Story Archive

Nickelback

Dark Horse

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Post-grunge modern mainstream rockers Nickelback kick off their sixth effort with what amounts to a musical sneer. “You look so much cuter with something in your mouth.” It’s the Canadian four-piece’s way of saying “suck it."

Laughs, yes. Big deals, no.

Now, when we need laughter more than ever, what role does a comedy festival play?

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Talent-wise, the stars are as big as ever at the annual Comedy Festival - Jerry Seinfeld, Dane Cook, Andrew Dice Clay and dozens more. But after four years, is the thrill gone?

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals

Cardinology

Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008

Doofy name; comfortably well-worn alt-country grooves. On the fourth album with his backing-band-turned-full-collaborators in as many years (meaning he’s actually slowing down a bit), rock’s favorite troubled troubadour finds himself settling down at long last.

Snow Patrol

A Hundred Million Suns

Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008

For an album with such a high-wattage title, the follow-up to the multiplatinum-selling Eyes Open comes off a little dim.

Ginsberg, Germans and solid gold

Afghan Raiders overcome odds with 30-minute CMJ takeover

Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008

“We’re gonna see if we can pull off the full version here,” Mikey cautions as 22 revelers go impressively batshit for apocalyptic closer “Future Thinkers.”

Escape the Fate

This War is Ours

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008

To recap: Escape the Fate has weathered significant drama in the past few years including the departure of guitarist Omar Espinosa and dismissal of singer Ronnie Radke. Now the foursome has something to prove.

More to love

Ex-Vegas pair gets serious—sorta—at New York’s CMJ fest

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008

The crowd had thinned considerably after 12 hours of music, but Sneak Attack Media showcase headliners More Amor nevertheless remained in high spirits throughout the duration of their midnight set during the kickoff of 2008’s CMJ Music Marathon in New York City Tuesday.

Rachael Yamagata

Elephants ... Teeth Sinking into Heart

Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008

There’s a thin line, most spatial-emotional experts will agree, between love and hate. On her long-delayed second album songstress Rachael Yamagata doesn’t so much straddle the divide as alternately float above and thrash wildly about below it.

Jack's Mannequin

The Glass Passenger

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008

Former Something Corporate frontman Andrew McMahon may have survived leukemia, but don’t expect him to get all sentimental about it

Up, up and away

The Higher completes “the record” it’s been aiming for

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008

It’s 5:05 p.m., and Seth Trotter just woke up. The vocalist for local R&B-tinged pop-punks The Higher can’t be faulted, however, as his band returned home from Los Angeles just yesterday upon completing its third full-length album, It’s Only Natural.

Jenny Lewis

Acid Tongue

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008

Having ditched her Rilo Kiley bandmates (albeit temporarily) and the Watson Twins—her collaborators on 2006’s otherwise-solo effort Rabbit Fur Coat—malleable indie songstress and onetime Las Vegas resident Jenny Lewis has found herself a new playgroup in an upgraded musical sandbox.

Plain White T's

Big Bad World

Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008

Seems like a lifetime’s passed since the Jason Schwartzman-bolstered Phantom Planet struck gold with starry-eyed O.C. theme song “California.”

Sipping into something comfortable

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008

He’s here, like, always. Yet Kevin Downey Jr. brings something new to the table—or rather, to the bar top—every time.

Lindsey Buckingham

Gift of Screws

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008

Yep, this is a guy who found success in and weathered the dramatics of the late ’70s/early ’80s.

The Sound of Animals Fighting

The Ocean and the Sun

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008

Shed of numerous auxiliary members yet still shrouded within their Kiss-like alter-egos (the Nightingale, the Walrus, the Lynx and the Skunk), the side project of one former and two current members of Rx Bandits, along with Circa Survive’s Anthony Green, is determined to go out big.

Chatting with Gabriel Iglesias

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008

I’m just like a bull; the doors open and I come flying out. I can pretty much be backstage, snacking on something or talking to somebody, but then come out like a bull when I’m introduced.

New Kids on the Block

The Block

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

The first time around, the Boston boy-band quintet was straight-up pop. Hit-churning, falsetto-unfurling, shriek-inducing pop. But times change, kids grow into men, savings accounts run dry and styles evolve for inevitable reunions.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

Following the oral biography "Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson" by Rolling Stone honcho Jann Wenner comes yet another project that exists precisely because the infamous journalist no longer does, having silenced his inner demons with a handgun at age 67.

Four questions with local comedy luminary Tanyalee Davis

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

There’s definitely material from this experience. I don’t have any set jokes yet; it’s basically one of those thing where I’m just going to get up, talk about what happens and see what flows out of my mouth, how the nurses acted and how not being able to wash your hair for 15 days straight is really disgusting.

Blues Traveler

North Hollywood Shootout

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

Does the hook bring you back?

David Byrne & Brian Eno

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008

The ’70s and ’80s saw Talking Heads perennially atop both critical and commercial lists, flying the new-wave flag with jittery, globally conscious pop that captured the heady times like few others.

Randy Newman

Harps and Angels

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008

Instantly familiar to anyone who’s ever watched a major motion picture in the last 35 years, Randy Newman’s mellow Southern California croon has long called to mind dependable friendships and lazy summer afternoons. But his point of view is currently far from comforted.

Rhodes to success

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008

Tom Rhodes never attended college, yet he’s a better-read and more independent thinker than any of the political blowhards polluting television with their “expertise.”

Hawthorne Heights

Fragile Future

Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008

Used to be protracted legal battles were the domain of more established artists bickering over back-catalog royalties or accounting malfeasance. Similarly, most bands don’t experience the untimely death of a member and/or a vicious feud until they’re well past their prime.

Conor Oberst

Self-titled

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Either the Omaha wunderkind has already hit his creative peak, or the contributions of his Bright Eyes cohorts Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott have long been overlooked in favor of heaping praise upon the figure at the rotating collective’s helm. That’s not to say Conor Oberst’s first wide-release solo effort is an outright disappointment; far from it.

What about Bobby?

Thursday, July 31, 2008

The overwhelming majority of comics have “a thing.” A shtick. An angle. And then there’s Bobby Collins.

Mission to Montreal

Four Las Vegas comedians hit the big Just for Laughs festival. Was it worth the trip?

Thursday, July 31, 2008

In their own words, three Vegas comics at very different levels of their respective careers, and one rabble-rousing former Vegas open-mic-er, share their experiences throughout this year’s Just for Laughs in http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcz4cmfk_110hnzpznggMontreal, the largest and most prestigious comedy festival in the Western hemisphere.

Sexyspeak with stand-up Jim Gaffigan

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The sexiest city is the city that I’m in, obviously. When it comes to balding, 40-year-old, out-of-shape guys that are very pale, I’m bringing sexy to the foreground.

Alkaline Trio

Agony & Irony

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Agony & Irony by Alkaline Trio is a fast-paced and straightforward but somewhat castrated blend of pop, emo, goth and arena rock: generic bombast that evokes mild unease and not much more.

Black Kids

Partie Traumatic

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Only two members—vocalist/guitarist Reggie Youngblood and his vocalist/keyboardist sister Ali—are technically black, and with each member well into his or her 20s, none would easily be mistaken for kids. But it’s not the semi-incendiary name alone that has had bloggers, and more recently, Columbia Records, fawning over the synth-loving fivesome’s debut full-length.

Street Dogs

State of Grace

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Making the leap from Brass Tacks to Epitaph offshoot Hellcat Records elicited nary a cry of “Sellout!,” but the move still raises expectations for the Boston quintet’s fourth LP.

Gonged but not forgotten

Behind the scenes with the Vegas contingent of Comedy Central’s revamped "Gong Show"

Thursday, July 17, 2008

“It’s too bright and shiny out there. I want it to be dark and dingy,” host Dave Attell grumbles in his debris-strewn dressing room in Stage 6 of Hollywood’s Sunset Bronson Studio. “I like bringing out the acts and giving them their moments, especially the quirkier ones, and defending them against the judges. But I think the set should read that this is not a talent show, it’s more of a bar show. It looks like a gay bank.”

In the building with “Elvis”

Lydia Vance records with famed producer Baskette

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Brendan Scholz is a man of few words. Or, more accurately, the Lydia Vance vocalist/guitarist is a man of few short-term plans.

Freaky and Fabulous

The Vegas contestants of "The Gong Show" with Dave Attell

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Las Vegas has no shortage of strange and strangely wonderful performers many of which turned out for The Gong Show try outs at V Theater in Planet Hollywood on May 13th. Meet the five locals that made the cut.

Sparkle … dim… and fade to black

Admired Vegas quartet bids farewell with Fourth of July swan song

Thursday, July 10, 2008

“It’s hard in this town because there’s a lot of competition,” muses drummer Doug De Nada. “But a lot of the people that appreciated us were critics and artists that recognize something different when they hear it.” Take, for instance, the debut of his newly defunct band, Sparkler Dims.

Phenom of funny

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Not many produce more than a few albums over the entire course of a comedy career.

The Hold Steady

Stay Positive

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Over the course of three albums, America’s best bar band has penned modern-classic rock ’n’ roll odes to drinking, drugging and generally partying until one passes out.

The Watson Twins

Fire Songs

Thursday, July 3, 2008

If your knowledge of the duo formerly known as Black Swan begins and ends with Rabbit Fur Coat—Chandra and Leigh Watson’s alt-country effort with Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis—you’d be forgiven for expecting their debut full-length to evoke the second coming of the McGarrigle Sisters.

Locksley

Don't Make Me Wait

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Love-struck garage-pop with huge, doo-woppy choruses may come across as both retro and a bit manufactured, and there’s a fair argument to be made that the Brooklyn four-piece’s defiantly unsigned status is a selling point in its own right.

Stripped of their gear

With help from friends, The Stript looks to bounce back from theft

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Since forming in late 2006 with the expressed goal of injecting a heavy dose of classic rock, ’80s hair metal and Sunset Strip glam-punk into the local music scene, The Stript has toured the country, recorded in the Palms Studio and released a self-titled EP.

The Offspring

Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace

Thursday, June 26, 2008

What a difference a couple of years makes. But since we’re talking about the SoCal stalwarts who inspired a million modern punkers with 1994’s Smash, this particular difference isn’t measured in terms of lyrical maturity or technical proficiency.

Remembering George Carlin

Fellow comedians look back at the life and influence of a stand-up icon

Thursday, June 26, 2008

There’s a pall hanging over a few segments of the population this week—the comedy geeks, those that came of age in the late ’60s and early ’70s and the all-around truth-seekers.

Double up on stand-up

Thursday, June 26, 2008

The Beauty Bar is certainly known for its live music and DJ sets, but thus far it has yet to fully embrace the potential of live humor.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Hot on the heels of the oral biography Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson by Rolling Stone honcho Jann Wenner comes yet another project that exists precisely because the infamous journalist no longer does, having silenced his inner demons with a handgun at age 67.

All Together Now

Thursday, June 19, 2008

In the beginning, there were The Beatles. The ’90s and ’00s brought forth Cirque du Soleil. At a familiar intersection of artistic and commercial extremes, Strip production Love arrived in 2006. Today, so perfunctory it almost seems like an agreed-upon stipulation from the start, arrives All Together Now.

Angrier, inchier than ever

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Leave it to a Wicked Little Town like ours to relaunch a production of the John Cameron Mitchell stage show turned 2001 film turned reinvigorated stage show with the most fervent cult following since The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Eight things to know about One Pin Short

Thursday, June 19, 2008

One Pin Short celebrate their CD release party Thursday night plus more fun facts about the band that you should probably memorize.

Emmylou Harris

All I Intended to Be

Thursday, June 19, 2008

If classic country is a dusty ranch populated with remorseful former outlaws, broken-down truckers and the occasional ex-rodeo queen, Emmylou Harris’ seasoned lilt has long been a welcome spring shower, staving off a drought of irrelevance just in time.

Panic at the Disco

June 13, The Pearl

Thursday, June 19, 2008

It only took one number for a fan to throw a black top hat onstage, where it landed at the feet of Brendon Urie.

The Cool School

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Los Angeles in the ’50s provided no cultural support or art scene to speak of, so from jazz, surfing, custom-car culture and Barney's Beanery residents shaped their own, from the ground up.