Karu & Y hopes for better luck second time around. Karu & Y (71 NW 14th Street, Miami), the biggest failure in Miami’s nightlife/culinary scene since, well, ever, is asking for a second chance. According to the press release, the “new leadership” presumes Miami still wants an upscale lounge and…
Justin Namon Michael Vincent Patrick, one half of Designer Drugs. Click here to view the full slideshow. Designer Drugs Monday, September 8, 2008 White Room, Miami Better than: A mouthful of actual designer drugs. Electro, blog house, nu rave — whatever, you call it, has been on the rise since…
The Queers are coming! The Queers are Coming! You can almost hear the Republicans protesting outside of Churchill’s this weekend as New Hampshire-bred punk band, the Queers come to town. The legendary pop-punk group will be here playing a show with the the Independents this Saturday and hopefully diving into…
I walked into the historical landmark known as Churchill’s Pub at 1:30 p.m. on a recent Saturday afternoon. Bad Brains front man HR was sitting on the stage and waiting for me. I introduced myself, as he pulled me close. “Lets go to the backyard,” he whispered into my ear…
Sayre Berman Chris Isaak Sunday, September 7, 2008 Pompano Beach Amphitheatre Better Than: Catching cool. When I first caught Chris Isaak, it was on the fourth floor of a legendary New York nightclub called Danceteria and the cat was still relatively unknown. But by the time he and his Silvertones…
Ryan Russell Jinchuu, Mehkago N.T., and Torche Saturday, September 6 Churchill’s Pub, Miami Better Than: The great majority of the corporate metal shows to hit the area in recent months. The Review: Here’s one thing about underground rock audiences in Miami. They may be smaller than in other cities, but…
Friday, September 5: *That retro-fried garage rock stuff that’s going strong in the rest of the country doesn’t often seep down here, so catch a little of while you can tonight, when the Seattle foursome the Boss Martians hit Churchill’s. Click here for the scoop. *The Microdots play the weekly…
Time to have bizarre celebrations, because Athens, Georgia, band Of Montreal is returning to South Florida December 6. The psychedelic indie rock outfit will be gracing the stage at Revolution (200 W Broward Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale) as part of thier tour in support of their ninth album Skeletal Lamping, which…
Local indie rock band Modernage has just released a new music video for their new song “7/9/12” off of their soon-to-be-released EP Sirhan Sirhan. The song is classic Modernage punched up with an electronic beat. It reminds us a bit of The Postal Service, which is not a bad thing…
Just saw that this was one of the featured videos on YouTube… Watch as an enterprising fellow dons an electro-chic allover-print hoodie (hood up, of course), a hair of headphones around his neck, and a prop record bag, and bullshits his way past all the “queues.” It’s amusing, but I…
Anthony Green Wednesday, September 3, 2008 Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale Better Than: Those love poems you wrote in eighth grade about Julie, er, or was it Sarah? One thing is clear: Anthony Green has found love. Well, that’s not just because he really did recently marry his longtime on-again, off-again…
For a variety of reasons, Latin American proponents of music from the native lands often pretend that race and class aren’t relevant when it comes to music. But listen to the rhythms and the lyrics of samba — or cumbia or bachata or other styles of Latin American music —…
Buika (pronounced BWEE-kah) was born María Concepción Balboa Buika on the Spanish island of Mallorca. If that’s not spicy enough for you, her parents were political exiles from Equatorial Guinea. Like many a young lass, her early musical allegiances were to Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Inundated with many kinds…
It’s been almost 25 years since Chris Isaak slipped his debut album, Silvertone, on to the pop music scene, but it could just as easily have been yesterday — or a half century ago. Why? Because Isaak, 52, carries the torch of tradition — steady, ready, and steeped in the…
All That Remains frontman and bandleader Phil Labonte has no worries about how recent changes in the music industry have made it increasingly difficult for bands to remain economically viable. As a self-proclaimed conservative, Ronald Reagan enthusiast, and “fan of commerce,” Labonte takes a hands-on approach to his band’s career…
There are days that just fucking suck. Maybe you notice some weird rash after a recent one-night stand. Maybe you lose your job and come home early to find Mom in bed with the BF. Maybe you back your F-150 over your dog. Whatever; shit happens. And the ensuing bad…
Legendary guitarist, singer, and songwriter Lulu Santos can no longer bear to hear about the 50th anniversary of the bossa nova movement, an occasion that is being milked around the globe with an endless parade of concerts, documentaries, and special music releases. “Thank God I was never part of that,”…
One unfortunate aspect of South Florida’s music scene is that there isn’t nearly enough room for bands making original music to thrive financially. There are only so many venues left (and the economy isn’t helping). Too many bar owners who hire bands are really just looking for a live jukebox…
Sometime in the early 1970s, Frank Zappa wearily stated during a TV interview that average rock fans generally liked music they didn’t have to try too hard to fathom — “Nothing too off-the-wall,” FZ said in the parlance of the time. If the recordings comprising Wazoo had been released when…
Rachid Taha’s music treads a distinct line between two worlds, rooted in his experiences as an Algerian immigrant living in France. For those unfamiliar with the 49-year-old foreign star, he’s been rocking out with a punk sensibility since the early ’80s. Themes of dual identity, racial discrimination, and the realities…
Long before sports strikes, steroid scandals, and Madonna trysts reared their homely heads, baseball was considered America’s great national pastime. As devotion to the game cuts across generational lines, it’s only natural there’d be a concept album about baseball. The Baseball Project is one such homage, courtesy of Young Fresh…
Most everything you need to know about horny, go-getting Los Angeles newcomer Shwayze can be gleaned from lines like this one from “Polaroid”: “Woke up with a semi-hard dick/In a fat chick/Three this week/Call that a hat trick.” Yeah, it’s that bad. Oddly, though, the partly sung, partly rapped tracks…
