San Diego is in for a treat when cow-punk band the Mekons plays in Escondido on September 25 at the new home of arts collective A Ship in the Woods. Mekons singer/guitarist Jon Langford figures …

The local Redwoods music collective merges the creative energy of the Elephant Six movement with the hired-gun musicianship of the Wrecking Crew. All the Redwoods projects, however, are anchored by the words of percussionist/lyrical scribe …

Greg Hetson cut his punk-rock teeth playing in Redd Kross and the Circle Jerks before embarking on a nearly 30-year run with Bad Religion. Hetson recalls shows at the local Jackie Robinson YMCA as being …

In 2014, five guys played the Belly Up under the moniker of Guided by Voices. A pair of these musicians was present at this year’s show — Robert Pollard (singer) and Kevin March (drummer) — …

New Orleans–based quartet Pears is a modern spin on the punk bands of the late ’80s and early ’90s — groups such as the Victims Family, Nomeansno, and My Name, bands that employed the Minutemen’s …

Pitbull Audio opened their National City storefront in 2014. They’re an independent musical instrument and pro-audio retailer that has to compete with big-box chains, such as Guitar Center and Sam Ash. One of the methods …

Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Broncho has traded in the new-wave sound prevalent on their last album, Just Enough Hip to Be a Woman, for a reverb-drenched collision of ’80s synth-rock and dreamy shoegaze. With three LPs out, …

The first Descendents album since 2004’s Cool to Be You blasts out of the gates with a pristine five-song run of classic ‘Dents goodness. The cream of the crop is “Victim of Me,” an 97-second …

Before Royal Headache started their set, I spotted their bassist, Joe, taking a stab at the NFL Blitz ’99 arcade game nestled in the club’s main room. Perhaps he was using it to learn the …

For eight years Mikey Erg played drums and wrote a bunch of songs for the Ergs!, a hyperactive punk band born and bred in New Jersey. Since their breakup in 2008, he has spent most …

Chica Diabla vocalist Elizabeth B. and bassist Rachel Bunz had a homespun, three-song demo of material in the can when their future drummer happened upon a posting they had placed on Craigslist. “I moved out …

Though they come from “the land down unda,” Australia’s Royal Headache has been growing a loyal following in the states. That’s not bad for a quartet two LPs into the game. The group is about …

Domenic “Nicky” Palermo began recording songs as Nothing about five years ago in Philadelphia. He was depressed and in the midst of a nervous breakdown. Nothing’s initial demo couldn’t be deemed a “bedroom project,” as …

The instrumental trio Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet are best known for penning the theme song to the Kids in the Hall sketch comedy TV series. Even though the Shadowy Men were in the …

Have you spent years lamenting the fact that this city doesn’t have a worthy Joan Jett/Runaways/Donnas-style female-fronted rock-and-roll juggernaut to call our very own? Well, lament no more. Chica Diabla has arrived and they have …

Nada Surf first gained national recognition in 1996 when the video for their song “Popular” went into heavy rotation on MTV. As a result, the group toured their debut album, High/Low, heavily, but when it …

Before Beach Slang played, patrons at the Casbah were treated to a new supergroup of sorts in the backroom. The trio brave enough to call themselves “California” includes one member of Green Day (Jason White) …

After releasing a pair of EPs, Beach Slang dropped their debut album, The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us, last October. A couple of months later, the band watched as it …

Jeff Parker officially joined Tortoise on January 1, 1997. He had been playing in an unofficial capacity with the band for some time before that. He sat in during hometown gigs in their native Chicago …

Black Mountain is back in action with a new record, IV, after a relatively quiet four years. The group was last heard from in 2012 on their soundtrack to the post-apocalyptic surf film Year Zero. …

Please: More signs on the edge of the Marines’ Miramar base.

The prolific Alfred Howard has started yet another band. The new project has been christened “Cardinal Moon” and is a collaboration between Howard and singer/songwriter Dawn Mitschele. “Dawn is a tremendous songwriter and lyricist and …

Danny Ellis attended Valhalla High School, where he sang tenor in the choir. It was a rewarding experience, one that sent him to Europe three times. “I sang at the Vatican, all around Rome, Germany, …

Detroit quartet Protomartyr delivered a blistering set of post-punk goodness to Soda Bar. The band performed selections from all three of their albums, which the packed house lapped up like enthusiastic Rottweilers. Vocalist Joe Casey’s …

After releasing two lo-fi solo albums on independent label Don Giovanni, Katie Crutchfield delivered her musical project, Waxahatchee, to a larger home. Her first release on Merge Records was last year’s Ivy Tripp — a …

Soda Bar booker Cory Stier put it best when he described his job as akin to running around like headless poultry. Look for the following five decapitated chickens to continue to run their butts off …

Before Protomartyr was a band, Joe Casey would build up a little whiskey courage and sing a couple songs with one his favorite local Detroit acts, Butt Babies. The younger musicians had befriended Casey and …

Even though Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price both grew up in Missouri, it was Colorado that eventually brought the two together. In the mid-’90s, Price’s band, ALL, relocated to Fort Collins — where Snodgrass happened …

The Supersuckers have drifted back into country mode on their new album, Holdin’ the Bag. It’s the first time the band has released a country collection since 1997’s Must’ve Been High. “We were on tour …

Car Seat Headrest is drawing comparisons to underground band Guided By Voices for the stage-via-bedroom (in GBV’s case it’s a basement, actually) nature of their music. Guitarist, singer, and band mastermind Will Toledo has been …

’Tis the season for giving and receiving. No matter what your holiday is — Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Festivus — gifts are bound to be exchanged, though levels of merriment may vary. Often gifts will be …

David Lowery’s dueling musical outfits, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, are in town to play their annual year-end concert at Belly Up on Sunday. The decade-long tradition, however, features a twist this year. Lowery tells …

One of the unique gems of the North Park music scene has gone dark. The stage in the back room of Seven Grand is no more. “I felt our music program was amazing, but we …

The Office’s undercover series attacked the Clash on the chilly last night of November. The hologram of Joe Strummer was unavailable this evening, so a variety of local singers took on the role of the …

X guitarist Billy Zoom was diagnosed with bladder cancer this past July. The band performed summer shows with Texan Jesse Dayton (who’s played guitar for Willie Nelson, among others) sitting in while Zoom commenced treatment …

Last month, a San Diego traveling circus invaded Spain and Italy to perform a run of shows. The three-act tour, which featured the Little Richards, Schizophonics, and Diana Death y Sus Novios, benefitted from the …

In 1990, Hoboken natives Yo La Tengo released Fakebook — an album composed of cover songs, reworked tunes, and a handful of original compositions. 25 years later, the band is revisiting that template with Stuff …

Josh Becker (aka Chango Chango) from the group Botanica Chango sums up his band’s sound as being “voodoo pop.” What is voodoo pop? Well, let’s examine “BB and the Beat,” currently available on the band’s …

My Morning Jacket’s Jim James looked like a space-age gunslinger on this evening at SDSU’s Open Air Theatre. He sported a black leather trench coat throughout the show. It was outlaw badass and the perfect …

Going Medieval in North Park.

Steve Turner met Mark Arm in the fall of 1982. They were introduced by a mutual friend (Alex Shumway) at a concert. According to Turner, Shumway said, “Stevie, this is Mark. He’s straight-edge too,” which …

In late 2013, My Morning Jacket set up camp north of San Francisco in Marin County to begin recording the collection of songs that became The Waterfall. The band selected a new studio called Panoramic …

The Titus Andronicus van rolled into town on the same night as the Foo Fighters traveling circus. Whereas Dave Grohl and Co. most likely played to a sold-out Sleepy Train Amphitheatre, Patrick Stickles and his …

There's nothing wrong with taking the long way home.

"Tell the world my story. Nobody believes me. They think I’m bullshitting them.” The story Titus Andronicus mastermind Patrick Stickles is referring to is a complicated one. Much of it is peeled away within the …

When you think of family bands, groups such as the Osmonds, the Bee Gees, and the Jackson 5 come to mind. A young quartet from Los Angeles has emerged on the sibling band scene, though, …

A rainy night in North Park failed to keep the punk-rock masses away from the Observatory for Wavves’ San Diego tour stop. After a rollicking set by Chicago rockers Twin Peaks, Nathan Williams unleashed his …

The seas may have been calm for Wavves in 2014, but the San Diego band is about to hit the West Coast like El Niño from hell, with a new album, V, hitting the shelves …

Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects is back in action supporting their first new record since 2006’s Listen Up. The local 11-piece continues their tradition of “Mexican funk music” on their new disc, No Wrongs, …

“[Anza] is a tiny town at the top of the mountain in between Temecula and Palm Springs,” says Christy Barrett. “There’s a Dairy Queen when you pass through, there’s a Mobil, there’s a Circle K, …