Although extremely similar in membership and musical output, All is often considered the slightly less-talented sibling of the Descendents — the punk equivalent of Jermaine Jackson. If that were the case, then Wretch Like Me, which featured only one Descendent (guitarist Stephen Egerton), would be LaToya. Fortunately, both bands rendered Jackson-family analogies obsolete on Wednesday night by delivering blistering, high-energy…
Jam bands are an interesting phenomenon. To those on the outside, the music is a tedious exercise in mostly pointless noodling, but those on the inside hear a rich musical tapestry, rife with riffs that make a nod to the past and give clues to the action ahead. With a set that started with the Yank Rachell classic “She…
Gwen Stefani, the wondrous and intriguing lead singer of No Doubt, must be rethinking her bold pink-haired fashion statement. Seemingly every other young woman at Sandstone on Thursday night sported pink-hued tresses, as if they’d joined the cult of Gwen. Hot Topic’s shelves had been emptied of bottled dye and body glitter, making Stefani just a girl in the…
Two summers ago, the serene waterside environment known as Burcham Park was invaded by extreme-sports enthusiasts and such high-velocity punk groups as Pennywise and Sick of It All. Unfortunately, the Warped Tour has left Lawrence off its itinerary, but an even more incendiary festival has taken its place. Tattoo the Earth derives its name from the world-famous body-artists and piercing…
Show Us Your …The quality of stage banter has dropped to an all-time low, somewhere between the script for the average UPN comedy and a monologue on race relations delivered by John Rocker or Reggie White. On-stage declarations range from shameless baiting for applause (“Do you guys like to smoke the weed?”) to faux-rebellious expressions of disdain for pop-culture…
Point: Jim Rippee’s vocals waver between rhythmic pseudo-rap, à la the Barenaked Ladies’ hit “One Week,” and earnest alt-rock emoting in the manner of Ed Kowalczyk from Live. Counterpoint: Despite these comparatively modern vocal influences, Rippee performs acoustic power ballads in the vein of Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” Although he does rock out on the uptempo “Wildcat Brainiac”…
For every band to emerge from the area playing Limp Bizkit-style thrash/rap, there are at least two that play what, given the genre’s relatively short history, qualifies as old-school. This offshoot blends the funk and ska influences of 311 with choruses that get loud but not low, as such groups as Magik Rub eschew floor-scraping new metal tunings. A few…
When I was a youngster, a cousin of mine worked in one of those radio stations with a name like “Star” or “Magic” or “Kool” — a station much like many that I now loathe. Her job was mostly insignificant to me, except for the times when she would bring home free posters and T-shirts (thus beginning my lifelong affinity…
On its terrifically polished debut effort, Kansas City’s Moaning Lisa provides slow to midtempo rock songs filled with a barrage of emotional imagery — a sound that should be familiar to listeners who’ve been overexposed to pop music since the early ’80s. Wonderful features instruments fading in and out, making room for soft-spoken, high-pitched vocals, perfect three-part harmonies, and layers…
The last name Coltrane is virtually synonymous with experimental jazz, and so it seems certain that tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane will spend his entire career being compared to his father, John. The younger Coltrane has a distinctly different, more approachable style, though, and seems destined to carve out a respectable career of his own. Unfortunately, this album is not the…
Sometimes critics will compare newer artists to more established ones as a means of dismissing or insulting them. But when comparing the new band Arid to singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, the assessment is meant strictly as a compliment. Arid singer Jasper Steverlinck captures the delicate but soul-yanking delivery of the late Buckley. Musically, the band is more straightforward than Buckley’s trio…
Distill Life”I’ve been running around like a fucking idiot,” The Distillers singer Brody Armstrong says between gaping inhalations. Her band starts its first headlining tour in two days, and Armstrong has, by her estimation, “five hours to do 10 million things.” She’s at the Epitaph Records office in Los Angeles (The Distillers’ label, Hellcat, is an offshoot of Epitaph), attempting…
“What are you, a fucking hippie?” Paul Kantner asks playfully but crisply. It’s 12:32 p.m.; this telephone interview, one of several he will do today, has begun two minutes behind schedule. At 58, the songwriter and singer sounds like actor Jason Robards: spry, a little crusty, cunningly jocular. A founder of Jefferson Airplane and the prime mover behind most…
So when was the last time you shared a woman with your dad? No, not your mom — don’t be gross. You know, just some woman that you and your dad both dug and who perked you up a bit. It’s probably been awhile, huh? What? Never? Really? Well, that may be why Peter Greenaway gets to make such…
It has taken moviemakers and, more crucially, foot-dragging movie investors, almost a decade to catch up with rave culture — the heady mix of secret warehouses, electronic music, designer drugs, and ecstatic dancing that has come to define the yearning and the restlessness of a generation. But now, the 5 a.m. faithful and curious onlookers alike are getting two…
Exposition has always hindered superhero movies. A film about a lawyer doesn’t have to explain how or why the character became an attorney. A cop flick doesn’t need to show its hero going through the police academy. But comic book adaptations always feature an origin — one that inevitably bogs down the story like quicksand. Superman wasted a half…
The Agony and the Ecstasy I’m 21 years old and grew up in Plattsburg, Missouri, where I lived until I went off to college. I’m currently studying abroad in Maastricht, Netherlands, for five months. Because I’m heading back to KC for the summer, I figured I ought to catch up a bit with what was going down at home so…
Bird droppings: We are cheered by reports that the pink, purple, and gilt-covered giant plastic flamingo northeast of downtown Kansas City will soon be gone. On June 13, Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. finally bought the Flamingo Casino from Hilton Hotels Corp., which had been trying to unload the albatross since late 1998 — under threat of losing its gaming…
Overland Park may soon hear a giant sucking sound: Sprint going the way of Hoechst Marion Roussel. Sprint was the hometown phone company, a Fortune 500 big business that showered the town with charity fundraising sponsorships and lent its weight to such civic projects as restoring Union Station. Sprint employees were all around us, the good guys, building a billion…
Did you hear the news? Kansas City is a “hassle-free” town. Lee Jones, a 48-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, high school dropout and Vietnam veteran, has worked the past 18 years as a welder. Though Jones says he made “good” money — about $17 an hour — at his most recent job, his chances for career advancement and better pay in…
TISHA JACKSON WAS SCARED, AND SHE KNEW ONE THING: She had to get out of Independence. One balmy night in June 1993, she and her mom sat up talking, smoking cigarettes, and looking at maps, carefully planning a route out west. At midnight they started packing Tisha’s car full of everything she would need to set up a new household,…
Any place that calls itself The Big Biscuit better live up to its name. And in terms of size, this Independence restaurant certainly delivers: The biscuits at The Big Biscuit are more than 4 inches across and nearly 2 inches high. They’re bigger — but they could be better. These biscuits are crumbly, breadlike affairs, a shade too dry and…
6 Thursday For years Paul Mesner Puppets has entertained children with clean-cut puppetness. However, the folks who are constantly doing their hand job are descending into the world of juvenile humor as the strings of the little wooden beings slip slightly over their shoulders. Yes, Mesner’s creations will sway from the rafters of “Rated G” to “Gee, I didn’t know…
“Now that’s civilized!” is a phrase Right Guard deodorant commercials touted for years. America’s burliest and seemingly most archaic male athletes would stand in freshly starched tuxedos with a solid stick or roll-on in hand as a beacon of some greater olfactory hope. Now smell this: Six years ago, the United Nation of Islam (UNOI) quietly moved into the Quindaro…
