Search Results for: the kinks

AFTER SPENDING two years on the road promoting their debut album, 2005’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out,” the members of Panic at the Disco focused on two new efforts. The first was recording a new disc. The second? “We’ve been playing a lot of hacky sack and getting really good at it,” bassist Jon Walker said with a laugh. “We’ve been bringing it back. It’s the best exercise you can ever get – and it’s fun.” Which just goes to show that even though the group, once known as Panic! at the Disco, has dropped its exclamation point, it… Read more »

Given the radical image changes that Panic! At The Disco has undergone in the past year, it’s hard not to read the lyrics to its new album’s opening song as a pre-emptive strike against critics. “Oh, how it’s been so long/we’re so sorry we’ve been gone/we were busy writing songs/for you,” bassist Jon Walker sings, by way of apology for the two-and-a-half-year lag between 2005’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” and the new “Pretty. Odd.,” due March 25 via Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic. Then, he launches into lines meant to comfort fans who have no doubt noticed that their favorite… Read more »

It appears hot tubs can now be powered by green energy. On Dec. 8, newbie garage rockers Foxboro Hot Tubs launched its website with the six-song EP Stop Drop and Roll available as a free download. It didn’t take long for music junkies to realize this new band might not be so new after all. “The internet is ablaze!!!!” proclaimed celeb blogger Perez Hilton last month. “A band called Foxboro Hot Tubs has released an EP of six songs that has people speculating that it’s the Green Day boys experimenting with a new sound.” The songs were pulled a short… Read more »

Panic! at the Disco guitarist-lyricist Ryan Ross is tired of computer-tuned vocals and software-tweaked drums. “People have taken technology so far, to the point where music is almost sterile these days,” he says from the studio in Las Vegas’ Palms Hotel, taking a break from recording sessions for the band’s second album. “With all those old rock & roll records, you can really feel there’s a character to them, because it was played by real people. I feel like a lot of that’s missing now.” It’s a common argument these days, but Ross is an odd person to be making… Read more »

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame swung open its doors Monday night to the latest batch of acts ticketed for music immortality, with the Georgia alt-rock icons and the dysfunctional Pasadena party band leading the way. They were joined by ’70s punk pioneer Patti Smith, ’60s girl group the Ronettes and the first hip-hop act to crash the party, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The 22nd annual induction ceremony–which per tradition was held at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel–felt like an I Love the ’80 special, thanks to its two biggest inductees. R.E.M. received a warm introduction… Read more »

Oops! girl Britney Spears was forced to cut short an encore after her concert last Thursday in Moline, Illinois, and cancel a Friday performance in Chicago after she hurt herself during a complicated dance routine. Spears was performing a new song, “Boom Boom,” when the mishap occurred, according to reports. Perhaps she hadn’t worked out all the kinks in the routine-in any case, Spears was forced to abandon the stage. Several minutes later, she reappeared on the stage in a white bathrobe and apologized to her fans for cutting the performance short. The “Toxic” singer had planned to continue with… Read more »

Brotherly pop trio Hanson, who unwittingly ignited a teen pop craze when they stormed the charts six years ago with the catchy anthem “MMMBop,” are stripping down this summer. Isaac, Taylor and Zach Hanson have recorded their first album in three years, “Underneath,” and will lay the groundwork for its release early next year by launching an acoustic tour next month. They also will sell an acoustic record at the shows. Casual fans who still carry an image in their minds of three cherubic, pubescent youngsters are in for a surprise. All are strapping young men, and middle brother, Taylor,… Read more »

Santa Cruz’s Good Riddance are stopping to do a few dates in Canada on the current leg of their tour. The stops are limited to Quebec and Ontario with two dates each. Check out the band’s official site for more details on each show. The band is currently out in support of their latest disc, Bound By Ties Of Blood And Affection, which was released through Fat Wreck Chords in May of this year. The disc features 14 new songs from the politically-minded punk band. The band also has a new home video release called Exposed 1994-1999. The new disc… Read more »

The annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony featured the spirit of 1970s British punk, some anti-war sentiments and probably the loudest noise ever heard at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. In what’s often the case at the glittery ceremony, the honor also brought together a long-estranged group, in this case the Police. The British trio played publicly Monday for the first time in 18 years, singing the reggae-tinged “Roxanne,” the obsessive hit, “Every Breath You Take” and “Message in a Bottle.” “I’d like to make it very clear that there is absolutely no ego in our band whatsoever,”… Read more »

Following last year’s greatest hits album, International Superhits, Green Day will further anthologize their history with Shenanigans, a compilation of B-sides and rarities, due in July. With Green Day celebrating a ten-year anniversary, singer Billie Joe Armstrong reflected on the band’s history last November. “We weren’t trying to keep up with the times – we weren’t trying to make a rap/metal record to keep up with today’s youth or whatever,” he said. “We did what we wanted to do, and people happened to like it, and we’re really grateful for that.” Among Shenanigans’ tracks are “Rotting” and “Desensitized,” both B-sides… Read more »