Tonight, Respectable Street revives the spirit of good ol’ sleaze-rock with a performance by Sunset Strip staple Faster Pussycat. It’s been almost 20 years since the group’s last charting album — that was 1992’s Whipped!, so no, contrary to legend, Nirvana did not instantly kill the L.A. scene dead. Still,…
The MaineWith Augustana, Austin Gibbs and HugoRevolution, Fort LauderdaleWednesday, May 18, 2011Better than: Watching the aged and out-of-sync Backstreet Boys attempt a clumsy comeback.The Maine’s headlining show at Revolution last night was indicative of how much their fame has grown. The young Tempe, Arizona, act blazed onto the scene almost four…
Fans taken in first by Toronto duo Parallels’ sweet take on retro synth-pop might be surprised at the band’s musical pedigree. Most of the original songs, in fact, were written while founder/drummer/composer Cameron Findlay was touring with electro-noise terrorists Crystal Castles. As a kid raised on punk rock, Findlay fit…
Fun, highly bloggable fact: One-half of Parallels, Cameron Findlay, was originally the drummer for electronic-noise terrorists Crystal Castles. On the road with that act, though, when Findlay wasn’t providing skittering blast beats, he was busily writing more-melodic material. The resulting frosty, New Romantic-style dance-floor anthems were meant for a solo…
At the height of the ’90s ska craze, the scene’s fans embroiled themselves deep in an internal battle: the so-called “traditional ska” faction versus the ska-punk crossover aficionados. A decade later, that genre-rule bean counting seems laughable. There aren’t too many groups other than the Slackers holding it down for…
Despite trials and tribulations and times in and out of the public eye, the pioneering West Coast rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony technically has never broken up. This year marked its 20th as an intact quintet — until some unexpected turmoil hit. Late last year, Bone Thugs successfully toured the country…
My Chemical RomanceWith the Architects and Circa SurviveTuesday, May 17, 2011Revolution, Fort LauderdaleClick here to see a slideshow from the My Chemical Romance show.My Chemical Romance may have long ago graduated to the arena and mega-festival circuit, but the band did get its start in the punk scene. So mid-size…
No one could accuse Deftones of resting on their laurels, even though the band certainly deserves a little R&R. It’s been a whopping 23 years since the sextet first formed in Sacramento. And nearly all of those since the band’s debut album, 1995’s Adrenaline, have been spent doggedly on the…
Read our review of My Chemical Romance’s performance at Revolution.If there’s one common thread running through the career of My Chemical Romance, it’s that the New Jersey-bred foursome has always zigged when doubters have expected it to zag. When the band started out playing tristate-area basement shows ten years ago,…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares stories of memorable rock ‘n’ roll encounters that took place in our local environs. This week: a retro return in present tense.Last weekend, my past and present collided, and the divide between them was blurred entirely. As a function of my…
Cherished local promoter and drummer Jimmy Pagano’s life will receive a long, heartfelt look during a memorial tribute event held at America’s Backyard on Sunday, June 5. Pagano, who died in mid-April in the aftermath of a violent altercation allegedly involving this man at Fishtales Bar & Grill in Fort…
Crocodiles’ transition from a posthardcore past is complete. The San Diego duo of Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell still had a bit of the brute force of their old outfits, The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower and Some Girls, bottled up their first record, 2009’s Summer of Hate…
Lead by Bryan Wohlust, Doorway 27 was one of Palm Beach County’s biggest alternative-rock hopes in the mid part of the last decade. Coming with a postgrunge style that wasn’t overly aggro, a pop sensibility delivered with just enough rock edge, and an appreciation for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’…
What the hell is frat rap, you ask? Congratulations — this means you are (1) likely of legal drinking age, and (2) spend your spare time doing things other than wiping away spittle as you click through yet another Tumblr page. (Um, when we do it, it counts as research,…
The massively anticipated Killing Joke original lineup reunion tour has been scrapped, according to reports from venues around the country gathered by Slicing Up Eyeballs.Last night, both San Diego’s the Casbah and the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco announced that the dates booked for late May are canceled…
Hooligans in Wondaland Tour”Bruno Mars and Janelle MonáeWith Plan BFillmore Miami, Miami BeachWednesday, May 11, 2011Better than: Watching the Heat, had they lost.It’s not surprising that Bruno Mars, a true voice for today’s America, had a great reception in South Florida. He’s from the same state of opportunity as President…
The electronic DJ/producer/remixer threesome Depressed Buttons is relatively quiet about its musical pedigree. But dance-happy hipsters north of 25 will likely perk up at mention of the rising trio’s old act: the Faint. Yup, all of the guys are also members of the Omaha dance-rock band, including Todd Fink, the…
Even if it seems like just yesterday that Bob Dylan was a folk-singin’ little whippersnapper hanging around Greenwich Village, it was practically 50 years ago. For folks who have seen or heard Dylan in recent years, it should come as no surprise that he will be celebrating his 70th birthday…
Los Angeles duo Uh Huh Her appears to display its musical predilections openly. The all-female group’s name is cribbed, after all, from the P.J. Harvey album of the same name. Strangely, though, you won’t really find any musical traces of the English guitar queen’s moody sound in theirs. Rather, the…
When the era of millennial electro-rock seemed to be definitively on the wane, the scene’s smartest stars stylistically retooled. Among them were three-fifths of the Faint — lead singer Todd Fink, keyboardist Jacob Thiele, and drummer Clark Baechle. Though the group has yet to break up for good, it’s been…
Just because Asher Roth hasn’t been lazily rapping about college lately doesn’t mean his influence on an entire wing of suburban rap has dissipated. It’s quite the opposite, in fact. In Roth’s wake, an entire subgenre of so-called “frat rap” is on the rise, and no amount of hip-hop purist…
Three decades after Bob Marley’s death, the man remains a positive and peaceful presence all around the world through his music, his words, and in countless images. As we mark the anniversary of his death today, we also are glad to report the birth of a wonderful project from one…
