Conventional wisdom teaches us that hipsters love to pretend they are ahead of the curve. They shun “the mainstream,” riding fixed gear bicycles to Whole Foods to buy organic produce, before pedaling their vintage-style Pumas to concerts by bands you’ve never heard of. So why do hipsters love Foster the…
Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante is a heavy hitter, but he knows a thing or two about putting things delicately. “It took a long time to finish,” he says about Worship Music, the first Anthrax album since 2003’s We’ve Come for You All, and the first to feature vocalist Joey Belladona…
Are you ready to GOD!? Valley private Christian college Grand Canyon University is ready to get its worship on with a little help from a few of music’s biggest faith-based acts…
Either way, it’s time for them to accept the fact that Rome is their lead singer these days. Rome, Eric and Bud are basically still up to Sublime’s old tricks though. You’ll get the same old greatest hits plus some of Sublime With Rome’s new material, which isn’t too shabby.Joining…
Neon Trees are neither neon nor trees. What they are is a band; a band that rocked the hell out of Marquee Theatre over the weekend. See Neon Tress along with Iamwe, and local boys Peachcake in this slideshow from the concert…
We were pretty sure it was legit when we blogged about it last week, but now it’s totally confirmed: The Moz is headed to Phoenix, scheduled to play the Orpheum Theatre on Sunday, November 20 courtesy of Luckyman Online…
If you go to local shows on a somewhat regular basis, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Dry River Yacht Club perform at one point. If not, this eclectic eight-person band is worth checking out. French horn, accordion, violins, and bassoon come together to create a gypsy-inspired sound tied together…
Remember when April Ludgate-Dwyer (played by Aubrey Plaza) of NBC’s Parks and Recreation said that her favorite band was Neutral Milk Hotel in an episode last season? That ruled. It was surreal hearing that particular band name dropped on network television — NMH isn’t your garden variety hip reference. The…
For being an independent artist based in the Valley, electro pop musician Jonathan Sakas has built up one of the most professional-looking video repertoires of his peers. Every clip looks MTV-worthy, and the newest ones for his tracks, “Move” and “Home” are no exceptions.Plus, he always seems to have really…
Matty Steinkamp Steinkamp is the president and founder of Sundawg Records and Sundawg Media. He invites you to Gumptionfest in Sedona Friday, September 16 through Sunday, September 18. Sundawg labelmates and Valley bands A Life of Science and The Wiley One are playing. For more info, go here. When you…
DJ Kyko keeps it on the level. The Latin DJ holds two residencies at clubs in the Valley. Not that it’s going to his head. His down-to-Earth perspective makes him a man of few words, and maybe that’s a good thing. He’s all action, little talk.We talk beginnings, vintage vinyl…
Keeping Up with the Kardashians may be one of the most vapid, superficial, painfully annoying shows on television right now, but this Sunday night’s new episode on E! actually has one redeeming quality to the vomit-inducing drivel — local “future pop” band Super Stereo will have three songs featured on…
When Cactus Chainsaw’s singer said the band’s list of influences was possibly a higher number than his criminal record charges, I took it with a grain of salt (courtesy of a cheap tequila shot). But within the first 20 seconds of listening to their music, I could hear the band’s…
It was only yesterday that I was sharing the news of Smiths-related activity in Phoenix, including former-Smiths bassist Andy Rourke’s DJ set at Bar Smith this Friday, and the upcoming performance by Los Esmiths, Calexico, California’s premier Smiths tribute band, at Rips Ales and Cocktails. But it looks like I…
This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. Why did DMX get arrested last week? What underground hip-hop is Yaya Martinez bringing to Power…
When Jimi Hendrix reinvented the guitar instrumental as we know it with “Third Stone from the Sun,” he took time out to make a PSA warning that stated: “You’ll never hear surf music again.” In 1967, the sounds of 1961 and, even, 1964 seemed a century removed. But if surf…
It seems pointless to define the music of Sade (either the female lead singer/songwriter or her group of the same name) as “sexy” at this point. “Sexy” is as Sade does. Sure, sexy will always have a place on the radio, but it’s Sade’s career model that flies in the…
First, you notice the beats. The melodies pulsating in the air have a hypnotic quality, and their rhythms command your hips to move, your feet to shuffle, and your arms to be thrown in the air. It’s such feel-good electronic dance music that fist pumping is forgivable, but standing still…
Dear and the Headlights may have officially broken up, but we’re not done hearing music from the Phoenix indie rockers. In their official breakup letter to fans, guitarist PJ Waxmen expressed frustration with the music industry, but not with writing music itself. Clearly they were actually pretty prolific when it came…
Jack White and I.C.P. have one thing in common — they love screwing with people’s expectations. Scratch that, they’ve got two things in common. Just listen to “Leck Mich Im Arsch,” the new single that combines unlikely collaborators Jack White, I.C.P., Mozart, and Jeff, the Brotherhood. I’ve spent plenty of…
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but conventional wisdom suggests that fans of Morrisey and The Smiths are prone to naval gazing, crying, and a lot of black clothing. But that’s all stereotyping, right? You don’t have to be a depressive to dig the band. Even Fred “I…
Cake will surely come bearing an arsenal of their awkward but lovable alternative hits, including “Love You Madly,” “Walk on By,” “The Distance” and “Short Skirt/Long Jacket,” and that signature monotonous droning on their cover of “I Will Survive.”Joining Cake with shows of their own are Deer Tick, GLOWfest, The…
