Local Review: Never Never – EP + LP

Local Review: Never Never – EP + LP
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Never Never EP + LP NN = My Chemical Romance + Cathedral The vocals of Never Never are the metal equivalent of screamo—one minute (or at least half of the record) is intimate-disturbing-melodic crooning, the next is guttural screams. It’s a catch-22 because during the quiet parts are the only times that you can understand the

Street Punk Gone Rock Star: Clit 45 show review

Street Punk Gone Rock Star: Clit 45 show review
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The show, as it has always been with the Lower Class Brats, was awesome. Besides the security guards sniffing around for disorderly skinheads that tried to start a brawl at the last LCB show (supposedly protecting a kid from being beat up by the large bassist of LCB), the concert held on the Sabbath was unusually large, and full of pissed, though content, punk-rockers. … read more

Bloc Party show review

Bloc Party show review
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Being labeled “the best” of just about anything is as much a curse as it is a blessing.  So when a reckless journalist labeled Bloc Party the best new band in the UK, they might as well have thrown in a first-aid kit for all the bruising that the band had waiting for them. It’s hard to see past all the hyperbole and look for potential, even when you consider yourself a sympathetic fan. … read more

Out of the Coffin: Kim Nekroman Resurrects the Nekromantix

Out of the Coffin: Kim Nekroman Resurrects the Nekromantix
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… and Carries On with the Horrorpops The Nekromantix’ Kim Nekroman, with his homemade coffin bass, stayed at the forefront of the European psychobilly scene for almost 16 years, until the band’s relocation to L.A. With his wife Patricia on upright bass, he picked up the guitar and formed the Horrorpops, who tread all over

Sample Jack: An Interview with Meat Beat Manifesto

Sample Jack: An Interview with Meat Beat Manifesto
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It was around 1990 when I was staying up late on Sunday nights to watch 120 Minutes on MTV when Meat Beat Manifesto first grabbed my attention. The video to “Psyche-Out” came on. I was touched with the finest electronic music that aided in my discovery of the Wax Trax musicians. I began scrawling “Meat

When You Wish Upon A Star: An Interview with Ethan Miller of Comets on Fire

When You Wish Upon A Star: An Interview with Ethan...
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While researching previous Comets on Fire interviews in preparation for my own, I came across a word several times that I think adequately describes the direction or aesthetic of this band: organic. When I first read that word, and several times thereafter, I was curious how, or why, organic. Was it provincial? Was their sound

Versified Street Life Reinventing Bar Rock Hype: Interview with The Hold Steady

Versified Street Life Reinventing Bar Rock Hype: Interview with The...
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I was doing a lot of drugs when I first heard the Hold Steady’s debut release, Almost Killed Me, in January 2004, and I was enraptured. I thought, “These guys are brilliant, they live the crazy drug lifestyle and use their experiences to produce this unbelievable art that people like me can really relate to.

Localized – June 2005

Localized – June 2005
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Localized is a monthly showcase of local bands on the second Friday of every month at the Urban Lounge. This month we bring you the perilously odd combination of a death metal band playing with a Christian hardcore band and Gaza. … read more

Local Review: The Second Opinion – Flesh Except Dust

Local Review: The Second Opinion – Flesh Except Dust
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The Second Opinion Flesh Except Dust Second Opinion = Mayhem + Burzum + Aodl + Ramsses + Skullflowers I think with a name like Second Opinion, I was expecting West Valley nü-metal crap trying to redeem itself with second-rate female vocals. O how far from the truth. Open your arms to chilling industrial/noise that seems

Local Review: Drew Danburry – Besides

Local Review: Drew Danburry – Besides
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Drew Danburry Besides … Drew Danburry = Elliott Smith + Bright Eyes Drew Danburry vulnerable, naked-heart-on-the-sleeve, psychologically-helpless indie-rock folk spillings—it’s not bad, alright? But the song titles are the best part: “It Starts With Indigo, Orange and Green,” “It Ends with Red, Violet and Orange,” “Coming Around Like the Karate Kid.” It’s best when Drew