As a self-described introduction to the music of Junior Kimbrough, this tribute album fails spectacularly: These versions of his songs are so radically and haphazardly interpreted that they give only the faintest clue as to what set Kimbrough apart from other such venerated bluesmen. And yet almost every eclectic cut…
At its best, Crunk Juice isn’t so much a recapitulation of Lil Jon’s previous work as an amplification of it. The beats are beatier. The synths are synthier. The screaming is screamier. “It’s the most incredible experience you ever felt in your fuckin’ life!” he declares on the title cut,…
Mike Kinsella must be getting tired. Since he took a detour from Joan of Arc in 1999 to begin recording his own material — first in the group American Football, and now solo, as Owen — the songwriter has quietly constructed a panopticon of doomed emotional scenarios that somehow involve…
Since all reviews are pigeonholing crosshairs, would it help you if the Futureheads were described as barbershop, post-punk, off-Broadway rock? Probably not. The Futureheads love slipped harmonies and jagged riffs that lurch like tennis shoes tied together, ensconced in playfully soot-boxed production. “Alms” has all the rigid diagonals of a…
These days, Radiohead clones are as pervasive as the Nirvanabes that Jammed the airwaves a decade ago. Although Starfuzz admittedly mines the same cerebral region as Yorke & Co., rather than appearing like it suffers from a bad case of The Bends, the act sounds more like Remy Zero with…
Tequila Mockingbird remains a draw on the local club scene eight years after hatching because it’s reliable and accessible. These qualities are unlikely to catapult the quintet to global fame, but they guarantee that Alien-American, the band’s latest full-length, stays catchy and listenable from start to finish. “The Honeymoon” encapsulates…
Having to replace your frontman sucks. But it’s an even more dicey proposition when the man who previously filled the role is seemingly irreplaceable, universally lauded by both critics and fans. Couple that with the fact that his absence is not the result of irreconcilable differences between bandmates — à…
Given how severely the majority of contemporary country music reeks, who can blame Moot Davis for turning back the clock to a time when the genre smelled like roses? Certainly not Pete Anderson, whose work with Dwight Yoakam has earned him the undying gratitude of listeners who consider the watering…
It takes balls the size of Tasmania to impersonate AC/DC, Australia’s most famed musical export and an undeniable rock-and-roll legend. Uh, that is, unless you’re Seattle’s Hell’s Belles — an all-woman AC/DC tribute band that ably salutes all those about to rock. The band came together four years ago, and…
Long before the noodle-ocity of Phish reigned supreme, there was the Fish Head music of the Radiators. In the tradition of the Funky Meters, Little Feat, Allen Toussaint, Earl King and numerous other talented veterans of the Big Easy scene, the Radz emerged from the bayou in 1978 and have…
Roses Are Red’s Trustkill Records debut, Conversations, comes plastered with a badge that proudly proclaims “ROCK IS BACK.” As embarrassingly hyperbolic as that might seem, the music produced by these five boys from western New York sets out to prove exactly that. While carefully dampened chords, gruff harmonies and impassioned…
The Trouble We’re In, by Milwaukee’s Call Me Lightning, doesn’t open with either a whimper or a bang — just the crackling hum of a crappy, over-cranked amp. But it’s an omen, a stab of static that perfectly sets the tone for the unhinged, neck-snapping mayhem to follow. Formed out…
Ever divine, Miss M is famed for looming larger than life, a powerful persona on stage, screen or in the studio. Through more than thirty years of performing — from playing gay bathhouses, to being signed at her first meeting with the president of Atlantic Records, to countless tours and…
Confusion has been a motif of modern music from Igor Stravinsky on down to Sonic Youth. But rarely has Colorado seen as bizarre an avatar of panic and pandemonium as the Springs’ own Colonial Excess. After a puzzling jumble of handmade EPs leaked out over the past year, the quartet…
It’s a commonly held misconception that America and Europe have cornered the dance-music market. While this may have been true in the scene’s formative years, new sounds and their purveyors have continued to pop up all over the globe. Take Hernan Cattaneo, for instance, who has helped put his native…
It was a couple of years ago, back when his grandfather was still alive. Win Butler and his girlfriend, Régine Chassagne, invited Alvino — Butler called him by his first name — up to their home in Montreal to visit. Alvino had always been close to his grandson, but they’d…
Brent Hinds is putting on some weight. Right now, his band Mastodon is in the middle of a mega-budget, liquor-sponsored arena tour with Slayer and Killswitch Engage. And apparently the catering is too good to pass up. “The fucking food is awesome!” Hinds exclaims. “I’m getting fucking fat, dude!” But…
Rappers can’t play ball, and ballers can’t emcee. For proof, see Master P and Shaq — or Carmelo Anthony, for that matter. While there’s no doubt that Melo is gifted at handling the rock, when it comes to rockin’ the mike, well, let’s just say he should leave that to…
As everyone now knows, Nirvana started out merely great and wound up, well, godlike. Not that With the Lights Out is meant as some kind of Bible, unless you’re talking about the particularly gruesome parts of the Old Testament. Every manner of misfire and fuckup is immortalized on this boxed…
The former Jeffrey Atkins has a well-documented chip on his shoulder. Although he’s made his bones on the pop charts and has already gone Hollywood in flicks such as The Fast and the Furious, he longs to be recognized as a thug-life exemplar à la 50 Cent, one of many…
The Rise has absolutely no idea how to do things the way it’s supposed to. The Austin quintet’s debut, Signal to Noise, shattered hardcore convention, taking a strong cue from Refused but adding an even harsher, more electro tone to its nerve-shot techno-punk. As unorthodox as it was, though, the…
Like other teeny-poppers from the Class of 2002, Carlton faces the challenge of building a lasting career on the flimsiest foundation imaginable: adolescent loyalty. The growing maturity of her music will serve her well in the long run, but it’s apt to cause a short-term career challenge. The Harmonium arrangements…
