Of Note
Fanfarlo is coming back to the States, and I think for this tour they’ve shape-shifted away from their past as a feel-good dance band with synths. The last CD sounded like it desperately wanted to …
When is fronting a band cheaper than hiring a therapist? Lost in the Trees invented their American-orchestral folk-pop music in North Carolina. Not to diminish Ari Picker in any way (he is the band’s primary …
“I got a call from the band’s manager,” guitarist John Collura tells the Reader. “I’d been out of the band for, what, six years? He said, ‘What do you think about getting the band back …
The Quakes, a power trio started in the late ’80s in Buffalo, NY, by guitarist Paul Roman, bassist Rob Peltier, and a 15-year-old drummer named Dave Hoy, floundered for lack of a hometown audience. That’s …
“The live show? It’s pretty simple,” Mike Illvester says when asked about the mechanics of how his duo, Fly Moon Royalty, manages to sound so large. “I sing and play keys, and Adra sings. I …
A good 20 years late to the dance, My Goodness is a Seattle-based blues-rock power duo that seems bent on re-inhabiting grunge. No complaints from me. Among my all-time favorites include Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, …
Something you don’t hear every day: musical saw. And a virtuoso musical saw at that, which is hard to define since there are so few people practicing that antediluvian backwoods art. Opera singer Ursula Knudsen …
Instead of trying to box the Wood Brothers into a style corner by examining the trace elements of jazz, blues, and rock in their music, can we just agree to call them clever? Good. But …
After listening to a Skinny Puppy record, one feels as if having been yelled at by an angry parent. Dark moods, riddled with an irritation that either leaves you speechless or that you can completely …
Less screamo, more hardcore — at least since 2008. That was the year Las Vegas quintet Escape the Fate made a course correction and swapped singers with the announcement that Craig Mabbitt would replace founding …
Gloomy music pretending to be happy: that’s Pinback. Their particular vibe comes as the result of living here in the banana belt of San Diego where the weather is almost always balmy. Or so says …
“Yeah, the music is dark. It’s what comes out, but it’s kind of heartfelt. But some people think it sounds like nightmares.” Music from one of Dante’s seven circles of hell: ex-metal guitarist Tristan Shone, …
If the ’60s taught us anything, it is this: exactly how a rock and roll band should look. As a quintet, Terraplane Sun, which lists Venice Beach as their hometown, surely agree. Pick any British …
Here’s another late-breaking young-band-on-the-rise alert: TV Ghost. I can say this even though they started in 2006 because each of their albums has sounded a little different. They grew up as musicians in the garage-punk …
The news is that Jake E. Lee’s on the comeback trail with a new band and a new record and everything is okay. For fans of ’80s hard rock, not a whole lot about that …
Write this down: Dinosaur Bones is a band to watch. Stick a little memo on your record collection (or wherever you store music). One day, you will be glad you did. Listen to Shaky Dream, …