Since powering up goth pioneers Bauhaus in 1979, Peter Murphy remains an enigmatic figure whose music and mysticism have landed him the unofficial role of goth grandpappy. “We were the adjective of dark music,” Murphy says of his Bauhaus days. “That was always a chain around our necks. But I…

Drawing its dark pop power from ’80s-era bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and Bauhaus, New York City trio Judith deftly encapsulates life’s unpleasantness through equal measures of self-reflection and melodrama. From the title track, with its gray-London-sky textures looming over a somber soundscape, Play of Light embraces all things…

Too much fame too soon can hurt — kind of like sucking down too many Jägermeister shots. To avoid a hangover, Schatzi guitarist/vocalist Chris Kyle plans to pace his party. “I wanted to build the band by playing shows and turning people on to the band that way, instead of…

Using pastoral English countryside colors to paint a scene of serenity, Washington, D.C.’s Phaser transcends the continental divide, adopting the sparkle of brethren like Suede and Oasis. The resemblance is particularly striking on tracks like “Life and Illusion,” where elevated choruses mesh with the cascading harmonies of brothers/vocalists Boris and…

Staying dead is no mean feat. Just ask David Gans. Whether as an author, producer, or radio-show host, Gans’s name has been intimately linked with that of the Grateful Dead to those inside the scene. Sure, Gans doesn’t mind the numerous accolades he has earned from his work — including…

In an age where most industrial-rock bands have dropped the anvil and turned in their Craftsman wrenches for “As Seen on TV” tools, the newly reformed KMFDM returns with Attak, the band’s 11th studio effort in its 18-year existence. After disbanding KMFDM following 1999’s Adios to form the short-lived MDFMK…

There are people going to work for someone else right now, making someone else’s dreams happen,” says Derek Cintron. “They’ll take home some change at the end of the day, buy a DVD player, watch a DVD and that will make them happy. And then the next morning, they gotta…

Following the lead of Spiritualized and Spacemen 3, Canadian space-rock quartet Sianspheric brandishes winding waves of synthesizers and airy textures on its latest release. The Sound and Colour of the Sun at times conjures a mood that can soar like a Concorde overlooking the curvature of the Earth and descend…

While American artists have tried to capture the British sound for many years, their attempts to appropriate the English essence are generally as successful as coaxing an authentic shepherd’s pie from Stove Top mix. More than 200 years ago, Paul Revere warned that the British were coming, and we were…

It wasn’t a question of whether Jimmy Eat World’s fourth album, Bleed American, would ever see the light of day. It was simply a matter of when. “Even if we had to print it ourselves,” says vocalist/guitarist Jim Adkins, “we knew the record was going to come out. There was…

Good songwriting never goes out of style, even when style itself can become dated. That’s a point lost on many singer/songwriters, who think adding a little sob here and a little regret there instantly makes them bona-fide artistes. Portland’s Sean Croghan, who has fronted such obscure Pacific Northwest bands as…

Some people hear voices. Moke’s John Hogg hears entire songs. Often these cerebral symphonies surge forward and come alive; other times they lie dormant. “Sometimes you feel a bit lost. I’ve got all these songs in my head. I can hear them, but I don’t know what they mean,” says…

The world of rock ‘n’ roll perfected a ruthless form of ageism long before the practice became the bane of the rest of America’s workplaces. This rule of arthritic thumb dictates that once you’ve moved on from Clearasil to Monoxodil, you’re expected either to keep rehashing the songs from your…

Funk-rock women in love often run afoul of an uncomfortable truth: Grrrrs and purrs don’t mix. “It’s hard to be a girl in a rock band and to write a true love song, as opposed to an angry-love-bitch song,” admits theStart vocalist Aimee Echo. Yet on the Los Angeles band’s…

News flash to today’s youth: Nu Metal is old. That’s a bit of shocking news that often goes unreported by the media, and unfortunately such ignorance leads young bands to experiment with doses of enraged vocals and heavy guitars that often result in numbness of the public’s ears, not to…

If it’s not the thud of a heart — the one that hits rock bottom like a lead weight in a sea of love — it might be Spain’s I Believe. And if it’s not a rainy saxophone that accompanies a burning man walking down a street as he ponders…

In recent years, the viscosity of the Valvoline that lubricates today’s metal machines has been reduced to that of Johnson’s baby oil: weak, safe, and not good for much of anything other than rubbing on an infant’s butt cheeks. But Hog Molly, whose frontman Tad Doyle is best known for…

It takes a certain kind of artist to wear his heart on his album sleeves without coming across as a lovelorn desperado rambling about a lovey-dovey past that flew the coop. But Los Angeles-based Clyde Wrenn isn’t about to simplify affairs of the heart to mere clichés. The Blue Cliff…

Like that soothing feeling that comes after you’ve stopped pounding yourself on the head with a hammer, finding a heavy rock album that doesn’t sling scratching or MC braggadocio on a wall already spattered with the flavor of the month is a welcome treat. Not that not doing something automatically…

Solo albums are supposed to be like extramarital affairs, giving artists the right to enjoy complete freedom and perhaps to try a few things they wouldn’t normally do with their regular mates. Apparently Rush frontman Geddy Lee wasn’t really aware of these options — or chose not to take them…