MUSIC FEATURES
Sugar Ray: Fighting Back
Originally published: August 14, 1998 for the OC Weekly.
Never mind that
Sugar Ray has sold more than 2.5 million copies of Floored, the
band's 1997 release. Ignore the fact that the album is still on
the Billboard 200. Forget the band's last U.S. tour, during which
it sold out almost every venue. And the band's fashion spreads in
Rolling Stone and Details? Yawn.
Frank Black: Reformed Catholic
Originally published:
October 30, 1998 in the OC Weekly
Don't feel
sorry for Charles Thompson IV, now known as Frank Black. The man
Kurt Cobain called "one of the biggest musical influences in
my life" isn't headlining sports arenas or amphitheaters as
he did when he fronted the legendary Pixies. But he's happy now.
Jesus
& Mary Chain: Munki Business
Originally
published: September 11, 1998 in the OC Weekly
Maybe the most inspiring thing I can say
about the new Jesus and Mary Chain album, Munki, is that it
encouraged me to dust off my old cherry-red Gibson hollow-body and
call the three other underachievers in their old Mary Chain/Velvet
Underground-esque band I once fronted (The Misanthropes) and talk
reunion.
Phantom Planet: Cute Band Alert
Originally published: February 12, 1999 in the OC Weekly
The
boys of Phantom Planet are in deep shit and they don't even
realize it. Either that or maybe they just think that if they
ignore the undeniable chaos caused by last months’ demise of
Geffen Records, their former recording label, it'll all soon pass.
Tresspassers William
Originally published: July 13, 2000 in the OC Metro
Here
at Costa Mesa's hyper-trendy hub of hipness, the Lab (or the
Anti-Mall, or whatever they're calling it these days), a sea of
brightly colored cargo pants and glittery halter tops prance back
and forth through the courtyard of the open-air mall.
Mary's Danish On
a One-show Roll
Originally
published: June 27, 1999 in the OC Register
It
hasn’t even been a full 24 hours since her first solo album, Songs
of Love and Empire, hit the record stores, yet all Julie
Ritter wants to talk about is the unexpected reunion of her former
band, L.A.'s pop favorites Mary’s Danish.
The Sounds of Sarah: An Interview
with Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell
Originally
published in Synge.com on June 30, 2000
Coming
off 1998’s release Good Humor—their
most successful album to date—the trio of Londoner’s famously
known as Saint Etienne have just released Sound of Water.
It’s equal parts Brian Eno; The Carpenters; and Bert Bacharach
intertwined with the thick vocals of Sarah Cracknell, the sexiest
and sassiest singer since Petula Clark.
Phil Shane: Gentleman Lounge Singer
Originally published on June 29, 2001
Think of the
Fling as the last fading bit of old Vegas-style glory in Orange
County. The 30-year-old Santa Ana lounge looks like an exclusive,
smoke-filled VIP room where Frank, Dino and Sammy might have held
court back in ’65. But these days, it’s standing-room-only for
young, Urban Outfitters-clad hipsters in search of this season’s
kitschiest trend.
The Lassie Foundation
Coming this
week...
CONCERT REVIEWS
Jewel @ the Irvine Meadows
Coming this
week...
RECORD REVIEWS
Saint Etienne
Coming this
week...
Belle and Sebestian
Coming this
week...
Homegrown
Coming this
week...
Tom Ze
Coming this
week...
