A question: what's the perfect environment to make an album in? Here are a couple of choices. No 1: You're a new British band; you've been on the covers of the music press dozens of times in the space of a year, and your first album's just sold more than 1 million copies. Pressure? What pressure? (Well, quite a bit, actually.) No 2: You're a British band, Keane, Coldplay, James Blunt and others are at the top of the charts, your second album went platinum, but the media glare is on other groups now. Do you panic? Or do you make the record you've always wanted to make? Starsailor have dealt with both these scenarios. They didn't much enjoy the first, but they absolutely loved the second. And when you cue up their impassioned new album, On...
Forget what you think you know about Sugarcult. The Los Angeles, California-based quartet’s third album, Lights Out, is a modern rock revelation - and the band’s finest release to date. “This is a wake-up”, lead singer Tim Pagnotta screams on the album’s opening track. Yes indeed. Welcome to the new world of Sugarcult. Lights Out reveals the evolved sound & vision of an inspired band hitting their prime. A band that has, somewhat quietly, already sold close to a million albums worldwide (over 700,000 in the US alone) with their first two releases Start Static (2001) and Palm Trees And Power Lines (2004). “Start Static was our primal scream and Palm Trees was our coming of age; Lights Out is our turning point,” explain...
On The Road with a.c. cotton This is not a tour diary. Think of it more like a semi-literate stopover on a cross-country tour by a band that knows its and America's heart in ways both sad and sublime. Alan Charing doesn't mind his band, a.c. cotton, being compared with the likes of Dylan, The Band, and Neil Young. In fact, he feels that if you are going to invite comparison, aiming for the top is the way to go. Plus, says Charing, "People always to compare you to what they can relate to." That kind of honesty and wry humor characterizes a.c.cotton, as well as Charing's other efforts. Band's one can relate to is a scarce commodity these days; if you're not eleven, can you relate to My Chemical Romance, or does Green Day speak to your poli...
Aren't We All Really Just; Robots In Disguise? The sauntering enchantresses of Sue Denim and Dee Plume, via their recent RID album, have managed to combine dark humour and punchy provocation shrouded in cosmopolitan delivery. Appearances on The Mighty Boosh and the honour of controlling the after-show festivities for the show's recent tour of homely venues, has helped Robots In Disguise spread their lofty electro-based sound to a wide ranging audience. The strong minded and talented pair of expansive musicians, kindly take time out to reveal what programmes Robots In Disguise to do the things they do and, be the way are. 1. Your debut album 'RID' throws artists like Gainsbourg, Ladytron, Client and Blondie into a shot glass and set...
Anyone who has met NQ Arbuckle knows that he wears his heart like a red wet spot on a crisp white shirt. They also know he'll say it's just ketchup. His music, on the other hand, never dismisses lightly, where the greatest moments exist in the smallest of events: a casual glance becomes a confession of love; a glass of beer at the bar an act of forgiveness. From the stage he cheerfully passes out pieces of his heart like hors d'oeuvres, offering up tales of heroism, the protagonist victoriously skulks home on his bicycle after an off-handed gilt by a pretty girl at the wedding party. NQ Arbuckle is the "origin" in "original": he heeds tradition but remains true to his story. He is one of the greatest balladeers of our time backed by some...
“That weird smell in the air when you somehow get outside in the morning of the harsh sun is baking the night off of the concrete. It makes you feel as if you’ve been missing something, and of course you have. One wonders how many experiences one will miss during their short time on earth just by doing what they would normally do everyday. There is almost always somewhere that you’d rather be, whether you know it or even think it’s possible or not. I think I’ll sleep on the roof tonight. When I was a kid, I would bring my guitar, my radio, and a couple of pillows up there and watch packs of coyotes invade the neighbor’s backyards chasing rabbits. There is always so much more going on, even right next to p...
A military-base-colored 1989 Ford Club Wagon rounds the soft corner at the foot of Griffith Park in Los Angeles: Steely Dan on the stereo; Comets On Fire vocalist/guitarist Ethan Miller at the wheel. Bassist Ben Flashman, guitarist Ben Chasny, Echo Electronics wizard Noel Von Harmonson and drummer Utrillo (pronounced oo-Tree-oh) Kushner in the back. A 12-pack of (regrettably) Republican beer stashed behind the seat. Kushner produces a magnum of Russian red from his rucksack. In an impressive display of prestidigitation, half of it disappears down his neck almost instantly. "Dude, is that a DILF?" The Comets are high above the Griffith Park Observatory now, within Jai Alai-chucking distance of the Hollywood sign. Kushner's pants are a...
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in The Flag and carrying The Cross." --Sinclair Lewis Envision the United States as governed by a fascist Christian state, and then focus on the need (and means) to escape. The Thermals did just that and out came The Body, The Blood, The Machine. If you're not invited to the party, you’d better start your own… The Thermals’ third full-length album was recorded at Supernatural Sound Studios in Oregon City, twenty miles south of their home base in Portland, OR, by Fugazi’s Brendan Canty. Having already recorded The Thermals live, (the exclusive track "Welcome to the Planet" for the Portla...
With the March 20th release of his seventh studio album, the double-disc Both Sides of the Gun, Ben Harper offers his signature mix of rock, soul, and folk music, while also venturing into new territory. "I was hoping I could come back to the root of my earlier records, the sparseness and intimacy," he says, "and also branch out further in a produced sound than ever before." From the blazing Curtis Mayfield/Stevie Wonder-style funk of "Black Rain" to the gentle sway of "Morning Yearning" to the full-on power ballad "Waiting for You," the eighteen songs on Both Sides reveal a master stylist at the peak of his game. Harper says that what was most exciting about the sessions for this album was a newfound sense of "absolute fearlessness - j...
Chris Boehk - drums Mark Boyd - bass David Denosowicz - guitar/vocals Tina Lockwood - guitar/vocals The Search for Saturnalia hail from Austin, TX; the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world. Members David Denosowicz, Tina Lockwood, Chris Boehk, and Mark Boyd have been showing Austin how it is done one step at a time for over two years. In a never-ending sea of fledgling musicians, The Search for Saturnalia have managed to stand out time and time again. The Austin Chronicle gave them 3 out of 4 stars and said of their first release: The Search for Saturnalia combine a few six-string cues from Daydream Nation era Sonic Youth with a D.C. punk dynamic to create a promising strain of soul-stirring noise. Then, just when the press...
Jon Bunch - Vocals Chris Evenson - Guitar, Keyboards Rob Pfeiffer - Drums John Stockberger - Bass Sense Field finally tasted success and flirted with normalcy after the 2001 release of Tonight and Forever on Nettwerk, the band's first stable home in years. The song 'Save Yourself' made it to the soundtrack of the TV show Roswell, brought the band into the late night TV circuit and onto the radio, while worldwide touring helped reach Sense Field's ever-loyal fan base. The band had endured. They'd pioneered heart-on-their-sleeves rock in the mid-'90s only to get mired in label unpleasantness that even their fans followed like a soap opera. Now came the fun part: Making the next record. Living Outside, Sense Field's fourth studio a...
Kevin Kirkwood – Vocals / Lyricist Dallas Perry – Guitar Dalton Humphreys – Bass Ben Holt - Drums “It’s about persistence,� says Kevin Kirkwood. “We’ve been through so much – personnel changes, car crashes, the deaths of family and friends, but we still press on. Like Velcro, we endure, and like a parade, we always move forward.� Lead singer for Seven Channels, Kirkwood is talking about “Velcro Parade,� one of the debut album’s tracks – and summing up the spirit of this remarkable band. Guitarist Dallas Perry joins in: “We think of our music as the dark side of pop – there’s sometimes a serious, brooding quality to it, but our ...
As Toronto post-hardcore veterans SILVERSTEIN ready themselves to co-headline the tenth anniversary of The Take Action Tour (kicking off April 22nd in Boston), anticipation behind the band's fifth studio album, RESCUE, continues to build. Backed by new label Hopeless Records, Rescue hits streets on April 26th, but excited fans can get a taste of the new album by streaming "Intervention" exclusively at RevolverMag.com: http://goo.gl/KBrdN. Following the co-headlining run with Bayside on the Take Action Tour, with support from Polar Bear Club, The Swellers and Texas In July, Silverstein head to Europe for world renowned festivals such as Rock Im Park/Rock Am Ring Festivals in Germany, Greenfield Festival...
Reprazent is a collective. Roni Size is the force that drives it, but it's the combination of distinct personalities, eccentricities and musical approaches that make it work. Each member is a creator in their own right. The producers: Roni, Krust, Suv and Die. The emcee: Dynamite. The vocalist: Onallee. And musicians: bassist Si John and drummer Rob Merrill. The visionary and primary energy source, Roni is utterly focused on his mission to spread the gospel of new music. Krust is the rottweiler (self-proclaimed) - bigger, louder and possibly more dangerous. Die is the joker, the games and tricks man, and he plays with sounds the same way. Suv is shadowy, a quiet storm. And Dynamite is the original soldier - rocking the mic for days, hypi...
Skindive's sound hits the listener like a slap in the face, a moment of shock that subsides slowly, giving way to a delicious, lingering sting and a rosy-pink burn. Visceral immediacy brands the music of composer / songwriter / guitarist Gerry Owens, yet the thirteen tracks of the Dublin quartet's eponymous Palm debut boast an astonishingly longevous emotional shelf-life too. Anchoring incendiary guitars and dramatic vocals with chugging machinery and thundering drums, Skindive unleashes dark, propulsive grooves, offset by string-laden orchestrations that enhance the album's cinematic ambience. "Songs like 'Skindive,' 'No More Good Guys,' and 'Space Age Lullaby,' are all heavily reminiscent of film soundtracks," concurs Owens, who grew u...
Born in a small garage in Marshall, Michigan, Small Brown Bike set out to absorb the influences of the greatest, rawest American punk bands of the past 10 years, and then reached inside themselves to make their own music that's personal, fresh, compelling, exciting, unpredictable, and ultimately, right on the money. Several years later, with two full-length records on Gainesville, Florida's No Idea Records, Small Brown Bike received the highest praise from U.K. and regional Michigan press alike (see above). From 5 out of 5 stars in Kerrang, to sold-out shows at Gilman St. in Berkeley, Small Brown Bike has exploded onto a jaded punk scene and awakened new excitement and interest from fans and critics alike. In 1997, two brothers (Ben and ...
"Whenever we go anywhere new, we're like kids in a huge empty house. We want explore all these big spaces, climb into the attic and rake among boxes and get down into the basement and find the stuff that has been stashed away. For us the world could never be too big"¦.."? Gary Lightbody The same no frills sense of adventure informs Final Straw, Snow Patrol's third album. Already established as a heart-crushing mix of distorted British pedal rock and US alternative guitar pop on home soil, the album sees the band grow up, fill out and with some aplomb, make one of the best British records you'll hear this year. But success hasn't come easily and the Snow Patrol back-story began way back at Dundee University in 1994 when Lightbody bump...
America's historical tragedies and triumphs exert a powerful influence on its greatest songwriters. There is little surprise in that fact: God and the Devil battle it out from sea to shining sea on nearly every page of American history. But in the hands of musicians, tales from this most uncivil war are forged into potent and poetic myths: A hellhound on a blues singer's trail. Injustices mourned by a man who wears black. Hattie Carroll and the Hurricane. The despair of dust bowls and a lack of do-re-mi. Throughout his career, Jay Farrar has embraced those myths - and shaped new ones. As a founder of alternative country pioneers Uncle Tupelo, as a solo artist, and as the leader of Son Volt, his work often seeks out the ghosts of America'...
When you pick up Martina Sorbara's April 9th release, 'The Cure For Bad Deeds', and you hear the elements of jazz, folk, pop and rock on the album, you really shouldn't be too surprised by the musical variety heard there. After all, we're talking about a multi-talented artist who takes the time to make her own guitars and her own clothes, as well as her own music, which is her primary focus. Martina has very quickly gained the attention and admiration of many involved in the Canadian music industry. The 'Cure...,' produced by Jian Ghomeshi (of the successful Toronto group, Moxy Fruvous), is a fresh musical adventure ranging from the dark and beat-driven 'Bonnie & Clyde II' to the effervescent pop of 'Claudia' to the touching folk ballad ...
Jazz music has always made people dance, and the organ trio has been one of the most creatively dynamic and emotionally direct ways to dance. In 2003, Soulive (Alan Evans; drums, Neal Evans; keyboards, Eric Krasno; guitar) represents this new jazz organ trio paradigm – their self-titled third release for Blue Note Records marking a stripped-down and infectious return to roots. Recording exclusively as a trio for the first time in years, Soulive shines on the album's nine tracks, incorporating elements of soul, funk, and hip-hop. On a range of new material the group continues to push boundaries, never losing their trademark chicken-shack grittiness. The new originals on Soulive hit home, from the loping funk of album opener “...
There's an old rock and roll legend that before the band's fatal plane crash in 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd had plans to record with "rival" Neil Young. We do know that wily Canadian songwriter had offered the bunch of Jacksonville rowdies a pair of his tunes to record on the album that would've followed Skynyrd's swan song Street Survivors, but fate intervened and the band never got the chance to record the songs. In the world of rock and roll, truth and fiction often get tangled up and promptly ignored in favor of a good yarn, but it's fun to wonder "what if" Young's gnarly tunes had the full-on Southern Rock guitar bombast of Skynyrd's triple attack. But of course, if you've seen Southern Bitch, you wouldn't have to wonder what such a pairin...
"...Lil' Beethoven is not simply another Sparks album; it is a masterpiece of pop art -- part manifesto, part, vitally, a critique of pop itself, and sounding as though George Gershwin, Phillip Glass and the Mothers of Invention had sat down with Tim Burton and decided to write a musical." - The Independent Review UK As extraordinary innovators in the world of pop music for three decades, brothers Ron and Russel Mael (aka Sparks) make timeless music that continually evades categorization. Now, the upcoming stateside release of their new album, Lil' Beethoven marks Sparks' 19th album offering -- a stunning, genre-defying, nine-track opus which will once again blurs the line between musical commerce and art. Lil' Beethoven sounds unlike...
Ken Vasoli: Vocals, bass Tom Gryskiewicz: Drums Matt Watts: Guitar Mike Golla: Guitar On The Starting Line's aptly titled debut, Say It Like You Mean It, the Pennsylvania-based quartet begins where the best bands leave off—with a fully realized sound all its own. That's a rare accomplishment in itself, made all the more remarkable by the group's relatively young age. Guitarist Matt Watts is the band's "old person" at 23, while drummer Tom Gryskiewicz is 22, guitarist Mike Golla is 21, and vocalist-bassist Ken Vasoli is 18. At a time when chart tops are overridden with grown men trying to pose as kids by wearing shorts and baseball caps, The Starting Line's members are roughly the same age as their audience--and they wear ...
The Strokes announce the release date for their highly anticipated fourth album, Angles, on March 22nd via RCA records in the US, and March 21st via Rough Trade Records in the UK. A new single titled "Under Cover of Darkness," will be heard on radio starting in February. The complete track-listing for the album can be found below. More details on Angles will be released in the coming weeks, as will details for a Spring US tour.Angles is the band's first new release since 2006's First Impressions of Earth and marks the ambition of that album with the immediacy of the band's earlier albums Is This It (2001) and Room On Fire (2003). In 2010, the band returned to the road, playing and headlining major fest...
Christiane J. - Lead vocals Neil Spies - Guitar, Vocals Nick S. - Bass Bobby Alt - Drums "We're all just a moment away from completely letting ourselves go, from taking action that's going to change everything. And when we make our move, we need to do it with love. But you can't have love without chaos, because there is always going to be resistance. We're out to embrace that chaos...to turn it into music that makes a difference." Neil Spies, guitarist of the incendiary new band S.T.U.N. knows what he's talking about. And he's got the music to prove it. From the opening notes Evolution Of Energy, their potent and persuasive new Geffen Records debut album, it's abundantly clear that here is one band out to tear down the walls, break...
Deryck - guitar/vocals Cone - bass/vocals Dave - guitar/vocals Steve -drums/vocals "Well, the guys always figured rock n roll would get them girls. I always told them they were way too ugly to be interested in girls, and I was right." - Mom- SUM 41 The boys of SUM 41 are a veritable tossed salad, a smorgasbord, and a spam if you will, of the music that drives today's youth. Punk rock, hip hop and skate rock are like butter on toast to these leaders of the new school. With pounding guitar riffs, drum beats that make your ears quake, and voices comparable only to that of a choir of angels- a choir of Hell's Angels- SUM 41 are the new breed of hardcore. Fast and filthy SUM 41 rise to a new low in quality street music. After playin...
Bio courtesy of Arena Rock Recording Co Superdrag bolted from the lumbering shadows of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium in 1993 in a beat-to-shit tour van with some ballsy aspirations: they wanted to be the next Beatles. They already possessed the sugar sweet hooks and hummable melodies, and they even had the boots and suits and mop-top do's to complete the package. But nine years and three albums of pop-rock pyrotechnics later, they've figured out it's a lot easier just throwing on a pair of ratty blue jeans, plugging in the guitar and just being Superdrag...one of the best goddamned rock bands on the planet. That's Rock, folks. With a capital "R." An endangered species on an FM dial infected with silicone sirens and NAMBLA pinups. ...
October 10, 2003 (Vancouver, BC) - Swollen Members have captured the imagination of the global hip-hop underground. With Heavy, their highly anticipated fourth full-length release, Swollen Members are fully prepped to launch into untold commercial success. For the last five years, Swollen Members have played an important role in the evolving face of Canadian music - from their raw beginnings of their 1999 debut Balance, to the critically acclaimed Bad Dreams and the polished sound of 2002’s Monsters In the Closet. Along with scoring a Juno Award for each of these groundbreaking albums and scooping up six MuchMusic Video Awards, Swollen Members have sold hundreds of thousands of albums while blazing new trails with their rare and r...
Thrills who? You don't know about The Thrills? Here, in no particular order, are five remarkable things they've already done: 1. Played their debut London show at the Royal Albert Hall, after a personal invitation from Morrissey. 2. Followed their muse to a beach in San Diego, where they sat on a sofa for four months, writing songs. 3. Told their parents they had a record deal and were about to become famous. For a year. When they didn't. 4. Chosen the coolest band name going – inspired in equal parts by Phil Spector's Sixties girl groups and Michael Jackson's greatest LP. 5. Sparked a record company scrum, designed the best band T-shirt you'll see this year, been tipped the nod from everyone from Noel Gallagher to Ch...
Origin - Kevin Allen, Neil Busch, Conrad Keely and Jason Reece grew up in the small Christian community of Planoe, Texas (not to be confused with Plano, the suburb of Dallas) - a place more known for cattle ranches and it's single corner grocer than for it's music.The four boys grew up in close proximity; Conrad, Neil and Jason attended the same Sunday school at the Planoe Anabaptist Ministry (Kevin's parents were Presbyterian). The four shared an interest in the sciences and literature, but also shared a love of singing. In Junior High they joined the church choir where they competed internationally in vocal ensemble competitions (Planoe Methodist Choir won the National Boys Choir Award in 1983).During college the four lost ...
