ARTIST: Los Campesinos! – DATE: 01-17-10 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: Sticking Fingers Into Sockets LABEL: Arts & Crafts/Wichita Now Playing: ‘Don’t Tell Me To Do The Math(s)’ from Sticking Fingers Into Sockets by Los Campesinos! If The Vaselines had been slightly more accomplished on their instruments, if Arctic Monkeys didn’t take themselves so seriously, if The Fratellis had a better sense of humor, well, none of them could have been Los Campesinos – a band smart enough to...

ARTIST: Joan Jett – DATE: 08-08-08 REVIEW BY: Bill Adams ALBUM: Sinner LABEL: Blackheart Now Playing: ‘Riddles’ from Sinner 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 signature mezzo soprano growling vocals take stage center over The Blackhearts’ hard-driving rhythms that, this time, have a...

ARTIST: Sonic Youth DATE: 12-08-06 REVIEW BY: Jon Pruett ALBUM: Destroyed Room: B-Sides and Rarities LABEL: Geffen Pretty strange that just as Sonic Youth’s time at Geffen comes to an end, they also are riding strong on the energy of two back to back great albums (Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped). The Sonic Youth devotee might chime in right here and say that they’ve yet to release a bad album, and while that is technically true, they haven’t been this...

Pretty strange that just as Sonic Youth's time at Geffen comes to an end, they also are riding strong on the energy of two back to back great albums (Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped). The Sonic Youth devotee might chime in right here and say that they've yet to release a bad album, and while that is technically true, they haven't been this consistently "interesting" (key word) in years. So, as part of their label departure, and probably tied into...

Swan Lake are a supergroup of sorts, albeit a modestly super one. We’ve got Dan Bejar (Destroyer), Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade), and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes) making the noise behind this. Although I can honestly say that I did not know one lick of Wolf Parade's music before this, I am in trusted, committed relationships to the music of both Destroyer and Frog Eyes and was willing to judge a man by the company that he keeps rather than the...

After the massive US mind-fuckery of a tour w/ rock legends THE MELVINS, Seattle's (check, now LA's) heaviest hitters BIG BUSINESS are headed to the UK to blow some minds, and eardrums, but not before they tease us a bit more, this time by leaking the track "Grounds for Divorce," off their upcoming March 6, 2007 release of "Here Come The Water Works" on Hydra Head BIG BUSINESS UK (and select US) Dates w/ The Melvins Dec 9 2006 ATP...

ISIS embarks on their first headline run supporting "In The Absence of Truth" (they'd spent late Summer/Fall opening for Tool). Tickets go on sale for all shows on Dec. 16.   Here are the dates (a handful of additional dates will be announced in the new year):   Feb. 22 San Diego, CA Casbah Feb. 23 Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse Feb. 24 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad Feb. 26 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory Feb. 27 Ft. Worth, TX Ridglea Theater Feb....

Sometimes there are bands you’ve heard mentioned a million times, but you’re just not sure who they are. When I told people I was going to see The Melvins, most people looked at me, nodded and said, “Ah, yeah, The Melvins…” with no rhetoric to follow. The band definitely has name recognition, but not without a lack of fans. The show at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa was reportedly the first-ever online sell-out in the venue’s history as the top...

What's a 7th grade kid to do when a behemoth Nazi skinhead extends him an olive branch in the form of a cassette with a hammy picture of Ronald Reagan on the cover? One, he could decline and risk raising the ire of the biggest kid in school who was rumored to have knocked out a high schooler. Or two, he could take it, smile, and then head straight home to put it in the deck, thereby sidestepping the beating...

^ = w/ The Lemonheads12/5        Minneapolis, MN @ The 400 Bar ^12/7        Chicago, IL @ Double Door ^12/8        Chicago, IL @ Double Door ^12/9        Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop ^12/10       Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick ^12/12       Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace ^12/13       Philadelphia, PA @ North Star Bar...