On the eve of his album’s release — 10 hours, 45 minutes and counting until the unveiling of SMiLE, the fabled lost Beach Boys album a worldwide cult of fans has been waiting some 37 years to hear completed — Brian Wilson is on the phone, calling up journalists to…
Luna front man Dean Wareham is the musical equivalent of one of those old chaps you see at county fairs presiding over an arts-and-crafts booth surrounded by dozens of handcrafted pepper grinders that look identical save for a different wild animal head atop each one. Rendezvous is the New York…
“We are the Sciannas/We drink beer instead of wine/We are the Sciannas/We wear suits and ties.” Any band that pens its own theme song is begging to have its own cartoon series with corresponding lunch box. And the Sciannas don’t disappoint — the band’s theme is a melodic doppelgänger to…
It wasn’t just sharp, tailored suits and leather gun holsters that set Interpol apart from its New York peers back in 2002, when the return-of-the-rock retro frenzy was at fever pitch. For one thing, singer/guitarist Paul Banks’ eerie channeling of the late Ian Curtis was startling enough to put a…
Like a bastard little brother, Megadeth has lurked in the shadow of the band singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine helped found in the early ’80s. Both Metallica and Megadeth have experienced great success, but while Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, et al., became a multiplatinum megalith whose songs are played during baseball games,…
One of indie rock’s most enjoyable new bands, Rilo Kiley’s led by former child actors Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis — though it’s the latter’s sexy singing and thoughtful lyricism that truly elevates the band. Saddle Creek released 2002’s The Execution of All Things, a stunning album that mixed country…
This just in: Travis Morrison is teaming up with Sonic Youth, the Flaming Lips, and Liz Phair for the “Pitchfork Hates Us!” tour. Okay, not really, but Mr. Morrison did just join the elite circle of artists who’ve earned a coveted “0.0” album review from that online arbiter of all…
Drummer Scott Phillips doesn’t seem to shed a tear over his former band, Creed, being finished now that he and Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti, ousted Creed bassist Brian Marshall, and ex-Mayfield Four frontman Myles Kennedy are starting anew as Alter Bridge. He relishes the new democratic songwriting process and even…
When we first saw a club night called Inferno, we thought perhaps our nightlife columnists Kreme and Jett were moonlighting on us, perhaps hosting a lesbian all-you-can-eat buffet dance party. But damn, no such luck. Instead, Inferno (at Anderson’s Fifth Estate on Friday nights) is a backwash of underground ’80s…
Thursday 21 Acme Roadhouse: DJ J. Alan (top 40) Acme Bar & Grill: DJR (all genres) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (Top 40, hip-hop) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Piranha Room/Area 51 with DJs Jeremy & Ricky (industrial/goth, electroclash) Axis/Radius: Ladies Nights with DJ MCB & Josh Royal (all genres) AZ 88:…
Hip-hop producer extraordinaire RJD2’s slight frame is nearly encircled by a heavy weave of electronic wiring and a half-ton of clumpy amplifiers and miscellaneous sound equipment. It’s the sound check for RJD2’s San Francisco album release party, and although he’s politely fielding questions, he’s also obviously distracted with the task…
Men who treat their women badly, beware: W.C. Clark could steal your woman. He made a whole CD called Deep In The Heart — rich with Memphis soul, Texas blues, and contemporary R&B — seemingly dedicated to that task. “Her husband had his chances /he didn’t treat her right/instead of…
The joke’s on Peachcake. When Stefan Pruett and John O’Keefe started a band last summer, they weren’t serious. Then 18, the two college kids were used to being in punk and hardcore groups with actual guitars and drums, and O’Keefe was only just getting the hang of his new Roland…
The plastic action figure I’m staring at several hours before the show is about eight inches tall, with a weather-beaten wrinkled face, probably in his mid-40’s, a club in his left hand, right hand outstretched in a ‘hey now,’ sort of gesticulation. He’s a centaur, found at a local thrift…
Does anyone remember any of those overhyped Radiohead wannabes who blanketed the marketplace at the turn of the century? Vaguely, right? Ultimately, most of them ended up offering little more than fashionable dystopia, but Clinic stands as an important exception. The band members’ surgical scrubs attire a silly shtick; they…
Primus main man Les Claypool is the undisputed king of the weirdo side project. Lessee, there’s Les Claypool & the Holy Mackerel, a twisted-pop spin on Primus’ chunky alt-prog metal-funk that featured a rant from Henry Rollins and lots of bowed handsaw. There’s Oysterhead, his jam-rock collaboration with Phish frontman…
Joe Cartagena, a.k.a. Fat Joe, is one of mainstream hip-hop’s few Latino rappers, as well as the rare bird able to establish a decade-long track record of success. Hailing from hip-hop hot spot the South Bronx, Joe came out of the box swinging, scoring the number one rap single, “Flow…
After Skinny Puppy’s disastrous recording session for 1996’s The Process, the industrial band vowed to break up for good. Musician Dwayne Goettel, who died of a drug overdose in 1995, was noticeably absent, and earthquakes rattled the session, as did an injury to musician Cevin Key. “It was just horrible…
Often it’s less about creating the sound than crystallizing it. By the time Taking Back Sunday released its first album, 2002’s Tell All Your Friends, emo had been around for years; in fact, guitarist Ed Reyes was in the popular early adherent Movielife. TBS had all the requisite moves –…
While NYC’s Native Tongues posse was kicking off “conscious rap” with acts such as A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, Aceyalone was inaugurating the West Coast alternative, Freestyle Fellowship. Nowhere near as successful as the aforementioned groups, nonetheless it planted the seeds for later groups such as Jurassic…
The Silos were alternative-country before alternative-country was cool. Yes, that means the ’80s, when country music was just as tarted up and synthy as hair farmer bands were. Before Uncle Tupelo put a stamp on it and called it No Depression, there was the Silos. Led by Walter Salas-Humara, the…
The whole girl-with-a-guitar genre is like your first “A Woman Needs a Man Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle” bumper sticker: Its overt earnestness is initially very empowering and, subsequently, extremely embarrassing once you’ve moved out of the dorm and into the messy, “post-feminist” world full of things like strap-ons…
