordstrom (At the Gates, In Flames, Arch Enemy, Dimmu Borgir), the group is more powerful than ever. Its new album,…
Aaaaarrrrggggh! Expect to hear a lot of that when Mr. Dibbs, the granddaddy of hardcore turntablism, hits the stage this Friday, November 19, at the P.I. in Tempe. Dibbs, the bald, heavily tattooed demon behind the tables for Atmosphere’s touring excursions, throws down the vinyl with an almost metal aesthetic,…
You can kiss the usual questions goodbye when interviewing a band comprising a 17-year-old girl and her dad. Ask about the sex and the drugs and you’ll find yourself retreating to something wholesome like the rock ‘n’ roll to keep from blushing before they do. Luckily, the novelty of a…
She’s Hank’s granddaughter, blessed with one of country music’s most famous last names, but she sounds more like a sensitive West Coast singer-songwriter than the third generation of a family of infamous Nashville crazies. Williams has a pleasing conversational tone, a gentle voice that doesn’t call attention to itself, and…
All but the dullest punks get restless with age, but while Joe Strummer branched out in high-minded directions like world-folk, cruder and ruder minds chase a different kind of eclecticism. On The Dwarves Must Die, for example, Blag Dahlia trades whatever class he’s got left for an orgy of ill-bred…
