It's not easy being beautiful. Just ask Zac Pennington, frontman of experimental pop group Parenthetical Girls, whose vocal strains fall halfway between Perfume Genius and Lightspeed Champion, complemented with the baroque pop stylings of Belle and Sebastian. Pennington, known for his gender-neutral lyrics and his Morrissey-borrowed wit, pens some brutally ambivalent lyrics focusing on lust, identity, and looking good.

We spoke to Pennington -- who's scheduled to stop by the Trunk Space on Saturday, March 9 -- on the phone for this week's issue but ended up with more good stuff than we could fit in print. Here are some choice Outtakes.

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Darryl Richardson

Murs

In this week's issue, we profile Arizona-based rapper Murs. Some great stuff got left on the cutting-room floor, so in this installment of Outtakes, we'll crack open the tape recorder and let a whole bunch of good material that didn't make the print edition see the light of day.

One of rap's great raconteurs, Murs lived a nomadic existence as a youth, never staying in one place for more than a few years at a time. Forced to adapt as the perennial new dude, he brings similar flexibility to his music. Soul love jams, gangsta provocation, herb-soaked chillin', limber wordplay, and conscious science all jostle for position like schoolmates in a lunch line.

See also:

-Arizona's Murs Bridges Hip-Hop's Divide

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In this week's issue, we chat with the members of Phoenix art-punk band The Father Figures, discussing the band's phenomenal sophomore album, All About Everything. We ended up with quite a bit of information left over from our 90-minute interview, so in this installment of Outtakes, we'll crack open the tape recorder and let a whole bunch of good material that didn't make the print edition see the light of day.

See also:

-The Father Figures Play Punk With No Rules
-Gregg Turkington on Punk in Tempe, the '80s, and a Band As Good as Black Flag
-JFA Celebrates 30 Years of Skate Punk
-More Oral History of Phoenix Skate Punk
-Download: The Father Figures Cover The Feederz Classic "Avon Lady"

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Image courtesy Gregg Turkington

A teenage Gregg Turkington interviews Henry Rollins (then a member of Black Flag).

Speaking with comedian Gregg Turkington about Phoenix's storied 80's punk scene, yielded plenty of yarns about seeing legendary bands in their prime. However, he also painted a vividly grotesque portrait of Arizona during the Reagan '80s and his own teenage experience in trying to navigate reactionary politics, fried food, and screaming rock stars.

We ended up with more images and stories than we could fit in print -- so enjoy this look and oral history-style read from Gregg Turkington (who performs tonight at Crescent Ballroom as Neil Hamburger).

See also:

Before He Was Neil Hamburger, Gregg Turkington Was Part of the '80s AZ Punk Scene
Five Neil Hamburger Jokes to Tell at Your Own Risk
Neil Hamburger's Advice to the Youth of Tempe in Video

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In this week's issue, we chat with with former Grateful Dead and current Furthur guitarist Bob Weir. We ended up with more material than we could fit, so please enjoy another installment of Outtakes, where we sweep up all sorts of good stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor.

Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir infrequently provides interviews, but when he does, he goes for it, opening up with honest and insightful answers. I spoke with Weir about his upcoming solo tour (featuring a set with guitarist Jackie Greene), life in the Grateful Dead and post-Grateful Dead bands, including Ratdog and Furthur, carrying on Jerry Garcia's legacy by bringing back his songs, and mountain biking near his home in Marin.

See also:

Bob Weir Is Still Painting Cinematic Scenes

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See also: Metal Band Vektor Goes Back to the Future

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In this week's issue, we speak with Frank Chin, bassist for former Tempe-based sci-fi metal thrash band Vektor, about the band's recent move to Philadelphia. The quartet may still be settling into their new surroundings, but that doesn't mean they've given up those late-night Filiberto-type cravings. We ended up with more material than we could fit, so please enjoy another installment of Outtakes, where we sweep up all sorts of good stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor.

Vektor bassist Frank Chin has experienced first hand the extent of Philadelphia's "Brotherly Love" motto while skateboarding the city he now calls home.

When talking about the reactions he and the guys have gotten from the locals once they find out they're a thrash metal band from the Grand Canyon State, he recalls a funny story about a run-in at what he thinks is a late-night Mexican food spot.

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Mo Neuharth

Michelle Blades

See also: Songwriter Michelle Blades Walks a Tightrope
See also: Michelle Blades Streams Album, Mariana

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In this week's issue, we discuss Valley singer/songwriter Michelle Blades and her delicate balance between riot grrrl verve and orchestral grandeur. We ended up with more material than we could fit in print, so please enjoy another installment of Outtakes, where we sweep up all sorts of good stuff that ended up on the cutting-room floor.

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Talking with soon-departing Valley songwriter Michelle Blades, it was easy to structure our conversation chronologically, beginning with her burgeoning days in the coffee house open mic circuit and continuing through her multiple albums and side-projects. However, Blades' musical CV is so extensive, there wasn't quite enough to room to include our discussion of the last bit of work she accomplished before moving away from Phoenix: a collaborative electro-ambient record with Tempe dreamscape crafters Scenery called &.

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Courtesy Torbjörn_Axelman

Lee Hazlewood and Torbjörn Axelman

See also: Improbable Lee: Lee Hazlewood Re-Issues Chart an Unexpected Trajectory
See also: John Dixon Discusses the Lee Hazlewood-produced "The Fool," by Sanford Clark, 1956
See also: 100 Songs That Defined Arizona

In this week's issue, we cover the psychedelic trajectory that brought songwriter/producer/vocalist Lee Hazlewood from Arizona to Sweden. We ended up with more material than we could fit, so please enjoy another installment of Outtakes, where we sweep up all sorts of good stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor.

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Wyndam Wallace doesn't quite feel comfortable calling himself Lee Hazlewood's "manager."

But for lack a better term, Wallace, a congenial English gentleman in the most generous sense, "managing" the legendary songwriter/producer/vocalist is exactly what Wallace did from 1999-2007, when Hazlewood passed away from renal cancer.

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See also: Alice Cooper's Ode to Teenage Rebellion Hits Middle Age
See also: Alice Cooper, Rob Halford, The Tubes, Brian "Head" Welch at Welcome 2 My Pudding
See also: Alice Cooper: No More Mr. Bad Guy

In this week's issue, we speak with Alice Cooper about the 40th anniversary of his signature ode to teenage rebellion, "School's Out."

"I've never had a song or heard of any song that's had as much impact on kids," Cooper says. "That song is everybody's national anthem. From presidents of the United States to movie stars to guys you would look at in an airport and think were the furthest thing away from rock 'n' roll, they would come up to me and go, ''School's Out' got me through school.'"

Of course, fans of Cooper's syndicated radio show Nights With Alice Cooper know the man likes to talk, so we ran up with more than we could fit into this week's feature. So read on for our collection of Alice Cooper "outtakes."

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Tokoloshe Records

Kongos

See also: Kongos are Huge in South Africa. Is Phoenix Next?
See also: The Serene Dominic Show: Kongos Tear it Up

Back and forth banter that didn't find its way in this week's New Times article on Kongos finds its way to you now, courtesy of Up On the Sun.

Among the topics open for discussion: sweaty ceilings, South Africa race relations, Enrique Inglesias. Wait...Enrique Inglesias?

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