It’s pretty easy to dismiss the bulk of neo-swing acts as sentimental revivalists, especially when the biggest hits to surface from the swing revival so far have either hinged on historic themes (“Zoot Suit Riot”) or been hands-down covers of yesteryear’s favorites (“Jump, Jive and Wail”). For all the noise…

Tristeza, Friday, November 3, at the Raven, with Dressy Bessy, Plus Ones and the Oranges, is in love with the finer points of instrumentation. The quintet, which operates unapologetically without a vocalist, straddles both emo and rock styles while transcending the usual constraints of rock-and-roll songwriting. Hardly an art project,…

A list of the individual injustices perpetuated against heavy metal could stretch longer than the blond hair on Vince Neil’s head. Amid the distraction of spandex pants, groupie Olympics and songs about nookie, hard rock’s really had a tough time over the past fifteen years or so. Though there’s no…

Ask anyone involved in the underground rock scene what the future portends, and there’s a good chance they’ll sing the praises of emo, post-rock, post-hardcore, or whatever names happen to be in vogue at the moment. Call it what you will, indie rock — and all of its outgrowths –…

For the better parts of rock history, a variety of jokers have gone to great lengths to prove just how deranged they are, whether they bit the heads off of doves, waved their penises around on stage or murdered a junkie girlfriend. Maybe that’s why the Sick Bees’ understated imbalance…

Now that Keanu Reeves has inked a deal to make two more Matrix movies, the chances of getting another fix of Bill and Ted’s Wyld Stallyns looks pretty slim. Though Reeves shelved his stoner alter ego for more serious work, he hasn’t kissed off the rock-and-roll fantasy just yet –…

The business of making music and all that it entails — touring, finding a decent record label that you can trust, keeping your band together and somewhat sane — can be backbreaking work. Just ask John Hulett, singer/guitarist for the East Bay punk act Automatic 7. When Hulett was only…

There are two types of mourners in the world. One weeps openly in public, without shame, displaying his sorrow for all to see. The other stands stone cold and impassive, as if any show of emotion would bring on uncontrollable hysterics. Hefner definitely fits into the latter category. With songs…

As concepts go, revolution — the rejection of preset ideas in favor of something new — and resuscitation — consciously reusing old ideas — are about as opposite as ideas can be. It’s somewhat shocking, then, that the (International) Noise Conspiracy has never recognized the rather obvious distinction between the…

Vue, with Wow and Flutter, Monday, May 8, at the Lion’s Lair, isn’t afraid to take a swim in rock’s deep end, even if it means cutting itself off from the hordes of fans taking the fast road to more easily pigeonholed sounds. With the number of musical subgenres growing…

For all the racket record geeks kick up about the lack of palatable garage rock these days, it’d be easy to think that the Makers haven’t been doing their thing for as long as they have. With a career spanning nearly ten years and several albums, however, the quartet makes…

There’s always a slight arrogance dogging even the best singer/songwriters. After all, it takes at least a trifling of ego to think anthologizing your life holds enough intrinsic interest to garner audience approval. There’s an even greater air of arrogance attached to surname-dropping rock figures — often, those who ditch…

It’s almost a given that if you put a tape recorder in front of a band and ask its members questions about their place in the music universe, sooner or later there’s bound to be excessive speculation on every aspect of the music industry, from analysis of the current rock…