Swapping out even one musician can significantly alter the approach of an entire band, as the Brandtson story demonstrates. These Clevelanders, led by guitarist/vocalist Myk Porter, made fairly standard modern rock until last year, when departing bassist John Sayre was replaced by Adam Boose, who supplements his bass abilities with…
These days, it seems like anyone with even the slightest notion of getting down to their roots — particularly ex-punk rockers, for whatever reason — have formed some kind of Americana band. But few have approached it with the sincerity and grace of Portland’s Hillstomp. Although blues and its bastard…
There’s a simple reason why Deicide is appearing at Hubba’s rather than the Mercury Cafe. Back in 1996, these extreme-metal vets refused to play a show at the Merc over an equipment dispute, pissing off a crowd of 300. “When Deicide came downstairs without playing, I told them, ŒGet the…
In the mid-’90s, Jeremy Enigk fronted the critically lauded Sunny Day Real Estate. Enigk was an indie god. And then he found God. He took a spiritual exodus, briefly leaving Sunny Day, but later reunited with the often-tumultuous group before it finally dissolved in 2001. During that time, Enigk also…
Like a non-bluesy Johnette Napolitano seething with righteous venom, Sherry Fraser is back with a new album after a seven-year hiatus. Her band, Two Ton Boa, often gets compared to Sleater-Kinney, mainly because they’re both on Kill Rock Stars. And while Fraser and company exhibit a similar type of passionate…
Joanna Newsom certainly is hush-hush these days. The young folkie princess has been shying away from interviews for this tour, instead relying on her buzz-worthy name and recently released EP, Ys, to generate interest. Raised in Nevada City, California, Newsom now resides in San Francisco. In a scene where musical…
World music is a great concept, but all too often it involves some ponytailed doofus chanting about globe love, backed by an African children’s hand choir. Or at least it did before the Brazilian Girls issued their latest effort, Talk to La Bomb. Pumping an international fete into the clubs…
The Clap was a little hard to pin down: The band didn’t try to sound like anyone else, it didn’t follow the latest trends, and its members certainly didn’t give the impression that they were desperately seeking anyone’s approval. Some of the Clap’s songs were charged with a Fugazi-like fire…
Eagles of Death Metal lead singer Jesse Hughes is sitting in an L.A.-area dentist’s office, waiting “to get my head worked on.” But there’s more to the story than that. A lot more. “They’re going to do some prep for some major dental work that’s going down, and I need…
Perception is relative. While selective memory suggests that prior to the Fray (which will open for the Rolling Stones next month in Philadelphia), few local groups made much of a dent nationally. Fact is, though, Denver and Boulder have always had bands on the verge of breaking through. Go back…
Spiritual journeys, ancient tribal ritual and Mayan cosmology are all in a day’s work for Kan’Nal. The band was born of a vision that its lead singer, Tzol, had during one of his regular winter jaunts to Guatemala several years back. Following his Central American epiphany, Tzol enlisted six other…
In the late ’90s, Slightly Stoopid sprouted like a fat, sticky bud from the same California soil that birthed the band’s ska/skater/punk/ stoner brethren Sublime. The two groups’ works were similar enough that Sublime’s Brad Nowell signed Slightly Stoopid to his label in 1996, when Stoopid’s Miles Doughty and Kyle…
When it comes to straddling genres, few artists have the crossover breadth of Citizen Cope (aka Clarence Greenwood). He’s listed with granola-heavy website Jambase.com, and he certainly has the lazy acoustic-guitar appeal of Ben Harper or Jack Johnson. But his lyrics also have a gritty, street-worn sensibility reminiscent of Everlast,…
All right, ten bucks to anyone who can explain how the Deftones have managed to remain salient years after their so-called nu-metal contemporaries were either toe-tagged or devolved into shameless parodies of themselves. On their latest effort, Saturday Night Wrist, Chino Moreno and company sound every bit as vital as…
Gerard Way offers his critics plenty to ridicule on the latest Romance CD, including unbridled theatricality, more classic-rock nods than even Lenny Kravitz typically offers, and the sort of show-biz shamelessness that hipsters consider terminally uncool. Yet the garish over-the-topness of the entire twisted enterprise is precisely why this disc…
More than the unlikely chant-along choruses or lofty lyrical abstractions, the most lasting impression made by the inventive post-pop on Chin Up Chin Up’s second full-length is one of immense and disorienting wonder. The trail of breadcrumbs leading into “Stolen Mountains” starts simply: light guitars and two friends on the…
The IV Thieves were formerly known primarily under singer Nic Armstrong’s name. Since collaboration yielded to equality, however, they’ve become co-talented furies of ragged-out, thick-sticked garage rock that sounds like the New York Dolls trashing the musical hotel room of the Sonics. And although softer crackles abound — “The Sound…
On Pirate Signal’s 2004 debut, Norma(l) Hugh Manchild’s American Revolution(s), the band placed much of its focus on production and penning impressive lyrics, and not enough time working on its cadence and flow. Subsequently, the album made for a tough listen. On its latest self-titled effort, the crew has simplified…
On 2005’s Knuckle Up, Robert “Black Pegasus” Houston included “Club Killah,” a song that bitch-slapped DJs for turning a deaf ear to his rhymes. With Fuck Yo! Radio, he ups the ante. Not only does his new disc end with a live version of the aforementioned tune (spelled “Club Killa”…
DL Incognito, Organic Music for a Digital World (UrbNet Records). Canadian rapper DL Incognito brings a style reminiscent of mid-’90s New York hip-hop. Songs like “Welcome,” “Newera” and “Keep It Movin'” sound like unreleased material from Big L, AZ and Jay-Z — which isn’t a bad thing. After a while,…
Every time Anton Newcombe sings, the Black Angels get their publicity wings. The Austin-based band got a flock of press at this year’s South by Southwest festival when the infamous Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman joined the band on stage for a stellar thirteen-minute-plus improvised session. It was like the goddamn…
If musicians are creative and talented enough, they don’t need much in the way of equipment to make interesting sounds. A couple of guitars will do, as Ecstatic Sunshine’s Matt Papich and Dustin Wong understand. Freckle Wars, the duo’s debut for Carpark Records, features twelve instrumental duels that feel small…
