In 2015, it is more important than ever that a band trying to get noticed can present more than just music, but an entire multimedia experience. That doesn’t just apply to those on the brink of stardom either. Bands at every level are working overtime to come up with interesting…
The post-Cobain era of alternative rock was very kind to Gavin Rossdale and his band, Bush. The band’s multi-platinum debut record, Sixteen Stone, thrust them into mainstream and made Rossdale the crush of 16-year-old girls around the world. But let’s face it, Bush happened to be in the right place…
You know, this city gets a lot of hate. And it’s not just from the outside, either. Recent transplants to Phoenix notice a trend when talking to the residents about their new home. The people who most often ask why a new resident would ever think to move here? Or…
The start of February made it one of the busiest, most exciting months of 2015 in the Valley of the Sun. More than a million extra people crowded into town for the Phoenix Open, the Superbowl, or the fact that they’re just snowbirds. Clearly cause for shots of whiskey and…
The Wiley Ones – “What I Am” This week, in line with their Super Bowl shows, The Wiley Ones will release their video/single “What I Am.” It’s their first new song to be released in nearly nine months and it continues in their patented brand of acoustic hip-hop grooves. The…
View image | gettyimages.com Sometimes songs are like a hit TV show. Let’s use Dexter for example, since I really liked Dexter. Everyone would have been satisfied if it would have ended at season five or six, after the Trinity killer, but no. They had to carry it out to…
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…
Update: Since this article went to press, the Some Call Us Heroes appearance at Yucca Tap Room has been canceled due to “unforeseen medical circumstances,” as described on the band’s Facebook page. A few years ago, five Phoenix musicians from various respected local bands came together and hit the ground…
What is so satisfying about the level of recognition that local synth-punks Fairy Bones get is that the band has gone about its entire career the “right” way. The foursome is equally about business as it is party, they don’t kowtow to local promoters, they work with as many local…
There is no “I” in band, and there is no me either. No matter how stellar one member of a band may be, they still don’t get anywhere without surrounding themselves with equally talented players. That usually means having to mesh two or more big personalities into one cohesive unit…
Brothers Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin have made musical careers of taking what was once old and making it new again. In some cases, the two who were the creating force behind acclaimed roots rock ‘n’ roll band The Blasters, have also created new music that you could swear was…
As one of the original Gothenburg (Sweden) metal bands, Dark Tranquillity offers a style of music that’s few and far between. Formed in 1989 by guitarist Niklas Sundin and vocalist/guitarist Mikael Stanne, the five-piece melodic death metal act has released 10 studio albums over the years, each one substantially different…
It isn’t any great secret that cats like Pickster One, M2, Chris Villa, and Liquid Stranger are some of the biggest and best DJs in the Valley, especially among those in the know. After this week, however, they’re also considered to be among the top DJs in the country, at…
View image | gettyimages.com For many music fans, jazz can be a riddle wrapped in a mystery. While we may enjoy it, we would never attempt to explain it. In fact, jazz may be the most “alternative” music there is, because most of our brains just don’t work the way…
The Lonesome Wilderness-“Cigarettes” I’ve recently tuned into The Lonesome Wilderness, and I can’t get enough of this five-piece. Their debut EP, which will be released this spring, is one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2015. They have a great rock ‘n’ roll sound with a desert flair; the…
Michael Schwartz has boasted more than a few titles in his day. Over the last couple of decades, the venerated DJ has been referred to as a “serial wax killer,” a turntable guru, a three-time DMC world champ, and the (unofficial) fourth Beastie Boy. And if his legal name doesn’t…
Admit it, you’ve already started calling Wednesdays ” 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…
White Arrows frontman Mickey Church approached writing the band’s latest, In Bardo, as though it were the end of his musical world on Earth. The result: a playfully quirky, anything-goes-into-a-pop-song groove inhabiting the album from start to finish. “I didn’t really know or care what was going to happen after…
As 2015 unfolds, we’re thinking back on 2014 and lamenting the DJs and producers who didn’t think to grace the Valley of the Sun with their presence. We’re anxious to see which DJs will make an appearance in the Valley this year, and we’ve come up with 10 artists we…
Periphery is one of those bands that are difficult to forget. It’s not because they are constantly in the mainstream, shoved in your face by way of radio play, music videos or non-stop festival headlining. Although I’m sure they wouldn’t turn down any of that. No — you remember Periphery…
In case you haven’t been flooded with hundreds of cheering reposts on your social-media feeds, Scott Stapp is having a hard time. When bad things happen, people laugh. Whether it’s out of some sort of genuine happiness for the pain of someone that isn’t you or just as a way…
Don’t call Sunset Voodoo a reggae band. Not that its members have anything against rocksteady rhythms. It’s just that the Tempe trio, who identifies as straightforward rock mixed with psychedelia, just isn’t sure how it got the label in the first place. Lucas Roth (bass, backup vocals) says he can’t…
