Oftentimes, singer-songwriter types are unfairly branded as wimps and wussies, especially when their music de-emphasizes edge in favor of emo. Fortunately, Pete Yorn has managed to find a happy medium. His third studio album, Nightcrawler, marks a quantum leap forward in terms of both urgency and impact, a creative advance…
Puttin’ the Breaks On It was like the Bronx circa 1982. A pair of graffiti artists were busy doing up a wall outside the nightclub. Meanwhile, a couple of b-boys were inside trading moves on the dance floor. A DJ held it down with beats older than half the audience…
When West Palm Beach’s Dumb Struck formed 11 months ago, the idea, according to vocalist Corey “Fox” Logan, was to be an Iron and Wine-style acoustic act. At the time, the only other band member was guitarist Chip Sengelaub. But things changed. The lineup grew, as did the songwriting. Now…
“I honestly never thought they were going to be big,” admits David “Cornbread” Brown, host of a weekly St. Louis radio show. “Then I went to that last show that they did as Big Blue Monkey, and it was freaking amazing. The place was absolutely packed, the kids were so…
Last year’s Nightmare in the Park in downtown Fort Lauderdale would have been the biggest event By the Way Inc. ever hosted. But a little atmospheric nuisance called Hurricane Wilma made landfall a week earlier, and BTW’s plans were lost in a sea of blue tarps. Now on its second…
Best-known for incredibly catchy punk songs about murder and monsters, Misfits-Samhain mastermind Glenn Danzig is the only alumnus from hardcore’s old-school scene to land an album at number one on Billboard’s classical album chart, with 1993’s Black Aria. More sophisticated and eclectic, Black Aria II is without lyrics, but the…
When the Dwarves signed to Sub Pop Records for 1989’s Blood Guts & Pussy, the Chicago-born/California-bred group burst on the West Coast underground like a runaway orgy. Equal parts garage, grunge, and gore, the Dwarves quickly proved that Blood Guts & Pussy was more than an album title — it…
Along with B.B. King, George “Buddy” Guy is perhaps the quintessential modern blues singer/guitarist. Born in 1936, Guy came from the original wave of Chicago blues players that made a major impact on rock ‘n’ roll, establishing himself with Howlin’ Wolf, Koko Taylor, and Muddy Waters before going solo —…
It takes a true virtuoso to make a handful of chord changes sound like a complex musical arrangement. In the Album Leaf’s case, it is layers of piano, organ, strings, and gently galloping beats. Jimmy LaValle (Tristeza, the Locust, Black Heart Procession) has been playing music since he was 4…
The Rolling Stones may be the model for sustained survival skills within that fickle arena known as rock ‘n’ roll. But any mention in that exclusive domain must also include Cheap Trick, a band now celebrating its 30-year milestone as the prime movers of American power-pop. While early breakthrough hits…
Yup, the golden era of the mega-rave is pretty much over. Nowadays, the local scene is segmented, with each dance crew retreating to its respective corner, diligently (and somewhat silently) carrying on in small, controlled outbursts. Full On Productions, however, has taken a slightly different approach. The group, lead by…
One can’t help but chuckle at the Red Elvises’ appropriation of cheesy American culture — the colorful bow-tie tuxedos, the lopsided pompadours, singer Igor Yuzov’s lounge-lizard panache. The band’s flair for fusing Russian folk music with American surf, rockabilly, and even disco led to interesting concoctions like “I Wanna See…
Despite all the chatter about the death of Clematis Street, there’s still one nail that refuses to help close the coffin — the annual party known as Moonfest. And ironically, it’s the most morbid of them all. For more than a decade, Moonfest has been one Halloweenish party that’s not…
As lead singer and keyboard player of Southern rock greats the Allman Brothers, Gregg Allman is in fact the only band member left to bear the family name. After a 1971 motorcycle accident killed brother Duane (35 years ago this week), Gregg has been the group’s main man. And though…
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…
If you’ve been racing down local dirt roads in your pickup, jamming to Toby Keith or Gretchen Wilson, then you should probably skip this week’s Hank III concert. Plastering a Confederate flag in your back window might buy you a redneck pass (and hopefully a good ass-whuppin’), but it doesn’t…
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…
After its 20-year absence allowed fan anticipation to reach a fever pitch, legendary thrash outfit Celtic Frost is currently making short work of stateside audiences on an extensive American tour. Bassist and co-founder Martin Eric Ain checked in with Outtakes from his home in Zurich, Switzerland, shortly before beginning the…
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…
