The Witzard

The Crust Brothers cover The Cars by The Crust Brothers Richard "Ric" Ocasek passed away this past Sunday, September 15, 2019. 75-year-old Ocasek was found dead Sunday at his New York City townhouse by his estranged wife, Paulina Porizkova, where he had been recovering from a recent surgery. The Chief Medical Examiner's office later reported Ric Ocasek died from natural causes; although, he suffered from both hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. Ocasek was best-known as being one of the founding members of The Cars, as well as the band's long-time lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter. The Cars emerged from the 1970's New Wave scene and were early originators of what is now commonly known as Power Pop with sonic allusions to Rock "N" Roll, Art Rock, and Rockabilly throughout. The Cars always appeared to be (to me, at least) a Punk-adjacent band, which makes complete sense because during The Cars' career, as well as a...

"'Rap Trope Questionnaire" is kind of a round-about way of talking about being manic depressive, but from the perspective of someone inhabiting an arena where that sort of behavior is welcomed and even encouraged. It is like an asset in some ways to be able to turn the personality up to 150%, even if it is "blindness to kick bliss in the shin and put my emotional win on display again" (yuck, quoting [myself] feels gross!)" CURTA emcee Jake recently wrote within an emailed statement. CURTA was formed in Colorado a number of years ago because, as Jake puts it, he simply "wanted to make music that was not beholden to prior ideas of what a "band" should be;" often labeling themselves as a Glitch-Hop or Art-Rap group, CURTA and in-house producer 4Digit readily cite Pavement , Coil, Saul Williams , and Pere Ubu as immediate sources of influence and inspiration. Zilla Rocca , a close friend and frequent collaborator here at The Wit...

"Throughout its storied three-year existence, Troubled Waters has emerged as the world's preeminent Paul Simon tribute band, attracting a passionate fan following in multiple states. Evoking the heavenly vocals, poignant lyrics, and sensible wardrobe of the greatest Folk-Rock artist of all time. Troubled Waters has taken every effort to mimic that classic P-Sim sound, withe exception of some of the more complex arrangements on Graceland ," reads the brief artist biography on mysterious Late Show with Stephen Colbert inaugural week guests, Troubled Waters . "So sit back, feel groovy, and remember what the man himself said: "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls, and whispered in the sound... of Troubled Waters ," the band's rather sparse website continues, making a few clever allusions to "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Simon solo hit "Feelin' Groovy." While it was widely assumed to...

" AAN is a fearless experimental Pop band from Portland, OR mixing heavily textured guitars with rich vocal harmonies," according to Facebook . Frontman Bud Wilson decided to start a band with friends-musicians Jon Lewis (drums), Reese Lawhorn (bass), and Jeff Bond (guitar). AAN , which is pronounced like a hard Boston -accented "on," managed to self-release a number of CD-R's throughout the city starting around 2007. 6 years and a few well-received singles/EP's later, AAN are finally ready to unleash their long-awaited debut album, tentatively titled Amor ad Nauseum . I almost hate making open-ended analogies like this... But most of the time, Wilson's vocals sound a lot like a near-perfect hybrid mix between Jeff Buckley and Pavement's sloppy brand of smart 90's Indie Rock . Stereogum (Claire Lobenfeld?) scored an for AAN's latest, Mike Wilson -directed music video, "Mystery Life." It's titular plot revol...

I would imagine that a band like Weekends are held very much so in the same public regard as say, Pavement or Nirvana back in their 90's heyday(s): The band's overall musical ability [or lack thereof] doesn't exactly seem to measure up with their ever-growing level of success and critical acclaim. With that said, Weekends is simply made up of 2 multi-instumental cats hailing from Baltimore, Maryland 's thriving "art scene" - Brendan Sullivan and Adam Lemple on rotating Guitar/Vox/Drum duties. Both gentlemen are active solo artists, graphic designers, writers, photo-journalists, members of alternative bands, etc. as well. Personally met Weekends @ First Unitarian Church, Philly gig with Surfer Blood last summer; They proceeded to offer me FREE beer and malt liquor when we officially met in the "green room" [church pews]. I can attest that they're truly some cool-ass, hard-working dudes! Since forming around 2008-09, Weekends have managed...

* Steve Keene - "Remixed" Cover Art When it comes down to true feelings about music, strippers , and/or pizza... I feel like I'm a pretty "honest, fair" kind of guy. With that said, I have a soft spot for exotic dancers and SM 's last 2 records: Face the Truth (2005) and Real Emotional Trash (2008) were solid collections! So, if my personal opinion holds any sort of credence ["cred"], then SM & The Jicks' new album will indeed be a true "winner" of a record selection. Although I've only actually heard 2 tracks from Mirror Traffic thusfar -- "Senator" and "No One Is (As Are I Be)" -- I'm positive that the Beck -produced album will most definitely warrant repeat listens. The pair of 90's Alternative/Indie Rock heroes reportedly laid down the majority of the 15-track collection in 2010. Then temporarily shelved due to Pavement 's "Reunion Tour" and Beck 's covers initiati...