Concerts

This time last year, Michael Dean Damron, former frontman for I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House, was planning a trip to Denver with his current combo, Thee Loyal Bastards. But he ultimately canceled the gig, and the rest of his tour, due to high gas prices. “Michael was…

Los Angeles’s War Tapes evokes the most insidiously catchy synth-pop bands of the ’80s mixed with the darkness of that era’s death rock. Imagine Sisters of Mercy with a dynamic rhythm section and without the humorless demeanor. The songwriting, however, isn’t exactly on a retro-nostalgia kick, despite clearly being inspired…

With quirky pop hooks and song dynamics that are just shy of anthemic, Cleveland’s Other Girls writes songs with a surprising level of sophistication and polish while maintaining a certain urgency and exuberance that makes each performance count. With atmospheric flourishes reminiscent of Band of Horses and a nervous energy…

Jay Farrar has never been all that interested in experimentation. Hell, his desire to plow ahead, nose to the grindstone, was one of the contributing factors to the dissolution of Uncle Tupelo all those years ago. But his musical trajectory since is proof that he wouldn’t have it any other…

Although the music on this four-song EP doesn’t skimp on commercial elements, it’s actually quite an odd hybrid. For the most part, lead singer Nasir Malik’s vocals sound as if they’ve been fueled by ramen — but the music he makes, along with guitarists Samuel Pritchett and Joshua Lee and…

Upon first listen to Paper and Roses, Born in Winter’s latest, inevitable comparisons to Evanescence and Annette Olzon-era Nightwish are bound to crop up, particularly since these eight songs are similarly rooted in melodic, progressive metal and driven by female vocals. However, the material here doesn’t come off saccharine, like…

Is White Leather for you? Find out by answering “true” or “false” to the following three statements: 1) My record collection is full of ’90s pop punk and ’80s glam metal, and I always wished someone would combine the most egregious clichés from both. 2) As far as vocalists go,…

Scrappy, dark, comedic synth-punk isn’t exactly a formula for surefire success. And on They Clean Up Nice, Take the Mickey isn’t able to pull those elements into something compelling — or even mildly enjoyable. Then again, the EP’s creation was plagued by misfortune: A hard-drive crash prior to a CD-release…

Though the band seemed to rocket out of nowhere with its 2007 debut, Both Before I’m Gone, San Antonio trio Girl in a Coma has been plugging away for nine years — since then-thirteen-year-old Nina Diaz played one of her songs for her older sister Phanie and their friend Jenn…

Love him or hate him, I think we can all agree that Michael Jackson was an icon. Although in recent years, his vast musical accomplishments have been overshadowed by the tabloid headlines, he’s still the best-selling artist of all time, a rare performer whose appeal spanned generations and transcended gender…

Sonic Youth guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo have a strong affinity for their Fender Jazzmasters. which they say have defined the Sonic Youth sound for more than two decades. According to Fender’s press release, the guitarists have always modified their Jazzmasters by removing any extraneous controls and just leaving…

Update: Last week’s scuttlebutt turned out to be true. 3OH!3 indeed officially has the number one song on the radio in the country right now, and unsurprisingly, “Don’t Trust Me” has reportedly gone double platinum.Yeah, and it don’t stop, and it don’t quit. Speaking, of course, of the redamndiculous exposure…

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from SP Double, especially since the dissolution of his Boostwell crew. But from the ashes, he’s dusted himself off and is gearing up to drop a collection of projects over the next six months. His new album, Loyalty, Honor, Respect, is due out…

A year ago today, Johnny Schou died tragically at the young age of 22. Hard to believe that it’s already been a year since the talented Tickle Me Pink bassist passed away. Schou, as you might remember, in a cruel twist of fate, died the morning that his band released…

After a surprising and impressive performance at the Red Bull Big Tune beat competition last month (check out the battle with T-Mos here), DJ Vajra has even more things up his sleeve this summer. The superstar DJ announced that he and Othello (of Lightheaded and the Hip-Hop IS Music label)…

The Next Denver Band To Make It, Meese, anointed by Atlantic Records way back in October of 2007, yesterday delivered their debut LP Broadcast. They celebrated by playing a free show for maybe a couple hundred of their closest friends at Twist & Shout. The brothers Meese and Co. played…

Headline says it all — as does the eye-catching flier to your left. If you came out to the Westword Music Showcase over the past few years, you already have an idea of what to expect tonight at Bar Standard when Home, Death Hickey Blues, Aloft in the Sundry and…

If you weren’t lucky enough to catch CacheFlowe’s performance of his awesome, dubsteppy cover of Kraftwerk’s “Computer World,” today’s your lucky day because he has released a video of the performance, and we’ve got it for you. Actually, even if you did catch it, you’re still lucky, because along with…

In all the wall-to-wall coverage and rampant speculation in the wake of Michael Jackson’s passing — over the cause of his death, his sexuality, the true paternity of his kids — we couldn’t help but notice that there’s one aspect of Jackson’s persona that been completely overlooked, an eternal burning…