HOW SOON IS WOW? Johnny Marr w/ Modest Mouse, Electric Factory, Last Night BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER: I’ve never really been able to quite put my finger on what it is exactly that bothers me about Modest Mouse: Was it that they always sounded to my ears like The Sons Of The Pixies? Or, was it that they came up around the time I stopped believing in rock bands — which was, not coincidentally, when the Pixies’ broke up (not to worry, this was a temporary thing, for me and the Pixies). Either way, in the interim, Modest […]
EARLY WORD: With The Lights Out It’s Less Dangerous
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BE HERE NOW…
FIRST THING U LEARN IS THAT U ALWAYS GOT TO WAIT: Modest Mouseketeers, Electric Factory, Last Night SIMONE SECCI FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Never saw Modest Mouse live before and I regret that ’cause probably if I’d done that right after their masterpiece, The Lonesome Crowded West, that would have probably gotten stuck in my head as one of the best live acts of the last decade. Having the legendary Johnny Marr from The Smiths (!!!!) on the guitar and a tag team percussive duo of the two Jeremiah Green and former Black Heart Procession drummer, Joe Plummer, like saying probably the […]
What Kind Of Man Reads Phawker? A Loverman!
FUCKIN’ A RIGHT: Andrew WK, First Unitarian, Last Night EVA SAYS: For those of you who know Andrew W.K. as the blood drenched, body thrashing, party maniac responsible for hits such as I Get Wet, We Want Fun and Party Hard –– get ready for a whole new Andrew: Andrew the compassionate humanitarian and spiritual guru. He feels your pain, and he will try to tell you what it all means, too. As if to demonstrate his more refined side, this Andrew opened up his Q&A session with a beautiful classical piano piece first. Then he broke out the idiosyncratic […]
EARLY WORD: Weimar Republicans
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NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO: New Feist
BY DAN DELUCA INQUIRER MUSIC CRITIC On a recent shopping Saturday, I found myself in a suburban Banana Republic, a Pine Street photo gallery, and a chichi Center City cafe. I bring this up not merely to establish my credentials as an effete poser, but because Feist was playing in all three places. That’s Leslie Feist, the Canadian indie-pop singer who goes by her last name when making her own music. (She’s also a sometime member of the Toronto collective Broken Social Scene, and used to perform along with electro-rapper Peaches under the name Bitch Lap Lap and sing with […]
I AM JADED FUCKIN’ INDIE GUY: The New Modest Mouse Is Hard To Love, But Even Harder To Hate
BY ED KING ROCK CRITIC Whew! My head hurts from all the time I’ve spent with the latest Modest Mouse album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. This thing’s hard work. When did the world get so smart that they all get it and I’m not sure I do? This band is moving units, right, and you can’t attribute their appeal to hot looks and sweet hooks. In an act of brutal self-analysis, I persevered. And yes, I’m a better man for having done so. For the first few spins, all I could think of was why I […]
PROMOPHILIA: ‘What Kind Of Fuckery Is This?’* You Made Me Miss THE ARCADE FIRE Gig!
The Amy Winehouse show has been moved from the TLA to the Elecrtic Factory and moved up a day — to the same day as Arcade Fire at the Tower. This is like being handed a scalpel and having to decide which half of the siamese twins lives and which half dies. Damn you, Gods of the Guest List! WHY? WHY DO YOU MOCK ME SO? *From “Me And Mister Jones” by Amy Winehouse, now playing on Phawker Radio (along with Arcade Fire and new Wilco)
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
WISH U WERE HERE: Beretta 76, Rick D Tribute, Tritone, Last Night