Their moniker aside, the Lords hardly come across as aristocratic wannabes on Bruiser (the focus of a CD-release party on Friday, June 27, at the Lion’s Lair, with the Get Down). They’re more interested in garage rawk, and the dirtier the better. Oscar Ross doesn’t sing so much as whine…
Sigur Rós’s latest is positively festooned with danger signs: first album to be mainly recorded outside its home base of Iceland, first to feature a track sung in English, and the first co-produced by a big-shot dial-twister (Flood, of Depeche Mode fame). Somehow, though, this series of seemingly suspect compromises…
N.E.R.D.’s third album is the compact-disc equivalent of an ad campaign trying to appeal to the Red Bull/BlackBerry generation. “We gotta make it passionate,” you can almost hear Pharrell telling the guys in the studio. “And retro. And political. You know, some really fucked-up crazy awesome nuts shit!” And so…
The Classic Crime is perfect for those who prefer their rock slightly edgy and perfectly groomed, with soaring, uber-melodic choruses. In this way, the Seattle-based band is nearly indistinguishable from the hordes of pretty-boy MySpace acts currently littering the modern-rock landscape. If you can make it past surface-level aesthetics, though,…
Even the greatest artists have difficulty staying at their creative peak, as Stevie Wonder’s career demonstrates. During roughly a five-year period bookended by 1972’s underrated Music of My Mind, released just prior to the stage when the hits rained down in torrents, and 1976’s masterful Songs in the Key of…
Another twenty-something singer-songwriter from Los Angeles? No way? Really? For his part, Johnathan Rice is more than a cut above most. His songwriting, in fact, is strong enough to have caught the attention of Peter Buck and earn him some opening spots on R.E.M.’s recent tour. Sure, he’s had something…
The Stone Temple Pilots’ choice of Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, aka Black Francis, as an opening act for their comeback tour is mighty telling. Despite the Pilots’ success during the ’90s, the cognoscenti always saw the players as grunge-rock pretenders no matter how many times lead singer Scott Weiland…
One of the furthest edges of avant-garde underground music at the moment is inhabited by the harsh-noise-and-bent-circuit contingent and its proclivity for making interesting sounds that are more an art statement than strictly music. Oakland, California’s Social Junk incorporates elements of that aesthetic with experimental dub and ambient soundscaping. The…
Crazy,” the lead single from Gnarls Barkley’s first long-player, St. Elsewhere, wasn’t just 2006’s biggest pop song. It’s likely to be a signature track for the entire decade — a demographic-crossing, radio-format-busting phenomenon that singer Cee-Lo Green never saw coming. “‘Crazy’ is no different than any of the other things…
Look out, Tegan and Sara! Here come the Veronicas — the spunky, electro-poppy Australian quintet led by 23-year-old identical twin sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso. Down Under, they’re superstars who regularly sell out arenas, win awards and have their own clothing line at Target. Here they’re still trying to break…
The words to “Pleasure Ryland,” a song on Cobra Starship’s 2007 disc ¡Viva La Cobra!, are very different from the ones initially warbled by the tune’s co-author and namesake, guitarist Ryland Blackinton — and that’s fine by him, since the originals weren’t intended for public consumption. “I have a little…
Is it just us, or does papa Rupp look younger every year? Seriously. Old Bobbo must’ve made a deal with the devil or something. Unbelievable, that guy. Him and Prince, forever young, eh? Perhaps his perpetual youthful appearance is spurred by the fact that he’s constantly reinventing himself every couple…
How many times have you overheard someone in a band grumbling about having to go on first, or not being able to land a weekend slot, or having to play in front of only twenty people? Yeah, those folks would do well to sit down for a chat with the…
Photo by Chandra Carney. Looks like Meese is just about finished recording its new as-yet-titled album. Since inking their deal with Atlantic this past fall, the guys have been hard at work in the studio with producer Sean Beaven, who grew up in the Meese brothers’ hometown of Cleveland. Aside…
Whoa! Did y’all happen to catch a glimpse of who’s being touted on MySpace’s music page today? Both 3OH!3 and Flobots are featured prominently: The former is previewing tracks from its forthcoming album, Want, while the latter is the subject of the site’s Who Knew feature. To paraphrase Pete Wentz…
After months of polling, tonight is the big night, when we’ll announce the winners of the 2008 Westword Music Showcase. Please join us at at the Bluebird Theater this evening at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Hope to see you there!…
Photos by Chris Velarde Wolf Eyes and Aenka Tuesday, June 25, 2008 Hi-Dive Better Than: Soft-rock Wolf Eyes are hard to describe without superlatives. They’re one of the loudest, heaviest, most intense onstage and most approachable offstage bands out there. Phrases like “from the primordial ooze, they emerge” or “like…
So Jason Hayes from the Last Seen and I were standing around smoking outside the Atomic Cowboy this past Friday night before the Fluid show, when he presented me with a hypothetical proposition: If I were to form and front a band right now and could choose any musicians in…
The convenience and portability of MP3s may make the them the de facto music standard, but vinyl, despite its weight and relative fragility, is making a big comeback. Maybe it’s the warmer sound, the reassuring physicality of it, or maybe it’s just simple nostalgia. Or maybe, just maybe it’s absolutely…
Rose Hill Drive’s new record, Moon Is the New Earth, which we reviewed in last week’s issue and which earned three stars in the latest issue of Spin, hits stores today. After the jump, check out the outfit’s rad new video for “Sneak Out,” directed by former Boulderite Mendel Rabinovitch…
Flobots’s music has been characterized as a lot of things. Socially conscious? Check. Political? Sure. Insurgent? Sure. Incisive? Most definitely. But Spirtual? Perhaps to some, I guess. Christian? Uh… really? That’s a new one. Nonetheless, that’s exactly how eMusic — or somebody, CD Baby maybe? — has classified Platypus, the…
Photos by Soren McCarty and Jon Solomon. The Fluid, Boss 302 and the Omens Friday, June 20, 2008 Bluebird Theater If terrorists had wanted to rob Denver of its most devoted music lovers in one fell swoop, they should have targeted the Bluebird on June 20. Virtually anyone who’s worked…
