There is no punk band currently working that is so strikingly unique as The Matches. Last time out, the band shocked listeners when it turned the genre upside down, shook it violently and handed their audience a slightly fractured and very abstract group of songs to try and decode with little or no explanation. For A Band In Hope though, The Matches have chucked that idea and arched a hard left turn that, while the direction they’re headed in now...
No Age are for the people. When it comes to playing free intimate performances for their fans, the shows come a plenty and usually they’re in the most interesting of places (e.g., a vegan grocery store, the Los Angeles River). Prior to the release of their excellent debut record Nouns, the duo of Randy Randall (guitar) and Dean Spunt (drums), showcased a handful of new songs as well as ripped out a few choice selections from their prior compilation Weirdo...
The Constantines have, to date, built a career upon the idea that making solid and enduringly interesting music is possible, even if the only changes made on an album-to-album basis are a series of small alterations that ultimately renovate the face of their music. Confused? Look at it this way: the band first started out making very modal song cycles that, while sinewy, felt expansive. With Tournament Of Hearts a couple of years ago, they broke the mode and, with...
After introducing themselves with a couple of songs off of last year’s Red Carpet Massacre, the best synth-pop band to ever grace the planet, Duran Duran, woke even the most casual fans up at the Sleep Train Pavilion on Friday with “Hungry Like The Wolf.” As soon as the opening guitar chords danced across the loud speakers, I felt like I was riding around town in my car, with the windows down shouting, “Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doooooo.” Of course, this is...
I first heard DJ/producer, Osborne, when I got my hands on the oh-so-experimental album from Ghostly International, Idol Tryouts: Ghostly International, Vol. 1. I owned a ton of Ghostly/Spectral 12-inches up to that point, but it was mostly Matthew Dear, Solvent and whatever was on one of the best comps ever, Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau. Then I heard Osborne, who captures exactly what Ghostly/Spectral Sound captures, which is virtually indescribable, but at the same time fits into a category that...
With two EPs under their belt, it was only a matter of time before the ever-touring Canadian foursome Tokyo Police Club officially issued a full-length debut—even if “full-length” means 28 minutes. On Elephant Shell the indie rockers punctuate short upbeat songs with bells, handclaps and densely irreverent lyrics. Led by the distinctive voice of frontman and bassist Dave Monks, whose vocal style most similarly lends itself to that of The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, Tokyo Police Club crafts short tunes whose...
Do you like The Doors? I don’t. I pretty much hate them. In fact, probably the thing I like the most about them is how mad some people get when you say you don’t like them. Like, really mad. I guess it doesn’t happen as much now that I am older, but back in the day, if I could manage to work something like “Pfffft, The Doors. They aren’t a real rock ’n’ roll band. How can they be a...
The landscape of the music industry has been a strange place of late. Even a cursory glance at page three of any issue of Rolling Stone published since the New Year will reveal what looks like an obituary column for high-level record label executives, in-house publicists and A&R folk as well as bands that have been downsized out of their offices and the cushy confines of their lucrative multi-record contracts, respectively. People are worried and, conspicuously, bands are on the...
This is the latest installment of the Super Roots series from Osaka, Japan's Boredoms. Super Roots 9 (finally released domestically) features a single 40-minute live recording from Christmas Eve in Japan, 2004. The CD comes in a gatefold format with a 40-page booklet containing artwork, music scores and notations. This release is more in line with the band’s recent releases like Vision Creation Newsun than with their previous noise recordings. The impression it leaves you with is how dynamic, technical and...
In a time when the modern rock show too often comes packaged with pretense and posturing, the Breeders re-emerge to remind us what real rock is. At Slim’s, the crowd—young punks, dudes with Mohawks, girl-girl couples, and a large swath of middle-aged guys in tees and sweatshirts—hadn’t come to be trendy, they’d come for Kim Deal. Playing for the sold-out house, the former Pixies bassist—alongside twin sister Kelley—delved into the Breeders’ back catalogue, dusting off enough classics to delight...