You know the name Sunset Grill. You’ve heard those words for as long as you can remember, including in that 1984 song by Don Henley, inspired by Joe Frolich’s not-very-glamorous burger joint on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard. There’s the low-budget 1993 movie of the same name starring Peter Weller as a sleazy detective — not to be confused with a soft-core…
Lisa Sandell is folkie who strums her guitar in coffeehouses. One important distinction: The guitar rests horizontally on her lap. The self-taught player honed her acoustic, lap-style slide guitar for years before venturing into standard finger-picking, and she still favors the slide. Her debut album, Little Reason, is a live mix of traditional folk tunes and original songs with a…
Even before he dropped I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead in March, Def Jux chieftan, rapper and producer El-P recorded bromides that were stark, bruising, paranoid and confrontational. Dead takes this aesthetic to its logical next level — a dystopian nightmare well suited to murky, claustrophobic beatscapes and cluttered, chilling rhymes. Take this telling bit from “EMS”: Stolen hovercraft draggin’ a…
On Nashville Pussy’s Web site, singer-guitarist Blaine Cartwright sells his band’s lustily lowbrow Bible-belt metal as “AC/DC making out with Motorhead while Lynyrd Skynyrd watches.” Sounds like the sort of bad-vibed love-in that could turn ugly fast, but those last two words are what Nashville Pussy is all about. This Atlanta band’s tunes stock enough rat-hunting pellet-gun ammo to give…
Portugal the Man’s Waiter: “You Vultures!” blends falsetto vocals, steady rhythms, atmospheric synthesizers and chiming guitar leads, resembling an ambitious Duran Duran-Roxy Music hybrid. However, fans who arrived at the group’s February 15 Grand Emporium set expecting stylish new-wave lads, perhaps with some nerdish emo-prog leanings, instead witnessed a hirsute, high-volume juggernaut that turned the debut album’s smooth studio tracks…
Irish folksinger Damien Rice wants you to come to the show, but he doesn’t want you snapping pictures. Rice — whose beautiful, painfully taut voice and well-timed cello reinvented contemporary breakup music — is legendary for halting midsong to beg concertgoers to be fans rather than photographers. Playing Toronto in 2006, Rice even slyly changed the lyrics of “I Remember”…
“Please Remain Calm” by Cloud Cult, from The Meaning of 8 (Earthology Records): If this whole indie-rock thing doesn’t work out, Cloud Cult frontman Craig Minowa should consider launching a kids’ show or hustling will-to-power tapes. His Minnesota collective espouses positivity capable of transforming the morning drive to work from a chore into a triumph. Its newest album, The Meaning…
Two-tone torchbearers the English Beat released three legendary albums of proletariat ska-pop before disbanding in 1983 and splintering into Fine Young Cannibals and General Public. The latter featured singer-songwriter Dave Wakeling, who heads up the modern-day reincarnation of the English Beat. (Absent are Jamaican “toaster” Ranking Roger and everybody else.) Specials guitarist Lynval Golding recently joined the hard-touring group,…
Say what you will about the Killers’ so-called allegiance to New Order and Duran Duran. When Brandon Flowers tosses off lines such as The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds cut out of the sun — well, it’s all about the Boss. The Vegas-bred group owns a larger-than-life stadium racket that would make the Asbury Park camp proud. Heck, the…
“Computer Geniuses” by Joel Kraft, from Computer Geniuses: Last year, the Walkmen covered Harry Nilsson’s Pussycats in its entirety, paying homage to a thrillingly eccentric ’70s singer-songwriter. For all the affection involved in the project, it’s telling that the Walkmen’s other output bears little resemblance to Nilsson’s work. With the exception of Bright Eyes, who clearly adores Jim Croce, few…
Expect the median age in the mosh pit to be a bit older this summer. Reunions are running rampant, but if your self-defense mechanisms aren’t what they used to be, head over to Stereogum.com for “Disappear,” the first single from the upcoming Meat Puppets LP, Rise to Your Knees. The album, released by Kansas City’s Anodyne Records, hits shelves July…
Wilco’s latest album, Sky Blue Sky (out May 15), so far appears to be polarizing fans and critics alike, who either love or loathe the group’s meandering, rootsy direction. In the spirit of dialogue, here are two takes on Sky from two longtime fans — one enthusiastic and one, well, not so much. “What Light” by Wilco, from Sky Blue…
There is no better way to dismissively sum up a rock band than by labeling it “emo.” This has worked for the past six or seven years. The problem arises with the few exceptions to the rule. Green Day, for example, became full-blown “modern rock” after American Idiot. Last year, My Chemical Romance was elevated to “that emo band that…
After I wrote about local webcasters recently, folks started crying to me about the imminent death of Internet radio. Some got downright rude about the fact that I didn’t devote my entire column that week (Buckle Bunny, April 19) to the struggle to save net radio. I came to understand why. Their situation did seem pretty dire for a while….
Based on its name, we expected Korruption — the new West Bottoms watering hole — to be a Soviet-themed, “workers of the world, unite!” sort of place. After all, its bright-red MySpace page seemed to dictate that thirsty patrons needed a valid worker ID to enter. Plus, its logo is a hammer crossed with a star-embossed martini glass — commierific!…
It’s a Monday night in midtown, and Drew Gibson is already having one hell of a bad week. The high point of his day was discovering an extra $200 in his checking account that he didn’t know was there — a discovery that wouldn’t have been nearly as bittersweet if he and his girlfriend hadn’t been mugged at gunpoint…
Dear Mexican: I’m a gringa married to a mexicano, and we have a 3-year-old son. His family is wonderful for the most part, and they adore my son, but as he is getting older, his tíos are trying to “toughen him up” and make him more macho. So far, they’ve taught him how to cuss (in both languages) and flip…
Martin: “Spoils of War,” April 19 Mr. Kansas City I am writing in response to David Martin’s “Spoils of War” and the subsequent letters to the editor by Bruce Rodgers and Diane Marty. Let me tell you something, people: There is not a greater supporter of Kansas City than Carl J. DiCapo. I know that because I am his son….
The leaders of Sugar Creek are willing to trade a widow’s tears for a few bucks. On April 25, Eleanor Miller stood before the Sugar Creek Tax Increment Financing Commission and pleaded for decency. Miller’s voice cracked as she described her attachment to her home on South Sterling Avenue. “We raised eight children in that home, and my heart is…
Hey, you, nonsmokers. I’m sick and tired of hearing people bitch about smokers. I don’t mind being segregated into a smoking section, and I try very hard not to let my smoke offend a nonsmoker. But as far as complaining about what happened to your coat getting all smoky at a bar: What do people do in a bar? Hang,…
Crossroads boutique owner Peggy Noland’s threads have rocked concert halls worldwide, thanks to Lovefoxxx, of Brazilian electro-babes CSS, and Kianna Alarid, of tap-dancing darlings Tilly and the Wall. Tilly graced the cover of the style bible Women’s Wear Daily in a feature about indie fashion that was sprinkled with shout-outs to Noland. The always-fashionable Department of Burnt Ends spoke with…
Runners: Love them or hate them. They’re either sporty do-gooders who fill charity coffers with their weekend fun runs or obsessive health freaks who snarl Saturday morning traffic with parades of Nike prima donnas. Take the Hospital Hill Run, which is just about the worst day to be downtown or in midtown if you’re not wearing tiny running shorts….
When 127 people were slain in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2005, the city knew that it was time for drastic action. So it formed a commission to study the problem. Now, nearly two and a half years later, a commission formed by that commission is preparing to put a plan in motion. In October 2005, city leaders convened a…
Deep beneath the electric-green pond on Howard Ramsey’s spread near Paris, Missouri, lurks the 64-pound flathead catfish he caught last year. Still swimming 10 months after the catch, Ramsey’s quarry does not owe its continued existence to an angler’s sentimental tribute to a worthy adversary. Ramsey just has other plans for his fish. “We have in Paris every year what…
