Hardworking, broken-backed, sweaty-headed, scruffy-looking Kansas Citians the Architects have never tried to win over folks with much more than relentless punk-drenched rock ‘n’ roll honesty. Now, with Vice, the group amps up its sound to arena-rocking levels, throwing in plenty of gang vocals and melodic hooks to make sure it…
Way back in 1996, Robyn reached the Top 10 with “Do You Know (What It Takes).” She followed it up a year later with another big hit, “Show Me Love.” Then she disappeared. This comeback album by the thin-voiced but spunky singer, who’s now 28, was originally released three years…
All the idiosyncratic jangling, clattering carnival-esque swooning, and arch melodrama suggests Tom Waits Malkoviched into David Bowie’s body. Frontman Carey Mercer’s vocals manifest the shrill, anxious delivery of glam Bowie much like Dan Bejar, whom Frog Eyes has backed and with whom Mercer and Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug created the…
Both acts trace their origins to early-’90s Los Angeles, but Aceyalone was the first to jump off. He helped found Freestyle Fellowship, which was just starting to get lift when member Self Jupiter was incarcerated in ’93. Aceyalone took it solo, scoring a deal from Capitol for the seminal ’95…
Deemed “the Godfather of Goth,” Peter Murphy built the paradigm for surly, baritone-voiced broodfests. When the English singer broke through the London gloom-tune scene in the late ’70s with his seminal band, Bauhaus, he already had the high-cut cheekbones and deep voice of David Bowie, along with the androgynous costumes…
Louisiana’s Soilent Green has been one of the best things about the wild world of modern extreme metal over the past decade. The band has also remained one of the genre’s better-kept secrets. While that’s partly due to its dense, nonlinear songwriting — which can take some getting used to…
Mark LaRue is a double-duty DJ. When the 32-year-old isn’t spinning rump-shaking Nickelback or Wyclef jams for the exotic dancers of Bourbon Street Circus, he’s dropping punk rock, hardcore, and ska songs on Monday nights at the Rose & Crown Pub, 628 East Adams Street, during 1… 2… 3… 4!!!…
By Lilia Menconi Once again, we decided to check out Tempe Marketplace to assess some club worthiness. As soon as we walked up the stairs toward Cadillac Ranch, three drunk dudes ogled and slobbered all over us — we took it as a good sign and headed in for 944…
By Benjamin Leatherman We used to have a feature in the print version of the Phoenix New Times where we pimped the top 10 best-selling CDs at various local record stores. Now the feature is back, albeit in online form. Here’s a list of what’s been selling at Circles Records…
On the one hand, you can look at the nagging tendency of veteran Canadian acts to hover at cult-level popularity in the U.S. as a bad thing. On the other hand, a group like Cowboy Junkies has arguably benefitted from not getting huge. Certainly, the band’s audience has. Household names…
The beatmeisters of United Groove might be dusting off plenty of ’70s kitsch for their retro dance party Discotropolis, but chances are, you won’t hear any KC and the Sunshine Band or Bee Gees hits pumping out of the multi-megawatt sound system of AREA Phoenix, 2102 North 23rd Avenue, during…
By Lilia Menconi We remember skipping into The Lost Leaf on a First Friday in spring 2007, only to stumble out a few hours later, pick up our friend off their front lawn, and weave our way home. Can’t say it was the last time that happened, and it’s hard…
Never in my life have I wanted to throw Gene Simmons over my shoulder so badly. Or change his nappy wig. It’s not the real Gene Simmons in question here — this is actually “mini Gene” from MiniKiss, a group of KISS-lovin’ Lilliputians who’re paying tribute to the primordial gods…
It’s a Tuesday, and I’m on my way home. “Frustrated” is an understatement. Sometimes you leave work happy and content, and other times you want to set the world on fire. The sky is raining fire today, so I decide to meet my friend D up at the Swizzle Inn…
Not to get all “purist,” but it’s no secret that blues — along with its bastard child, rock ‘n’ roll — has been “gentrified” to within an inch of its life. (Cripes, songs by the Who and the Clash are being used to sell cars.) There are hundreds of modern…
The sun-bleached cover photo for Saturdays = Youth shows how much this band is consumed by nostalgia. M83’s Anthony Gonzalez combines synths, treated guitar washes, and ’80s drum sounds (“We Own the Sky” and “Graveyard Girl”) on M83’s fifth album, as he and contributor Morgan Kibby long for their teen…
With the possible exception of the three people who look back fondly on Bruce Willis’ recording career, we’re well acquainted with the eardrum damage that can occur when actors live out their rock-star fantasies. But don’t shy away from She & Him’s debut just because the female half of the…
The jaunty, strummed rhythm of “Squirrels” counters the sentiment at its center; frontman Jake Bellows notices a squirrel doing “backflips for change, for a lady who vacuums her heartache away,” before the brokenhearted singer confesses, “I just keep writing the same song.” It’s a boon if true, because Neva Dinova…
From the music to their name, there’s an unmistakable precociousness at play with Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s — perhaps not surprising given the moniker was inspired by The Royal Tenenbaums. Certainly don’t hold it against singer/guitarist Richard Edwards and his seven compatriots, who manage to thread the…
To hear them tell it, photogenic Kills principals Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince were lost before they found each other — ambitious outsiders trapped in standard-issue punk bands. Drawn together like bullied drama-club kids, Mosshart (a Floridian femme fatale) and Hince (a British Lou Reed) met in 2000 and have…
For many, punk rock was/is an end in itself, an opportunity to rock fast ‘n’ loud and/or dress up funny. For others, punk was a door to limitless cultural possibilities, a way of denying obstacles to artistic expression. The UK’s Pop Group and the Raincoats embraced, to varying degrees, the…
For most P-Town peeps, the Memorial Day weekend means maxing and relaxing, with absolutely no thought of working until they clock in on Tuesday morning. But DJ Pete “Supermix” Salaz don’t roll like that, yo, because he and his turntablist friends will be busy slinging beats on Sunday, May 25, during…
