Experimental theater groups like Princess Squid and, back after a lengthy absence, Evaporated Milk Society, often perform as if they’re playing to the MTV audience — cramming a lot of material into a short span, with scenes and ideas coming at you at breakneck speed. That can be a good thing. But in the case of Evaporated Milk Society’s…
If a kid were to plug that in, it would just shock the shit out of him,” Randy Regier warns. He’s talking about his “Shokor X-7,” a cylindrical metal robot wired with a 110-volt electrical cord. The Shokor’s packaging promises that it “Stands and Falls Down” and emits a “Real Screaming Sound” (which no doubt comes from the unfortunate…
Two little words can simultaneously force adolescent girls into a squealing frenzy and send music snobs scurrying for the lifeboats. The “pop punk” label can also sound the death knell for any band hoping to garner respect from stoics who peddle in street cred. But there’s no way around describing A Date With Destiny as pop-punk. The Elmer’s Glue guitars….
I wanted to hate these guys the moment I laid eyes on White Leather’s back cover, which depicts two of the Milwaukee trio’s members dressed in, you guessed it, white leather. Not that there’s anything unusually offensive about the image. It just seemed … contrived. So I expected White Leather to sound contrived. Ah, but first impressions aren’t always correct,…
Juvenile wasn’t the best rapper to come out of the Cash Money clique, but he was easily the most charismatic, possessing a gravelly voice that dripped with the flavor of New Orleans. Propelled by Mannie Fresh’s effervescent production, Juvenile’s inimitable vocals were the driving force behind most of Cash Money’s big hits, including his signature solo tunes, “Ha” and “Back…
If you’re going to make an album to encapsulate the terrifying psychedelia of the ’70s, this is the way to do it. Spirit Stereo Frequency starts strong and ends strange amid an odd blend of distorted sound effects. And though All Night Radio’s full-length debut is well-crafted, it’s also filled with the kind of foreboding music that could send someone…
The title’s a misnomer. The once-prolific hero trickles instead of floods these days, and his insistence that he is compelled toward the godless songcraft that made him a star is no less goofy than his insistence that “Call Me” was really about Jesus all along. Consequently, I Can’t Stop is more workmanlike than inspired. But it nonetheless comes together nicely,…
There is an infamous live performance in which ill-fated Sex Pistol Sid Vicious mutters and stumbles his way through an off-key version of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” The same aura of unraveling permeates Courtney Love’s solo debut, the oft-delayed America’s Sweetheart. Gone are Love’s glossy vocals from Celebrity Skin and the snarling anguish of Hole’s Live Through This. Instead there…
Back in 2000, Buddy Lush Phenomenon’s guitarist J. Paul told the Pitch, “You play less, and you really enjoy it a hell of a lot more.” If that’s the case, Paul should have a ball at this gig, because his group has vanished from local club calendars. But unlike, say, weekly swing nights, this gritty trio can return from its…
Grammy voters might nominate Slayer and Nashville Pussy, but you never get to see the riffraff in formal finery or hear their uncouth “show us your tits, Celine Dion” acceptance speeches, because the hard-rock awards rank in the “earlier today” off-camera category. Heavyfrequency.com, however, ensures that the heaviest of local heavies can celebrate in style, clutching a trophy in…
Ah, the Mountain Goats. Our guilty pleasure since 1997. We were living in France, sitting in a hippie’s attic apartment, when we first listened to a Mountain Goats tape as we tried to figure out how to get to a market near Montmartre. Does this personal tale set in a foreign land smack of irrelevance? Then you have never heard…
Remember the last time a Lou Barlow-blessed project received barrels of slobbering kudos for its lo-fi perfection? Yeah, me neither. Particularly after the dreadful, sludgy dirges populating the most recent New Folk Explosion album. In fact, if the high-quality tunes crafted for Alaska (the side project of Barlow’s NFI henchmen Russell Pollard and Imaad Wasif) are any indication, Pollard and…
Being called the heir to the zydeco throne is quite a compliment. Granted, the line isn’t that long, and nobody really knows who the hell sits there now. But it’s a compliment anyway, even if it did come from Billboard magazine. C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band need answer to no man. The group has become semifamous on…
Drummers take note — it isn’t just Dave Grohl stepping out from behind the skins. Coco Montoya began his career as a drummer for Albert Collins. And after learning blues guitar from Collins in motel rooms while on tour, Montoya was swooped up by John Mayall for a tour (or, rather, several dozen tours) with his Bluesbreakers. But unlike a…
If you ever loved Primus, you’ll want to climb the highest peak (which, admittedly, isn’t that high around here), hop on one leg and yell “Eureka!” at the top of your lungs, because after lengthy turmoil and exile in side-projectdom, the original lineup has reunited. And with shows on the current Tour de Fromage reportedly clocking in at more than…
In how many lands can a band be banned if a band can be banned in a land? At least four: Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Germany. Each country has forbidden Cannibal Corpse at one time or another in reward for the band’s complete lack of subtlety, to say nothing of etiquette. We’re talking about a group that tilts…
Van Morrison fans have borne children. They’ve watched those children become Van fans and then watched as those kids had kids. All the while, the elusive Irishman has stayed away from Kansas City. But sometimes “Into the Mystic” is the only song that’ll kink the cord and keep the children coming, and that’s where the Dan Doran Band comes in….
Hayden Christensen would make a good sex slave. Don’t look at me — Rufus Wainwright said it. “I loooove Hayden Christensen,” Wainwright cooed during a recent phone interview with the Pitch. Fair enough. But young Wainwright still had plenty of other things to say when he wasn’t discussing what to do with Anakin Skywalker’s light saber. The singer-songwriter expounded on…
The Prairie Dogg has only a few minutes to find the dirt on Playboy, Popeyes chicken and Harry Potter with Ludacris. Starting … now! PD: Boxers or briefs? L: Boxers, definitely. Playboy or Penthouse? Playboy. KFC or Popeyes? Popeyes. Breasts or thighs? Breasts. Heineken or Corona? Corona. Pepsi or Coke? Coke. South Park or The Simpsons? South Park. American Idol…
Salvation lies within a Holiday Inn. At least that’s where I found it. At a sprawling, isolated motel just off the Kansas Turnpike in Lawrence. I came seeking refuge from the nightly riff-raff, from the sordid drunks, lewd men and loose women lurking in the shadows of smoky bars and seedy clubs in the wee hours. Those were usually my…
It must have been a trap. It was like locking Rush Limbaugh inside a pharmacy or hiring R. Kelly to be the night watchman for Sister Chastity’s School For Preteen Supermodels. It isn’t often that three cherries align in my mind’s slot machine. But there it was. Ding! Ding! Ding! Twelve original tracks performed by stars of World Wrestling Entertainment…
It’s dangerous to judge a book — or a band — by its title, but the name Super Furry Animals definitely doesn’t conjure a group that would churn out death-metal grindcore or even win a fight with a Care Bear. Rather, the Wales quintet’s tunes complement its moniker with harmonic sunshine, techno tweaking and psychedelic-rock rainbows, whether they’re sung entirely…
Seldom has Gene Hackman garnered sustained laughter in films billed as comedies. He’s wondrous at playing virtuous or wicked, paternal or pissed off, but he’s never quite comfortable in the role of comedian. There are delightful exceptions: Among the willful eccentrics in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, Hackman’s malingering patriarch drew broad grins by being the most recognizably human character…
= It is so very nice when a movie completely outstrips the expectations conjured by its trailer, as is the case with The Dreamers. At first blush, this tale of three passionate youths caught up in the late-’60s Parisian countercultural revolution looked downright trite. Never mind that veteran director Bernardo Bertolucci was in charge. All available clues pointed to a…
