Of Note
The garage rock bands of the ’60s weren’t meant to last. Typically, they played a bunch of shows, cut a single or two, and then the members went off to college, marriage, or Vietnam. Modern …
Who’s in the Buddy Blue Reunion Band? All of the original players, says Joe Dyke, aka Sweetlips Mysterioso — with the exception of Blue himself, who died in 2006. “We try to get as many …
The internet makes it easy to find new bands...maybe too easy. It’s hard to feel the thrill of discovery and connection with a new band when you can come across 50 new bands a day …
Double-neck guitars are inherently ridiculous. Did Jimmy Page really need to cart that gigantic Gibson EDS-1275 along on tour just so he could switch from 12-string to 6-string for the solo in “Stairway to Heaven”? …
Trombonist Fred Wesley would like to be known for more than just funk and soul. Since the late ’90s, straight-ahead jazz has been the focus of his Fred Wesley Group. “But trying to get back …
Tracy Shedd’s “Whatever It Takes” at first sounds as if it’s going to turn into one of those über-positive “don’t let life get you down” girlpop rants, but no. It’s more about evading the suffocation …
The first thing you notice about TV Girl is that it sounds old-fashioned and modern at the same time. Brad Petering and Trung Ngo piece their music together from digital beats and samples of old …
When Mickey Schiff rings from Los Angeles, I ask about his voice. If he’s not using a megaphone or something like that, it sounds like it must hurt to sing. “There’s no real tricks,” he …
When Rob Crow and Zach Smith formed Pinback in 1998, they quickly became one of the most-talked about San Diego bands in indie rock (even if they weren’t necessarily all that famous in San Diego). …
Spin Magazine’s critic called Boxer Rebellion the “Best Men in Black,” following their performance this year at SXSW. Was that a reference to Johnny Cash? Will Smith? No. Spin tagged Boxer Rebellion as a standard …
The past few years in indie music have belonged to bands such as Vampire Weekend, who celebrate the fashion and sensibilities of East Coast trust-fund kids. But in recent months, we’ve become aware of how …
This year’s International Tournament of Witchy Women in Rock is entering its final phase, and the brackets are quickly narrowing. Florence Welch, of Florence & the Machine, has easily established herself as The New Stevie …
In due time, all things pop music eventually get recycled. Punk, girl bands, new wave, rockabilly, jam bands, metal, fusion, funk — you name it. Granted, some artists merely repurpose rather than recycle. Moby’s first …
Who is Chris Isaak? The crooner of heartbreak ballads, a fashion icon, a comic television host, or all of the above? He’s always been a hard target; I’ve never known how to assimilate his act. …
Melt-Banana often sounds like an early ’80s hardcore 45 played at 78 rpm. At other times they sound like a hyperactive five-year-old playing a video game while a badger attacks a drum kit and an …
The past couple of years have seen a wealth of good records from Raphael Saadiq, Fitz & the Tantrums, Mayer Hawthorne, and others working in the style of ’60s and ’70s soul and funk. But …