There is both an up and a downside to being in a band with a distinct look and sound. On one hand, being unique means that your music and image are instantly synonymous with the name which ostensibly means that there is an instantly recognizable brand in play that means even those unfamiliar with your music can figure out what you’re doing and thus make the decision if that kind of show fits in with what they like; that’s a...
While the term gets thrown around so much that its value has been diminished exponentially, Ani DiFranco has discovered what it truly means to have a “life-altering event.” Typically speaking, a life-altering event tends to be one that, when it happens, makes you stop what you’re doing, look up and take stock of what your life has meant to that point, where you are versus where you thought you’d be, and what value the actions and achievements you’ve made have...
When Nickelback released All The Right Reasons in 2005, they surprised detractors by spontaneously evolving beyond the regretful, hard-feelings driven and sexually degrading rock the made their name on and got reflective; looking inward as well as out and actually exhibiting a heart in tracks like “If Everyone Cared,” “Savin’ Me,” “Photograph” and “Rockstar” which made it seem like All The Right Reasons might be the most genuine document that the crotch-grabbing brothers Kroeger had ever...
For a good half a decade, Belle & Sebastian made the kind of florid, ramshackle indie pop that hadn't been seen since the first few albums by the Smiths. While they didn't have a white hot guitar player, they did have an unerring sense of melody and melancholy and the kind of downtrodden, poetic-leaning lyrical bite that was both weirdly androgynous and all too smart. Their low, low profile, use of early '60s typefaces, and monochromatic album art gave them...
Since appearing with Definitely Maybe in 1994, tabloids the world over have (in some cases) built empires upon the tempestuous sibling rivalry of Oasis’ brothers Gallagher and the exploits that such behavior has driven them to. Some of those stories – like when Noel took the stage alone to perform a high-profile acoustic show because his brother was AWOL only to discover that Liam was in attendance and heckling him very loudly from the back of the room – are...
It’s really unfortunate that Against Me! made the jump to a major label when they did, it meant that an exponentially larger group of people were able to bear witness to the band’s single greatest creative folly or – worse – became fans of the band on the basis of an album that grossly misrepresented them. Long-time fans squawked pretty loudly at the slick, shiny, glossy and politically mute offering (at the worst imaginable time in American history! The field...
Since Joe Strummer‘s passing, the proliferation of greatest hits packages, movie soundtracks, compilations of dubious origin and other “treasures” that ostensibly pay lip service to The Clash has increased at a rate of about one and a half per year but, really, from a studio recordings standpoint, this one makes the most logistical sense. The band’s legend has only grown since Strummer, Simonon and company called it quits in 1986 and the band’s fans have only grown more rabid as...
On a cold, San Franciscan Sunday night, TV on the Radio ruined at least one song for me. Jerks. I mean, seriously, I can’t be expected to listen to “A Method” again, without recalling the 12-piece instrumental orgy that took place on stage at the Warfield. Lead singer Tunde Adebimpe shouted the lyrics, while ten of his peeps (members of the opening act, The Dirtbombs, included) marched around stage playing some sort of percussion, with one more in the back...
Coming out to the Hard Rock Cafe on a Thursday evening is kind of like the atmosphere of any other touristy/family restaurant with rock memorabilia on the walls. Chicken fingers, high chairs and cool drink coasters. But instead of a jukebox there is a somewhat decent sized stage set in the main circular room filled with high school suburban kids marking their spots with their winter jackets. In sponsorship with non-profit, Why., the Shiny Toy Guns have good karma by...
People are going to talk and, in the interest of covering all the obvious bases, getting what they’ll say out of the way early makes sense. Yes, Chinese Democracy is the long-awaited first full-length release of original material in seventeen years; those terms eliminate the band’s contributions to the End Of Days soundtrack and 1993’s The Spaghetti Incident which was all covers. Yes, it’s been so long in coming that the existence of the record has, until now, become regarded...