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…
“Frances, Frances Bean . . . what are you doing up here, sweetie?” “I was just going through Daddy’s tapes, Mom. I wanna pick a song for the new album, too!” “Okay, honey, but we’ve only got room for three unreleased tracks, all right? The other 19 are coming from…
Using the B-word when describing a new young band can be the kiss of death, but the sonic palette Happy Bullets use on The Vice and Virtue Ministry brings to mind a psychedelic-era Beatles album as produced by Ray Davies and recorded on an indie rock budget. Strong melodies, lush…
Broken Social Scene didn’t have much to prove in 2002, but the ragtag Toronto indie-rock collective’s messy, gorgeous You Forgot It in People changed all that. Buzz and anticipation might be foreign concepts now, but the band’s third proper full-length sure doesn’t sound aware of it. The same loose aesthetic…
It’s probably bad form to mention CD artwork before the music, sort of like extolling the virtues of a blind date’s winning personality, but the dramatic Jason Oda graphics beg first-paragraph acknowledgement for totally syncing up to the emo-melancholia housed within this Gilbert band’s powerful debut. There’s a slacker goddess…
The more things change, the more they stay the same: Just when you thought local hip-hop/rock/reggae outfit Cousins of the Wize was in the ‘Nix’s history books, here they are celebrating their eighth anniversary, a major milestone for any local outfit. With DJ Needles holding down the turntables, Jah Sonora…
“Welcome back to The Insider, I’m Pat O’Brien! Thanks to The O.C. , indie rock is hotter than ever! And nowhere is it more sizzling than in, get this, Nebraska, where upstart Saddle Creek Records is home to several acts on the verge of stardom. One of them is a…
The buzz from this year’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Southern California was about the second coming — no, wait, make that the third coming — of Bauhaus, which stole much of the spotlight. Bauhaus — Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins, and David J. — was first around…
The recent success of Mae is proof positive that nice guys don’t have to finish last. In fact, they can get the girl and manage to open for Weezer. Not bad for a quintet of good ol’ boys from Norfolk, Virginia, who are currently preaching the gospel of spiritual piano…
You don’t exactly picture Joan Jett writing free-verse poetry in black horn-rimmed glasses. So emo-ish album title aside, it’s no surprise that The Vacancies play just the kind of unpretentious rawk you’d expect Jett to champion with her label Blackheart. A Beat Missing or a Silence Added, the Cleveland quartet’s…
Argue if you will about screamo’s artistic merit — if you were 16, growing up in an environment of Incubus and Limp Bizkit, you’d have a lot of outrage, too. Victory Records has emerged as the SST of this genre, which is to say that the Chicago indie’s got the…
On April 13, 2003, two-time New Times Music Showcase “Best Pop Band” winner Haggis found itself nominated in the “Most Entertaining Live Show” category, which necessitated a big, dramatic finish — like breaking up onstage! Singer/guitarist Brian Talenti recalls, “It was the end of the set, something wasn’t sounding right,…
New Wave was a joke two years ago, and probably will be in two more, but in the meantime, bands like The Killers and The Bravery are milking it for every penny they can. The Epoxies, on the other hand, dish out something that feels new . . . er…
Great Xenu’s ghost! Didja know Beck Hansen’s a Scientologist? That’s correct, alt-rock’s favorite shabby-chic troubadour is a Dianetics-following, E-meter-reading Hubbardite — not that it factors into his music or anything. Nope, despite shout-outs to folks like Jenna Elfman or brother-in-law Giovanni Ribisi in the liner notes of Guero, his latest…
Anyone who’s been following Atmosphere — the Minneapolis indie hip-hop act comprising MC Slug and DJ Ant — over the past 10 years likely isn’t too surprised by the sarcastic title of the duo’s fifth full-length, You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having. In the conflict of man versus…
Power chords, catchy riffs and introspective lyrics make the six tracks on Mourning Maxwell’s latest effort ready for modern-rock radio. Maybe that’s why the Tempe rock band’s tag line on MySpace.com reads, “Music even your Grandma likes.” While your grandma might not be familiar with these guys, she’ll surely approve…
Bobby Bare’s always recorded a blend of country, folk, pop and singer-songwriter material that kept fans guessing. The Moon Was Blue is no exception, a combination of country and pop classics that give Bare a chance to show off his weary, soulful vocals to great advantage. “Everybody’s Talkin'” combines a…
Bury Your Dead is one of those New England hardcore bands that always puts on an energetic live show and gets the crowd to dance up a storm. So Victory Records decided the best thing to do was offer up a live CD: Alive, a CD/DVD combo of 12 brutal…
So let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Yes, Jahcoozi’s singer is from Sri Lanka, the group does play a glitched-up brand of electro, and (perhaps as a concession) all of its label-sanctioned press materials mention M.I.A. by name. But the similarities between the two artists are, as…
