Time sometimes mellows a musician, and in a lot of instances, that can be a very, very bad thing. On Another Mutation, though, a little bit of mellowing and stepping backwards helps, allowing singer/multi-instrumentalist Mlee Marie’s clear, beautiful voice to shine through without some of the more experimental/noisy trappings of her early work cluttering things up. And once that happens, another thing immediately snaps into focus: she’s truly one hell of a songwriter…
Written on January 29, 2015 | Posted in
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You’ve got to love those Linus Pauling Quartet guys; just when you think they can’t possibly come up with something quirkier or cooler or more insane than the last crazy-ass thing they did…well, they pretty much do. With big, goofy, halfway-loaded grins on their faces, no less…
Written on October 25, 2014 | Posted in
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And now, for something completely different. Well, mostly. You have to hand it to the Linus Pauling Quartet guys for being one of the most out-and-out contrary bands going; expect one thing from them, and they’re likely to do the opposite…
Written on July 18, 2013 | Posted in
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For some bands, the only real goal they have in mind, ultimately, is the music equivalent of The Big Score. They want the mythical perfect record deal, where somebody’ll just throw money at them to make music, and they never have to worry about working again…
Written on December 15, 2012 | Posted in
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These days, anybody can put out an album. All it takes is a couple of instruments, a mic, and a computer, and poof: instant bedroom-studio rock that you can dump out onto the Web for all to hear and comment on (and okay, maybe even buy). After a while, though, that whole “album” thing, it gets boring, played out. When that happens, well, what the hell do you do next?…
Written on December 13, 2012 | Posted in
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Yes, folks, I’m happy to say that I’ve now got some actual good news to even out a lot of the bad we’ve been getting lately, with people dying and bands breaking up and shows being cancelled and whatnot. Namely, total fukkin badasses the {Linus Pauling Quartet} have finally released the much-ballyhooed official video…
Written on August 3, 2012 | Posted in
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Leave it to the Linus Pauling Quartet to come up with something like this, seriously: a monolithic, fuzz-drenched, utterly badass chunk of headbanging stoner-psych-rock all about Cimmerian gods, post-Apocalyptic wastelands, playing D&D, and (of course) somebody else smoking all your pot. If you think I’m kidding, well, you’ve probably never heard the LP4 before…
Written on June 22, 2012 | Posted in
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There’s plenty going on this weekend, but I’m afraid yours truly will be a bit occupied and is going to miss it, so I’m going to try to hit ’em all briefly, at least. It kills me, actually, because on Saturday (August 13th, that is), in particular…
Written on August 13, 2011 | Posted in
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I’m not sure what happened, but I’m pretty sure something did, somewhere along the way. The last time The Mathletes — which is generally, for all intents and purposes, singer/songwriter Joe Mathlete…
Written on August 13, 2011 | Posted in
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Those Tijerina boys just don’t quit, do they? They never seem to stop moving, always making music with one band or another — Charlie was in The Factory Party before this, while Pete was in Program, and Springfield Riots after that…
Written on May 7, 2011 | Posted in
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A very cool new-ish local label, run (I think) by the Digital Warehaus guys, and one that’s got pretty wide-ranging (and excellent) tastes in music…
Written on November 29, 2010 | Posted in
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I’ll be honest: when I first heard about Roky Moon & BOLT (then just known as “BOLT,” all caps), I thought it sounded fun, but I seriously doubted it would last. It seemed like one of those one-off things a bunch of scenesters do when they get bored…
Written on November 27, 2010 | Posted in
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There’s a point early in Roky Moon & BOLT where you can feel the change, like a switch being flipped. Suddenly, it feels less like you’re listening to an album by a rock band and more like you’re listening to/watching some quirky, sidewise-smirking musical about a mythic rock band…
Written on November 24, 2010 | Posted in
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First things first: no, this isn’t the next “real” Linus Pauling Quartet full-length. Per the LP4 guys, that’ll be the Bag of Hammers double-LP(!), which’ll be out sometime next year. So, what the hell is Horns of Ammon, then? Well, it’s a mixed pile of odds ‘n ends…
Written on October 23, 2010 | Posted in
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