After nearly thirteen years of almost non-stop rocking and touring, Clutch has yet to repeat itself. The Maryland-based outfit continues to put out creative, unpredictable music pulling from influences such as Led Zeppelin, the Who, John Coltrane and Chuck D. From the aggro-hop of Transnational Speedway League to the spacey,…
Steven Adler kicked his addiction several years ago, thanks to the help of a methadone program. But apparently the original Guns N’ Roses skinsman is still a bad boy — or at least bad enough to be part of the Bad Boys of Metal tour with fellow bad seeds Kevin…
Out in the middle of nowhere, the horizon seems to drop away as the stars ascend and fill the heavens with a cold, blue, almost baptizing light. Grab your telescopes and get ready to hold your breath, because you’ll feel the same sense of awe hearing Bear Vs. Larger Bear…
Chris Fortier is one of the few truly old-school DJs on the circuit today. A pioneer of the Orlando sound, along with Icey and Kimball Collins, Fortier held a residency at the infamous Aahz club in Florida in the early ’90s. His night was the first to host the likes…
Pardon the mess and forget the name — that’s my advice for anyone who stopped by Punch & Judy’s, Littleton’s low-key lounge at 6657 South Broadway, before last Saturday’s grand opening. When I visited a week ago, the carpeting still wasn’t finished — and that was cutting things close for…
Christian-irking till its dying breath, Slayer has been the face of thrash music for over twenty years. In 1986, the band — pioneers of a breakneck, full-throttle sound that combines demented guitar solos, thunderous double-bass drum kicks and toxic bellowing with surgical precision — released Reign in Blood, a work…
There were many reasons why we moved away from Denver,” explains Martyn Leaper, singer/guitarist for the Minders, as he catches his breath after a sweaty day of gardening in the back yard of his Portland home. “But this did me in: I was a huge fan of the Forney Museum…
Obviously, there is a ‘geek’ stigma attached to it,” Dieselboy allows, regarding the title of his latest disc, The Dungeon Master’s Guide. “But I see no shame in it. I was trying to come up with a name for the CD.” Dungeon & Dragons is seldom — if ever –…
Of all the “The” bands swearing devotion to the Sonics/Stones/Stooges holy trinity of garage rock, the Hives have always seemed to have the most fun. Unhindered by the Strokes’ penchant for rock-star cliche or the White Stripes’ Machiavellian creepiness, the Hives (due at the Ogden Theatre on Wednesday, July 28)…
Metallica’s latest mostly live disc, Some Kind of Monster, an eight-song EP which coincides with a just-released documentary by the same name, is the band’s weakest release to date. Considering that playing live helped the act earn its iconic status, Monster should have been a slam dunk, yet it falls…
Picture some weird teen-romance flick in which a lonely kid goes on an oceanside vacation with his family and winds up falling in love with the girl of his dreams against a soft-focus backdrop of rain showers, pounding surf and long, scenic drives up the coast. Now slice up the…
Although North Carolina’s Merge Records has accomplished a lot during its existence, the packaging of this irresistible three-CD anniversary celebration doesn’t betray any delusions of grandeur. Whereas many overviews might feature a pretentious essay about the imprint’s importance, Old Enough sports a satirical letter attributed to critic Ronald Thomas Clontle…
Reverend Horton Heat (appearing Friday, July 23, at the Ogden Theatre) was once the James Brown of psycho-billy. But with Revival, his eighth full-length, he’s in danger of becoming the genre’s George Thorogood. His warmed-over Elvis riffs and sleazy double entendres have never been exactly what you’d call penetrating, but…
Most metal aficionados would agree that the Scorpions ceased to be relevant after the release of At First Sting in 1984. Each subsequent effort — with the exception of 1985’s World Wide Live, a disc that adeptly captured the shining moments in the first half of the outfit’s lengthy career…
Greatest hits collections can swoop in to satisfy old fans who have lost their old albums. For 311 this means a fatally scratched copy of Music lost too long ago to recall, a faded-pale copy of 311 left on the floor of a friend’s car and the copy of Transistor…
Colorado has had a decent track record over the last few years when it comes to bands led by fierce, forceful women. Still, that might not be enough to prepare your average Denver rock slob for Stoli and the Beers. In the Alley is the trio’s debut, and it lays…
The inimitable Recone Helmut, who put his stamp on Denver music via his current combo and its predecessor, LD-50, is planning at least a temporary return to these climes following an extended stretch in New York City. He and new partner SyBO expect to arrive in early 2005 and stay…
After months of stumping up and down the Front Range, it’s finally over. The fine folks of Mootown got out and rocked the vote — and despite some recent hostile and unfounded chatter on a local message board, Dubya once again emerged victorious. Relax, Michael Moore sympathizers and put the…
As this summer approached, indie music was roaring into a new world of popularity and possible selloutdom. Lollapalooza had been overrun by indie acts: Morrissey, the Flaming Lips, Wilco, the Pixies and Modest Mouse (below). Modest Mouse’s first new album since 2000 had left fans tapping their feet to the…
When Sparta (above) was hastily convened in 2001 before the corpse of its predecessor, Texas’s would-be punk messiah At the Drive-In, had even been hauled down off the cross, the whole thing smelled a little suspicious. But any charges of necrophilia or opportunism have been conclusively laid to rest with…
Imitation is generally a stone drag — unless, that is, the impression allows observers to process something original but time-worn in a new and refreshing way. Such is the appeal of the Thrills, a quintet from Dublin, Ireland, whose work bears few obvious marks of the Emerald Isle. Instead, lead…
Hailing from Birmingham England by way of the West Indies, Steel Pulse is the first reggae band to perform at this (or any) American president’s inaugural celebration. As trivial as Steel Pulse’s rank is among ultra-roots purists who kneel before the holy trinity of Bob Marley, Culture and Burning Spear,…
