Scratching unacknowledged itches, tt Lester makes it seem natural to follow a plucky piano-bar number with a Joy Division dronefest that would put Interpol to shame. Lester’s interests are varied but invariably British. Tony Guerrie spills out sleepily confident vocals similar to those of Blur’s Damon Albarn, and when he…

The difference between Gilmore Girls and The O.C. is that the former’s too-fast-to-be-believed witty banter is obviously fueled by writers well versed in punk rock, whereas five minutes into the latter self-serving teen drama, no one over the age of 21 cares one iota for the misguided characters. Stole Your…

With her squelched sensuality, sandpaper howling and sweet whispers, April Parks wields a powerful and multi-faceted voice. Unfortunately, that voice is already taken. If a reality show is in the works for Rock Star: No Doubt, Parks is a shoe-in. Despite the uncomfortable shadow of Gwen Stefani, her rich warblings…

Anyone still following hardcore since the denim-clad, illicit-beer-run days of hanging out in the basement knows that modern hardcore has progressed little from the prehistoric time of the Cro-Mags. Cookie-cutter riffs and double bass still support Cookie Monster vocals. Winnipeg’s Comeback Kid is an exception — along with Converge and…

Mark my words: In the coming year, no fewer than three independent-label punk bands — at least one Nordic — will record sloppy versions of “Automatic,” Resolve’s amazing closing track. Moreover, the pressing substance of Resolve will inspire approximately 163 kids to clear boxes of wrapping paper out of the…

Despite Grammy nominations and Prairie Home Companion appearances, Greg Brown has mostly flown under the radar, like Townes Van Zandt before him. The folksinger’s fan base, however, is stacked with high-profile admirers like Shawn Colvin, Jack Johnson and Joan Baez. The devotion speaks to Brown’s knack for creating perfect arrangements…

Forced out by oppression — presumably Thin Lizzy’s terrorist twin guitar attack, the monumental weight of the Corrs’ shite pop polluting the moors and the shame Black 47 bestowed upon the Irish with its dodgy hip-hop from men far too old to be “chillin'” — a pair of Celtic immigrants…

For a guy associated with German industrialists KMFDM and Einstürzende Neubauten, PIG’s Raymond Watts cranks out deliciously listenable tunes. The Berlin Wall has fallen, and brighter days have arrived — sort of. Gone is the old “We put the noise in annoys” Throbbing Gristle school of sound. Like Neubauten’s Blixa…

Prog-rock is a tricky business. A genre scorned for pretentious, frilly indulgences — like emo or light jazz, Colorado style — the label alone is enough to doom a stellar band to death by preconception. In this prog world exists the valley of prog-metal, a subgenre strewn with laughable poseurs…

Today’s Dodge Charger bears little resemblance to the muscle car the old-time gearheads remember: the Scotch-pad-green monster with the Edelbrock mufflers that they used to burn cookies and go lawn-stomping in, the same one they lost their virginity and, later, their pink slips in — all in one night. Although…

Anyone pooh-poohing the idea of an all-girl AC/DC tribute band is neglecting one very important factor: the schoolgirl outfit. Strewn across the three corners of the country — Denver, Seattle and Austin — Hell’s Belles cross gender and state barriers in the name of girl power. We got to speak…

The reason Don Williams is called the Gentle Giant is that “Barry White” was already taken. Williams’s lullaby voice dips in deep, then pulls up dripping with humble sentiment and Southern comfort. In terms of wooing countrified ladies, his unassuming croon is a potent Anglodisiac. With few exceptions, matters of…

In the ’80s, proto-teen idol Tiffany Darwish broke ground for wads of bubblegum-poppers. In 2002, the ginger-locked songstress also fulfilled many a John Hughes-era fantasy in Hugh Hefner’s periodical. Tiffany has grown up and changed direction in an effort to prove once and for all that unlike her many progeny,…

It’s difficult to reconcile why the Adicts draw slews of Generation XYY kids while all-ages sections at the Briefs’ shows are occupied by three claustrophobic straight-edgers. The fruit doesn’t fall far from the loom, after all. But it takes the younger Briefs to get geriatric punks back into the pit…

Folk-soul man Amos Lee has backing. Appearances with TV’s favorite breakfast flakes Katie and Matt aside, he’s got the unpredictable Blue Note Grammy machine behind him, which could easily launch him into obscurity. On the other hand, he could follow Norah Jones into the public conscience. Now’s the time to…

“Rest in peace,” uttered Bauhaus bassist David J. as he left the first generation of fans wanting more. That initial “final” performance, over twenty years ago, was retracted with a 1998 reunion. Now with rumblings of a new album, Mister Moonlight is rising once again. And though the volatile members…

At first, Mike Patton was merely the Sammy Haggar to Faith No More’s David Lee Roth equivalent. He produced now-pedestrian-but-groundbreaking-at-the-time rap-metal hybrid vocals, but he was always a dude, destined to go the way of Axl. Then he moved on to Mr. Bungle, where he showed a Zappa-like propensity for…

“Gris-Gris is sometimes referred to as the iron fist of Voodoo due to its hammer-like quality of relentless pounding until the spell takes effect,” says the highly esteemed California Astrology Association. With a setup like that, it would take a band with serious moxie to live up to that name…

What would Lucifer do? Theologians assert that the Prince of Darkness would likely do the most damage by appearing as a man of the cloth to mislead the flock. But according to the Retrosic, Abaddon has a penchant for black latex and manufactured beats; his devastating return will coincide with…

After the schizophrenic disaster that was Gusto, Guttermouth is trying to appease its pissed-off fans by returning to the work at hand. That is, pissing off anyone within earshot with sophomoric Vandals humor and incendiary barbs. No subject is off limits, and anyone offended risks being lampooned the next time…

Rancid side projects need no longer be feared. The Bastards contain exactly zero members of Blink-182. Instead, Frederiksen has stolen former Forgotten guitarist Craig Leg and borrowed Forgotten/Slip singer Gordy. On Viking, his second solo effort, Frederiksen offers seventeen tracks of variable-speed rock with gruff Motrhead vocals. The first several…

If there’s an award for most-improved female death-metal band, the academy gives the satanic salute to Kittie. While 2001’s Oracle fell on the unlistenable side of awkward, Until the End, the outfit’s latest effort, proves this cat has landed on its feet. Built on a bottom-heavy Pantera crunch, melody seeps…