Myopic indie types do a lot of jawing about the Philadelphia band Lilys’ incredible stylistic breadth, but it says something significant about underground rock when a group that has simply channeled different strains of British guitar-pop–shoegazing noise, Kinksian strum, psychedelic poesy–over the past decade is celebrated for its open ears…
Third Eye Blind front man Stephan Jenkins once led a semi-charmed kind of life: His band’s self-titled debut enjoyed both commercial success and mild critical acclaim (I loved it!); he spent time as Charlize Theron’s boyfriend; he got to indulge his pet hobby of R&B production, helming a cover of…
“Once upon a time, I was wandering in a magic forest,” says Rooney front man Robert Carmine, in a voice familiar to anyone who ever experienced nursery school story time. “And I ran into an old wise man who gave me a magic bean. And the bean was, like, a…
When Ruthie Foster steps onstage, she is strikingly quiet. Her presence is quiet; her voice is quiet. Her small frame has a language that is very quiet. No divas here, it says. No bullshit, either. And you wonder if this is the same blues-gospel-folk belter who is creating a stir…
In February, we wrote a story about the Deathray Davies. It was titled “Group Sounds,” and in it we made the following point, neatly summed up by the subhead: “The Deathray Davies used to be John Dufilho. That’s not true anymore.” We came to this conclusion because the group had…
Dunno quite what those sobbing over the frigid mechanics of Kid A and Amnesiac were complaining about; I like Thom Yorke’s voice for how it sounds and not for what it says, which normally isn’t much beyond the woe-am-me nonsense every wan Britpopper over the age of consent has to…
The Deftones’ Chino Moreno and Staind’s Aaron Lewis are two of metal’s most emotive front men. Unlike most headbangers, they trade in tears as much as testosterone, though the two take different routes to your heart. The more subtle of the two lyrically, Moreno conveys emotion through his voice more…
As someone who hasn’t yet tired of the Flaming Lips’ big-hearted grown-up whimsy, I keep trying to find ways to excuse the half-assedness of the band’s new Flight Test EP: “They’ve been busy on the road becoming the aw-shucks Gallaghers of major-label art-rock”; “You can’t expect full-blown brilliance from a…
Though there are certainly occasions when the miles-of-smiles pop-punk proffered by the likes of Good Charlotte, Simple Plan and Bowling for Soup makes my day that much better, sometimes–like, say, on trash day, or when CSI is a rerun–I get a hankering for some three-chord monte of a darker variety…
Two helpings of rootsy strum-and-twang from unexpected sources this week, beginning with an appearance by the hardy indie vets in Jets to Brazil at Trees on Friday night. Singer-guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach, as every magazine and newspaper profile written for the rest of his life will happily inform you, used to…
For now, for the next few months, the Dismemberment Plan lives on. There is a pair of North American tours to wrap up, as well as the Washington, D.C.-based band’s hometown farewell, at Fort Reno on July 28. Then there are a few dates in August in Japan, a surprising…
There’s history and there’s what people remember, and usually they don’t have much in common. Childhood memories often don’t match up with the home-movie version of the same events; the sets change, the wrong characters say the right words, the plot twists unexpectedly. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. Hard facts…
A year or so ago, maybe two, England was losing its collective shite over Denton’s Lift to Experience and the band’s ambitious debut, The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads. We’re talking five-star reviews and second-coming salutations all around, not unlike what happened when Uncut and NME picked up on what the Polyphonic Spree…
Marilyn Manson’s appetite for destruction needs sustenance. After 10 years of singing fight songs in fishnets, Manson has been advocating the end of everything for so long that he’s in danger of negating even himself. The shock-rocker’s last disc, 2000’s half-baked Holy Wood, was dismissed by critics and passed over…
Comps like this, containing scattershot offerings from the disparate likes of Ray Davies and, gads, Dionne Warwick, shouldn’t be sent gratis to rock critics; otherwise who’s left to buy these things, save for those who remember when Jools Holland had a TV show on the BBC? This sequel to a…
Singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt follows up his Mercury Music Prize-nominated debut, 2001’s Here Be Monsters, with From Every Sphere, a dozen songs picked from sunniest of graveyards and gloomiest of birthdays. Comparisons have been drawn between this young (25) Harcourt and, among others, Tom Waits and Brian Wilson. Understandably so: On…
What’s the only thing better than a killer novelty song about dancing that marries disco’s forward momentum and textural whoosh to rock’s blow-dried grit and radio-hit brevity? A whole album full of them! These two groups–Detroit five-piece the Electric Six and Danish duo Junior Senior–are the proud owners of two…
Ipecac Records’ traveling Geek Show hits the Ridglea Theater in Fort Worth on Wednesday night; if you’re disappointed in the turn metal’s taken through the mainstream in recent years, you should, too. Headliners Tomahawk are a straight-up supergroup staffed by Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/Ipecac mastermind Mike Patton, ex-Jesus Lizard guitarist…
If Avril Lavigne and her strip-mall punk peers hold any aspirations of career longevity, they would do well to pay attention to the musical trajectory of Irish rockers Ash. Beginning in the mid-’90s as a scruffy adolescent trio with a fondness for the Buzzcocks, Green Day and songs about “Hulk…
To people who weren’t members of the New York Dolls, the new New York rock scene isn’t exactly lacking in spunk or attitude: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Strokes make up for what they occasionally lack in the songwriting department with a polished streetwise sass, and even that one…
When in doubt, there’s always the weather. Pete Yorn, for example, doesn’t have much else to complain about. The singer-songwriter’s debut LP, Musicforthemorningafter, earned both gold record certification and critical hosannas for its polished, Bruce Springsteen-meets-Jeff Buckley guitar rock. Yorn even looks the part, what with that mop of dark…
For 40 bucks, you can buy a device that emits some of the most irritating and beautiful sounds imaginable; a device that not only presents an international kaleidoscope of opinion but also receives secret spy transmissions. Best of all, every time you turn it on, the thing behaves completely differently,…
