Photo by Alex RendonJames Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale Monday, September 20, 2010 Better than: vinegar on fish and chips. For any diligent anglophile the announcement that veteran Britpop group James would be kicking off its U.S. tour on our shores — and performing in a quaint venue like Culture Room…
”Laid” will always be the James song that Americans know best — and it is a clever, catchy moment that has aged better than a lot of things you probably liked in 1993 (excepting the superb Boomerang soundtrack). However, bands tend to have lots of songs other than the one…
Photo by Ian WitlenKings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill at Cruzan Amphitheatre.Kings of Leon with Black Keys Cruzan Ampitheatre, West Palm Beach Friday, September 17, 2010For a slideshow of the concert, click here. LeBron James wasn’t the only Akron icon to ditch Northeast Ohio this past year. The Black Keys…
MySpace.comPublic Enemy With Mayday and Blowfly Revolution, Fort Lauderdale Friday, September 17, 2010 Looking out from behind the stage into a sea of crosshair-adorned chests, I felt a strong sense of pride as a screaming crowd of 600-plus South Floridians reclaimed the classic Public Enemy fist pump that had been…
Poster created by Iron Forge PressFort Lauderdale-based Iron Forge Press creates some of the most eye-popping rock posters we’ve ever seen. Whenever possible, we’ll share their designs right here on County Grind.View a huge version of the poster here.Album anniversary tours are often like a subtle apology for falling off…
Matt & Kim are one of the biggest Brooklyn boosters around. After titling their last album Grand — in reference, among other things, to one of the main thoroughfares in their neighborhood — the Willamsburg Bridge shows up on the cover for “Cameras,” their new single.As a reminder of the…
Middle man: Mayer HawthorneCrooner/producer Mayer Hawthorne got in R&B/soul fans’ good graces a couple of years ago with “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out,” a throwback slice of heartbreak off his debut, A Strange Arrangement. His cover of Otis Leavill’s “I Need You” also gave us pause recently. On the occasion…
Kings of Leon used to complain that they got to play arenas only when they were overseas at big festival dates — even if each album released since 2004’s Aha Shake Heartbreak inched the band closer to full-on American rock stardom. But thanks to 2008’s Only by the Night, Kings…
Two decades ago, Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet was one of the most dangerous listening experiences possible. Big, fat fingers point at Chuck D’s thunderous proclamations on “Welcome to the Terrordome” and “Fight the Power” and Flavor Flav’s venomous “911 Is a Joke,” but this album was also…
In contrast to Washed Out’s idyllic, well-manicured Life of Leisure, Causers of This, the first full-length from Toro y Moi, AKA Chaz Bundick, is an intentionally chaotic affair. But it turns out that the subgenre chillwave, even in deconstructed form, has its virtues. Though Causers is an undeniably piecemeal assemblage,…
A strong case in point against the “Florida sucks” talk is this Sunday’s showcase of rock ‘n’ roll talent led by the two-album-strong Furious Dudes. Though they might have a second effort under their belts with Boca’s Livid Records titled Florida Sucks, it is in a cheeky, bratty way that…
Fans still feeling let down by the anemic, ho-hum ninth season of American Idol love to predict the show’s demise, especially now that Simon Cowell has departed. But those people have short memories. You only have to look back to the previous season to witness one of the most bizarre…
Malapropisms — emotional, grammatical, etc. — reign on Thank Me Later, but it rarely matters. Not because Aubrey Drake Graham, 23, an R&B-rap hybridist of the highest order, has been tapped as a bona fide star-in-waiting and maybe a savior at a time when hip-hop is frequently lapsing into funks…
Sleepy SunWith Strangers Family Band, Blond Fuzz, the DewarsRespectable Street, West PalmTuesday, September 14, 2010 With at least one new venue appearing and the mainstays suddenly more appealing to out-of-towners, it isn’t difficult to get weird in West Palm: For a Tuesday night at Respectable Street to start with the…
Photo by Lee ZimmermanSteve Boone with his trophy.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 little Lovin’ Spoonful goes a long, long way.I’m not shy about namedropping. Yet, of all these individuals,…
Photo by Christina MendenhallJohn Mayer contorts the outcome of Saturday’s performance in West Palm Beach.John Mayer With Owl City Cruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach Saturday, September 11, 2010 View a slideshow from the concert here.John Mayer is a confusing artist. He’s an amazing singer, a blues lead-guitar virtuoso, and an engaging…
Deerfield’s alt.reggae band the Resolvers is playing Propaganda in Lake Worth tonight. (For a taste of what this is like, check out a recent review of its opening slot for the Wailers.) The alt.reggae genre is something the Resolvers put on themselves and has a connotation that brings Sublime to…
Life isn’t easy when you’re a band called Asspiss. And the hardcore punk quartet felt the burden of such a name earlier this summer, when a show was canceled because of it. Booked to play Lake Worth restaurant-by-day/alleged new hot music spot-by-night Little Munich with bands Kill Now?! and Bartholin,…
Pretty Please’s self-designations as power pop and experimental couldn’t be more appropriate. At times, such as on “Leftover for the Dogs,” the Miami four-piece approaches the sheer exuberance of grunge-era pop masters the Rentals. It’s kinda nice when a band can take you back without making the ’80s throw up…
Love him or abhor him, John Mayer as an interview subject makes for a good read. His detailed masturbation stories, dubbing Jessica Simpson “sexual napalm,” and, of course, his Benetton heart/David Duke manhood conflicts in a recent Playboy interview ensured that plenty of folks who have never heard anything past…
The duo Yellow #6, named for a soda ingredient, started in February when area songwriter Thom Beals, who played bass in hard rock bands years ago, befriended Black Weather Shaman’s Armand Ignelzi. Both band members are into Radiohead as well as bluegrass greats like Doc Watson and Bill Monroe, which…
Bleeding Through boasted an intriguing albeit guy-linered and slightly emo blend of hardcore and metal when it emerged from Orange County, California, in 2000. Following the rage surrounding Limp Bizkit and Korn, the band gained traction because of a heavily covered tour mishap with A Fire Inside: An equipment trailer…
