Funny they’re calling this union of nü-metal refugees (and one newcomer) the “Fall Brawl” tour, since none of the bands could really be associated with the hateful, ultra-aggressive wing of the nü-metal movement so rightfully maligned and hardly missed. Even while they were sucking up to mentor Fred Durst (from…
Poor Paul McCartney: a Knight of the Realm, with a personal fortune of more than $1 billion, a new wife (an ex-model) and kid (to join his other three), and an early career so monumental that journalists still manage to perform critical fellatio while bashing him. You’ve got to feel…
Get geared up for a turkey coma by sampling some of the Valley’s most delicious bands, pitch in to feed the hungry, and get a scrumptious DVD of the show mailed right to your door — all for 10 bucks. Hosted by longtime Valley promoter Harold Morales, the first AZ…
East of El Segundo’s refineries and beachfront ghettos, Hawthorne, California, remains an unassuming musical bastion, home to the Beach Boys, pop wunderkind Emitt Rhodes, and Greg Ginn of Black Flag. It’s also the stomping grounds for dios (malos), Angelenos who share Brian Wilson’s love of druggy melodies and rich vocal…
Pop-punk boasts about as much intrigue these days as “blues-rock,” “rap-metal” and every other innocent-sounding compound that has grown into a stinky, world-dominating blob. For five years, Chicago’s Lawrence Arms have stayed interesting by being the Renaissance men of a genre that’s broader than our wary ears might recognize after…
Whereas most rappers make a name for themselves by slaying competitors in freestyle rhyme battles, MC Chris came up through strange circumstances: voicing a cartoon spider. Fans of the Cartoon Network’s cult favorite Adult Swim series should know Chris from his hyper-obnoxious voice as Hesh on Sealab 2021 and various…
When taking stock of all the things we don’t have in Arizona (seasons; a caring, compassionate sheriff; viable New York pizza; etc.), you can finally scratch off the following item: a Latina trio who sing bilingually and can give Destiny’s Child a run for their pesos. ‘Cause now we got…
Maybe I’m shallow, but I’m still waiting for a band called Daughters of Fission that’s four women with Coke-bottle eyeglasses and hair up in hideous buns who magically transform into ravishing Amazons midway through their set. This unit is three gals short and way too serious to take this high-minded…
Filmmakers like to go on about how rhyme-slingers make such naturalistic actors, how the MCs’ innate intensity translates well to the big screen. Oakland-based Why? makes an equally convincing argument for the viability of undie backpackers as high-caliber, indie-rock front men. Anticon Records stalwart/everyman Jonathan “Yoni” Wolf started Why? a…
Charlie Sexton, having left home at 12 to storm Austin as a guitar prodigy, does not lack in heartland grit. Maybe that’s why his latest, Cruel and Gentle Things, harks back to an era before rootsy rock was called “alt-country” and required the prurient use of Dobro and banjo to…
When Vaux released its first album, There Must Be Some Way to Stop Them, on Volcom Recordings in 2003, we could sense something was percolating; this band was on the verge of something explosive. Fans waited to see the band perform live or release the next album, wanting to witness…
Bands change, fortunately, and so does the music they make. But that implies opinions must change, too. After describing MXPX as a pale Green Day imitation to the bass tech for MXPX’s front man Mike Herrera on this summer’s Warped Tour, a moment later, we were introduced to Herrera. Oops!…
It’s not often we get a living legend hitting the turntables in the ‘Nix, because, really, the art isn’t old enough to have that many pioneers. There are a few, though, and amongst those few, none ranks as high in the pantheon — except perhaps Kool Herc — as Grandmaster…
The Black Moods deliver powerful music with a positive message, but only if you like your cock rock mixed with kick-rock. On the band’s mini-album Laurel Canyon, there’s a post-rehab, Velvet Revolver vibe that screams “hedonistic maturity.” After weighing in with a song about diminished faculties (“I don’t know why…
Tempe one-man band Page the Village Idiot has been hosting Monday nights at Hollywood Alley forever, so I’m trusting you’re quasi-familiar with his brand of onstage lunacy and some of the subtler intricacies of the ‘lectric ukulele. But maybe you need to take him home to see what makes his…
Smooth-voiced R&B singer Eijay (pronounced A-J) is a rare breed — in his credits, he thanks “the haters for breaking into my studio and stealing my equipment. I really needed that reality check. Peace!!” His CD Embryonic Soul is a strong mix of Dre-ish grooves and old-school slow jams, occasionally…
Hi, this is Michael Sweet from Stryper. I’m either rockin’ a stage or deep in prayer right now, so leave your name and a brief message and I’ll call you back. [beep] Yeah, hi, Michael, it’s Jesus Christ. Sorry not to have ever gotten back to you, but I’ve been…
For every hundred bedroom guitar heroes, there’s a Bryce Avary, the kind of driven kid who doesn’t just dream it. Avary recorded an EP at 18, setting the stage for his terrific self-recorded and -produced debut, Calendar Days, which generated enormous buzz for the then-20-year-old. Channeling the pop impulses of…
The Format is what would happen if a congested Cat Stevens fronted an ’80s-influenced, synthed-up Beatles tribute band, and wrote lyrics as creatively true as “Snails see the benefits, the beauty in every inch of life” (“Snails”). Named as an inside jab at the recording industry’s habit of churning out…
1. Matisyahu, Live at Stubbs (Or Music) 2. Depeche Mode, Playing the Angel (Reprise) 3. Children of Bodom, Are You Dead Yet? (Fontana Int’l) 4. Death Cab for Cutie, Plans (Atlantic) 5. Bloodhound Gang, Hefty Fine (Geffen) 6. Nickelback, All the Right Reasons (Roadrunner) 7. Black Eyed Peas, Monkey Business…
Here are a few interesting facts about San Francisco’s John Vanderslice: 1. He eats a vegetarian burrito every single day; he’s been doing so for more than eight years. 2. He once wrote a song called “Bill Gates Must Die,” then punk’d numerous national media outlets by crafting an amusing…
Everyone from Alec Baldwin and Eddie Vedder to film director Robert Altman threatened to leave the country if George W. Bush was elected, but only got as far as backpedaling. But Emily Haines and James Shaw of the neo-New Wave band Metric actually vamoosed to Canada on the eve of…
