It’s not easy being a Kiss fan, even a reformed one. I haven’t been able to stomach the self-proclaimed “hottest band in the world” for years. I still cringe every time it hawks another overpriced trinket or embarks on its annual farewell tour. It’s almost too tough to bear. You…
In 1995, Timothy McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City federal building; thousands were being slaughtered in Bosnia and Rwanda; O.J. Simpson was acquitted of double murder; Forrest Gump beat out Pulp Fiction for the Best Picture Oscar; and Mickey Mantle died. But there was a tiny bright spot amid all…
The ice-capped regions of Scandinavia have experienced a major rock renaissance in the past decade with the Hellacopters, Hives, Soundtrack of Our Lives, and countless other bands who adhere to the rock-as-salvation formula. Sahara Hotnights represent the female division of this insurgence, and their first album, Jennie Bomb, was compared…
Break out your videotape of Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (the one you stole from Q Records in 1989), because according to Grand Buffet’s website, the American rap duo is going to be doing a lot of smashing this year; in the South, in Canada, and in their “second favorite country,”…
The following conversation took place on a Saturday night at Fat Catjavascript:passCharacter(‘180’)s (320 SW Second Ave., Fort Lauderdale) when a bespectacled young man inquired about one of the delicious test-tube shots, which can be added to your beverage: Man: What is that? Woman: The extra shot. You might be into…
You come to realize many things while waiting in line for the bathroom at a big summer rock festival: You forgot to balance your checkbook. You need cat food. Maybe it was just a rash. But it’s not the most pleasant place to realize you just got ripped off. I…
Soca music hasn’t had a lot of luck finding its way to the rarefied realm of MTV’s Total Request Live, but Jamaican-born singer Kevin Lyttle’s jam “Turn Me On” just cracked the top ten, beating out Jessica Simpson’s stomach-churning single “Angels.” The dance-ready single from his self-titled debut album features…
Attention, air drummers! Your favorite prog-rock power trio (no, not Triumph) is headed your way. That’s right, the band that made naked man-ass a staple of 1970s album art has embarked on a merry quest to promote its latest record, Vapor Trails. This tour (complete with a scary dragon logo…
Melissa Auf der Maur is a woman of duality. The lithe, flame-haired bassist can stretch her voice from a velvety whisper to a demonic metal growl. Her debut solo album, Auf der Maur, overflows with sonic sludge and sugar-coated hallucinations. She spent a majority of the ’90s playing bass in…
At Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor in Dania Beach, sunburned kids sit with cones that drip thick, creamy goo between their fingers, and moms and dads scarf down hot dogs. Waiters serve diners kitchen sinks filled with ice cream and topped with sparklers. A siren goes off when they’re delivered to…
Frank Mendez, a.k.a. Mr. Mendez, was named one of URB Magazine’s 12 DJs to look for in 2000. He is revered for helping to blow up the drum and bass scene and is known across the dance circuit for his classic, energetic, party-smashing anthem “Anasthasia.” Though he moved away two…
Back when neosoul still possessed its end-of-the-millennium novelty, a new artist could show up with a Fender Rhodes and a few warm bodies and win nearly instantaneous praise. In the nostalgic ’90s, everyone from D’Angelo to Maxwell to Macy Gray got a pass from plenty of writers, this one included,…
Touring in support of its first album, The Beginning Stages of… , the Polyphonic Spree seemed likely to fall into a novelty-act trap, what with all the people up onstage with their flowing white robes and sweeping Technicolor dreamsongs. If the Polyphonic Spree wasn’t a cult, then the band at…
This Kid is more than alright; he’s in robust health. Even his archival detritus packs more excitement than most artists’ slaved-over magnum opuses. Oakland PowerBook gadfly and Tigerbeat6 honcho Kid 606 (Miguel Depedro) hasn’t met a style he can’t warp to his own impish designs, with no qualms about copyright…
Plenty of scribes have unloaded on The Printz, and it’s easy to see why. This compilation of two EPs is often a mess, with Aussie provocateur Chris Colonna and one-named helpers such as Pia and Surya gleefully engaging in unnatural acts of rock, hip-hop, and plenty more, without the slightest…
How’d you like to get beat up? It’s easy. Just put the Junior Boys’ synthtronic debut on at a party before 3 a.m. If you don’t get smacked down, you’ll certainly get called a sissybuttpumper (not that there’s anything wrong with being that). Why the strong reaction? Because Last Exit…
Breakin’ into Summer Bikinis, beer, and breakbeats — together at last! Once upon a time, Fort Lauderdale was the spring break capital of the world. Before local politicos decided to discourage Bacchanalian behavior on the beach, the city was (in)famous for drunken coeds, wet T-shirts, and cheesy frat rock. Well,…
Pablo Lopez, bassist for the West Palm Beach-based trio Burning Idols, answers the question: If you could pick two bands to fight in a no-holds-barred street brawl, which would they be? Motörhead vs. the Darkness. Lemmy would ride down on Lucifer¹s back wielding his Rickenbacker as if it were the…
Winston Rodney, raised in St. Ann’s, Jamaica, was guided into that country’s burgeoning music scene by the town’s most famous son. In 1969, Robert Nesta Marley arranged a meeting between Rodney and Coxsone Dodd, head of heralded reggae label Studio One. Dodd liked what he heard and booked studio time…
Every Tuesday night for the past month, Churchill’s, that kettle of ever-boiling testosterone, has been taken over by women — and not half-naked mud wrestlers. Twenty-three-year-old Laura Sutnick and friends Lauren Reskin and Suzy Herzfeld initially put together a night at the Miami club to watch the Showtime series The…
When Mogwai takes the stage at the Cure’s rock ‘n’ gloom carnival, plenty of attendees will be milling about, ordering hot dogs and beers and excitedly awaiting their headlining heroes. Their loss. Few opening acts ever give reason to come early to a music festival, but not many bands can…
It took about nine years for Brian Fair, lead singer of Shadows Fall, to cultivate his impressive dreads. It took the band less than four years to become one of underground metal’s loudest new acts. And when we say metal, we’re talking about old-school metal — the crushing, blistering thrash…
