It’s only 8:16 a.m., and the question put to the leader of the Genitorturers is this: “So, how did you get into S&M?” Three minutes later, she’s asked, “And, uh, how many piercings do you have?” Ah, rock ‘n’ roll, a truly American art form that encapsulates the highs and…
Country Teasers Destroy All Human Life (Fat Possum) “Women and children first, then the faggots and the niggers,” slurs Ben Wallers, the surly, sleepy-voiced vocalist-guitarist for Edinburgh, Scotland’s Country Teasers. “Line them up against the wall and pull your fucking triggers.” When we think of misanthropic music, the first sounds…
Burning Airlines Mission: Control! (DeSoto) Almost a supergroup of superunknowns, Burning Airlines reunites the rhythm section of Washington, D.C., ’80s punk band Government Issue: drummer Peter Moffett (who later joined Wool) and bassist (now guitarist) J. Robbins (who also fronted Jawbox), as well as Jawbox guitarist (now playing bass) Bill…
Frank Frost & Sam Carr The Jelly Roll Kings (Hightone) Modern blues musicians have a formidable challenge before them: to bring a fresh sound to a style of music that is formulaic by definition and has been exploited by American pop culture (in the form of rock ‘n’ roll) for…
Stretched out on his couch at his home in Swindon, England, Andy Partridge, the garrulous singer, guitarist, and songwriter for XTC, casually catalogs what he’s been up to for the last seven years. And that doesn’t include much lying on the couch. “Being on strike, getting divorced, raising my kids,…
Sam Prekop Sam Prekop (Thrill Jockey) Even on his first solo record Sam Prekop (ex-Shrimp Boat frontman) can’t stay away from the postrock supergroup that he leads, the Sea and Cake of Chicago; two Cakers, percussionist John McEntire (also of Tortoise) and guitarist Archer Prewitt (late of the Coctails), assist…
Oddly enough, former House of Pain (HoP) member and current hip-hop troubadour Everlast is proving himself to be a crossbreed of b-boy and Johnny Cash. In his current incarnation — as guitar-wielding Whitey Ford — he sports a streetwise, middle-finger-in-the-air attitude matched with songs that aren’t afraid to cross genre…
Peter Himmelman Love Thinketh No Evil (Six Degrees/Koch) In the five years since Peter Himmelman’s last studio effort, he’s obviously had a chance to carefully study his Elvis Costello collection. Not that he’s copping EC’s wave by any stretch of the imagination — Himmelman has always had a well-defined sense…
Number One Cup People People Why Are We Fighting? (Flydaddy Records) Chicago’s Number One Cup is emphatically indie. Its latest CD — People People Why Are We Fighting? — is replete with the discordant guitars, nonchalant vocals, and quirky noises that have become indie rock’s standard currency. It’s hard not…
The Black Crowes By Your Side (Columbia) Like any small group of world-class, highly paid performers — from sports teams to rock ‘n’ roll bands — when things take a downward turn, an individual or two pays the price. For the Black Crowes, after two subpar-selling records, the heads that…
Sometimes success ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. That’s what Johnny Rzeznik, the singer and primary songwriter for the Goo Goo Dolls found out when he tried to compose songs for the follow-up to the band’s 1995 breakthrough album, A Boy Named Goo. After ten years of respectable record…
U2 The Best of 1980-1990 (Island) U2 is no stranger to division. During its early days, the band engaged in an internecine dispute over whether its sound should hew to the punk or Christian genres. (Thankfully it’s fully neither.) The religious split in U2’s homeland has clearly inspired the band…
Fatboy Slim You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby (Astralwerks) As the hype surrounding electronica fades, the most inventive artists will start to stand out from the bandwagon-jumpers. Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, is one of the few who’ve been able to steer clear of overexposure while gaining fans and doing…
Although they’re signed to the venerable jazz label Blue Note and have a name that sounds like a law firm, Medeski, Martin, and Wood are not your father’s idea of jazz. They’re more likely your Beastie Boys-loving, younger sister’s kind of thing. Still, they are pretty much a jazz band…
R.E.M. Up (Warner Bros.) R.E.M. has been a lot of things since its well-documented, small-town beginnings: underground college-radio favorite; above-ground music-industry manipulator; international pop icon. But one element in the band’s long journey has remained constant: its lineup. Until now. Up is R.E.M.’s first album since the departure of drummer…
After almost a decade, Barenaked Ladies’ slow and steady wooing of America finally came to fruition this past summer. Stunt, the Canadian band’s fourth full-length CD, debuted at No. 3 in July — not bad when you consider its predecessor, Born on a Pirate Ship (1996), was a commercial disappointment…
Various Artists for the MASSES (1500/A&M) Certain signs indicate that a band is aging: Instead of new material, it releases “best of” compilations, B-side collections, rare recordings, and the obligatory live album; at least one member goes through either a 12-step program or rehab; and earnest up-and-comers obsessively cite the…
PJ Harvey Is This Desire? (Island) Two-time Grammy nominee Polly Harvey is one of a handful of artists who consistently reinvent and redefine their sounds without losing sight of themselves. Previously she’s been a bit of a groovy riot grrrl, a Steve Albini-produced postgrunger, a low-fi home recorder, and a…
’68 Comeback A Bridge Too Fuckin’ Far (Sympathy For the Record Industry) He isn’t a household name even in his adopted home of Memphis, let alone among the hipsters of indie-rock, yet Monsieur Jeffrey Evans is arguably the greatest roots-rocker ever spit from the rock ‘n’ roll underground. From his…
For six years Girls Against Boys (GVSB to its fans) has been laying down reality-noir soundtracks that openly embrace and explore the lusty, dirty, and hidden sides of human nature. But during a performance on the Late Night With Conan O’Brien show this past summer, the Washington, D.C., band displayed…
Nick Heyward The Apple Bed (Big Deal) Early ’80s pop phenoms Haircut 100 were a frothy antitoxin to the British music scene that spawned the punk movement and angry young men such as Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello. Haircut fans didn’t crave emotional bloodletting or political crucifixion, just some clean-looking…
Elliott Smith XO (Dreamworks) When singer-songwriter Elliott Smith performed his Oscar-nominated tune, “Miss Misery,” on the glitzy award-show telecast last spring, it was a scene worthy of A Star Is Born. Alone at center stage, and looking out of place with his untamed hair and simple white suit, he proceeded…
