Packrat Explains “Vultures of Knowledge”

See also: Packrat Ready to Bring the Noise to Rogue Bar Experimental prog-punk rockers Packrat might be going through a lineup shakeup at the moment, but that hasn’t derailed core members Brandon Wilson and Rodrigo Ibieta from making new music. Emmit Thatcher renounced his position as the band’s drummer earlier…

Obsessed with “Call Me Maybe?” You’re Not Alone

As much as everyone might be sick of Carly Rae Jepsen’s smash hit “Call Me Maybe,” none of us can get the song out of our heads, much to our chagrin. Let’s admit it: We’re all secretly jamming out when we’re all alone in our car or bedroom. We’re not…

Jackie Morales, What Are You Listening To?

Jackie Morales Morales is the mid-day DJ for 101.5-FM Jamz. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? Of course, 101.5! What’s the first album you bought? I honestly don’t go out and buy very many albums, but when…

Dead Kennedys Are Coming to Tempe (Sans Jello)

Seeing the Dead Kennedys without Jello Biafra is kind of like seeing the reformed Misfits — it’s just not quite the same when it’s only Jerry Only, but that’s better than nothing, right? Or is it? Jello hasn’t performed with the Kennedys since the band’s split in 1986, but the…

From Print: Blogs Teased in Our June 21 Issue

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. What five releases are we most excited for this summer? We ask: Are local band residencies…

Eclecticism Is The Elephant in the Room by Banana Gun

Just as fortunetellers have their little fishing expeditions to crack a sucker’s psyche, so, too, rock writers have their shortcuts on deconstructing a band’s sound without using the dreaded catch-all phrase “eclectic” (which, in truth, we’ve already exhausted in this article’s headline). Here’s the laziest methodology: Just ask the band…

El-P on His Cancer 4 Cure and American Dystopia

“I’m not particularly that brilliant,” El-P says, laughing. “It takes me longer to do something worthy of putting out.” The Brooklyn-based rapper, former label head, and indie hip-hop stalwart isn’t bothered by the five years it took to put together his latest collection, Cancer 4 Cure (out now via Fat…

The Cult Evolves with Weapon of Choice

Ian Astbury, throat of the long-running British rock band The Cult, doesn’t appreciate his band being reduced to “dumb rock ‘n’ roll” by hipsters. Not one bit. “The illuminated, erudite, indie, or post-modern culture, whatever — it almost serves them to shove people like us out of the room,” Astbury…

What Are the Top 10 Most “Spotified” Songs in Phoenix?

You have to look pretty hard for someone who doesn’t have an opinion about Spotify, the Swedish music-streaming service that launched in 2008 and hit the States in 2011. It’s hard to deny its ease, selection, and um, free-ness, but it’s also been a magnet for controversy. In both the…

Six Music Advertising Deals We’d Love to See

It’s been a weird couple of weeks in the world of music-meets-advertising. Between Andrew W.K.’s announcement to speak at a My Little Pony convention and KISS’ licensing deal with Family Guy, it’s been pretty damn weird indeed. But think about it: A hard-partying My Little Pony would look great sitting…

Incoming: Passion Pit, Pepper, Seether

Yesterday we ran a list of our most anticipated summer releases featuring, among others, Fiona Apple and Passion Pit. Lo and behold, Apple announced a tour date in Phoenix, and now, we can add Passion Pit to the list. The indie-pop combo is heading to the Marquee Theatre in Tempe…

Take Cover: Bad Lucy Covers Bob Dylan

“Lay Lady Lay” is a classic Bob Dylan tune, even if it doesn’t sound like classic Dylan. ‘Ole Bobby D. claims his voice sounded different on Nashville Skyline because he quit smoking before recording. Magnet and Gemma Hayes’ soft, orchestral take on the song appeared on the Mr. & Mrs…

Fiona Apple Is Coming to Mesa Arts Center

Well, how’s this for a good East Valley announcement day? Not only is Morrissey headed to Tempe’s Marquee Theatre in November, but singer/songwriter Fiona Apple has announced a tour that brings her to the Ikeda Theater at Mesa Arts Center on Tuesday, September 18. Touring in support of her highly…

Record Heat: The Bachelor Party by Brad Dwyer

See also: Rumspringer: Earnest Trio Builds Nothing on Punk’s Ever-Shifting Sands Bachelor parties are a tradition. The kind of debauched, “I-can’t-believe-we-did-that” bone-headed tradition that works for popcorn flicks (coming soon: The Hangover 3: Still Hangin’, where the boys find themselves in outer space or something). But a DIY bachelor party…

Morrissey Is Coming to the Marquee Theatre

See also: We Love Morrissey, but Does He Love Us? See also: Morrissey at the Orpheum Theatre It’s weird time to be Morrissey: British rock tabloid NME recently apologized to the downer-pop icon for alleging he’s racist (stop me if you think that you’ve heard that one before), he’s currently…