ALL MUSIC GUIDE: Rising from the ashes of the legendary British post-punk unit Joy Division, the enigmatic New Order triumphed over tragedy to emerge as one of the most influential and acclaimed bands of the 1980s; embracing the electronic textures and disco rhythms of the underground club culture many years in advance of its contemporaries, the group’s pioneering fusion of new wave aesthetics and dance music successfully bridged the gap between the two worlds, creating a distinctively thoughtful and oblique brand of synth pop appealing equally to the mind, body, and soul. New Order‘s origins officially date back to mid-1976, […]
EXCERPT: A Confederacy Of Dunces
Artwork via CARGO COLLECTIVE PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE: Reader commenting on Philly.com has also been around since the late ’90s, but it wasn’t until 2008, following years of internal deliberations and successive regime changes, that the site went all-in and began allowing readers to talk back at the bottom of every article. “Journalism had been a one-way conversation for too long,” says one Philly.com staffer. “It was a good idea to open the door and allow the public to start commenting on our work.” Well, on paper, maybe. In practice? Not so much. There was some recognition from the get-go that there […]
Win Tix To See Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ TLA
Artwork by YOKO SHIMIZU It’s been eight years since CYHSY first blazed across the night sky of the blogosphere, leaving behind of phosphorous tail of spent Pitchfork hype and Brooklyn hipster cache and exactly one great debut writ incandescent by those twinkling gyroscopic guitars, martial drum thwackery, hooky bass thrum and Alec Ounsworth’s slurry adenoidal yelp. An ill-conceived follow-up and a protracted hiatus, not to mention various side projects and an Alex Ounsworth, along with the inevitable passage of time and the eventual departure of everyone but Ounsworth and drummer Sean Greenhalgh , has let much of the air out of […]
This Is What Happened When They Turned A Kensington Prison Back Into A Middle School
THE ATLANTIC: Last year when American Paradigm Schools took over Philadelphia’s infamous, failing John Paul Jones Middle School, they did something a lot of people would find inconceivable. The school was known as “Jones Jail” for its reputation of violence and disorder, and because the building physically resembled a youth correctional facility. Situated in the Kensington section of the city, it drew students from the heart of a desperately poor hub of injection drug users and street level prostitution where gun violence rates are off the charts. But rather than beef up the already heavy security to ensure safety […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See Fun @ The Mann
A year and change later and the chorus to this song is STILL fucking epic! Easily our favorite hit song/guilty pleasure of 2012. Love this video, too. The show is sold out, but fear not, my droogs, we have a pair of tix to giveaway. To qualify, all you have to do is sign up for our mailing list (see right, below the masthead). Trust us, this is something you want to do. In addition to breaking news alerts and Phawker updates, you also get advanced warning about groovy concert ticket giveaways and other free swag opportunities like this one! […]
BEING THERE: Interstellar Overdrive
Flaming Lips, Wallingford, CT, last night. PREVIOUSLY: We’d been traversing the spine of Tornado Alley for the last two hours when the stewardess announced that we would be landing in Oklahoma City in a few minutes, and that we should fasten our seatbelts and return our minds to the upright position, when the drugs took hold. We are, as the saying goes, off to see the wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Odd—or, if you prefer, the Wizard of OK, a.k.a. Wayne Coyne, frizzy-brained mainman of the Flaming Lips, the P.T. Barnum Of The Stoned, a.k.a. The Man Who Had A […]
BEING THERE: Savages @ Union Transfer
Photo by PETE TROSHAK UK post-punk priestesses the Savages have been a band for less than two years and released their debut album just two months ago. In that short window they have been so relentlessly hyped as “the next big thing” that the inevitable “they aren’t THAT good” backlash has already begun. Sunday night at Union Transfer Savages proved, to this reviewer anyway, that they are more steak than sizzle. They took the stage stealthily, clad in ninja-like black outfits and opened with the Siouxsie-ian roar of “I Am Here.” Message: Get used to it. Gemma Thompson throttled her […]
BEING THERE: Wire @ Union Transfer
Photo by PETE TROSHAK Minimalist Brit post-punk legends Wire brought their Dadaist art-punk to a joyous, head bobbing crowd at the Union Transfer last night. Wire has only played Philly once in the last decade, and the joint was packed with fans both old and young to catch this rare performance. Early on the crowd buzzed about the setlist, wondering if the band, which has always taken pride in defying expectations, would eschew their classics for a singular focus on the new Change Becomes Us. Those fears were put to rest when Wire delivered a spastic, barking “Drill,” from 1987’s […]
Win Tix To See Savages @ Union Transfer Sunday!
Photo by RICHARD DUMAS “[Savages] makes us dream of what it must have been like to have been around to hear, in real time, the debut releases by Public Image Ltd, Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division, to feel, as those incredible records hit the shops, that unearthly power and sense of a transmission from a satellite reality.” –THE GUARDIAN We have a pair of tix to see England’s massively-hyped Savages (better than the Second Coming we are told) at Union Transfer on Sunday. To qualify, all you have to do is sign up for our mailing list […]
Win Tix To See Wire @ Union Transfer
In contrast with many of their punk peers, Wire were enigmatic and cerebral, always keeping a distance from the crowd. Although Pink Flag appeared before the end of 1977, it was already a meta-commentary on the punk scene and was far more revolutionary musically than the rest of the competition. Few punk bands moved beyond pared-down rock ‘n’ roll and garage rock, football-terrace sing-alongs or shambolic pub rock and, if we’re honest, only a handful of punk records hold up today as anything other than increasingly quaint period pieces. While the majority of their peers flogged one idea to […]
BEING THERE: The Boy With The Arab Strap
Stu Murdoch, Belle & Sebastian, Skyline Stage @ The Mann last night by DEREK BRAD
Win Tix For Bosnian Rainbows @UndergroundArts
Attention all fans of Mars Volta and/or Le Butcherettes and, in general, those about to rock: We have a pair of tix to see Bosnian Rainbows at Underground Arts this Saturday night to give away to some lucky Phawker reader. For those not keeping score at home, Bosnian Rainbows is an American alternative rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2012. The band consists of former The Mars Volta members, Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, backing vocals) and Deantoni Parks (drums, keyboards), alongside Le Butcherettes vocalist Teri Gender Bender and Nicci Kasper (keyboards). Check out this groovy video compiled from […]
BEING THERE: She & Him @ The Mann
Photo by PETE TROSHAK Unlikely retro folk duo She & Him worked their Mickey & Sylvia-like magic on an enthusiastic crowd in the sweltering heat on Tuesday night. On paper the union of dark-and-serious artist M. Ward and sunny anime-girl-eyed actress Zooey Deschanel shouldn’t work, but live their talents mesh to create something special. Ward was the grounded half of the duo, dressed to the nines in a sharp grey suit delivering bristling bursts of notes with both his Gibson guitar and gravelly voice. Deschanel provided the wings for the pair with a bouncy energy and a powerful voice that […]