It was Friday the 13th, and things couldn’t have gotten any weirder at this music-store-hosted concert. The headlining band began its set on the empty floor, in a place normally occupied by CD racks. The drummer was the lucky one — he didn’t have to stand in the melted chocolate…
After all these years, after all the whispers and rumors, Paul Stanley has finally come out… with his second solo album. “I’ve actually got two new babies now,” the Kiss frontman chuckles quietly over the phone from his home in Los Angeles on a recent afternoon. One of them is…
Rap producer James “J Dilla” Yancey, who died of lupus at age 32 in February, didn’t yet have the industry clout of peers like the Neptunes or Kanye West. But he sure had their respect, having worked with everyone from Ghostface Killah to Janet Jackson. After this spring’s instrumental-based Donuts…
TV on the Radio’s latest effort is a tad overwhelming at first. But after taking the time to fully absorb the layers and layers of incredibly dense textures woven by guitarist/producer David Andrew Sitek, it’s clear that the baby justifies the labor. Wading through the fractured, shape-shifting aesthetic is made…
At the outset of her latest disc, the other J.J. from Good Times giggles after saying, “I’ve uncovered a lot in my 20 years.” Such overt attempts at post-Super Bowl titillation dominate the songs that follow. But if Jackson thinks nipple obsession will compensate for underwhelming performances, she’s missing the…
A mere ten seconds into the opening track, “Geneva Code,” the Strays’ debut sounds like it’ll be an album’s worth of Arctic Monkeys/Bloc Party rip-offs. Then the vocals start, and Nirvana gets thrown into the mix. And while the second track, “Block Alarm,” invites the obvious Bloc Party reference, it’s…
Forget post-hardcore, screamo, metalcore, or post-anything, for that matter. West Palm Beach’s Know the Score delivers some of the rawest, most genuine hardcore in South Florida. The band’s debut full-length, All Time Low, steps into that space following in the tradition of New York City’s Sheer Terror or Boston’s Slapshot…
The first thing I saw when I entered the Culture Room was a giant banner that read “Resist the Green Scare.” In the corner to my left, a small drum circle formed. Soon, a belly dancer joined in, as did a few more drummers. Several information booths were set up,…
On the evening of April 20, 2002, three members of Alice in Chains — singer/guitarist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Inez — walked toward the International Fountain at Seattle Center, where hundreds of people had already assembled in the chill air, bearing flowers, notes, and candles. The…
The members of Hawthorne Heights have taken the hard road before. The Ohio-based quintet toured the nation — before signing with Victory Records — playing in empty dives and dank basements for a handful of people. They’re not a band to shy away from a challenge. But suing your label…
Killers vocalist Brandon Flowers makes it very clear that he wants to be Bruce Springsteen on Sam’s Town, judging by the Boss-esque sentiments decorating the over-the-top single “When You Were Young.” While it’s admirable that the Vegas quartet wants to be taken seriously as musicians and lyricists on its sophomore…
When it comes to choosing album names, Seattle’s Kultur Shock doesn’t have the best timing. Its first studio full-length dropped in September 2001. The name? FUCC the I.N.S. Brilliant — especially when the band’s composed mostly of immigrants. Similarly, now that Middle America’s got its panties in a bunch over…
You don’t have to have lived in New York City to appreciate Nina Nastasia’s fourth album, but it helps. It helps to imagine autumn arriving in Manhattan, that first crisp day when you feel the chill’s bite, and those subsequent weeks when the leaves turn colors and fall off, and…
At first blush, gogoLab seems like pure shtick — an opportunity for keyboardist Eric Moon, bassist Bijoux Barbosa, and drummer Brian McRae to don suits, shades, and skinny ties and live out their spy-music fantasies. Turns out, though, these guys are talented enough to transcend their own gimmickry. The disc’s…
On October 30, 1968, MC5 vocalist Rob Tyner shouted, “Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!” to the crowd at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom and rock ‘n’ roll was rescued from the low-energy vibe of the hippie generation. On September 30, 2006, Eighteen Visions vocalist James Hart screamed, “You wanna get fuckin’ rowdy?”…
More so than any other high-profile traveling metal festival — Ozzfest, Blackest of the Black, Unholy Alliance, Contamination, etc. — Dave Mustaine’s Gigantour arguably draws upon a more conscious sense of metal history. Another way to put it is that Mustaine (who has been unabashed about Gigantour as a showcase…
Compile the best of R.E.M.’s earliest output on one CD, and it’s easy to see why they ultimately became one of the biggest bands in the world — optimism. That’s the overwhelming feeling pervading Fine, a smartly sequenced collection spanning the Athens, Georgia, then-quartet’s pre-major-label years. R.E.M. had nothing to…
Over the past 27 years, anybody who saw Bad Brains live has sworn up and down that the group put on the most amazing live show in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. The recently released DVD, Live at CBGB 1982, proves the hype is not exaggerated. It’s not quite…
The music industry has a lot in common with the average automobile plant. Lots can go wrong, but when everything’s operating at peak efficiency, it’s still capable of turning out impressive products. Like, for instance, B’Day, a sleek new model that displays all the benefits of custom manufacture. Granted, Beyoncé…
Sure, the pairing of this superstar French actress with the adventurous electronic duo Air is bound to send novelty lovers and Francophiles into throes of self-lubricating excitement. But they’re not the only ones with a hand in 5:55. The presence of famed Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and Fela Kuti alumnus…
Blues Dragon, the project of bassist Mark Telesca, takes a spin through pre-WWII blues throwing in touches of contemporary R&B, AOR, and storytelling. Recorded this past July, Alive at the Bamboo Room gives fans of the blues, the Allman Brothers, and Jethro Tull all of that and more. The album…
Four weeks ago, New Times ran my cover story “G Marks the Spot.” The article was about the G, formerly Gumwrappers, a Fort Lauderdale strip club turned rock venue I thought deserved some attention. I knew there was a club in central Palm Beach County called Mr. G’s that could…
