MetroPulse Stories: Music Stories

Alt-Rock Pioneers Jane’s Addiction Continue Their Comeback With 'The Great Escape Artist'

mconnergibson@gmail.com (Mike Gibson) — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:07:00 -0000

It’s tempting to think of Stephen Perkins as Jane’s Addictions’ answer to Derek Smalls, the unassuming Spinal Tap bass player who stood between “fire-and-ice visionaries” Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbins, “kind of like lukewarm water.” After all, the seemingly low-key drummer is fronted in Jane’s Addiction by two of rock’s biggest attention whores: pansexual pied piper Perry Farrell, frontman, festival founder, and activist; and bad-boy guitar hero Dave Navarro, Penthouse magazine sexpert, reality TV reprobate, and ravisher of renowned hotties.

The Black Cadillacs are Ready to 'Run' With Their Sophomore Album

mconnergibson@gmail.com (Mike Gibson) — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:19:00 -0000

The Black Cadillacs stand on the cusp of their second release, Run, on a promising young indie, looking to build on their status as one of the two or three most popular rock acts in the city of Knoxville.

Beneath St. Vincent’s Arty, Complex Music Is the Heart of a Rock Star

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:14:00 -0000

Under the stage name St. Vincent, Annie Clark records arty, complex music that is at turns pretty and ragged, but almost always challenging to the listener. She’s become a critics’ darling and indie sensation. But the 29-year-old Clark is no stuffy, pompous artist. In a short phone conversation, it’s clear that she relishes the thrill of being a rock star.

Nellie McKay’s Particular Brand of Music Nostalgia Recognizes the Dream Of The Past

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:42:00 -0000

Nellie McKay finds a lot of her musical inspiration from the past. But unlike Americana artists, she’s not digging through old scratchy vinyl folk records.

Megadeth: Still a Thrash Powerhouse, Despite Dave Mustaine's Recent Right-Wing Rants

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:06:00 -0000

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, now 50, is still provoking outrage these days, but from an altogether different direction than he used to. For the last decade or so, Mustaine has openly discussed his born-again religious faith, which seems to have influenced most of his increasingly off-the-wall political rants.

Knoxville Metalheads Whitechapel Announces New Album, Due June 19

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:34:00 -0000

Here’s the new single from Knoxville metal band Whitechapel: Chugga-chugga-chug-growl-shriek-high-pitched tweedly guitar part-chugga-chug-repeat.

Death Cab for Cutie's Rise From Beloved Indie Rockers to Major-Label Success

gervinc@metropulse.com (Cari Wade Gervin) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:12:00 -0000

In a bleak decade for the recording industry, Death Cab for Cutie stands almost alone, making the jump from beloved indie rocker status to major record label success without losing its critical acclaim.

Singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten Emerges From Purgatory With Her Enigmatic New Album, 'Tramp'

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:01:00 -0000

Tramp is Van Etten's most immediate and devastating collection of songs. Deceptively dark acoustic lullabies are augmented with raw, buzzing electric guitars (“Warsaw”), droning keyboards (“Magic Chords”), and beautiful vocal harmonies from some notable friends.

King Super and the Excellents Play Bad Songs Really Well

mconnergibson@gmail.com (Mike Gibson) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:52:00 -0000

The first thing one notices about Knoxville’s King Super and the Excellents—winner of the Square Room’s most recent Sound Off battle-of-the-bands contest—is the mustache, that being singer Dave Bowers’ frontispiece facial hair. And a most Excellent cropping of lip plumage it is, molded with American Crew Fiber Blue-Top Wax into a patrician curl worthy of a classic silent movie star.

Swedish Occult Band Ghost Reanimates the Sound and Image of ’80s Metal

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:18:00 -0000

The band Ghost is made up of six ghouls from Sweden. Seriously—the five musicians behind lead singer Papa Emeritus are officially credited on the band’s 2010 debut album, Opus Eponymous, as Nameless Ghouls. They’re inspired by classic heavy metal from the late 1970s and early ’80s and dress up in robes (and, in the case of Papa Emeritus, a skull mask and blood-red clerical getup) and sing songs about the devil and witchcraft. RIYL: Black Sabbath (especially the cocaine-ravaged mid-’70s Black Sabbath—think “Laguna Sunrise,” not “Children of the Grave”), Mercyful Fate, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, “Rainbow in the Dark,” and Blue Öyster Cult.

Knoxville’s Singular Mito Band Reunites to Record a New Album of Absurdist Synth-Pop

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:20:00 -0000

Travis Gray has a distinctive creative sensibility. Inspired equally by Stephin Meritt, Saturday morning cartoons, and the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Gray’s particular perspective is elegant and absurd, sly and yet still naive, childlike but sometimes heartbreaking.

Lil Iffy and Dude Source Take Wizard Rapping to New Heights

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:17:00 -0000

When the normally prolific Wil Wright went through a songwriting dry spell last summer, he took the opportunity to go out of his element with the help of ostentatious Knoxville DJ Tom Ato; the eventual result was Lil Iffy, a “spell-rich” MC who blends aggressive rap braggadocio with the oddly compatible lexicon of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books.

Pink Martini Perfects Its Swinging UN Pop

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:15:00 -0000

There’s no easy definition for the kind of music played by the Portland, Ore., pop-orchestra Pink Martini. It’s a throwback, but not to any particular style or era. It’s jazzy, but not jazz; poppy, but not pop, at least by contemporary standards. The group has performed songs in a dozen different languages from all over the world, but it’s definitely not “world music.”

Dan Baird Can’t Quite Get Out From Under the Shadow of the Georgia Satellites

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:19:00 -0000

When Dan Baird and the Georgia Satellites signed a deal with Elektra Records in 1986, they didn’t expect much. But something weird happened. The first single from the Satellites’ self-titled debut album, “Keep Your Hands to Yourself,” turned out to be a huge hit for radio and MTV. The novelty hit, with its twangy Chuck Berry riffs and Baird’s craftily cornpone lyrics describing a pre-wedding sexual standoff, propelled the band from the Atlanta bar circuit to national stardom.

Kathy Mattea and Barbara Kingsolver Team Up to Protest Mountaintop-Removal Mining

gervinc@metropulse.com (Cari Wade Gervin) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:41:00 -0000

Although she was one of the first country music stars to champion the fight against HIV/AIDS, Kathy Mattea says her interest in social justice was always just something that was just there, not at the forefront of her life. And then, one day in 2006, that all changed.

Henry Rollins’ Long March From Black Flag to Hollywood, and Beyond

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:44:00 -0000

Over the course of his 30-year career, Rollins has evolved from the sexy, muscle-bound psycho frontman for the incendiary proto-hardcore band Black Flag to today’s slightly more erudite persona.

Heartless Bastards’ Erika Wennerstrom Finds Inspiration Through Isolation

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:28:00 -0000

On their stunning fourth album, Arrow, Austin-by-way-of-Cincinnati hard-rock warriors Heartless Bastards have beefed-up their bluesy sonic palette with rainbows of color, branching out with soulful, psychedelic textures as wide-open as a West Texas sky.

The Mutations Inject Punk Attitude Into ’60-Style Surf Rock

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:57:00 -0000

The members of the Mutations may not have illustrious wave-catching pedigrees (“I’ve been to the ocean,” offers bassist Joel Thompson) but they revel in the genre’s sunny imagery.

Kevin Hyfantis Steps Away From the Bishops Band (Sort of) For a New Solo EP

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:02:00 -0000

On Hyfantis, Hyfantis hasn’t completely abandoned the classic pop-rock sensibility that defined the Bishops Band’s 2010 CD, Carnival Authority. The jazzy arrangements have been pulled back, and the touchstones on the new EP seem to be artists whose pop is informed by, but not quite immersed in, folk and soul.

All of Me: It's a Thin Line Between Nika Danilova and Zola Jesus

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:56:00 -0000

Nika Danilova hails from rural Wisconsin, where she began making music as a teenager under the intentionally provocative (for rural Wisconsin) name Zola Jesus.