November 29 - Cleveland - Peabody's This pop rock act diverges itself from bands of a similar ilk with a harder sound, though they still maintain glimmering guitars and electro breakdowns fans of the genre have come to expect. First formed in 2006, the band has garnered a lot of attention with a number of featured performance on the Warped Tour, SXSW and CMJ Music Conference. Perhaps their crowning achievement is the band's 2009 MTV Video Music Award for Break Out Band In NYC, which as one could imagine would be a pretty stiff competition. The band is still touring off the strength of thei...
Tobacco is the mastermind behind Black Moth Super Rainbow and he’s in a precarious situation. Actually he’s in number of them, like a man drawn between two women, unable to decide between love and lust. So he dangles ever so in the middle, uncertain of how long he can hang on. Or at least that’s the impression one gets when talking to him. Black Moth Super Rainbow, or BMSR if you’re into the whole brevity thing, has fallen into that wide-ranging genre of psychedelic music that encompasses everything from jam bands to trip-hop. Yet Tobacco doesn’t see it quite like that. ...
Third Eye Blind Ursa Major Third Eye Blind return from a six-year hiatus with “Ursa Major,” a release on their own Mega Collider Records imprint. Now while often a switch from the majors to your own label can signal a significant shift for most bands, with Third Eye Blind, some of the forced sheen from Elektra is gone, but certainly not the pop rock sensibility. “Ursa Major” showcases the band in a slightly more serious light than previous efforts, but make no mistake, it’s still a Third Eye Blind record. Drummer Brad Hargreaves said in his interview with this very magazine that ch...
Get your butt out to the Grog Shop on August 28th and let Atlanta Georgia pop-rock quartet Cartel spin their music into your brain and heart. They have toured the globe and are hitting Cleveland. You have nothing better to do with your evening… trust me. 8/28 Grog Shop • Cleveland Hts. ...
Piano-driven pop rock is on tap at the Grog tonight, when Northeast Ohio natives The Manhattan Scene take the stage. Expect the funkier elements of Maroon 5 mixed with the emotional range of OneRepublic. 8/7 Grog Shop • Cleveland ...
On loan from our neighbors up north, Mean Tangerine is coming through on its summer tour with its ska-influenced pop rock. As the band says in “Summertime,” “Whether fuck or if we fight, we certainly can do it right” — so look forward to one of those two things. ...
One is a little bit pop punk, one is a little bit indie pop. Together, co-headliners The Swellers and Fake Problems make one well-rounded pop-rock show. As an added bonus, both bands do what most pop acts don’t: Play instruments. ...
Duo Ashland Miller and Laura Cerulli take on the sounds of country, rock and blues in its diverse musical performance as Mama’s Black Sheep. Michael Tolcher’s pop rock counters Ashland and Laura’s style, creating a show with a little bit of everything. ...
Canadian rockers The New Pornographers will be bringing their jangly catchy pop-rock to The House Of Blues. Starting in 1997 these veterans of the alternative rock scene are a force to be reckoned with live. Your attendance is highly recommended. MORE INFO HERE...
Local pop/rock singer/songwriter Ryan Humbert, who’s opened for the likes of Train and Chrissie Hynde, plays his original songs with a 15-piece acoustic orchestra. This party marks the end of a drive to raise funds for Humbert’s next album, the followup to “Old Souls, New Shoes”. Show starts at 9pm. ...
You don’t have to be the super fan to enjoy a Red Wanting Blue show. Their electric live shows and constant touring began to wear down a terminally jaded Ohio audience. Over the last year, Red Wanting Blue signed and re-released their eighth album and embarked on tour. Red Wanting Blue with Down the Line and Tom Evanchuck will be at the House of Blues, Cleveland, November 27, doors at 7:30, show at 8:30pm. Red Wanting Blue has playing Athens since 1995 and the rustbelt rockers take a simple, cut and dried approach to their craft. They’re style has been compared to a wilder Tom Petty...
Trouble Books Gathered Tones Gathered Tones is the second album from Akron-based Trouble Books, and continues to explore their minimalist, delicate sound. The album ebbs and flows, swirls and skitters; shifting patterns of electronic ambience and guitar beautifully accompany sparse, brief vocals surrounded by long stretches of haunting, dreamlike instrumentals. The opener, ‘Ascending Kidney’, establishes the slowly shifting, paper-thin template for the album. ‘Past the New Parking Deck’ and ‘From Colfax Place’ are a little closer to traditional song structures, appropriat...
This album gives a new meaning to industrial rock. Five guys from the Netherlands recorded this weird and somewhat pop-rock inspired album. It clamors and clangs, bangs, bashes and oozes a trippy magnetism. Each track is different from the next. The opening track “Sleep Tight” begins with an industrial crash and bash, but it’s when the rawness of the vocals come in, that you realize the wide range De Staat has to play with. The vocals play a dynamic role in the success of this whole album as they transform their harmonies from those of folksy chain gang to those that are reminiscent of, ...
By Hack Harbinger Athens, Greece: site of the first Olympics, the Parthenon and the four-piece rock band Madleaf. “Sinners,” the albums title track, really starts the record right. Fully developed in sound, you’ll wonder why it’s not on the radio already. Watch out, Nickelback! Oh, but don’t worry, this is not rock-lite. Skillful riffs are all over this record. The rhythm section is tight. The vocals beg to be sung along with, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! It is what it is, radio-friendly rock that needn’t be messed with, only enjoyed. The tune “Velvet” ...
