When Tim Kasher, the fabled lyricist behind Cursive and The Good Life, talks about the albums that have influenced him, his voice suddenly perks up. He sounds positively excited to explain the basic, raw sound of The Go-Go’s hit album, Beauty and The Beat....
If I were to be in a band, I would be in Au Revoir Simone. Well, I would want to be anyway. Given the fact that the last musical instruction I had was three-years worth of euphonium lessons—not exactly a hip, rock-friendly instrument—I’m guessing I...
Irish fever has been sweeping over pop culture lately, and it’s in part thanks to the all-star cast in the academy award winning movie, The Departed Of course, the real stars of the film were soundtrack-contributing Irish punks hailing from Boston…...
The Sounds of the Underground tour coming to Irvine was a lot like a bunch of Hell’s Angels crashing a baby shower. In fact, on that sunny Saturday afternoon, I’m sure plenty of Irvinetians (extraterrestrials perhaps?) happened to be celebrating the arrival...
Have you ever drunk peyote? Me neither… but I can almost swear that if any band ever approximated the experience (other than the Doors) it would be the incredibly Doors-y, Austin 6-piece, The Black Angels. And lately it’s been nothing but good...
If you didn’t catch the previous Ground Control update concerning Jimmy Eat World, then shame on you… The gist of it is that Jimmy Eat World is back and they’ve announced the release of their third full length, Chase This Light, to be released...
The forefathers of French electro-house music, Daft Punk, will release a live album – titled Daft Punk Alive 2007 on November 20th, 2007. The album was recorded at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, an 18,000-capacity sports arena in Paris, on June 14th, 2007,...
Before now I had taken Marilyn Manson’s shock factor for granted. I had heard so many stories about him getting arrested for lewd acts on stage, there were pictures of him burning bibles and false rumors that he broke kittens’ necks during concerts. Because...
John Vanderslice is a small man (stature-wise). He’s not particularly short, it’s more like he’s compact, with no wasted space. Like the buffalo/Indian relationship, every part of John Vanderslice is usable by John Vanderslice. It’s extremely...
Saturday night, Satan’s minions descended on the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater to hear what can only be described as the house band for hell, Slayer. For more than twenty years, seeing this band live has eluded me despite owning most of their catalogue and...