Could there be a worse name for a guy in a band?” asks John Common of his surname. “Look up ‘common’ in the dictionary, and here’s what it says: normal, plebian, standard…having no special distinction, coarse.” Ironically, none of those terms come close to describing Common. In fact, his latest…
If misspelling Shudder to Think’s name in my Jeremy Enigk piece a few weeks ago wasn’t enough to get my hipster credentials revoked, this ought to do the trick: I’m developing an affinity for country music. And I’m not talking about the classics (you know: Hank, Buck, Merle, Waylon, George,…
Genghis Tron’s fans must have strong spines, because the group’s habit of abruptly switching from melodic electronic passages to hardcore explosions is capable of producing whiplash in concert settings. Too bad the musicians don’t get more of a chance to enjoy seeing dozens of necks cracking simultaneously. “The music is…
Two bands, one stage, one burning question: Who would win in a celebrity death match between these two ’80s icons? For the curious, here’s the tale of the tape. Why Journey Will Win: With hits like “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Open Arms,” “Wheel in the Sky”…
Five years and as many releases into its existence, Supply Boy is still somewhat of an obscurity in the Mile High City, which is unfortunate in light of the act’s startlingly sophisticated musicianship and its penchant for creating smartly crafted pop songs that don’t fit neatly into any specific subgenre…
Dramatic, cinematic and unflinchingly poppy Austin quartet What Made Milwaukee Famous writes intelligent songs, plays them with heart-stopping passion and never makes the mistake of taking itself too seriously. While Schlitz might have given the band its name, Michael Kingcaid, Drew Patrizi, John Farmer and Jeremy Bruch are clearly under…
So this is what the concert industry’s come to: a large-scale reunion tour for a relatively minor band that’s been all but forgotten for decades. Granted, the James Gang’s most notable lineup produced one future star, Joe Walsh, and a couple of good tunes, “Walk Away” and “Funk #49.” But…
When the Black Crowes bring their reliable brand of anachronistic rock to town this weekend, the true draw of the evening will be supporting act Drive-By Truckers. Although often compared to Lynyrd Skynyrd by lazy scribes who can’t see past the triple-guitar threat of Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Jason…
Dir en Grey appears to be filling the Rammstein slot on this year’s Family Values tour as the super-visual, non-English-singing band that wins the crowd over through sheer live intensity. Although its new disc, Withering to Death, marks its American debut, the Japanese group has actually been around for a…
Anyone who grew up in the ’80s remembers the original Nintendo video-game system. Equally memorable was some of the unusual and inventive music written by programmers for the different levels in each game. With all things retro coming back into vogue in bizarre ways, it should come as no surprise…
There aren’t many rock bands led by drummers, for obvious reasons; most listeners prize melody above percussion, even though beats are primarily responsible for getting them off their cans. Nevertheless, timekeeper Damon Che’s primacy in the math-metal instrumental outfit Don Caballero makes perfect sense, because his playing provides the tricky…
Aggressive, obnoxious and frequently unlistenable, the music of Salt Lake City’s Agape is also often dangerously danceable, hypnotically seductive and pleasantly disorienting. The experience of an Agape show lies somewhere between the scrotum-shrinking rush of jumping out of an airplane and the exquisitely unendurable pain of being trampled by a…
There are few bands these days that can claim to be truly hardcore. In an era of post-this, emo and screamo that — not to mention the gaggle of other offshoot styles — there’s a scant number of groups who genuinely understand the origins and embody the simplistic essence of…
Dameon Merkl is a dangerously funny man with a penchant for inspired self-deprecation and Bukowski-esque aphorisms. Get him behind the mike with his band, however, and he’s as menacing and spooky as a walk through Lafayette Cemetery on a moonless summer night. Led by Merkl, Bad Luck City — made…
These days, so many house DJs and producers are indistinguishable from one another. That’s probably because most of them are trying to emulate Chicago’s DJ Sneak and his counterparts, who were at the vanguard of the Windy City’s nascent house scene in the mid-’90s. Looking back to disco melodies and…
Steve Henrickson would be proud of his kid sister. If he could hear the stunningly evocative singer-songwriter she’s become, he’d recognize that she’s somehow overcome that dark day in September 1991 when he took his own life. He’d see that she’s channeled all the heartache of her 26 years into…
Aubrey Collins is relieved. At least that’s what I’m guessing, since I haven’t been able to speak with the affable chanteuse since her elimination last week from The One: Making a Music Star. While I’m sure Collins would like to weigh in about her time at the prime-time academy, ABC…
In his coverage of Austin’s South by Southwest Music festival, Rolling Stone tastemaker David Fricke called the Texas-based Riverboat Gamblers “the best band without a major-label deal at SXSW ’06.” Raves like this have spawned music-industry feeding frenzies in the past, but Mike Wiebe, the Gamblers’ lead singer, says his…
The Unseen isn’t adding anything new to the punk idiom. It’s all been said and done before: Our president is the embodiment of evil; corporate avarice is killing the world; we’re going to hell in an oil- and blood-soaked hand basket. Thing is, though, unlike the current batch of punk…
“Form another pyramid, look how we slid/All over Park Hill, Stapleton politic/On a twenty-dollar bill all in it together/You can’t fuck with this stormy weather, yaknahmean?” Indeed we do, Mr. Cappadonna, indeed we do. And similarly, when your Wu-Tang Clan protégé Masta Killa tells us that “It’s Brooklawn day, Pinkhouse…
Eschewing the discrete, alternating rock and alt-country interchanges of 2003’s Lovers, the Sleepy Jackson takes a mumbling drunk swing at “All Things Must Pass,” with a few glammy deflations of “God Only Knows” thrown in for kicks. Led by blandly interlocking harmonies and absentminded acoustic thrums, Jackson’s songs wind up…
White Whale doesn’t quite qualify as an indie supergroup, but members of the combo have some noteworthy credentials: guitarist/vocalist Matt Suggs previously performed with Butterglory, bassist Rob Pope was one of the Get Up Kids, and so on. Their know-how informs WWI, an uncommonly accomplished debut with a minimum of…
