Email Author Tom Murphy

2012 Stories by Tom Murphy

• Crocodiles

  published March 1, 2012

  Up until the middle part of the last decade, Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez spent time in underground punk and noisy post-punk bands in San... More >>

• Pure Sunshine II, with Spell and '57 Lesbian, at the Bluebird March 2

  published March 1, 2012

  Back in the mid-'90s, with the Fluid in limbo after the release of Glue and Roadmouth, Matt Bischoff found himself yearning to... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  VNV Nation: "We wanted to offer people an alternative of substance over pure style"

  published Feb 28, 2012

  VNV Nation (due tomorrow night at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs) started as a kind of bedroom project for the band's singer and co-programmer, Ronan Harris. By 1995, he had developed his music... More >>

• David Ellefson of Megadeth: "We had punk attitude with metal chops"

  published Feb 28, 2012

  See Also: Megadeth live review at Fillmore and interview with Chris Broderick Megadeth (due tonight at the Fillmore Auditorium) may be one of the Big Four of thrash, but in many ways, its frontman ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Review: Gathering of the Clouds at City Hall, 2/24/12

  published Feb 26, 2012

  Gathering of the Clouds Day 2 @ City Hall | 2/24/12One of the main reasons for the festival was the release of the new Overcasters album, Curses/Prayers and as usual, Overcasters delivered a solid set... More >>

• Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth: "The chemistry in the band is better than it's ever been"

  published Feb 25, 2012

  Iced Earth (due tonight at Summit Music Hall) came out of the rich heavy metal scene in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late '80s. At a time when melodic heavy metal, especially the glam variety, was on t... More >>

• Zola Jesus: "That's the most frustrating thing, when people just reduce it to a copy of the past"

  published Feb 24, 2012

  Zola Jesus (due tomorrow night at Larimer Lounge) started as the solo project of Nika Roza Danilova. Shortly after she released her earliest recordings, she came to the attention of Caleb Braaten of... More >>

• Motorhead

  published February 23, 2012

  Lemmy Kilmister is a living legend: He was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and an integral member of space-rock pioneers Hawkwind; he got kicked off... More >>

• Zola Jesus

  published February 23, 2012

  Nika Roza Danilova grew up in rural Wisconsin. Without access to the usual distractions available to most children living in a big city,... More >>

• Roskopp/No Thought

  published February 23, 2012

  After a sample from Robocop, Roskopp crashes headlong into "Microbial Warfare." Though running along at a breakneck grindcore pace, the... More >>

• Gemini Trajectory ventures to Rhinoceropolis on February 29

  published February 23, 2012

  Charles Ballas is the kind of record nerd a lot of people wish they were but could never be. He's probably heard most things you'd throw his... More >>

• Glass Hits has a history filled with punk rock and fast friendships

  published February 23, 2012

  It's funny," says Keith Curts of Glass Hits. "It's been said a million times, and I know it's completely trite, but punk totally did save my... More >>

• Blair Shehan of the Jealous Sound: "Anything else didn't feel like the right suit to put on"

  published Feb 21, 2012

  The Jealous Sound (playing tonight at the Marquis Theater) came together when former Knapsack guitarist and singer Blair Shehan got together with some of his friends who had also been members of mel... More >>

• Review: English Dogs at Summit Music Hall, 2/19/12

  published Feb 20, 2012

  ENGLISH DOGS @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 2/19/12 Throughout the show, Adie Bailey of English Dogs came off the stage and sang with the crowd just over the barrier and encouraged people to sing into the m... More >>

• Trevor Hobbs of Breathe Owl Breathe: "You have to create your own things to occupy you"

  published Feb 17, 2012

  Breathe Owl Breathe (due tonigh at the Hi-Dive) is from East Jordan, Michigan, a relatively remote place that forced the members of the act to turn inward for inspiration in its music. This explains t... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Review: Tennis at Bluebird Theater, 2/16/12

  published Feb 17, 2012

  TENNIS @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 2/2/12For a band whose music is so bright and sunny, the tinge of melancholia that swirled around "Waterbirds" gave this Tennis performance an otherworldly feel. The breakd... More >>

• Water Babys

  published February 16, 2012

  This album does not aim for a single aesthetic. The jazz pop and AutoTuned vocals of "Fuck Hugh, Grant" contrast immediately with the... More >>

• Toxic Holocaust

  published February 16, 2012

  The members of Portland's Toxic Holocaust can send a bit of a mixed message when they first come out on stage, because frontman Joel Grind... More >>

• Critic's Choice: The Haircut, February 17 at Unit E on Sante Fe

  published February 16, 2012

  Nelson Echeverry may have cut his teeth on some strain of punk rock when he was a teenager, but when he connected with the merry band of... More >>

• Once "thrown into the fire," Tennis emerges with Young & Old

  published February 16, 2012

  We were the band that our first show was sold out," notes Patrick Riley about the live debut of his group, Tennis. "From the start, it was like... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Joanna Bolme of Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks on playing Scrabble with Pavement

  published Feb 14, 2012

  Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks (due tomorrow night at the Fox Theater in Boulder) formed after Malkmus's influential band, Pavement, went on indefinite hiatus at the end of the '90s. Initially, it wa... More >>

• Review: Spatula at Climax Lounge, 2/10/12

  published Feb 11, 2012

  SPATULA @ CLIMAX LOUNGE | 2/10/12Almost without warning, King Lexie looked like she was either wheeled or aided on to stage, her bulging belly indicating a ripe pregnancy. Joining her were Summer Snov... More >>

• Ted Stevens of Cursive: "There's a lot of risks you take in making a record like this."

  published Feb 10, 2012

  See also: Interview with Lauren Larson of Ume, sharing the bill this Sunday. Cursive (due this Sunday at Larimer Lounge with Ume) was one of the most popular and influential bands to have come out ... More >>

• Sauna's "Glitter Party" video premieres on Stereogum

  published Feb 09, 2012

  It probably came as a surprise to everyone but those in the inner circles of the Sauna camp that the band's new video for "Glitter Party" premiered on Stereogum. Not because the charming quartet doesn... More >>

• Spatula: "I think that was the swan song, and we landed like an albatross."

  published Feb 08, 2012

  Spatula (due this Friday, February 10, at the Climax Lounge) was a band you often heard about between 2004 and 2005, if you did not actually see it. The band was musical, but more to the point, it w... More >>