Phoenix Music Blog

​As we told you in this week's paper, CenPho.TV is celebrating its one year anniversary. Sure, it's going up against the 2009 Independents Bowl, but with The Love Me Nots, The Surfside IV (who I suspect may have had something to do with this flier) and The Necronauts at The Ruby Room it should do just fine.

Get more info on Saturday's CenPho.TV show here.

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Getting a shitload of band names on a single flier without said flier looking like a total clusterfuck is always a challenge. So this week we honor Modified Arts for managing to make the poster for their three-day music fest this weekend look pretty damned good. And, as we're counting down the last days of Modified (me by complaining Downtown is Ovah, Kevin Murphy at So Much Silence by running a cool series on people's memoirs of the place) it's always nice to give it whatever love we can.

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Doug Bale does some cool stuff. The singer-songwriter (here billing his title above his name) not only has a great mid-fi sound that sorta reminds me of Matthew Sweet (check out his stuff below), he's got a cool web site and some super cool art work. It all works together remarkably well, as I'm sure those stopping by his show at the Ruby Room on First Friday will see.

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The When In AZ train is still rolling, and that's a good thing. The Arizona-bands-covering-Arizona-bands compilation I wrote about a couple months ago (no word on whether any of the shit-talking headliners have ever googled "When In AZ" to read what this erstwhile "Phoenix-hater" has written on the subject) just keeps spawning shows, and this one looks to be the best yet. The Civic Space can't charge admission, unfortunately, making it useless to for-profit promoters who want to battle the Ovah-ness of downtown, but it is a great place to see a free show.

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The "ENTER FAMOUS MUSICIAN HERE" nights at Yucca Tap Room have apparently been a huge success, since we keep seeing more of them. This week's Neil Young show doesn't have the clever name of, say, a "Petty Thieves,"but has a similarly great lineup of local artists.

Who's got "Heart of Gold?"

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It's been a long time since we checked in with our friends Nunzilla, the band that New Times staff writer (then music editor) Niki D'Andrea wrote about in a piece selected for DeCapo's Best Music Writing guide last year. With Halloween coming up it's a perfect time for even, say, freelancer Dan Gibson -- who wrote a very cool piece about power pop (and power pop fans) for this week's issue -- to tune in to the local shock-rockers.

Anyway, I guess the point is this flier is very cool. And, with Halloween coming up, who isn't up for a little comedic blasphamphy set to rock and/or roll?

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Thankful Birds have had some cool posters in the past -- just check out this and this. Compared to those, actually, this is pretty tame. But, in a week of weak fliers this is distinctive enough to claim the prize for the jazzy Phoenix band. Looks like a pretty cool event at DBG, too.

​There's only one thing that almost kept The Skinwalkers from claiming this week's Flier of the Week nod, and that's the fact that they've done something similar to this before. Still, I'm OK seeing this oddly compelling piece of Esherian art twice. I'm not sure exactly what it's doing to my eye, but I like it.

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Having followed their fliers for a year or so, I've always been impressed with the varied styles of posters for shows with punky trio The Green Lady Killers. Depending on the week you may see a flier that leads you  to believe they're a Psychobilly band, riot grrrls, lazy indie kids, signed to Lookout! Records, into pseudofeminist poetry or actually kinda cool.

They've been getting steadily better, as you can see from this week's eye catching flier for their show in Los Angeles next week. I know it's not a local show, but what a flier! They'll be back in Phoenix at The Ruby Room on October 10, though I haven't yet seen a flier.

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Yucca Tap Room's quickly-becoming-legendary Sunday Valley Fever shows have had some great posters (review some past ones here) but this week's has to be my absolute favorite. Kudos to DJ Dana or whoever planned this piece. I honestly can't figure out how it looks so perfectly vintage and I have a few photoshop skills of my own. It's a good week to go all-out too since they've got a touring band from Oregon on the bill. Great job, gang.

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Yes, The Surfside IV has already been named Flier of the Week twice before. In a way, I feel bad about that. But, to be honest, they've definitely had the best flier in this town at least three times. Actually, if other bands don't step it up we might just ditch this weekly feature and add a "Surfside IV Flier" category. The fact that a lot of their posters are for shows they're not even headlining underscores the point: This time they're opening for an Alabama band at The Ruby Room.

It's a shame so many bands in town are lazy about their artwork but so anxious about e-mailing us to write about their shows. Step it up, guys, and you've got a good shot of getting at least a blurb this big on PHXmusic.com.

Check out Daikaiju, the headliner, in the MP3 below.

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OK, we're going to admit right off this week's best poster was not determined by art alone. Truth be told, for a show by our good friend Psyko Steve, who usually does some great stuff, this Kinch flier is a little disappointing.

Fact is, we know the flier isn't super fancy because Steve and a lot of other people are busting their asses to put together a great street stage on Roosevelt at First Friday tomorrow. And the record they're promoting, Kinch's new EP Collars and Sleeves (download here for free) is legitimately great. So, yes, this is just some dudes (sans bassist, interestingly) standing around -- it's the flier of the week because it's the show of the week. Be there or be square.

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Mondegreen is planning to take some time off of playing out to work on writign and recording a new record, but first they're playing a show at what they're calling "the only 'cool' bar in Scottsdale." "No shiny shirts required!" they say.

Now, we can disagree with Mondegreen on whether The Rogue is the only cool bar in Scottsdale -- through it is likely the coolest -- but we have to agree with their aesthetics when it comes to poster art. This one is a beauty.

​I'm not sure we've honored them with a Flier of the Week nod before, but Colorstore is another one of the Phoenix bands who consistently delivers great concert posters. This week's pick, for a show at Rhythm Room tonight, has some great typography, something too infrequently honored in this weekly feature, it's true. Pretty colors too. Check out some of their past posters here and check out an Mp3 from last year's Bonefish: The Legacy of Mahogany Cass below.

​As I've been doing Flier of the Week for nearly a year now I've noticed there are some local bands whose posters consistently stand out. The Surfside IV is one such band, as I said here. Well, their guitarist Trey a.k.a. "T-Ray" has done it again, putting together this masterpiece for the band's show with The Secret Samurai on August 20, a week from today at The Blooze Bar. Check out an Mp3 from the touring California band below and marvel at this gorgeous piece of poster art above.

It's true that the posters tabbed as a Flier of the Week often tend toward the gimmicky, trading on a cheap laugh or a little shock value. Sometimes, though, we like to pick a poster that's a little more artsy. This one for What Laura Says, Yellow Minute, Chaska and Roxy Jones sort of reminds me of fantastically depraved hipstery web comic A Softer World, and the typography is nothing short of stellar. Kudos to the unnamed creator.

It's true I'm a sucker for anything appearing to be in the aesthetic of Kill Bill, so it's probably not surprising this flier from Phoenix punks Reason Unknown caught my eye. Nunzilla, who made the cover of New Times (Niki D'Andrea's story that made it in to the the 2008 De Capo best music writing collection) awhile back are also on the bill, and Reason Unknown plays Saturday night with Numbers of Napkins, who I recently reviewed for You Asked For It at The Turf downtown.

OK, it's not exactly easy to understand what's going on with this poster from Chandler indie rockers Lisa Savidge (not actually a girl, as previously reported) but that's kind of great. You have to look at this bad boy for a little while to figure everything out, during which time you're subconscious will be evaluating your options for Saturday night while simultaneously factoring this show at The Ruby Room in.

Now, it didn't work on me -- I'll probably be at Jenny Lewis at The Marquee (actually a girl, as previously reported) -- but it's effective nonetheless.

Stateside Presents has really been on a hot streak, poster-wise, of late. Their Deer Tick flier has caught my eye a few times, as has this one for last Monday's Men show at Rhythm Room. This flier for We Shot The Moon was good enough to make me look up who the band's MySpace. Turns out they used to be called The Honor Roll and are from San Diego. Cool. I don't love them like I do this flier, but they may be worth checking out.

If you dig Black Carl, you're likely to enjoy Tempe's Sole Function, a funky soul band that made this week's eyeball-blasting Flier of the Week for their show at Sail Inn. Actually, this very polished band also saves us the trouble of describing their sound in excruciating detail by helpfully uploading their stuff to lala.com, quickly becoming one of our favorite web-based music gadgets.

Today's Flier of the Week is for a show we told you a lot about in our print product this week, Waylon Day at Yucca Tap Room. Click here to read more about the show and, if you're a fan of outlaw country, or paying respects to one of The Valley's all-time legends on his birthday, check out this show.

I selected this week's flier(s) of the week not only because they're awesome (they are) but because they're apparently for the same show at The Ruby Room Tuesday, one with a clear band hierarchy, the other pure anarchy. Both are very impressive though. Must be a bunch of art students in these bands.

The Dollyrots are this week's Flier of the Week partly because this is one of the better offerings in a weak field, and partly because their latest record, which came out in 2007, is called Because I'm Awesome, which is also the name of the best song on said album. Also be sure to check out "My Best Friend's Hot" and their cover of Melanie's "Brand New Key." If you like power chords and Josie and the Pussycats-style pop, this show is for you.

We haven't heard much from our pals Antique Scream since they moved to Seattle shortly after we featured them in a story that had one of my all-time favorite quotes from a local band in it: "We look like we suck."

They're back in town this weekend to play a special show accompanied by a psychedelic visual show by Andy Olson. They've got a great sound, so with the unique visuals this should be one of the better shows at Hollywood Alley this month.

Prehab's posters have caught my eye a few times before, whether it was this pretty funny one for an April Fool's Day show, or this eye-catcher but it wasn't until this week we've honored them with Flier of the Week. The Phoenix indie band has a pretty good sound too, anchored by a fantastic vocalist, Chris Kay. Celebrate the release of their new CD Monday at Ruby Room.

Look, no one's sadder about this than we are, but it's time to face facts: The Loveblisters are breaking up, and this Saturday's show at Last Exit is the last time you'll ever see them. Ever. So try not to get too sad as you mourn the passing of the band which recorded the third best local album of the 2008, or put on the tenth best show of any size of 2008. Do what this flier designed by See Saw Designs in Scottsdale says and rock out with one of the best live local acts you'll ever see. Two of the best local live acts, actually, as Kinch is also on the bill.

It's gonna be a good night, even if it's the end of a wonderful era.