Tagged: clevelandrockers

* Rock Gallery, a new space created by the Beachland Ballroom's Cindy Barber, and located right next to the Beachland Ballroom, is opening a new exhibit today, April 5th (6-9PM), showcasing some of the greatest Cleveland had to offer during the classic rock era. On display will be posters, photos, and other artifacts from the likes of James Gang, the Raspberries, Damnation of Adam Blessing, Rastus, Wild Butter, Tiny Alice, Eli Radish, Rainbow Canyon, Michael Stanley, Glass Harp, Blue Ash, and Left End. * Horrible Fest has announced their 2013 lineup for their weekend festival at Now [...]

No text

See that fella, over there on the right side of the photo with the cut-offs and flannel? That man is Steve Peffer. Aside from playing bass with the Cleveland post-punk band, Pleasure Leftists, he runs the record store Hausfrau Records in the Gordon Square neighborhood. We may not even be on a first name basis, but in the past few months he's recommended some killer records for me to check out each time I step in the store. Thanks to Steve, my record collection has more Birds of Maya, more Total Control and more Spacin'. I would thank [...]

• Pleasure Leftists - Elephant Men

It should go without saying, but not every band in your local scene arrives fully realized. For every one act you're convinced could be huge, ok indie huge, if only the right person or right website would only notice, there are countless others who need more time to get it right. Unfortunately, when you're working local gigs in a town like Cleveland, time isn't always your ally. Whether it's band members moving away or the tedium of playing for the same faces in the same clubs, even the best homegrown acts break up more often than they break out. [...]

As the story goes, Extra Medium Pony's album 11868 was written after vocalist/guitarist Rick Spitalsky (Volta Sound/Dreadful Yawns/Afternoon Naps) went through an especially rough break-up. "Well that's f'in interesting," I can practically hear the sarcasm now. And to a degree, you're right to be unimpressed by break-up records. They've been around as long as Rock 'N' Roll itself. What makes 11868 different, however, is the manner in which Spitalsky and bandmates Ben Gmetro  on bass (Dreadful Yawns) and Jimmy Frysinger on drums (Nicholas Megalis Band) deal with those emotions. The songs are succinct, almost to a fault. None of [...]

photo by Kayla Sanders Can I tell you a story? Frank Maraldo, the guitarist for Nights, used to play guitar for the Cleveland folk-pop band, Lowly, The Tree Ghost. I happened to catch them one night when they were slotted between Phosphorescent and Herzog , and it had to be one of the worst nights of their collected lives. I don't know if a family member died, or a dog died, or someone just got evicted and left by their girlfriend. It was a performance where none of the performers in the band looked particularly [...]

The concept is simple. 170 Cleveland musicians have submitted themselves to the whims of ping pong balls and a hopper. One by one, they will be drafted into new bands with fellow musicians whom they've never collaborated with before. Metal heads will be paired with singer-songwriters. Electronic artists will be paired with rockers who still believe in putting music to tape. The results can be sublime. Some of these acts will exist for only one night, the big show, taking place Saturday April 13th at the Cleveland Agora . Others may stick around and play gigs around [...]

Northeast, Ohio ex-pats, The Black Keys are staying busy. According to reports , the duo will begin work on their next album later this month.  Later, in April and May, the band will pair up with The Flaming Lips for a short run of tour dates, including an April 30th gig in Pittsburgh...Sticking with the ex-pat crowd, the Cleveland-born, instrumental rock band, Emeralds, now find themselves down a man as founding member, Mark McGuire, has left the group. Here's another reason to get excited about Cleveland music in 2013: The return of the Lottery [...]

Change is good, they say. They, being the executive class, just before they introduce a new company policy designed to screw the worker and pad the profits. Change is exciting, they'll say that, too, as with a straight face they try to convince themselves and you that these new health benefits, worse than last year's and worse than five year's prior by a factor of ten, are actually better for you and your family. I happen to like change. Does that make me crazy? I've heard that one and the answer is yes, especially in the context [...]

Akron-bred, blues rock duo, The Black Keys have settled their lawsuits against Pizza Hut and Home Depot over illegal use of their songs "Gold in the Ceiling" and "Lonely Boy" in commercials. Terms were not disclosed...Did you ever wonder how so many similar sounding songs end up in commercials in the first place? Are corporations really that evil that they won't pay to legally use a song? Yes and no. This past summer, On the Media rebroadcast their story on how and why these soundalike songs come to be. It's worth a listen or a [...]

* Cleveland hot dog joint and local music hot spot, The Happy Dog, has launched a new Kickstarter to record and release a live album by the classical music group, Ensemble HD , a collection of Cleveland Orchestra musicians and their friends. The goal of $15,000 may be on the ambitious side, but so is the mission of Ensemble HD. How many other classical troupes have regular gigs at rock clubs? That's a rhetorical question. * In the past couple years, Cleveland musicians Nick Tolar and Tony Vorrell have seen their profile rise thanks to their work [...]

A recap of recent music news because I'm a maker, damnit, and I don't have time to read and re-tweet every piece of music news during the week. And I suspect, you're a maker, too, and similarly, don't have time for every, tweet, like and piece, either. Borrowing a line from a friend of mine, get ready for Chinese Democracy, Too. Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine assures us the long-awaited follow-up to his band's 1991 masterpiece, Loveless will be released by year's end . I also hear the first commercial implementation of [...]

Because it's not just the season for voting, but to be cynical about the whole damn process and then vote anyway, Sweet Apple have released a video for their cover of the Alice Cooper classic, "Elected," on the day we elect our next president. Think about all the shit we had to put up in our swing state of Ohio over the past year. Think about all the money, a record amount of money, dumped on our airwaves and into our mailboxes. Yesterday alone, I had four mailers from Freedom Works and three more from the Republican party of Ohio. [...]

Guitarist Luke Teeters gives the Cleveland-based pop trio, Summerays, a distinct advantage over the countless number of other young bands trying to court the attention of the ever elusive, new listener. The man plays with a vintage, surf guitar tone rich beyond his years, brighter and shinier than anything from our dirty old town ought to be. And when coupled with simple pop structures, as in "Sunshine," the video embedded above, the results are bound to conjure up visions of lazy days playing driveway basketball, trips to the Lake Erie Shore, or, if you gotta be that way, [...]

Lamont Thomas has always been an active musician in both the Cleveland rock scene and the larger, Midwestern circuit. His credits include work the Bassholes, Puffy Areolas, and This Moment in Black History. Lately, however, he's spent much more time on his own noise rock/garage rock project, Obnox. In the past year, he's already released a full-length on Smog Veil, and singles on 12XU and Negative Guest List, and should you visit Obnox on Soundcloud you'll find he's got much more in store, including today's featured track, "A Ragin' in the Sun," a number which may be his [...]

National Suicide Day Peacefield Snax Records and Tapes Tuesday night and the headphones are on, in the dark, with only a glow from the Indians and Tigers on the TV. I'm going through the website's review queue, which is now eight albums strong, first Om and then this National Suicide Day album comes on, and I'm thinking, "Like I'm going to review all of these albums. What can I cut? What can I put off for a week or two?" And then, wham, "Fuck, man, why haven't more bands run with [...]

Simply put, "Generations" by Shivering Timbers is one fine sounding jam.  Even in the video embedded above, one can discern clean snare hits,  solemnly plucked strings, and swampy guitar melodies inspired by the same mythical space which inspired many of CCR's tributes to the American south.  The scene stealer, however, is lead vocalist Sarah Benn.  Here, her voice is husky and foreboding, purposeful and almost spirit-like as it wavers throughout the mix.  One needn't even parse the lyrics, and the message is ever so clear: Something big and bad is about to go down, and you would be a fool [...]

Looking more like an extra from the Cameron Crowe movie Singles than the young man who charmed critics with bedroom pop songs, Dylan Baldi confidently took the stage early Saturday afternoon with the rest of his Cleveland band, Cloud Nothings, and proceeded to tear through selections from their new, and very much heavier album, Attack on Memory. If you happened to catch the band outside the Rock Hall Wednesday night, then you already knew what you were getting - Songs and a sound, with short, sharp blast of guitar that could have belonged to touchstone indie rock labels like Sub [...]

Puffy Aerolas' "19823 is not for those with delicate tastes, for those with delicate ears, or for those with cats. With guitars like dentist drills and words spit like the man behind the mic could use a trip to get his chompers checked out, this, the first track released from their Hozac Records debut, is as piercing a piece of punk rock as you're likely to come across in 2012. And if you have cats, or multiple cats, it kinda sounds like you're stepping on one of them, in a good way - Not, the cat standing, of [...]

Lord knows how Joe Boyer and Jayson Gerycz of Cleveland's Could Nothings ever found the time to record another side-project, with all that touring and all those festivals their better known band does these days, but here's Chomp, a new act signed to Exit Stencil Records that also features Chris Brown of  Total Babes. While it's difficult for a thirty-something to figure out where these dudes find all that time and energy, it's much easier to place the sound of the finished product.  Especially on "Throw Out Your Wish List," a strong, early '90s, indie-rock vibe comes through.  [...]

• Chomp - Throw Out Your Wish List