Ah, yes, welcome to the weekend! Long week, everybody, or is it just us? Well the good news is that we made it to end of another. The even better news is that there’s no snow in the forcast, and there’s another batch of good shows worth checking out. While…
Welcome to the weekend! Feel like dancing? You’ve come to the right place. Regardless of your taste, we’ve got your covered, whether you have the gumption to get lost in a Traversable Wormhole or simply lose your inhibitions on the dancefloor at Beta with the likes of Gabriel & Dresden…
THE KILLERS @ 1STBANK CENTER | 11/29/12 Somebody told me a few years ago that the Killers were over, that their talent was gone, and their stride ended after Hot Fuss. Apparently, nobody told Brandon Flowers. After one of the most surprisingly strong rock shows we’ve seen this year, it…
About three years ago, Scooter James was at a point where he’d done a few shows with Pinhead Circus, the well-regarded punk band he formed in 1988, but wasn’t really set on pursuing music full-time anymore. Then he saw his friends in Tin Horn Prayer, and the band just completely…
Thee Dang Dangs got going this past summer when Broox Pulford of Wombmates, Shawn Butzin and Ray Koren of Dead Rollers and Rebecca Williams of Call Me Dolly decided to start a new band, united by a mutual love of rock that’s still rough around the edges. The outfit has…
ACTION BRONSON @ CERVANTES’ | 11/29/12 The building wasn’t full, but it certainly wasn’t empty either when Action Bronson stepped onto stage. The crowd was a little cold. Clouds of ganja smoke floated across the room. Everyone was a little subdued. When Bronsolino started rhyming, there was that requisite anticipatory…
The Uncertain Sea somehow managed to bring together a touch of math rock or prog with splintery post-punk and ’90s emo and made it compelling — think something like Mission of Burma with a country bent, written by people who grew up hearing stuff like Sunny Day Real Estate with…
It’s almost a shame when people as talented as Epoch When (aka Alex Koutsoukos) make an album as unflinchingly introspective as GRIM because it’s almost certain to not get as much attention as it deserves, which is a lot. His lyrics, which tend to be dense and challenging, are consistently…
This Saturday night, GRiZ (aka Grant Kwiecinski) is headlining the Fox Theatre. When the show was announced in early October, it sold out in six hours. We got our hands on a pair of tickets for the show and decided to get a little bit creative with how we gave…
After first emerging in 2008 and releasing a pair of mixtapes, Dom Kennedy made major waves in the rap scene with his acclaimed mixtape from 2010, From the Westside with Love. In addition to earning high praise from hip-hop’s elite, Westside garnered Kennedy a massive online following. Still staunchly independent,…
Before he gained notoriety as an MC with his 2011 studio debut Dr. Lecter, he was well respected as a New York chef (his lyrics are still garnished with references to foods of all sorts). But while he shares a profession with Raekown, another well known New York Chef, the…
About three years ago, Scooter James was at a point where he’d done a few shows with Pinhead Circus, the well-regarded punk band he formed in 1988, but wasn’t really set on pursuing music full-time anymore. Then he saw his friends in Tin Horn Prayer, and the band just completely…
Despite having yet to play a single show, Wanker graced the cover of the December 23, 1987, issue of Westword, looking like a mash-up of the New York Dolls and Adam and the Ants. The group, which started as an idea for a cable-access comedy skit, proved to be too…
Whereas many rappers quantify their lavish lives in terms of drank and weed, Action Bronson’s primary vice has been and probably always will be food. Before he gained notoriety as an MC with his 2011 studio debut, Dr. Lecter, he was well respected as a New York chef (his lyrics…
Writing blindingly sincere songs about insecurity and desire since 1995, Tegan and Sara Quin have transcended the limitations of twee heartbreak and grown into songwriters of impressive depth, clarity and style. The twin sisters were born in Alberta, Canada, and began writing songs together at the age of fifteen, recording…
Formed in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the mid-’90s, Shadows Fall began as a melodic death-metal band with some roots in hardcore. But around the turn of the century, the outfit took decisive steps to escape a genre rut, and the result was 2002’s The Art of Balance, which served as a…
Kreayshawn (aka Natassia Zolot) got a video camera at age ten and started making and editing her own videos for several years before formally trying her hand at music. Although she’s a high school dropout, Kreayshawn landed a scholarship to study film at the Berkeley Digital Film Institute. During that…
Mega Gem’s debut album credits more than twenty performers, who contributed a variety of sounds, from saxophone and cellphone to hand bells and “wiggling noises,” all of which are featured alongside a rock band and a small orchestra. The results are as eclectic as you’d expect from such a sizable…
Ben Makinen, who’s been a professional drummer for close to three decades, says the inspiration for his solo electronic album came from a dream he had in which he was visited by an ancient butterfly that told him a story of love between a gruff Goliath beetle and a beautiful…
Demonstrating considerable growth since releasing his previous pair of EPs, Benny Loco covers a surprising stylistic and emotional range on Rise. The title cut is like a cross between the soundtrack to a John Carpenter movie and Dead Ringer-era RJD2, with Loco mixing thick analog synth lines and crisp percussion…
Like a harder version of early Skinny Puppy, the songs on Built Better by Betrayal, the latest release from Invisible ASPS, bear out the title well. If these tunes weren’t born out of anger and bitterness and a desire to purge those feelings, it would be surprising, because even the…
Thee Dang Dangs got going this past summer when Broox Pulford of Wombmates, Shawn Butzin and Ray Koren of Dead Rollers and Rebecca Williams of Call Me Dolly decided to start a new band, united by a mutual love of rock that’s still rough around the edges. The outfit has…
