The battle cry of the rawest punk rock and proto-hardcore bands circa 1978-84 was “louder, faster, shorter” and the attitude behind that ethos was about shearing away rock and roll’s accumulated excesses (tedious and/or showoff instrumental soloing, meandering songs). That premise is the bread and butter, the meat and cheese,…
After hearing the debut disc by local lesbian punk/dance trio The Pübes, the only thing left to say is “Oh, hell, fuck yeah!” Led by local folkstress Cameo Hill (who becomes Ivana Pluchya in this band), The Pübes combine the bouncy bad-girl vibe of artists like Suzi Quatro and Bikini…
Tori Amos is the blue-chip stock of the female singer-songwriter boom of the ’90s: Investing in her art has only become more expensive (read: demanding) over the years. With hooks disappearing, her albums have grown longer, while her lyrics have turned increasingly oblique. More memorable than 2005’s The Beekeeper, American…
If Wilco put together a greatest hits album, it probably would contain only two or three songs from Sky Blue Sky — and although that may sound like a criticism, it’s actually more of a testament to the band’s impressive body of work. Whereas 2004’s A Ghost Is Born was…
Although her flamboyant outfits may never be polite, Björk’s last few albums certainly were. The ice-crystal percussion and melodies on Vespertine were stunning but mannered, like an immaculately decorated parlor, while the nearly a cappella Medulla — an album in which beatboxing and throat-singing replaced traditional instrumentation — felt too…
Total chaos. Upon initial inspection, that’s what the songs of local duo Get Down! To Brass Tacks are built upon — synthesizers careen through the compositions like a blind man driving a Mack truck through a carnival of cowbells and fatass basslines, while singer/bassist Aarik Miller shrieks and wails through…
Jimmy LaValle has made music in the past with some interesting bands (Tristeza and Black Heart Procession chief among them), but the best thing that ever happened to him — and listeners, too — was when members of cosmic art-rockers Sigur Rós discovered one of the discs he’d recorded under…
Voxtrot’s eponymous 2006 EP may be the best indie-rock debut since, oh, the Pixies’ Come On Pilgrim. Each of the five songs on Voxtrot is nigh on perfect — a crystalline distillation of the band’s love of ’80s British pop. That’s not to say that the Austin quintet’s disc is…
Matt and Kim are just totally fun. Totally. Like a power-pop take on They Might Be Giants, with a (simulated) accordion and everything. They’re even from Brooklyn, where they’ve developed a loyal following at loft parties, basements, art galleries, and clubs. They accurately describe their live sets as having the…
Two songs on The Shapes We Make show the influence moving back to Washington, D.C., has had on Mary Timony’s writing. The spritely “Sharpshooter” — as close as the ex-Helium frontwoman gets to out-and-out indie-pop these days — sees wildlife turning the tables on trigger-happy hunters (“Ted Nugent, hey whatcha…
Club DJs of the P-Town, we feel your pain. You endlessly work the same local joints week after endless week, slaving over the turntables and beat-matching your brains out for a bunch of selfish and snotty hotties, all the while dreaming of blowing this burg for far-flung destinations and superstardom…
Thursday 24 Axis/Radius: Ladies’ Night (hip-hop, rock) AZ 88: Mr. P-Body (synth pop, electro) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (various) Bobby Cs: Willie B (old-school R&B) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cherry Lounge: DJs Tranzl8tr, & Earth (rock, ’80s, old school, hip-hop) Chilly Bombers: DJ Statik (rock, hip-hop, dance) Club Central:…
Duders. That’s what the Coach House in Scottsdale had to offer on Saturday, May 19. (Click here for more photos.) The ratio of post-adolescent ex-football players to cutesy Scottsdale ladies was about 2 to 1. Although the vibe was relaxed, we spied some scattered single sirens on the prowl, taking…
By Brendan Joel Kelley A while back I wrote a column about Violet Wild, the band fronted by former Mink Rebellion singer Bobby Scott and Black Moods guitarist Josh Kennedy, along with drummer Joey Schwegler and bassist Phil Fenix. At the time they’d just completed the band’s first full length…
Apologies for my absence from the blogosphere; prior to the weekend I went on a camping/hiking/swimming trip to Fossil Creek in the Mogollon Rim, and there was no wireless internet up there. Before I left though I went on Thursday night to see my cowboy crony Andy Hersey play his…
I’ve got a friend who showed up at the bar recently with his arm in a sling and stitches on his chin from an ass-whippin’. I asked him if he’d deserved it, and he said he didn’t think so. But some dude bigger than him was talking bad about his…
“Well, even if he just sits down and licks his balls, it’ll still be fun.” It’s Cinco de Mayo, and my buddy B-Boy is trying to talk me into going to the annual Chihuahua races in Chandler. My companion wants to enter Blanquito, his sister’s cream-colored Chihuahua, in the races…
Yes, it seems as if we can’t get away from the typical DJ . . . spinning relatively hot tunes and taking his headphones way too seriously in an obvious, pathetic attempt to get laid. So, it was great to hit Homme Lounge on a Thursday night, when they embrace…
“I really don’t like looking at the back of a record and seeing the word featuring a million times,” says Brooklyn rapper/producer/label overlord El-P. Incidentally, his new album, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, features cameos from members of the Mars Volta, TV on the Radio, and Yo La Tengo, not…
The difference between a cover band and a tribute band is the difference between a slut and a prostitute — one just plays with all sorts of people’s stuff because it’s fun and they like it. The other plays with particular people’s stuff only because it’s a profession with a…
Skinny Puppy’s known for its dark industrial sound and psycho-techno compositions that don’t follow a linear progression. The doomy machines are still present on Mythmaker, but the songs here are SP’s most danceable yet, from the infernal pulse and processed vocals of the leadoff track, “Magnifishit,” to the KMFDM-feel and…
You wouldn’t think a guy who dusted off Artie Shaw’s arrangement of Cole Porter’s classic “Begin the Beguine” — on pedal steel, no less — would say his third release for Bloodshot Records was inspired by the advent of the iPod age. But that’s exactly how Phoenix native Jon Rauhouse…
