Achille Lauro's new full-length release came partly from a sense of smugness. According to Matt Close, the band's sample master, rhythm guitarist and lead singer, Flight or Fight came as the quartet recorded material for what was originally envisioned as the latest in a series of singles. When... More >>

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 was always a ridiculous spectacle with simple but effective props, elaborate homemade costumes,... More >>

Originally formed as a side project of Ceremonial Oath, In Flames quickly became a full-time endeavor. While retaining some of the sharp edges of its founders' death-metal leanings, the band successfully joined melodic hooks, vocal and otherwise, with nervy aggressiveness and sharp dynamic... More >>

Although singer Dallas Taylor is no heathen, his band Maylene & the Sons of Disaster represents a rather unholy enterprise, and thank God for that. Taylor once pledged allegiance to Underoath, a Christian metal-core act with a sizable following. But he split during the 2003 Warped Tour under... More >>

The retro-rock veteran failed to stir much interest in last year’s Black and White America, which is too bad: With its elaborate funk arrangements and its thoughtful ruminations on his parents’ interracial marriage, the album might be Kravitz’s most satisfying since Are You... More >>

As a pop band, you could do a lot worse than to having your first-ever show be opening for Amy Winehouse and then getting tapped to serve as the opening act for her European summer tour. But that's essentially what happened to the Asteroids Galaxy Tour after Winehouse heard the band's demo in... More >>

By the time he was sixteen and attending New York's High School of Music and Art, jazz guitarist Bobby Broom was already playing with Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker alumni Al Haig and Walter Bishop Jr. Broom has also played alongside jazz luminaries like Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Stanley... More >>

Kyle Harris began writing songs at the age of twelve, but it was another two decades before he decided to play them publicly. "I just never saw a reason to play any of it for people," he says. "I'd been writing songs regularly that whole time, but I never thought I'd enjoy playing them for... More >>

If you need to get a party started, you could do a lot worse than DJ Dan. Since the early years of the L.A. rave scene, almost two decades ago, Dan has been a force behind the decks and in the studio. He's remixed everyone from crossover acts like Depeche Mode to dance-music royalty such as... More >>

Adept at both production and turntablism, Gaslamp Killer — known for many years as the Motherfucking Gaslamp Killer (he's since dropped the Oedipal reference) — is as new-school as it gets. A frequent guest on L.A.'s Low End Theory monthly podcast, the Killer's hip-hop stylings are... More >>

Rob Gray -- who relocated to Denver last year after building up his name as a Midwest Massive resident in St. Louis -- is the latest to grace Brett Starr's monthly House Revival night at the Funky Buddha, where three different DJs spin hours of house music in the round, taking turns at the... More >>

The membership roster of Snake Rattle Rattle Snake includes former (and current, in the case of Andrew Warner) members of bands that left an indelible mark on the underground music scene in Colorado, acts like Space Team Electra, Red Cloud, Bad Luck City, Monofog, Hawks of Paradise and V-Tech... More >>

In about three to five years, the subgenre of "doom" -- and, to a lesser extent, its subset of "drone" -- may become as ubiquitous and stale as "surf garage," or whatever happens to be the flavor of the moment enjoying underground-bordering-on-mainstream popularity. But it won't be because of... More >>

Whether or not you dig the heavily trance-influenced livetronica group the Disco Biscuits, you should give the Biscuits' side project, Conspirator, a fighting chance: Instead of trance-jam-band fusion, Conspirator draws heavily from trance, downtempo and drum-and-bass, creating soundscapes that... More >>

Cursive was one of the bands that helped put Omaha, Nebraska, and Saddle Creek Records on the map. Starting in 1995, in the post-hardcore milieu that would serve as the roots of modern emo, Cursive always seemed to make music that never really fit in a specific genre outside of rock. Tim... More >>

Twin Sister is a Long Island-bred indie-pop quintet that creates lush, dreamy music. The songs are an outburst of melody enriched with a deep sense of emotion and atmosphere, personified by lead singer, Andrea Estella's warm, whispered vocals resulting in a remarkable set of songs that can only... More >>

​In the new documentary Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements, you'll find a wildly diverse array of witnesses, all in thrall to the ragged glory that was The Mats in their prime. Included among these friends, admirers, whack jobs, rackjobbers, rock critics and record execs,... More >>

In just three years, the Italian-Belgian producer has established himself as party-starting DJ and remixer with his spacious cosmic-disco re-rerubs of Grace Jones, Friendly Fires and Sebastien Tellier, and his own piano-sprinkled melancholic beauties like "Caramellas." More >>

In the music video for the Darkness's greatest hit, 2003's "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," the band's alternately naked and jumpsuited lead singer, Justin Hawkins, is repeatedly groped by a motley crew of space aliens. He appears, for all intents and purposes, to be into it. His band's... More >>

Lady Antebellum's star has risen in an unparalleled way over the last half-decade; conquering both the country and pop-music worlds, the trio's three records have garnered Grammys, Billboard and CMA nominations and awards along the way. All three members -- Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood and... More >>

New York-based ska outfit the Slackers has a highly listenable blend of garage rock-steady with covers both classic (Bill Withers's "Ain't No Sunshine") and kitsch (Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive"), and on the band's brand new album, The Radio, the Slackers delve into a variety of covers,... More >>

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 indie-pop pranksters in The Haircut, his natural inclination for Fall-esque guitar experimentation gelled perfectly with Magee Headley's spirited vocal... More >>

From the mid-'80s to the early '90s, San Francisco was a Shangri-La of house music. It's where impresarios like Doc Martin got their start or continued their careers. Martin began spinning records in the summer of 1986, playing legendary eight-hour sets at such clubs as Flammable Liquid and... More >>

The Foodchain released Brunch last November and has been on a steady pace ever since. With it's collection of musical all-stars, Foodchain is more than a crew; it's a conglomerate. Consisting of a complete live band, four monster MCs and two of the hottest sample-chopping, heat-making producers... More >>

DJ Krush (aka Hideaki Ishi) was once a member of the Yakuza (yes, the Japanese organized-crime powerhouse). But that was before he saw the film Wild Style in the early 1980s and was taken in by the hip-hop stylings depicted in the Charlie Ahearn flick. Krush decided at that point that music was... More >>