What you think you hear when you listen to the Golden Republic is bastard strains of the Killers, Interpol, and Nada Surf. What the band hears is an amalgam of Blur, Talking Heads, and T. Rex. But wherever the dial actually lands in the name-the-influences game, it works. So well,…
Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz started Epitaph Records in the ’80s primarily as an outlet for his band’s records, but soon expanded its scope to include other punk and hardcore bands like L7, The Offspring, and NOFX. Surprisingly, the label’s never mounted a company package tour until now. In the…
Every few years, a new ancient voice arrives on the scene to rev up the same ol’ authenticity debates and stale Billie Holiday comparisons. Last year it was Jolie Holland’s turn for both scoffs and well-deserved year-end best-of citations. Holland shares a label (and some vocal inflections) with Tom Waits,…
1. The Game, The Documentary (Aftermath) 2. Krayzie Bone, Gemini: Good Vs. Evil (Ball’r/Thug Line) 3. Lil’ Jon & East Side Boyz, Crunk Juice (TVT) 4. Snoop Dogg, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (Geffen) 5. Gwen Stefani, Love, Angel, Music, Baby (Interscope) 6. Destiny’s Child, Destiny Fulfilled (Sony) 7…
From breakbeats to broken beat, Brazilian Girls specialize in a sort of musical globalization and amalgamated planet rock. Imagine being trapped inside a French film: First, you’re riding in a horse-drawn carriage on a cobblestone street; then, you pass a subway entrance where b-boys are break-dancing. Nearby, a well-dressed Casanova…
It’s no surprise that the new album from a band just signed to Sub Pop should be referred to in critical quarters as “a rock record.” But although Low isn’t a rock band (or at least has never been easily characterized as one), it turns out that the trio, which…
On this debut, the chameleonic Vancouver fivesome is lovin’ the ’70s. “Oh, we can’t stand/Your modern music/We feel afflicted,” singer Stephen McBean moans on the saxophone-and-drums swells of “Modern Music.” Things get retro on the bounding-down-the-boulevard “Druganaut,” which sounds like Jimi Hendrix by way of Band of Gypsys. But when…
Radio-friendly, catchy tunes do not have to be generic, and Hot Water Music understands that. The four guys in this Florida band created a house blend of thoughtful, emotionally charged lyrics, creative drumming, and emo-styled guitar riffs intertwined with punk rock vocals to create a sound in the vein of…
Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and experience the genuine, bona fide, certified humbug hullabaloo of the one and only Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. No siree, not even the legendary P.T. Barnum himself could’ve conceived such a clamorous concoction of sinister industrial noise, death rock, and portending lyrics offered by this…
If Valentine’s Day didn’t give you enough room for romance, there’s really no better concert to take a sweetie to this week than Mates of State. On the flip side, there’s also no worse concert to attend if you’re lonely, single and bitter. The husband-and-wife duo — Jason Hammel on…
So you thought the Pink was hot already? You haven’t seen Hotter Pink yet, going down at Karamba (1724 East McDowell Road) this Friday, February 18. It’s the second annual birthday party for DJ Nimh (Hot Pink’s grand impresario), and he’s pulling out all the stops for this one, flying…
With their debut, Gallowsbird’s Bark, New York’s Fiery Furnaces made the best two-person indie-blues CD in 2003 that didn’t feature someone surnamed White. For a follow-up 10 months later, they released Blueberry Boat, a complicated, intermittently brilliant departure from indie blues that didn’t feature someone surnamed Zappa but sounded like…
Yes, Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings, and yes, George Harrison had a thriving solo career, most of it on his own Dark Horse Records, after the Beatles called it a day. This DVD — also gone solo after originally being included as a bonus disc in last…
The statistics are sobering: Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24; each year in the United States, more people die by their own hand than by homicide; and, most tragically, 90 percent of suicides result from undiagnosed yet very treatable…
A favorite critics’ punching bag for decades, Dennis DeYoung has become something of an antihero for his former detractors ever since VH1’s Behind the Music: Styx special put his inspired lunacy in context. With the Kilroy Was Here tour, he single-handedly destroyed one of the top-grossing arena bands by hinging…
What else can you say about an indie band that’s suddenly on every TV show still hosting live music? Or about a lead singer like Isaac Brock, who goes on several national shows and doesn’t even try to disguise the big, nasty shiner on his right eye? What happens when…
It seems like everything written about the Blood Brothers includes the phrase “disaffected youth.” The general context is that the band’s songs speak to jaded youngsters and give the kiddies something relatable to grasp onto. That’s lame. The last time youth were accurately depicted as disaffected was when flannel dominated…
Okay, kids, hope you’ve been watching MTV and reading your “Next Big Thing” issue of Revolver, because it’s time for an Atreyu pop quiz! Answers at the bottom (no cheating!). 1. Orange County quintet Atreyu is named after the hero of the 1984 fantasy film ______ . 2. British post-punk…
Sometimes it takes a mellow evening out on the town to balance out your usual debauched nights, especially after Valentine’s Day. Lift your spirits at PAINT at the Paper Heart (750 Grand Avenue) on Tuesday, February 15. Host Even-Steven is on hiatus for the month, so guest LC will preside…
The cover of The Seven Autumn Flowers, the sixth album by London’s Trembling Blue Stars, features a watercolor painting of a yellow flower falling into a landscape of muted blues and grays — there’s a lake, and some dead trees, and a fogged-in mountain range towering in the background. Trembling…
Despite Andy Bell’s health problems in recent years — he’s been HIV-positive since 1998, and has suffered through a degenerative bone condition that’s required two hip-replacement surgeries — the Erasure singer’s distinctive voice is as vigorous, dramatic, and passionate as ever on the long-running Europop outfit’s 11th studio platter. But…
What besides the electric guitar, in nature or technology, can sound so much like flatulence and also sound so beautiful? Only a few guitarists — Keith Richards, Johnny Ramone — can make you wonder such a thing. The cover story of the latest from the Bellrays — the Riverside, California,…
