I’ve been burping up the taste of local acid-punk band Blanche Davidian for the past two days — specifically, the carbonated cough syrup flavor of the band’s new “Orange Sunshine” shot, available exclusively at Hollywood Alley in Mesa. The shot was the first drink I had when I arrived at…
When we think of Willy Wonka, we think of a busy-bee eccentric, an inventor of sweet treats that capture the world’s imagination, a dude who’s content to plod away in a bizarre factory while ignoring societal norms in the process. So it’s fitting that a friend of Alex Votichenko (better…
Rich, hardcore jazz fans are different from you and me. They demand utter dedication to this art form from both artist and listener. Jazz is America’s “classical music” — serious, high art — and, to the aficionado, “pure” jazz is the only worthwhile music, period. Those folks have already stopped…
After a four-year absence, Marilyn Manson has returned to the public eye in the video for “Heart-Shaped Glasses,” porking his barely legal girlfriend in a rain of blood. That kind of flashy, trashy imagery may prevent Manson from ever being taken seriously as a credible artist (at least by the…
The psychedelic effects shine through sonically on Blanche Davidian’s second album. Songs like “Queef Action” and “Rottweilers Keep Following Me” brim with fuzz and roar with reverb behind singer Jamie Monistat VII’s spacey, snarky vocals, and the title track is a 61/2-minute raging jam. There’s even the occasional hippie vocal…
Ignore the cheesy cover art. Though it resembles a no-budget local LP pressing from 1970, Talk of the Town is one humdinger of a vocal album. For 40 years — you read right — Jerry Lawson was a singer with the long-lived a cappella group the Persuasions (who can count…
No one can accuse Gilbert’s Scary Kids Scaring Kids of lacking ambition. The local sextet’s self-titled second album is an epic song cycle characterized by the album-opening anthem “Degenerates,” which casts us into a jackbooted future, judging from all the clicks of pistol safeties and ominous helicopter hovering. The song…
Legend says that blues great Robert Johnson made a deal with the devil at the crossroads in exchange for ungodly musical skill. Dax Riggs, former singer/guitarist of indie-rock duo Dead Boy and the Elephantmen, seems to have had a similar meeting with Satan before recording this album. “Have mercy on…
Goodbye Tomorrow might sound like a ridiculously cynical name for a band that hasn’t even released its first album, but . . . well, okay, it is. One can’t help but imagine that lead singer Travis Bryant and his Phoenix-based crew are on some sort of suicide watch and, judging…
Digital Me is the perfect title for Step Kid’s debut EP. Combining the organic rhythms of hip-hop and jazz with the synthetic sounds of electronica and drum ‘n’ bass, the album has a pleasantly bipolar feeling that is slick and futuristic, but profoundly intimate at the same time. The solo…
From blandly cute child stardom to booty-licious, cold isolationism to diva-level, so-in-luv obsession to pan-media omnipresence — that’s the trail former Destiny’s Child centerpiece Beyoncé Knowles has blazed, and whether any of these poses/phases were sincere seems almost beside the point today. Knowles’ career has been such a master class…
If one band could be held responsible for the nü-metal phenomenon that rose in the wake of grunge, it’s safe to say that Korn would single-handedly take the blame. Defining the genre’s funky rock-meets-rap sound with the down-tuned guitars on their hugely influential 1994 debut, the group created a unit-moving…
Seriously swanky pool parties have been the “in” thing this summer, with tons of hotties and himbos hanging out at superchic swimming holes like the Mondrian and the Scottsdale Inn while downing designer drinks, catching some rays, and listening to DJs work the ones and twos. This weekend’s Wet Pool…
We’ve been spending a lot of time on www.dirtyscottsdale.com lately, so when the weekend rolled around, we were properly inspired to guzzle vodka somewhere in Scottsdale. We checked out Mickey’s Hangover on Friday, August 17, and to our relief, the boozers in attendance didn’t quite fit the bill for the…
Sweetbleeders
Replicator
Get Down! to Brass Tacks
The Minibosses
The Ruby Room
August 18, 2007
Better Than: “One Mend-fault is worth two Findfaults, but one Findfault is better than two Makefaults.” B. Franklin, 1735
Sweetbleeders
It was a close call on this one. As I carelessly strolled into the open jaws of the Ruby Room, whistlin’ a cheery tune and thinking of my Pomeranians, my eyes adjusted and I was faced with a terrible sight: the walls were already a hue of deepest crimson. Inferring naturally that Sweetbleeders had already emptied their poor little arteries all over the dump, I set about desperately licking the walls to glean a remainder of whatever residues they had offered up in their sacrifice, but rather than the thrilling taste of Very Berry Surprise, I detected the sour tang of Sherwin Williams 6866. By the time I struggled out of the bouncer’s grip I realized I’d been mistaken: Sweetbleeders were just getting on stage now! A goof was I.
We’re debuting a new feature with Up on the Sun where every Friday we’re gonna give you the heads up and 411 on any just announced kick-ass or big-ass concerts that will be visiting Valley venues in the coming months.
Thursday 16 Anderson’s: S.W.A.G. Thursdays with DJ Essence, DJ Astonish, & Bryce Breeze (hip-hop, reggae, R&B) Blooze: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Club Mardi Gras: DJ Dana (country) Dirty Pretty: Foxy Bitch with D-JR (rock, Top 40, hip-hop) Hard Rock Cafe: Skandilis (hip-hop, R&B, Latin) Hollywood Alley:…
I’m sad and I feel like crap because a close friend is moving away. That calls for some goodbye libations. I’m lonely enough in this conservative, transplant-filled, call-center-laden convection-oven Valley, and my only respite (well, aside from cocktails) is my close friends. The bigger this Valley swells, the more it…
Whether it’s because he just finished watching some classic Queen concert footage on the bus, or because he generally likes to think big, Stars of Track and Field co-founder Kevin Calaba’s got some grand visions in mind for his own band’s live show. “In a perfect world, we’d headline and…
One or two of the acts on the “Hippiefest” tour would’ve spiced up the typical take-the-money-and-run oldies packages that plow through town every summer. But together, this package of ’60s acts truly shows remarkable breadth. The acts have retained their critical cachet and haven’t worn out their names with nostalgia…
Reading lengthy excerpts from Nikki Sixx’s memoir, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star (out September 18 from First MTV Books/Pocket Books), and listening to its accompanying soundtrack by his band Sixx: A.M. (out now on Eleven Seven Music) is like running up to…
Cary Brothers isn’t a household name yet, but it’s been pretty hard to escape his music ever since his acoustic ballad “Blue Eyes” appeared on the Grammy-winning soundtrack to 2004’s Garden State. In the interim, Brothers has released two EPs, and his folksy pop has served as the emotional backdrop…
