Every so often, the Gods of Metal smile down upon the masses and offer up a tour that is so packed with nothing but stellar bands that it almost seems too good to be true. Tonight's bill of Warbringer, Belphegor, Exodus and Kreator definitely fit that description, and I made sure to get myself down to Slim's to be at the epicenter. Unfortunately some minor problems at will call kept me outside the venue for much of Warbringer's set, but...

At this point, it has been six years since last Rancid released an album of all-new material but, as every fan knows, it's not as if the band's members languished in the interim. While a B- and C-sides compilation kept the home franchise alive, singer Tim Armstrong continued working with The Transplants and stretched into musical regions that punk had never touched before as well as proving that a punk could age gracefully but still play to his strengths in...

Sometimes a good, extended break is just what a band needs to recharge and, while none of Tortoise's members sat idle in the five years between the release of It's All Around You and Beacons Of Ancestorship (side projects abounded including work with The Sea And Cake,  Exploding Star Orchestra and  Azita Youssefi to name just a few), there's no arguing that the band has returned fresh, potent and virile on Beacons Of Ancestorship. The band doesn't waste a minute...

Over the last few years (pretty much since 2005's Blinking Lights And Other Revelations came out), much has been made of both Eels frontman Mark Oliver Everett's unusual upbringing (thanks, in no small part, to the singer's autobiographical book, Things The Grandchildren Should Know) and his band's ethereal/otherworldly musical voice that seamlessly combines delicacy, heartbreak, catharsis, dizzying confession and smart-assed sarcasm and does it within a mix of thoroughly unusual and surrealistically arranged pop songs. Meet...

It's been sixteen years since Cracker's sophomore album, Kerosene Hat, and its hit single, “Low,” catapulted the band to rock superstardom for an exceedingly long blink of an eye. If ever a tune came along at precisely the right time, it was “Low” – with weepy, tone deaf and whiny vocals and a noir country guitar arsenal at its disposal, “Low” fit very neatly in between the monster hits of Weezer, Danzig, Lenny Kravitz and Nirvana on the play lists...

Ever taken a dare, and then regretted it? Not just taken one, but fully set yourself up for it? Challenged the world, and then had it slap you back as hard as it could? That's kind of how I feel here. "Oh yeah!" I said, "I can review anything. Give me your most challenging, weird, obscure music, and I'll make sense of it!" And I ended up with Sun Ra and Arnold Dreyblatt. Sun Ra at least seemed like a...

Arts & Crafts' Los Campesinos!–fresh off a five-month stint touring North and South America as well as recording their next album–have announced even more summer tour dates, along with the departure of one of their own. Wrapping up three years with the band, Aleks Campesinos is returning to school (where the band formed) to finish her education. According to the band's blog, this has been the plan all along, and the departure is both on good terms and unsurprising–they've known...

The Arctic Monkeys have announced the follow-up to 2007's Favourite Worst Nightmare, the as-yet-untitled (although cleverly titled on Wikipedia as Arctic Monkeys 2009 Album) third album for the British foursome. Produced by Josh Homme in the Mojave Desert and James Ford (no, not that James Ford…he's still in 1977) in Brooklyn, the album–which hits streets Tuesday, August 25th–consists of the following ten tracks: 1. My Propeller2. Crying Lightning3. Dangerous Animals4. Secret Door5. Potion Approaching6. Fire And The...

When it comes right down to it, no matter how many minor twists and turns might manifest along the average band's career path, the beginning, middle and end of every musical group's career follows a very similar, linear progression. In the earliest stages, the band in question will work to find their voice and hopefully establish both a fan base and a name for itself. If said band is really lucky, the record-buying public will pick up on them straight...

Iggy Pop is one of my favorite artists, but he's been in a rut recently. With the exception of the spoken word album Avenue A, every album he has released since the early 90's has been a variation of the same hard guitar rock. Reuniting with his Stooges buddies did up the energy level of both his albums and, especially, his live performances, but only solidified the rock quotient. Even Iggy seemed to be tiring to doing the same old...