Minnesota’s Off With Their Heads is not exactly redefining punk, but these dudes may be responsible for breathing life back into it — or at least one of the labels that helped shape the genre. In February 2010, the foursome signed with punk stalwart Epitaph Records, which will release the…

Young the Giant possesses songwriting wisdom and craft far beyond that of a band whose oldest member is only 22. The California quintet is made up of guys who started playing music at a young age and have already amassed more indie-rock cred and mainstream clout than most players who…

DEVOTCHKA With Mariachi El Bronx | Gregory Alan Isakov 2.12.12 | Fillmore Auditorium On this night, Colorado native Gregory Alan Isakov played the role of conquering hero — stepping out onto the massive Fillmore Auditorium stage and looking pleased at the sea of people flooding through the doors early to…

With the Big 4 tour (Metallica, Megadeath, Anthrax and Slayer) set to roll through massive arenas this spring, die-hard thrash-metal fans will be pleased to know that bands like Canada’s 3 Inches of Blood will still be sweating it out in more intimate settings. Despite having formed in 2002, the…

Eddie Van Halen never had to make the sort of decision that Patrick Meese recently had to. EVH’s eponymous band has weathered three different singers and multiple albums. Meese, on the other hand, abandoned his namesake band after seven years due to the rigors of major-label success. Luckily, the experience…

DAWES With Moondoggies • Romany Rye 11.15.10 | hi-dive Los Angeles’s Romany Rye started the night off and set the tone for this three-band bill. Every band brought a similar sound centered on excellent vocals. The five-piece belted out four-part harmonies about their native California in a ’70s throwback style…

I felt like I was joining Guns N’ Roses and Axl kept trying to teach me ‘Sweet Child of Mine,'” says Brothers O’ Hair bassist Joe Mills, recalling the early days of his band. “I was like, ‘Come on, man, it’s Chinese Democracy time!'” Although the group, fleshed out by…

The band that is now Young Cities started in the summer of 2007 under the name Hearts Like Lions. After years of gigging under that moniker, the members — Chance Scott-Burke, Tyler Briskie and James Morrison — decided it was time for a change, not only in what they were…

“It’s been assumed I’m soft or irrelevant/’Cause I refuse to downplay my intelligence.” So raps Dessa on “Bullpen,” from her debut album, A Badly Broken Code, released earlier this year on the Doomtree imprint. Although her inherent “hardness” has yet to be tested, it’s clear that Dessa is an intelligent…

RED FANG With the Swindlers, Black Acid Devil and Decay 10.27.10 | 3 Kings Tavern After the Swindlers, a female-fronted power quartet, wrapped up their set, the brilliantly titled Black Acid Devil took the stage to play its own brand of sludgy stoner metal. Black Acid Devil switched back and…

With the release of 2003’s Greetings From Michigan, Sufjan Stevens embarked on an ambitious project of writing a theme album for every state in the union. Five years later, Stevens is releasing The Age of Adz, which, while possessing an interesting theme of its own, leads us to believe that…

Folks hoping to see TaunTaun at the Anthrax show earlier this week at Summit Music Hall were likely disappointed. We’d heard rumors that the band had parted ways. Turns out that TaunTaun, initially slated to open for the thrash-metal icons, had actually dropped off the bill due to a scheduling…

Young Cities, formerly Hearts Like Lions, took a trip to Los Angeles last year to visit friend and One Republic guitarist Drew Brown. Brown used his clout to open the doors of the legendary East West Studios, the place where Pet Sounds was recorded and where Brown ultimately produced the…

On their latest, Gristle Gals tell a familiar tale of heartbreak and the whiskey abuse that follows. But the way they tell it is far from familiar. Rather than putting on country airs and busting out the steel guitar, the trio tells the tale of an unscrupulous ex with a…

There are several factors working against Drop 6 that make its latest album laughably bad. For starters, Grip the Wheel takes the worst parts of classic rock and pop punk and throws in a singer that sounds like James Hetfield running up a flight of stairs. The song “Alcohant” takes…

If there’s one thing Strung Out represents, it’s longevity. Formed in 1992, the California quintet has been pumping out its brand of metal-infused punk over the course of seven full-length albums and numerous EPs and seven-inch releases. Fronted by founding member Jason Cruz, it has the distinction of being one…

Adam Halferty has toured with 3OH!3 and played drums in a number of very recognizable bands over the years. American Tomahawk, however, Halferty’s solo project, might make folks hope he never returns to the drum throne again. His latest album, Generalities, Contradictions and Future Criminals, which he recorded on his…

“Tramps like us, baby we were born to die,” shouts Titus Andronicus singer Patrick Stickles on the opening track of his band’s latest album, The Monitor. The line is an obvious homage to both the Garden State, from which he and his bandmates hail, and that state’s most celebrated Boss…

Me Against Sunrise is extremely talented yet weighed down by the well-worn musical cliches of the bands that clearly inspire it. The act’s latest disc, If Ghost Was a Color, pays homage to metal-core heavyweights like Atreyu and Killswitch Engage, borrowing from them liberally and often. Arpeggiated guitar flourishes, double-bass…

On its latest release, Git Some doesn’t exactly break new ground. Instead, the band cracks it beyond recognition, leaving it covered in broken glass and drenched in sweat and blood while destroying pretty much everything that rests upon it. Loose Control, the band’s second full-length and first on Jello Biafra’s…

When a local band opens for a national act, the former generally does its best to impress its touring counterparts. When Denver hardcore band Bankrobber recently played with Bane, the group was impressive enough that Bane asked the outfit to go on tour. For a band like Bankrobber, with deep…