Blogs

By Niki D'Andrea

The Phoenix Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, April 3, at Harkins Scottsdale 101 (7000 E. Mayo Boulevard). In addition to a wide variety of films from both local and national filmmakers, the festival plays host to some of the coolest music acts in the Valley.

What Laura Says Thinks and Feels (photo by Joe Trevino)

Peachcake

On Friday, April 4, pop-paradigm twisters What Laura Says Thinks and Feels will bring their brand of Beach Boys-esque harmonies to the huge party tent at the cinema. They'll be joined by electro-spazz kids Peachcake. On Saturday, April 5, Bohemian Geek Soul artist Jody Gnant will take the stage, followed by live karaoke band, The Instant Classics. Both shows start at 7 p.m., and admission to both shows is free.

Jody Gnant (photo by Dawn Rosa Cole)

The Instant Classics

By: Sarah Ventre

The Tempe Music Festival is just like any other institution, building, group, or development in Phoenix: it wants to grow and expand. It wants to become bigger, better, flashier, and more exciting than anything before it…even if there was nothing before it. Every year the college town’s music-based extravaganza grows to include new audiences, and bigger markets.

Click here to see shots from the festival in a slide show we call: Hometown Heroes

This year more than ever before, the festival sought to showcase local bands making the event truly reflective of Tempe. Inviting a few legendary hometown heroes to play didn’t hurt either. The most exciting headliner was, of course, the long awaited return of the Meat Puppets. Though they haven’t played here for well over a decade the Meat Puppets did nothing less than awe the crowd. After all of the talk about bassist Cris Kirkwood’s previous heroine addiction, confrontation with a police officer which resulted in him getting shot and his subsequent arrest and prison time, Puppets’ fans are incredibly grateful that Cris is alive and well.

What’s perhaps ever more remarkable is that Cris and brother Curt (Meat Puppets’ front man) are reunited, and making exciting music once again. Just last year they released a new album called, “Rise to Your Knees.”

While the band has garnered support since the early ‘80s, there is something to be said for their current cohesion. One cannot help but feel that somehow after all these years and struggle the band has found a closeness that is reflected in their performance. The country punk gods play with a new found level of technicality. Spot on harmonies are paired with complex guitar riffs. This in combination with impeccable timing from the bass, and relentless yet not over the top drums by newest member Ted Marcus creates an intricate sound that comes from the punk tradition and also remains distinctly Arizonan.

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By: Aja Viafora

Eve 6 rocked their hits and tried out a few new songs for the audience at Tempe Music Festival on Saturday at Tempe Beach Park. Their set lasted over and hour and featured hits such as “Inside Out” and “Here’s to the Night.” The band just recently started touring again with a new addition to the band. Guitarist Matt Bair joined vocalist and bassist Max Collins and drummer Tony Fagenson.

To see some shots of Eve 6 rockin' out at Tempe Music Festival, check out our slide show: Eve 6 at Tempe Music Festival.

Fagenson took time out before the concert to reveal his thoughts on playing Tempe Music Festival and his appreciation for Phoenician ladies.

New Times: How many times have you performed in Arizona and is this your first time performing at Tempe Beach Park?

Fagenson: We have played in Phoenix in Ariz. many, many times. I don’t know if we’ve actually played this part of Tempe on the water like this, it’s never seemed this beautiful before. You know we actually just played Tempe about two months ago at Tempe Market Place.

NT: How do you like Phoenix?
F: Phoenix is pretty close to home for us. We’re from L.A. so we come here a lot and we always love it. It helps that girls and weather are both pretty here. Some shows are like off the hook and amazing and others the crowd just isn’t that into it, but in general I’d say they’ve always been pretty good shows here.

NT: What size crowd do you normally play for?
F: Over they years it’s gone anywhere from five people in the opening bands to, you know, we played to a festival of over 100,000 people in Atlanta. So it’s all over the place. Our headlining shows we are playing from 500-1000 people every night. We’ve really kind of run the gamut.

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By: Joseph Golfen

Better than: A lot of white guys that play the blues. The Black Keys play without falling into many obvious 12-bar formulas and top the whole thing off with a dash of metallic feedback. They also steer clear of any of the Texas Flood electric blues which typically sounds derivative unless you’re Stevie Ray Vaughn.

The Black Keys announced their presence at The Marquee on Friday with a flurry of feedback and a crashing wave of pounding drums. There was no chit-chat or pleasantries from the two man band before they began their musical onslaught. They just took their places and banged out their own extra heavy, fuzzed-out version of the blues.

For pics from the show, check out our slide show: The Black Keys at the Marquee Theater

Guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney make so much noise when they play that you’ll forget there’s only the two of them onstage. Yes, they’ll remind you of The White Stripes or The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, but where those guitarist/drummer groups coat the blues in a thick punk sound, the Black Keys turn to heavy metal to keep their fire burning without losing the soul of the music.

Carney sat at his silver drum set banging so violently that he had to take off his glasses while his bearded cohort sped his way around the fret board creating a flurry of chords and riffs. The notes from Auerbach’s guitar were so loud and twisted with distortion that it sounded like it was straining The Marquee’s PA system. Even when he sat down at the Rhodes organ, it was so fuzzed out that it sounded almost indistinguishable from his guitar tone. Although he sang and shouted with intense passion into his microphone, Auerbach’s vocals mostly got lost in the mix leaving his words unclear and the melodies hard to pick out.

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By Niki D’Andrea

Bob Schneider is a respected singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas, a prolific road warrior who’s managed to release 20 albums in 16 years (eight as a solo artist, and 12 with various bands and side projects like Ugly Americans and The Scabs). His latest record, When the Sun Breaks Down on the Moon (Shokorama), continues to establish his mastery of his craft through a rough-and-ready rock/Americana sound that incorporates musical elements from a wide range of genres. (The song “Slower Dear,” for example, tells the story of someone waiting for a loved one to come back from the war through the eyes of a forlorn grocery shopper, and includes steel drums and horns that give the song a melancholy calypso-jazz feel.)

He apparently doesn’t know it, but Bob Schneider also has a reputation as a sex bomb indie rock star. In addition to his high-profile affair and subsequent breakup with actress Sandra Bullock, rumors run rampant about the seasoned troubadour’s post-show conquests – “12 women in a row,” “Yeah, my girlfriend got with Bob Schneider,” “I hear he’s such a slut.”

Women dig Bob Schneider. I mean, he’s a handsome Texan who plays tons of instruments and writes catchy, poignant songs with lyrics like, “I’m naked as a monkey/feel like a flunky/and I just wanna use you all up like a junkie” (“Game Plan,” from The Californian) and “I’m on fire and I’m insane and I’m all right/Don’t stand too close/You’ll be blinded by the light” (“C’Mon Baby,” from I’m Good Now). He’s also a pretty candid and quietly charming fellow, prattling on in his deep, gravelly voice about everything from Damien Rice’s mastery of the “I-don’t-give-a-fuck hairdo” to looking for instruments in pawn shops in the extensive, between-song commentaries for the new album on his, Web site. The highly-interactive site includes instructions like, “Click on the sound icons to hear Bob talk utter shit about himself and his bandmates. Please note that all band members are subject to change, so stop fucking showing up drunk.”

Still, in a highly unprofessional move, I stood up Bob Schneider last Monday night. The man with whom every woman in the club would love to spend 15 minutes allotted some post-show time for me in his dressing room, and I got the e-mail too late, forgot about the show, and stood up the studliest hunk in indie music. Alas, these sorts of things happen. But he was so cool about it, conferring his cell phone number so we could do a phoner interview instead.

Here is that interview:

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With their show at Clubhouse Music only days away, Music Editor Niki D'Andrea thought a preview of this Canadian indie rock band was in order. Take a listen to Tokyo Police Club's new one caled In A Cave from their upcoming album Elephant Shell.

For more information about the concert, click here.

By Benjamin Leatherman

The doods at MySpace have an offer for Valley punk fans that they can’t refuse. The SoCal skate punk superstars of Pennywise will perform at a special “MySpace Secret Show” tonight at the Clubhouse Music Venue, 1320 E. Broadway Rd. in Tempe. Admission is absolutely free, but you’ll have to jump through a few hoops to get in.

Here are the details on how it works (courtesy of the Luckyman web site):

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO GET INTO THE SHOW: You will need a wristband to get into the show. Wristbands will be available for pick up at Zia Record Exchange’s Tempe location between 5:00 and 7:00 P.M. on the day of the show.

Also, wristbands will be available at the club at the normal door times. However, THIS SHOW IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVED, Lineup begins at 3pm, anyone lining up before 3pm will be asked to leave the premises.

Doors for the gig open at 7 p.m. and The Darlings will open the show. Better get it line.

By: Joseph Golfen

Better Then: Most alt-country bands. Keeping with true country tradition by soaking their love-sick tunes in plenty of whiskey, this talented songwriter doesn’t let the genre pull her down with tired clichés.

The stage at Modified Arts never looked as roomy as it did when Aubrey Debauchery stood upon it holding her bright, orange Gretch and smiling. The diminutive singer-songwriter played before a nice-sized crowd flanked by her shiny, new band The Puke Boots and belting out country-twinged tales of sex, whiskey, lost love and more sex.

With a driving blend of country and punk, influenced by everyone from Elvis to Skid Row, Aubrey and the Puke Boots delivered a blazing performance. Their music had the usually stiff crowd at Modified Arts nodding their heads and tapping their feet. Rolling drums, stinging lap-steel and a pounding double bass exploded behind her as Aubrey let loose her sordid tales of drunken nights gone wrong and occasionally gone right. Yet every time the music stopped she giggled and nervously chattered into the microphone. Aubrey may have looked innocent in the pink lights of the stage but some of her lyrics are enough to make a cowboy blush.

Aubrey constructs her particular brand of cowboy rock by sitting down with a few chords and thinking about what’s on her mind, she said.

“Usually it’s like ‘fuck you’ or about the last fling I had,” says Aubrey with a laugh. “And I’m really not a slut. Out of the four albums that I have, the songs are really only about four different people.”

When not relaying one of her tales of love and loss vocally, she would dance away from the microphone and raise the neck of her big hollow-bodied guitar as a queue for her band to release a country hell-storm. And when she stepped back up to the mix amid this thunderous sound, she’d croon sweet enough to either put a tear in your eye or mean enough to spit in it depending on what she thought you might deserve.

“I’m pretty over doing the whole singer-songwriter thing because I’m a really nervous person,” she said. “I’m all too aware of how people are perceiving it, but with the band I don’t really have to care ‘cause if people are talking we’re too loud for me to hear them talk.”

Aubrey and her fellow Puke Boots wrapped up after a 12 song set and let local country rockers Via Maris take the stage. While the crowd thinned a little, singer Chad Sundin and his crew delivered a solid performance of compelling original songs, many from their upcoming album; the name of which Sundin is determined to keep secret until the album’s launch.

Keeping in the country vein, Via Maris was a bit more Appalachian then Old West, inviting listener to sit down and relax as they sang what Sundin described as an “old family ballad” before their final curtain. Like Aubrey Debauchery, Via Maris sounded best when they’d loosen up and rock out a little filling the tiny venue with a joyfully raucous noise.

Personal Bias: While trucker hats should be made illegal and avoided in almost all cases, they can still make an appearance at any show where someone in the band is wearing cowboy boots.

Random Detail: Both groups featured a stand-up bass, a lap-steel guitar and guys in plaid western shirts playing them.

Rock 'n' Roll is about sex. Getting it. Wanting it. Needing it. You can hear it in Karen O's warbling, angry crooning or from Chantal Claret as she giggles and demands that you "take off your clothes...please."

Leave it to an alt-country band to get it right.

Up on the Sun Podcast: "Whiskey Breath" by Aubrey Debauchery & the Puke Boots
To download, right click the file and save as.

Aubrey Debauchery and the Puke Boots, another female-fronted band, lays down audio poetry about making love with a genuine quality that makes O and Claret seem like frustrated high school kids espousing their sexual prowess while blushing all the while.

When Aubrey sings lyrics like "with whiskey on my breath I demanded you to undress" there is no question that she's speaking from experience. While her voice and lyrics are the highlight of this band, the Puke Boots do provide a backing of tasty beats and even a little steel guitar.

Aubrey Debauchery & the Puke Boots will be playing at Modified Arts tomorrow at 10 p.m. Click here for more information.

By Niki D'Andrea

Well, I managed to survive another fun and frantic SxSW festival. While I'm laid up at home recovering, I thought I'd bring you some of the highlights from this year's fest.

Best Local Buzz Band: What Laura Says Thinks and Feels (Tempe)

Several solid artists from our great desert metropolis performed at SxSW this year, but it seems like everywhere I turned, people were talking about WLSTaF. Here are just a couple examples of the word on the street:

From Soundcheck magazine’s “Label Alert: The 411 for Lovelorn A&R Reps” section: “I don’t know what it is about Arizona. The entire state seems to have really stepped up in the past couple of years, producing a veritable army of truly remarkable musicians – and this year, they are invading SxSW. On the frontlines of this musical onslaught is What Laura Says…, a band that hates commas and haircuts, but loves crafting sunny melodies that fall somewhere between freak-folk and indie-pop. Some of their songs sound like Elton John fronting the Super Furry Animals; others sound like Devendra Banhart covering Sondre Lerche; still others sound like Ben Folds on a bender with Ariel Pink. Regardless of what bizarre combinations you might hear in their music, one thing is certain: they will slay you. But instead of using swords and guns, they use irresistible harmonies. And instead of dying of sharp force trauma and exsanguination, you will die of pure, unadulterated happiness.” – Emily Strong.

From the blog of Arielle Castillo, music editor at Village Voice Media sister publication Miami New Times: “First cool random discovery was What Laura Says Thinks and Feels from Tempe, Arizona; a bunch of shaggy, long-haired types with a really pleasant, tripped out, fleshed out psych-ey sound. Kind of like Devendra Banhart but not quite as weird, and with a big backing band. Awesome, creepy harmonies.”

Word to the label reps: What Laura Says…is currently UNSIGNED. Hurry up and check ‘em out, because I have a feeling they won’t be available for pickup much longer.

Check out the band’s MySpace page here.

Best Promo Swag:
Cube Services, Inc. and Sprint

Cube Services, Inc. is a company that manufactures backstage passes and crew credentials for touring acts. Their promo boxes included a slew of collectible backstage passes from everybody from Prince and Aerosmith to Luciano Pavarotti and Tim McGraw.

Sprint was giving out 1GB flash drive fobs. Mine came in handy right away, when my Internet connection crapped out at the hotel and I had to transfer photos from the Dax Riggs show onto my friend’s laptop.

Best Nickname for the Illness People Brought Home:
Southbyscurvy. I’ve been seeing the phrase on various social networking sites all morning. Apparently, a lot of people brought back more than promo swag from the festival (including myself). That sort of thing tends to happen when you’re on the streets until 4 a.m. with tens of thousands of people coughing into the air, and most of them are running off nothing but three hours of sleep and a six pack of beer. I’m going to the doctor today for my official diagnosis. It probably won’t be “Southbyscurvy,” though.

Best Celebrity Sightings:
Michael Stipe in the VIP section of the Rhapsody day party, Sia outside Rio Grande Restaurant

Best Potential Celebrity Sighting That Never Happened:
Billy Bob Thornton, who was allegedly staying at the same hotel as me.

Best Musical Discovery:
P.D.A. If you haven’t checked out my blog and video clip from this Oklahoma hip-hop artist’s incredible performance at SxSW, hit it here. You’ll be seeing his name a lot more next year.

P.D.A.

Best Free Booze:
The BMI/Billboard Acoustic Brunch: Free mimosas, bloody marys, beer, and wine. I couldn’t beat my hangover with a stick, but the mimosas helped.

Musician’s Atlas’ homemade honey vodka: I took two shots after realizing I had caught the Southbyscurvy. I’m pretty sure it burned all my phlegm away, but I was too buzzed to care either way.

Best Overheard Statement:
“We wish we could be lesbians.” (overheard twice at two different shows throughout the week)

By Niki D’Andrea

Dax Riggs is humble. Okay, that’s an understatement – the former frontman for indie sensations Dead Boy and the Elephantmen (championed by Henry Rollins on his IFC show), is downright soft and shy. When I shook his hand after a stellar set at the Cedar Door tonight, it was like stroking air.

Considering Riggs absolutely tore up the stage during his 30-minute set, manhandling his guitar with powerful arms that were first developed playing for thrash metal band Acid Bath, his softness was a surprise. But the fact that he never opened his eyes while performing a song indicates that Riggs is a man lost in the soul of his music. He was far from distant – on the contrary, he was so immersed in his stripped-down, bluesy, eclectic songs that nothing else seemed to exist to him until each song was over.

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By Niki D'Andrea

"That girl weighs like, 60 pounds. I'm serious."

"White belts are okay, as long as you wear them with irony."

"There are so many bald guys here. How am I supposed to tell Michael Stipe from Moby from some random dude?"

"Bark back at that damn dog! Little yippie bitch."

"Hang on, I'm not sure if the number is in my iPhone, my Blackberry, or my Razer phone."

"Who wants to ride in the ambulance?"

By Niki D’Andrea

When walking down 6th Street at 4 p.m. on a Friday during SxSW, pedestrians hear all sorts of music spilling out of the clubs. Sometimes they peek inside, sometimes they stop for a brief moment, and oftentimes, they just keep walking. Today, there was a performer at the Chuggin’ Monkey that not only filled an empty club, but drew a crowd of dozens outside the window that continued to grow and stuck around for his whole set, staring through the windows while bobbing their heads and smiling.

The show – a day party for Oklahoma radio station iROK – wasn’t listed in the SxSW brochure, and the performer – an Oklahoma-based hip-hop mashup artist named P.D.A. – wasn’t someone I’d ever seen live before, though I’d heard his name and checked out the songs on his MySpace page in the past.

P.D.A. gets his groove on.

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By Niki D'Andrea

Phoenix-based hip-hop artist Intrinzik is a consummate performer. Before Intrinzik took the stage at Volume, Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys jumped onstage and busted out a fierce freestyle rap that left the audience pumped up and delirious. It was a hard act to follow, but Intrinzik managed to pull it off.

Bushwick Bill gave a surprise performance before Intrinzik's set.

Joined onstage by his longtime friend and collaborator, Virus, Intrinzik soared through a 30-minute set of material, backed by hard beats and occasional rock guitar riffs. The duo jumped, pumped their fists, waved their hands, and walked through the crowd building camaraderie. The performance had been preceded by a set from Austin-based hip-hop group Kriminals, and Intrinzik and Virus gave them shout-outs and got the whole crew dancing.

Intrinzik rocks Volume.

Acclaimed underground Oklahoma rapper McNastee joined Intrinzik onstage for the last three songs, busting out some really nasty rhymes and encouraging some explicit call-and-response from the audience: “When I say pussy, you say lick! When I say dick, you say suck!”

McNastee joined Intrinzik onstage and got, well, nasty.

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By Niki D'Andrea

I was gonna kick sooo much ass at Rhino Records' Geekus Musicus Maximus challenge today at the Austin Convention Center. The 305-question music trivia test (dubbed the RMAT, for Rhino Musical Aptitude Test) wasn't supposed to lead me to this rattling revelation: I don't know nearly as much about music as I've always thought.

I had motives beyond reinforcing my ego for taking this test. The winner (the person with the most correct answers) at the ACC would win 100 CDs from Rhino. The overall winner from both test sessions (the test was also administered online at 6 p.m. PST) wins a copy of every new release (CDs and DVDs) from Rhino for the rest of his or her life.

And the test was hosted by Roky Erickson, whose old band, the 13th Floor Elevators, are among my top three all-time favorite garage bands. Plus, it was free to take the test, so I figured I'd just go in, flex my mental muscles, and walk out feeling triumphant.

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