Shawn Bean

Close your eyes and you can picture the scene. Ominous piano thunder rolls as the musicians approach their instruments, dank amber silhouettes. Electronic sparkles signal the drums and ignite the rhythm. Bright white houselights pop and flood the room, synchronized with the guitar melody. "Words," the opening track of The...

Arlo is a band of the kind of back-porch rockers who speed through a 30-minute set on One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer night at your local club, so it makes sense that the group is named for its Tuesday-night soundman back in L.A. Arlo's second LP, Stab the Unstoppable...

J.G. Thirwell creates a new moniker for each of his musical outings -- Foetus for the pioneering, whip-smart industrial urges; Baby Zizanie for the electric and eclectic; Manorexia inadvertently scoring the sequel to They Live, the synopsis of which still resides just behind John Carpenter's left eye. And now Thirwell's...

Nearly half the song titles on Andrew W.K.'s debut contain the words "party," "love," or "puke" -- a sure sign that this is the best party metal the '80s never gave us. Formerly a one-man show, W.K. built I Get Wet into a dual-ax, kick-drum assault chocked with shout-along choruses...