Critic's Notebook

In 1981, most folks thought punk rock died with Sid Vicious, Black Flag was a bug spray, and skateboarding was an activity confined to a handful of lunatics in California. Hardcore punk and skateboarding were both interests that folks had to learn about the hard way, before the Internet put…

Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved…

The owner of Crescent Ballroom and Valley Bar, Levy fills his businesses with his own love of the city. My job is to make spaces where artists can present their craft and others can enjoy that craft. I came from Louisiana in the late 1980s to attend ASU. Since then,…

One of the original members of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Matt Hollywood was an influential element of the San Francisco neo-psychedelic rock band from 1990 to 1998, responsible for favorites like “Oh Lord,” “Maybe Tomorrow,” and “Got My Eye on You,” among others. Prolific, psyched-out, practically unknown — to say…

Summer is finally ending, and the local music scene is ready for the temperature change with some cool new music video releases. Phoenix favorites like decker., MysticBlu, Red Tank!, No Volcano, and Pro Teens are bursting into fall with new multimedia material. Each of the videos by these five different…

Scattered Melodies – “Trying To Find Me” It’s been over a year in the waiting since their successful crowd sourced fundraiser fuelled Scattered Melodies with enough money to record and release their second full length album, Modern Repair. At long last the wait is over and you won’t believe the…

Hey heavy metal, we need to chat… As a musical entity that is no stranger to bad press and debauchery — but rocks its true colors loud and proud — I, the city of Scottsdale, would like to propose a partnership. Look, I know that the words “Scottsdale” and “heavy…

Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved…

The roots of Titus Andronicus’ new magnum opus, the 29-track, 93-minute, five-act punk rock opera The Most Lamentable Tragedy, came quietly and quickly. In two evenings, a week apart from one another, when the band was on the road in early summer of 2013, frontman Patrick Stickles wrote what would…

In the five years since Lizz Wright’s last album, the gospel-themed Fellowship, the jazz vocalist’s life veered in unexpected directions. Wright went through a divorce and a near-fatal car accident. She even started to question her chosen career. “I thought for a while that I really didn’t want to record…

It’s surprising how much attention a band can get for playing the music they love. Nashville’s Legendary Shack Shakers are no strangers to this. The southern gothic rockabilly act goes above and beyond much of those genres to throw down their captivating version of hillbilly blues-rock. Over the years, the…

Sundressed- “Beck And Call” It seems that with every passing release Sundressed just gets better and better. Sundressed will release their second EP this year through Take This To Heart Records on October 23. The Same Condition is following quick on the heels of Dig Up A Miracle released last…

In 2012 I wrote a Phoenix New Times article about the perfect heavy metal soundtrack for football season—but it wasn’t focused on all the cliché songs that you hear over and over again on the field, from Drowning Pool’s “Bodies” to Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle.” Sure, heavy…

Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved…

The Valley of the Sun didn’t always have skate parks. For many years, finding a good place to drop in and have some fun was both a challenge and a somewhat noble quest for riders of all ages. According to Rob Locker of local skateboard and record company AZPX, when…

Summer concerts in Phoenix aren’t exactly the most glamorous things in the world. If you’re indoors, you’re dealing with an overworked air conditioner and a sweaty walk to the parking lot. Outdoor concerts are great, if you’re the type of person who likes dancing in saunas. But that hasn’t stopped…

I never in a million years thought I would be prompted to write about Miley Cyrus. Still, when one of the most successful pop singers of the current era drops a 23-song double album for free, it piques my curiosity. To be honest, I am not familiar with her previous…

We’ve gotten through the worst of it, Phoenix metalheads. The VMAs, relentless pop-country touring bands, and, oh, the relentless heat. We’ve still got some triple digits in September, no doubt, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. And since it’s still waaay too hot to figure out…

The members of indie folk band Dear Jerome don’t mind being one of the softer-sounding acts taking the stage at such venues as Tempe Tavern, Rips Ales & Cocktails, or Pho Cao. In a rock scene in which amped-up instruments sometimes overshadow vocals, the male-female dynamic via singers Brandon Jensen…

The long-running instrumental duo El Ten Eleven credits Peter Hook for sparking a new direction on the band’s eighth album.  El Ten Eleven has opened numerous shows for Hook, the founding bassist of New Order and Joy Division, and his son Jack Bates. At one point, Hook told El Ten…

Raheem Jarbo has been living with split personalities since 2007. That’s when he started releasing hip-hop as Random, a socially conscious rapper trying to spit his version of truth to power, and Mega Ran, his video game rap- and nerdcore-based alter ego. With Jarbo’s newest record, RNDM, dropping on September…