The Liars, No Age @ The Casbah, 2/21/08

While your band is Pro-Tooling away in a shitty rehearsal space, the Liars are occupying a creepy, The Shining-esque radio production facility in East Berlin and making records like 2006’s percussive, eerie Drum’s Not Dead. They’ve got a new(er) one out that I haven’t heard yet–I’m guessing most of the set will be devoted to [...]

The return of Irradio.

Ok, so it’s not their absolute return–that was Friday night at the Che with Scarlet Symphony. But it’s Irradio’s Casbah return, and it’s going down tonight with Buzzkill Romantics and Sky Parade.
Irradio were a contemporary of TNA and our paths crossed in myriad ways: we both had bald, bookish drummers, we both had videos directed [...]

Anti-Monday League show feat. Black Mountain CANCELED

I don’t know if this has anything to do with the wildfires or not, but the Black Mountain/Cave Singers show tonight at the Casbah has been canceled. No real insights to be found here, except that if you were planning on drowning your fire-related sorrows in acid-induced paranoia, set to the backdrop of pseudo-psychedelia, you’re [...]

Show Review: Sleeping People (CD Release), Kill Me Tomorrow, Aspects of Physics

Curse my lousy memory: because of it, you get no pictures from what was–all in all–a very interesting, eclectic night at the Casbah. When Sleeping People, a co-ed, mixed-race group that rocks in systems of equations and shit, is the most conventional band on the bill, you know you’re in for a pretty interesting evening.
Aspects [...]

Show Preview: U.S.S.A. @ The Casbah, October 15

U.S.S.A. is Gary Call, Johnny Rabb, and Paul Barker, all of whom used to play in a little band called Ministry, plus Duane Denison, who used to play in a little band called the Jesus Lizard. From what I’m reading they sound about like what you would expect, which is basically the best splitting headache [...]

Now I’m confused…

PMFS’s Myspace says they’ll be at the Casbah on September 21, but the listing at the Casbah website says locals Scarlet Symphony and Roses on her Grave. No offense, but I’m hoping the Casbah is one in error at this moment…

Show Review: Marnie Stern, Sleeping People, Japandi @ the Casbah

Math rock can go one of two ways. At best, it has the capacity to challenge the mind with dense interplay and inventive songwriting. At worst, it’s an opaque mass of notes and rhythms that lacks coherence and serves as a backdrop for tech-nerd wanking. There aren’t a whole lot of “bad” math rock bands–the [...]

Show Review: Valient Thorr, ASG, Totimoshi

If you’re pondering a quiet night at home with a mystery novel and a glass of chardonnay, the Volcom 2007 Tour isn’t a good backup option. If you’re original plans included stealing a school bus, doing donuts in the Qualcomm parking lot and huffing paint thinner, I can report that this tour will give you [...]

Tonight’s the Night: Limbeck @ SOMA, Valient Thorr @ The Casbah

Tonight’s appetizer is OC’s Limbeck. Limbeck’s career arc seems to follow that of Murder by Death: first records display emo-ish tendencies the bands’ picked up in high school and college, while their later stuff moves toward country-tinged territory. Whereas MBD wind up somewhere in between Tom Waits and Gogol Bordello, Limbeck winds up closer to [...]

Save the date: Ra Ra Riot 9/25…

I don’t normally think this far into the future (a less than two months? That’s sad), but Ra Ra Riot will be at the Casbah on 9/25. They’ve been courted by Universal, already are booked by the Agency Group and have endured one of life’s greatest tragedies with the death of their former drummer, John [...]