The Jealous Sound (playing tonight at the Marquis Theater) came together when former Knapsack guitarist and singer Blair Shehan got together with some of his friends who had also been members of melodic punk bands of the ’90s, including Padro Benito of Sunday’s Best, John McGinnis of Neither Trumpets Nor…
Lemmy Kilmister is a living legend: He was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and an integral member of space-rock pioneers Hawkwind; he got kicked off an airplane for refusing to give up his whiskey at the last minute and has done more drugs than anyone except for maybe Keith Richards…
Nika Roza Danilova grew up in rural Wisconsin. Without access to the usual distractions available to most children living in a big city, Danilova had to use her imagination and natural curiosity to keep her mind stimulated, which clearly contributed to the timeless, haunting sound of her subsequent musical project,…
After a sample from Robocop, Roskopp crashes headlong into “Microbial Warfare.” Though running along at a breakneck grindcore pace, the percussion and dynamics take some moments to let passages hang precariously. Taking a break mid-point with a sample from Walk Hard, Roskopp finishes out its side of this split with…
Charles Ballas is the kind of record nerd a lot of people wish they were but could never be. He’s probably heard most things you’d throw his way, but he’s too good-natured and smart to be a jerk about it. While attending the University of Colorado in Boulder, he was…
It’s funny,” says Keith Curts of Glass Hits. “It’s been said a million times, and I know it’s completely trite, but punk totally did save my life, because I found people somehow, the people that became my friends, that came from broken homes or were latchkey kids.” Growing up in…
ENGLISH DOGS @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 2/19/12 Throughout the show, Adie Bailey of English Dogs came off the stage and sang with the crowd just over the barrier and encouraged people to sing into the mike. But it was halfway through the show that Bailey figured he could trust…
Breathe Owl Breathe (due tonigh at the Hi-Dive) is from East Jordan, Michigan, a relatively remote place that forced the members of the act to turn inward for inspiration in its music. This explains the unique sound of its albums including its most recent, 2010’s Magic Central, which falls somewhere…
TENNIS @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 2/2/12For a band whose music is so bright and sunny, the tinge of melancholia that swirled around “Waterbirds” gave this Tennis performance an otherworldly feel. The breakdown section in the middle was one of the most evocative moments of the entire night. Patrick Riley and…
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks (due tomorrow night at the Fox Theater in Boulder) formed after Malkmus’s influential band, Pavement, went on indefinite hiatus at the end of the ’90s. Initially, it was something of a solo project, but Malkmus ended up recruiting his friend John Moen, as well as…
This album does not aim for a single aesthetic. The jazz pop and AutoTuned vocals of “Fuck Hugh, Grant” contrast immediately with the IDM-flavored “There’s a Griffin at the Door” and the fractured playfulness of “The Hippo on Campus.” Although the bad puns end after the fourth track, the group’s…
The members of Portland’s Toxic Holocaust can send a bit of a mixed message when they first come out on stage, because frontman Joel Grind looks like he walked right out of Los Angeles circa 1985. As soon as he and the rest of the band start playing, though, it’s…
Nelson Echeverry may have cut his teeth on some strain of punk rock when he was a teenager, but when he connected with the merry band of indie-pop pranksters in The Haircut, his natural inclination for Fall-esque guitar experimentation jelled perfectly with Magee Headley’s spirited vocal delivery. Even with Doris…
We were the band that our first show was sold out,” notes Patrick Riley about the live debut of his group, Tennis. “From the start, it was like being thrown into the fire.” Riley clearly has a firm grasp of how fortunate his band has been after getting early encouragement…
SPATULA @ CLIMAX LOUNGE | 2/10/12Almost without warning, King Lexie looked like she was either wheeled or aided on to stage, her bulging belly indicating a ripe pregnancy. Joining her were Summer Snover and Jesse Roadkill as well as Evan Brown and Paul Cousineau. All were dressed in various costumes,…
See also: Interview with Lauren Larson of Ume, sharing the bill this Sunday. Cursive (due this Sunday at Larimer Lounge with Ume) was one of the most popular and influential bands to have come out of the underground scene in Omaha, Nebraska, the same one that spawned Bright Eyes, the…
It probably came as a surprise to everyone but those in the inner circles of the Sauna camp that the band’s new video for “Glitter Party” premiered on Stereogum. Not because the charming quartet doesn’t have a knack for charmingly upbeat pop songs that should be out in the big…
Spatula (due this Friday, February 10, at the Climax Lounge) was a band you often heard about between 2004 and 2005, if you did not actually see it. The band was musical, but more to the point, it was always a ridiculous spectacle with simple but effective props, elaborate homemade…
In Flames (due this Friday, February 10, at Summit Music Hall) was one of the flagship bands of the Gothenburg scene in Sweden of the early 1990s that included death-metal luminaries like At the Gates and Dark Tranquility. Those bands injected the savagery of death metal with melodic elements that…
Opening with “Wrecked and Useless,” the music on this album is reminiscent of the sinuous, eclectic Jux County. On “The Vines,” Fred Thulson channels a bit of Love Hysteria-era Peter Murphy, even as the band waxes into funky territory in the song’s outro. The orchestral arrangement of “Why’d She Rain”…
As a pop band, you could do a lot worse than having your first-ever show be opening for Amy Winehouse and then getting tapped to serve as the opening act for her European summer tour. But that’s essentially what happened to the Asteroids Galaxy Tour after Winehouse heard the band’s…
Originally formed as a side project of Ceremonial Oath, In Flames quickly became a full-time endeavor. While retaining some of the sharp edges of its founders’ death-metal leanings, the band successfully joined melodic hooks, vocal and otherwise, with nervy aggressiveness and sharp dynamic shifts. In 1995, the core members recruited…
