Sometimes the best thing about leaving home is the opportunity to return years later and remember the good times, rather than the trials and tribulations. Though musician and author Dana Kletter grew up in Manhattan, the Triangle became the first home she could call her own in the early ’90s. Here she forged several musical […]
Chris Parker
Bio: After a fond stint in the Triangle, Chris Parker lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where he writes about music and politics for a variety of newspapers and magazines. He has written about music for INDY Week since 2002.
Posted inMusic
Brendan Benson’s “Eyes on the Horizon”
Listen up! If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. First and foremost is the fact that “Eyes on the Horizon” has an über-groovy vibe, like a late-night cocktail bar in the swanky part of town. Some of this is the ’70s soul sound that envelops the song, keyed by […]
Posted inMusic
Tonight: Sinful Savage Tigers get acoustic at The Cave
With a name like Sinful Savage Tigers, you half expect cookie monster vocals, thundering breakdowns and a machine gun hardcore backbeat. But the Chapel Hill trio is a string band wedded to contemporary rock/pop sensibilities. In May, they released their debut, Rain is the Soup of the Dogs in Heaven. Their origins go back a […]
Posted inMusic
Blackbeard’s Lost Weekend brings the party way underground
Ships to catch Josh Johnson, the co-founder and curator of Blackbeard’s Lost Weekend, helps us run down some of Friday and Saturday’s highlights. Johnson plays Friday night with Pinche Gringo. FRIDAY, NOV. 13 BATTEN THE HATCHES BLUSTER WITH THE HUMMS: “One of the best rock bands coming out of Athens right now,” Johnson says. “It […]
Posted inMusic
Spider Bags’ Teenage Eyes B/W Eileen
The latest by the Spider Bags, who plan to forgo a new LP in favor of a series of 7″s for the foreseeable future, boasts a boisterous, unfettered enthusiasm and playful charm that’s nearly irresistible. These two tracks are rife with bell-ringing hooks and foot-tapping energy, blending power pop and ’60s garage. Indeed, this platter […]
Posted inMusic
Benji Hughes’ “Tight Tee Shirt”
Listen up! or stream it below. If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. Charlotte singer/songwriter Benji Hughes has drawn some comparisons to Stephin Merritt, and while the hirsute Hughes looks nothing like him with his Billy Gibbons-like beard, his minimalist, often keyboard driven electro-pop ditties recall Merritt both in […]
Posted inMusic
Roger Daltrey survives without The Who, but plenty of music’s biggest frontmen had best stay put
Last year’s tour by British rock lords The Who allegedly required separate travel, lodging, staff and dressing room arrangements for frontman Roger Daltrey and guitarist/ songwriter Pete Townshend. Indeed, the two have long endured a notoriously contentious relationship, andexactly 40 years after the band released its rock opera, Tommythat presumably persists only because of the […]
Posted inMusic
U2 persists as rock titans, even in a world that doesn’t make them anymore
In February, whispers that the Rock ‘N’ Roll Messiahalso known as Bono, the 49-year-old frontman of the Irish rock band U2was coming to town started circulating. Blogs went crazy. Reporters made some calls. But for months, we had nothing but speculation: No venue would confirm an upcoming U2 appearance. No promoter would offer a clue. […]
Posted inMusic
Blag’ard heads into the studio, readies Capsize 7 archival release (Tonight at Nightlight)
Blag’ard has delayed the release of its second LP, tentatively titled Mach II, to the beginning of next year. Guitarist Joe Taylor now plans to accompany its release by unshelving the long lost Capsize 7 album he recorded with the old alt-rock act in the mid ‘90s before they were dropped from Caroline Records. Fusing […]
Posted inMusic
Charlie Robison’s “Middle of the Night”
Listen up! or stream it below. If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. There’s a wistful, yet lighthearted self-awareness to Charlie Robison’s “Middle of the Night” that echoes the tone of Texas country artists like Terry Allen and Guy Clark. It paints a convincing picture of a barroom abuzz […]