“I used to ditch school and go hang out at his house,” says Sonic Thrills front man Jim Monarch, pointing to his bandmate and guitarist Michael “Johnny” Walker. Sitting on the front porch of his Tempe home, Monarch is recalling, amid the noise of passing jets, how the two Mesa…
A quick run-down of the artists contributing to the soundtrack for the upcoming teen comedy American Pie and one wonders if a more appropriate title for this collection of songs wouldn’t have been Why Alternative Radio Sucks. It seems that virtually all the guilty parties responsible for the dumbing down…
Don’t let the chain wallets, workman’s plaid and hitched jeans fool you. Flathead is more unique than its retro-hillbilly appearance might lead you to believe. After all, how many bands can say they’ve shared a studio with Waylon Jennings, had their record played as a warm-up for an arena full…
With the release of the Captain Beefheart boxed set Grow Fins: Rarities (1965-1982), rock’s ultimate eccentric is finally honored as a figure who influenced artists as diverse as Tom Waits and Pere Ubu. The five CDs offer 75 outtakes, as well as CD-enhanced live-performance tracks. Ironically, this long-overdue celebration of…
Lucius Parr We Got a Problem (self-released) Lucius Parr’s name often gets unfairly overlooked when the Valley’s premier blues artists are listed, but anyone who’s caught his tight combo knows that his talent is undeniable. Parr has first-rate credentials. He and his brother Lamar absorbed the blues as young kids…
December 6, 1969, was one of the worst days of my life. Although I was barely old enough to spell my own name, I had already been programmed to love all things related to Texas A&M University and to despise all things related to the University of Texas. Particularly when…
They were almost lost in the hype of a tour so hyped even the hype was having trouble finding its way. Long before a note was played, cynics had written off Paul/Bob ’99 as too big, too old and too steeply priced to possibly warrant the attention someone else was…
Between his weekly radio show on KJZZ and his work as entertainment director of the Rhythm Room, Bob Corritore has long held the title of the Valley’s greatest advocate for traditional blues and roots music. But Corritore is such an earnest and articulate fan that it’s easy to forget that…
Shudder to think that here in Phoenix, more than 12,000 people show up to see rock relics like Poison and Ratt while AOR radio stations look forward to the upcoming performances of Journey and Foreigner. But wait, there’s more. Missing Persons, The Outfield, Peter Frampton, Billy Squier, and Sammy Hagar…
If you’re a Dylan freak, the center of the universe is, of all places, Grand Junction, Colorado. Mick and Laurie McCuistion reside there, operating an enormous business that encompasses damn near everything relating to America’s unofficial poet laureate. In 1993, the couple began publishing the ultimate Dylan fanzine, the glossy…
Pavement Terror Twilight (Matador Records) It’s one of the little ironies of indie-pop that Pavement has hit its creative stride just as much of its initial, underground crowd has grown tired of the band. The postpunk rule of career management has long been that you either reach a mass audience…
No one would have blamed Ron Sexsmith if he’d decided to skip the Valley on his current tour. His last visit here, in July of 1997, qualified as a perfect disaster. First off, Sexsmith and his two-piece supporting band played a heartfelt show at Nita’s Hideaway to about 15 people…
When septuagenarian bluesman T-Model Ford sings “I’m Insane,” he’s not playing around. Even in a musical genre defined by tough times and hard-luck stories, Ford’s life stands out for its sense of madness frequently on the verge of spinning out of control. Born James Lewis Carter Ford, T-Model knew little…
Sadly, the Sunset-strip scene of the ’80s took the New York Dolls’ name and dragged it through a thick, shit-infested mud bath, the kind through which few other pop trailblazers should ever have to suffer. I mean, the Velvets were never misinterpreted in such a way that had some thumb-head…
Cibo Matto Stereo Type A (Warner Bros.) When Cibo Matto made it to MTV in 1996 with a goofy, giddy novelty song called “Know Your Chicken,” the natural reaction among the previously uninitiated was to write the duo off as a one-joke gimmick. The idea of two thickly accented Japanese…
The 16-year-old kid with the obscene acne problem and boring piercings said he had never heard of Joan Jett. He stood behind the store’s counter wearing a cow’s expression and a Korn tee shirt. He used his mouth to draw air in and out of his body. Around his neck…
Julian Coryell never really considered being anything other than a musician. His thinking is easy enough to explain: His father, Larry Coryell, has long been one of the world’s most celebrated jazz guitarists, and Julian grew up watching musical virtuosos come in and out of the family’s southern Connecticut home…
It seems that every time Fred Green plays in California, the funk trio winds up relying on the kindness of rock heavyweights. At the group’s most recent Redondo Beach gig, a guitarist friend brought ex-Minutemen bassist Mike Watt, and Watt proceeded to get high in the band’s van before the…
Various artists Libations Unlimited: Phoenix 1997-1999 (Sentry Press) While Phoenix is nationally known for many things–excruciating heat and a sadistic sheriff among them–a stellar music scene doesn’t make the cut. Save the Meat Puppets and Gin Blossoms, virtually no Valley bands have cracked Top 40 radio or become household words–and…
For a guy once known for his unwillingness to do interviews, Elvis Costello has turned out to be one of pop music’s most insightful commentators. Over the years, he’s actually emerged as something of a “player-coach,” to borrow a term Rolling Stone once applied to Pete Townshend (in fact, Costello…
It hasn’t been the easiest of weeks for the band Chula. For their first real road excursion, the emo-punk quartet had lined up a couple of Southern California gigs along with two other bands, to be capped by a return gig in Tempe. Three hours out of Phoenix, their van…
The Negro Problem Joys and Concerns (Aerial Flipout) If there’s a weakness surrounding L.A.’s recent pop renaissance, it’s that too many of the bands settle for emulating their heroes, right down to the very last “c’mon, c’mon” and “sha-la-la.” As transcendent as much of Badfinger and the Raspberries still sound…
