I think I can safely call a guest DJ slot a complete success when I spend half the show laughing and the other half of the show rocking out to some really great tunes. Mike, Jay and Jereme from Apollo Up! joined me on Monday's Out the Other, and if you missed it you can go ahead and: Stream the March 15 edition of Out the Other They brought all kinds of awesomeness that was new to me - [...]

Ever since the economic stimulus package was announced this spring, companies have been offering all kinds of promotions to get their greedy hands on your money entice you to help consumer spending by purchasing their products. Of course the catch is that to qualify for most of these offers, you have to spend your entire check in one place. I don't know about you, but in this failing economy, there really isn't anything I'm dying to spend six hundred bucks on. However, I'd gladly spend fifteen bucks to get five great rock albums. For a limited [...]
Lyrics Born - Hott 2 Deff Le Tigre - Hot Topic You Say Party! We Say Die! - Cold Hands! Hot Bodies! Apollo Up! - Situation: Hot! Coco B's - Hot Pantz
Apollo Up! is a three-piece hailing from the country music mecca, Nashville. Don't let this fool you, though. Apollo Up! doesn't sound anything like Kenny Chesney. From the Theory 8 website, "With all of the promising bands in today's independent musical landscape, there are few that can throw the kind of guitar-driven punch like Nashville-based indie rock trio Apollo Up." I really can't summarize it any better than that, so I don't think I will. Okay, so that previous sentence was a lie. But seriously, Theory 8 was right on with their description of the [...]

I found out that today is one of our Baltimore reader's birthday. I have been wanting to do a mix for awhile now, so I thought that this would be a great opportunity. This mix is basically inspired by some of her favorites and is mostly older material. It's nice, because this is some stuff that I haven't been able to get to much recently and it is a nice break from all of this ACL coverage. Our readers mean everything to us, so Happy Birthday. We wish you the best! [...]
THIS WEEK'S FINDS week of Aug. 20-26 "Walking the Plank" - Apollo Up! A winning combination of melody and invective, "Walking the Plank" sounds as sharp and blistering as an early Elvis Costello or Joe Jackson song. But this is no wearisome nostalgia trip, as there's likewise something very present and unbeholden to anyone about this trio's disciplined, fiery sound. While vocalist Jay Leo Phillips (also the guitarist) has an Elvis-like timbre, his voice is deeper, and rougher around the edges; plus, he has his own intermittently explosive guitar to play off [...]

Real quick, while I have about two seconds before I have to leave - I was out at the Midwest Music Summit this past weekend with Man in Gray . We also had a show in Ann Arbor that was a lot of fun and we got cut off by the cops before our last song. A window got broken, too. Here are a few of the great bands I got to catch on our one day at the MMS in Indianapolis: The Apparitions [...]

Theory 8 Records in Nashville has already hit us up with Apollo Up this year and now plans to rock us a bit more with the newest release from Forget Cassettes . This female fronted three piece outfit, which also sports a member from Apollo Up has a drum kit thump behind most of what they do. The new album is no exception and while Ive only been through the entire thing twice Im sure it will warrant repeated listens. I only got to see about half of the FC set at Desdemona in June, [...]
Everything about Apollo Up! has sharp edges... the guitars, the drums, the voices... even the words. And the only way to not get hurt is to go with the flow... believe me. To keep this as sharp and as tight as the music, I'll describe them thusly: (boxer) Roy Jones Jr as a one man band. Opening track "Walking The Plank", musically at least, is Ted Leo and the Rx on steroids. Lead singer, Jay
What's not to love about Cincinnati in the summertime? You can climb the Purple People Bridge , paddle the Ohio River , or hear a whole lot of Apollo Up! The Nashville trio of Jereme Frey (drums), Mike Shepherd (bass), and Jay Leo Phillips (guitar / vocals) has been to the Queen City so many times in the past month, it feels like they've taken up residence here. First there was the Desdemona Festival , then an appearance on WOXY's Lounge Acts , then a show at (Desdemona organizer) [...]

Ah, how I love the post-punk movement (although we could argue that we're recycling some sounds, but isn't that always that case?)..... Anyhow, here's a band out of Nashville that plays some extremely solid music. Apollo Up! (another exclamation point band, i.e. Oh No! Oh My! or Panic! At The Disco) has an album coming out this month on Theory 8 Records . Try out a couple of the tracks. ::: Apollo Up! - Invisible Syllable ::: Apollo Up! - Cut Up [...]
Today is our first post promoting the Desdemona Festival here in Cincinnati. Apollo Up is the first band to showcase, here is a little background on the band you may or may not know. - Apollo Up was formed during the fall of 2002 and hails from Nashville, TN. - Apollo Up features current/former members of lotushalo, Shiboleth, On Command, and Forget Cassettes. - Apollo Up are releasing thier second LP, Chariots of Fire on June 13 on Theory 8 Records . Sounds Like - Ted [...]