In case anyone forgot that Mudhoney leader Mark Arm’s true roots are in early-’80s hardcore, not grunge, here’s Under a Billion Suns, a disc whose worldview is as ensconced in Cold War geopolitics and nuclear hair-pulling as your average Dead Kennedys seven-inch. Musically, it’s not that distinguishable from its predecessor,…
The past few years have seen a thawing of indie disdain toward dance music; rock shows that used to be domino rows of the stylishly dead now reveal vaguely coordinated twitches of life. Kudu is the latest act in a loose lasso that includes everyone from Peaches to the Rapture…
In the past, New Orleans’s Terius Gray, who’s over thirty but still Juvenile, has cared more about coochie than about current events; “Back That Azz Up” doesn’t exactly qualify as a political statement. It’s little wonder, then, that “Get Ya Hustle On,” a Reality Check track about the Hurricane Katrina…
Matson Jones’s new EP is basically a brick to keep the door propped open till the band’s sophomore full-length comes out, presumably later this year. As between-meal snacks go, though, it’s a filling one — and that’s not even counting all those empty carbs in the title. Each of the…
My Calculus Beats Your Algebra is made up of a couple of pretentious fucks — and don’t let any past remarks or reviews of this noise duo convince you otherwise. Modesty does not become the twosome of Thorin Klosowski and Bryan Danknich, but that’s exactly the point. Shackleton’s Dogs is…
The Gourds, Heavy Ornamentals (Eleven Thirty Records). Earthy yet ethereal, dirt-road common yet mystical, the ever-evolving Gourds come close to magical alchemy on Heavy Ornamentals. Their down-home looseness masks the broadest of roots-music palettes and an unbounded taste for lyrics that seamlessly encompass everything from Monroe’s bluegrass to Kerouac’s hipster…
There’s nothing like an old-school death-rock show to bring the ghouls out of the woodwork. Expect nothing less than a parade of black lipstick and Deadly Nightshade Manic Panic when 45 Grave claws its way up from the underworld and takes the stage of the Bluebird. Led by singer Dinah…
The name “Warlocks” was rejected by two of rock’s most celebrated acts: Members of the Grateful Dead and the Velvet Underground both used it before settling on their famed appellations. By employing the handle, Warlocks leader Bobby Hecksher risks unflattering comparisons, particularly from Deadheads, who are likely to regard his…
After achieving art-pop perfection with 2002’s Out of the Fierce Parade — a shimmering, Chris Walla-produced masterwork that combined guitar-rock punch and OK Computer-era keening — the Velvet Teen shocked fans and critics by forsaking guitars altogether and getting all cryptic and political on its 2004 piano-driven opus, Elysium. Fortunately,…
Formed in October 2005 as a charitable response to the Katrina debacle, San Francisco’s Fully Loaded immediately generated a sizzling response from trendy Bay Area audiences with its fierce blend of soul jazz, funk, Afrobeat and rock. A mere six months later, the group has taken its show on the…
Whether they know it or not, every F-bombing hip-hop smut-mouth currently earning parental-advisory stickers owes a debt of filthitude to Clarence Reid’s ebullient alter ego, Blowfly. Reid performed and produced R&B under his own name during the ’60s and ’70s, but he found fame of a more lasting, and lustful,…
Of all the Wu-Tang Clan members, Ghostface has had the most consistent output as a solo artist. His sophomore record, 2000’s Supreme Clientele, is a certified classic, while his other three releases are just a notch below in terms of quality. Bringing an old-soul sensibility to his emotionally charged raps,…
In 1866, the United States adopted the use of the metric system as lawful and valid for all purposes. More than a century later, most Americans still measure things in feet and wait for water to boil at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. If the old French measuring system is ever to…
Last month, Henry Rollins was investigated by authorities after a fellow airline passenger glimpsed him reading Ahmed Rashid’s Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia. After all, what kind of sick terrorist sympathizer would want to educate himself about the world’s second-largest religion? Haram had better watch out:…
If you’re wondering what Mick Collins — founder of venerable Detroit rockers the Dirtbombs — thinks of trendy garage rock, check the liner notes of the most recent ‘Bombs compilation, If You Don’t Already Have a Look. Defending a brilliant Yoko Ono cover, Collins says, “Fuck you and your white…
Nick Sullivan gives the impression that he could master just about any style of music he puts his mind to. Of course, that’s not always a plus: The history of popular music is littered with the corpses of chameleon-like virtuosos who never learned how to pick one genre and pour…
From his humble beginnings as a teenager spinning at weddings and school dances to traveling the globe performing at the biggest clubs to doing remix work for everyone from Sinéad O’Connor to Kylie Minogue, Miami’s Robbie Rivera has been involved with dance music for most of his life. His big…
This Holiday Inn parking lot in the heart of Hollywood feels like the surface of the sun. It’s just after 10 a.m. on Wednesday, February 8, the beginning of the Fray’s first national headlining tour. But while the mercury will rise to a record-breaking ninety degrees before the end of…
I’m not clairvoyant, but I’ll bet I know what you’re thinking right now. The Fray? The Fray! Enough already! For crissakes, how much more ink are you going to spill on these guys? The answer’s simple: I’ll keep writing about the Fray until the band’s tale ceases to be compelling…
Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis should be thrilled. After all, the February edition of Spin features a multi-page profile of her by notable scribe Chuck Klosterman. Unfortunately, though, the spread shortchanges Rabbit Fur Coat — a new side-project CD (made with the Watson Twins) that qualifies as her finest platter…
It’s only early evening, but the smoke in Sputnik is already hanging low when Erin Roberts shows up clutching a beat-up, pre-Oprah’s Book Club copy of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. In her other hand is the eponymous debut full-length by Porlolo, the semi-acoustic project that revolves around her and…
A voice in the background is telling Thurston Moore to turn left. The muffled command wafting through the static of the cell phone could be anyone, but my inner gab immediately fantasizes Kim Gordon in the passenger seat navigating Moore through New York traffic. That’s the thing about celebrity, even…
