To celebrate 10 years in the concert promotion biz, Charlie Levy tried to give Phoenix a really cool present: a big indie rock festival, the city’s first. But without even saying thanks, Phoenix blew Charlie off. There’s got to be a reason the Grand Cayenne Music Festival — scheduled for…
Three of the Briefs’ four members recently took the time to briefly discuss their new album Steal Yer Heart, punk rock’s brevity, and the truth behind their songs “Genital General” and “My Girl (Wants to Be a Zombie).” New Times: Any downside to being so brief? Steve E. Nicks (guitarist):…
In the annals of rock ‘n’ roll history, nothing matches the Rolling Stones’ 40-year-old reputation for sex, scandal and outrage. To see how well you know the Stones’ self-made legend, take the Shrapnel quiz on these raunchiest of rockers. The more answers you get right, the greater your, ahem, satisfaction…
Man, if you think Eminem had a rough upbringing, check out the backstory of Chris Palko, better known as rapper Cage: Born to a heroin-addicted Army father who made his young son help him shoot up, until he was arrested for threatening the family with a shotgun when Cage was…
A new disc from the Rolling Stones is often cause for celebration. Not because the albums are any good — they’ve been shit since, oh, about 1981, right? — but because it means the band will be coming around on tour, and loyal fans will get to see Mick ‘n’…
Those who say metal is all screaming and no melody clearly have never heard Children of Bodom, the Finnish five-piece that just released its fifth full-length album, Are You Dead Yet?, on Spinefarm Records. The follow-up to 2003’s Hate Crew Deathroll is full of guitar sweeps, killer keys and growling…
While The Earlies’ . . . uh, earliest collaborations (1998) didn’t necessarily constitute a band, their first EP in 2002 did. What began as a file-sharing project between two Texans (JM Lapham and Brandon Carr) and two chaps in northern England (Christian Madden and Giles Hatton) who all loved prog,…
One of the most original bands ever to gain a bankable following is beginning to sound a little too comfortable in its own self-invented genre. Not that any other band has duplicated the formula: metalcore mosh with auctioneer-gone-mad vocals, followed by incantational harmonies and exotic-stringed acoustic breaks. And few other…
Anyone confused by 2003’s worldwide Darkness phenomenon — How does a band this goofy compete with U2 on the charts? — shall remain so. The Darkness has nothing up its spandex sleeve but exuberant hard rock and satire. Nevertheless, One Way Ticket to Hell . . . and Back does…
All hail Chuck D! Oh, how the uptight and old white pundits parsed his every word. From the days of “jungle rhythms” to the French riots today, the frightened, white and withered have shat themselves over black music. But some musicians deserve protection from the beshitted more than others do…
The marriage of death metal muscle to industrial smarts might not be one you’d care to throw rice at, but you can’t deny these two crazy kids make a handsomely bleak couple. Fear Factory is credited as being one of the first to witness this unholy union, with Soul of…
Picture this: It’s three in the morning, long past last call. The parties have wound down, and the only place to go is the 24-hour Quick Mart. Still awake, you need a soundtrack to a dream, something soothing, yet not boring: music to lull you off to another world. The…
While other kids in the dawn of their 20s wax artistic, Atlanta’s Black Lips are stalwart in their scuzzy retro glory. Let It Bloom, their third album as the favorite little brothers of Sonics freaks everywhere, may sound like it was recorded on tin in 1968 — with wisps of…
Thursday 24Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with DJ Jeremy (goth, industrial) Axis/Radius: Ladies’ Night with Josh Royal (all genres) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (jazz fusion, funk) Club Dwntwn: DJs Kirby and Chris Shannon…
1. 50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (Interscope) 2. Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi (Island) 3. Young Buck, T.I.P. (M.A. Records) 4. Young Jeezy, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (Def Jam) 5. Three 6 Mafia, The Most Known Unknown (Sony) 6. Kanye West, Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella) 7…
Power pop, for far too long, has been music wasted on the old. Throughout the ’90s, it seemed only to emanate from bitter people over 30, but now you have accomplished bands not much older than the teen constituency power pop was originally intended for. And self-sufficient ones, too –…
On the most recent First Friday, at midnight, I’m in a former Mormon church with immense ceilings. Psychedelic colors are dancing on the walls courtesy of some old-school overhead projectors while old-school funk is jumping out of speakers. Even more incongruous is that I’m at a party in the Great…
It’s not easy fronting a band that’s the darling of the rock press. Just ask Spoon front man Britt Daniel, who’s busy collecting five-star accolades for his group’s latest effort, Gimme Fiction. The love that critics heaped upon Spoon in the wake of 2002’s Kill the Moonlight helped make Fiction,…
Aside from a bottle of wine and my couch, something that really makes a Friday night for me is music. Loud music, with hypnotic, booming bass. On a Friday night not long ago, I’ve found it right in downtown Phoenix. I’m in the groove with hundreds of warm bodies at…
Battle Acts for week of November 17 through November 23 Battle Act Simple Plan Where & When Friday, November 18, Marquee Theatre, free Strongest Selling Point Time is money, so in order to get TWO FREE TICKETS, you must demo the new Samsung n330 phone and endure a long, hard…
Tim McTague, guitarist for UnderOath, place your right hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth . . . New Times: How do you feel about being labeled a Christian metalcore band? Tim McTague: I think that’s exactly what we’re…
Punk’s not dead, and thanks to the booming local music site AZPunk, it’s not exploited, either. AZPunk.comp Volume 4 offers equal-opportunity aggression from a mind-boggling 37 bands from across the Valley and such far-flung punk enclaves as Tuba City and Yuma. In almost 75 minutes of music, there’s old-school anarchy,…
