That the Dresden Dolls make incredible and interesting records that imply a remarkably cinematic experience can’t be disputed but, given that the sound is produced by just two players, the most realistic question is how said material translates live and what sort...
In spite of the fact that Juliana Hatfield has broken through to rock stardom several times over—had wildly successful tours behind celebrated albums, videos played in regular rotation on every available music television network and been offered a multitude of...
Ever wonder what it’d sound like if Canadian critical darling Neko Case spontaneously decided to make a rock n’ roll record? It’ll probably never happen (well, not outside of The New Pornographers), but happily we have the closest possible...
Okay, from the moment that Steve E. Nix and The Briefs sleazed their way out of Seattle, the band caused a lot of confusion in listeners accustomed to grungy things coming out of the Pacific Northwest. The Briefs were, after all, a tight, dayglo, 80s-fashioned punk...
As far as summer tours go, it seems like the consistent theme has been plain and simple: ROCK. Whether it’s the metal tour like the Rockstar Mayhem fest or the punk infused Warped Tour, it’s a fact that when it’s hot out, it’s time to listen to...
For her first album of new material since 1994’s Pure and Simple, Joan Jett has elected to go back to basics with Sinner. 'Back to basics,' in this case, means playing to the singer’s strengths: heavy handed guitar riffs and Jett’s own...
Have you ever wondered what you’d get if you were to crossbreed the gods of Brit-pop (London Suede, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses) with the crème of both the Matador and Tee Pee Records stoner rock crops (Dead Meadow, Annihilation Time)? Apparently Darker My...
It sounds like it should be a semantic debate, but The Dollyrots make the difference between pop-punk and punk- pop very, very obvious on their sophomore album.Pop-punk is the soft stuff – the best-known of the lot would probably be Green Day, No Doub t and...
A friend of mine took me to task last month for wimping out and not listing my favorite album covers. I had my excuses. In the first place, last month's column was long enough to begin with; I had other issues I was more interested in. Secondly, I didn't want...
Few of the bands to survive the collapse of alt-rock have held as much enduring appeal as Rage Against The Machine. For the seven years they were at the top of the pile of bands getting talked about, dissected and carried around on the shoulders of politically-aware...