The Tangelos are the reincarnation of Joshua Butcher and the Melancholy. Their style has been referred as alt-country to blues-rock which features strong vocal harmonies, sweet bass lines and ambient guitar goodness.
“The Tangelos are the next big thing coming out of Tucson. Not from concentrate - all natural. Their sound will stop you in your tracks and make you realize just what good music should sound like." - Tucson Music Scene
"The Wyatts are Tucson's resident country music legends -'legends,' because they've created an entire myth surrounding their band. From their history to their songs, The Wyatts are classic storytellers, spinning tales with good ol' country spirit. Plus, their special blend of contemporary country-style vocals with traditional Americana melodies and instrumentations makes for plenty of catchy hooks." - Tucson Weekly
"The Wyatts... will soon be kicking dirt in our dusty town, with the potential to fill the gap left behind by Fourkiller Flats." - Downtown Tucsonan
"A new place in Americana is coming up...next exit, The Wyatts." - CD Baby
"The Wyatts are tight and as talented as any band on the scene. An outstanding album that will certainly become a signature release for this band." 5 stars - Roots Music Report
Stillsuit... This trio does a great job with their expiramental-indie set.... and they always put on a great show.
"Sketching In Stereo... sounds like it's reaching for modern rock radio... crafting KFMA-ready rock anthems." -Arizona Daily Star
"...most impressively, many of these songs wouldn't sound out of place if KFMA sneaked them into rotation between Hoobastank and The Killers." - Tucson Weekly
"Sketching In Stereo... are making rock on a grand scale... Tucson may have a winner on its hands." - Arizona Daily Wildcat
The Runaway Five, sporting their quirky post-punk/indie-pop/new wave inspired style, are one of Tucson's newest and most promising acts.
Vocalist Kari Shaff has an incredibly sultry, yet honey smooth voice with which she performs beautiful jazz standards. Cool and classy at the same time!
"The Holy Rolling Empire... have quickly generated considerable buzz, and I'm happy to report the hype is justified... the new school of indie-style, not unlike Cold War Kids... or Voxtrot... The group's songs are both catchy enough to grab you on first listen and complex enough to keep you going back for more." - Tucson Weekly
"Backing vocal harmonies litter the songs, coinciding with a dreamy, vaguely psychedelic air. Numerous riffs and tempo changes elevate (The Holy Rolling Empire) above simple pop, along with lyrics that add a dark undercurrent." - Downtown Tucsonan
"Black Carl is the best live band in Phoenix... hands down. If you have not seen them yet you better do it before they get signed and blow up and move to New York or something." - Electric Mustache
"Black Carl... (create) down-and-dirty, sexy tracks a hypnotic beat that makes you really groove." - Phoenix Metromix
"Black Carl - sounds like it might be dirty, sounds like it might be racist. It's neither. It's soul, funk, blues and everything that was once cool." - Indie Rock Reviews
Mean Beans is a folk-rock act consisting of guitar vocals, drums, and recently cello, bass, and organ as well. Influenced by classic rock and modern indie music, they are a ton of fun.
Tucson Underground says, "Singer/guitarist Hank Topless revels in reptile-booted, over-the-top country singer fashion..." It is this fashion sense mirrored in the type of music Hank peddles: some of the best honky-tonk and classic country tunes ever penned and some damn-well written originals too. These odes are delivered with one of the sweetest country voices in Arizona, possibly the Southwest.
"Bisbee Arizona's Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl (not to be confused w/ Tucson's Nowhere Man) .... similar to the Spinanes--and not just because it's a two piece indie folk-pop band, either. Siblings Amy & Derek Ross make simple indie-pop with a jazzy edge not seen since Manos...." - Mundane Sounds
"Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl are perfect examples of the originality and inventiveness that can come out of ignoring scene trends. What elevates (them) above the masses is Amy Ross' voice. Solid, and unpredictable without feeling scattered." - Lost At Sea
"Alberta Cross... which has previously opened for Dave Matthews Band, Them Crooked Vultures, the Shins and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - boasts a gritty indie-rock sound... remaining unflinchingly rooted in Americana. It's tight and raw at the same time, a frenzied meld of crashing guitars, whining slide, bluesy prog-rock drums, and piercing vocals that suggest influence by Robert Plant, Jim James, and Neil Young." - Billboard
"Alberta Cross' new album finds the band further honing the sound that gained it comparisons to The Raconteurs, The Black Keys and Kings of Leon. With an opening slot on tour with its fellow scorching blues-rockers in Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Alberta Cross seems poised to reach the heights of some of its established peers." - NPR
"Like Crazy Horse fronted by Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue, (Alberta Cross) blazes a trail through the backwoods with the raw fury of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and the pensive, worldweary pen of Gram Parsons... this dense monolith of roots-based stoner rock is the perfect late-night companion for a dark summer highway." 4 stars - All Music Guide
"Alberta Cross scare the hell out of us. In a good way. This long-awaited debut album proper from the preacher-chic-touting fivesome is an intoxicating mix of apocalyptic riffs, sob-worthy singalongs and brooding blues." - NME
"I love this album. Take Neil Young’s vocals, his hard-driving Americana rock and combine it with the pathos of Kurt Cobain and you’ve got Alberta Cross... The Broken Side of Time (is) a seasoned, polished album start to finish and hard to believe it’s only their first." - The OMCD
Dead Confederate is releasing their sophomore release, Sugar, due on August 24th. The is the anticipated follow-up to their widely acclaimed debut Wrecking Ball.
"An artist to watch... when they hit full howl, Dead Confederate are the living end." - Rolling Stone
"Both in name and in sound, Dead Confederate aims to further the cause of Southern rock. The Georgia band does indeed mix its Neil Young with its Lynyrd Skynyrd, but underneath all those heavy chords is a group of guys raised on Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and other titans of early-'90s alt-rock."- NPR
"Dead Confederate's... music springs from the grunge era: quiet loud quiet structures, atomic drums and rich guitar dirges as dirty as a rut road and doused with space dust." - Blender
"Dead Confederate's alt-country/grunge hybrid doesn't just feel like a compelling debut, it feels like a compelling new genre." - The Onion
"Dead Confederate... may appeal to My Morning Jacket fans, but (several) songs (which recalls Kurt Cobain at his nastiest) possess more growl than that comparison implies." 3 stars - Spin
"The Futurebird's... incredibly strong six-song debut pays lo-fi homage to three decades of cornbread-fed psych, folk and and rock ‘n roll with production values reminesnct of Tennessee Fire-era My Morning Jacket." - Aquarium Drunkard
"The Futurebirds... comparisons to Deer Tick and Delta Spirit, I can’t help but hear some early American Music Club atmospherics and a dash of Beggars Banquett-era Stones in there." - My Old Kentucky Blog
"True to their name... Southern Culture on the Skids offer an affectionate parody of local white-trash trailer-park culture, matching their skewed outlook with a wild, careening brand of rock & roll. SCOTS' music is a quintessentially Southern-fried amalgam of rockabilly, boogie, country, blues, swamp pop, and chitlin circuit R&B, plus a liberal dose of California surf guitar, a hint of punk attitude, and the occasional mariachi horns... While Southern Culture on the Skids have been making good-to-great records since 1991...their real strength has always been as a live act, and anyone who has seen them on-stage knows a typical SCOTS show is a sweat-soaked frenzy of roaring guitars, pounding drums, manic dancing, and fried chicken flying through the air." 4 stars - All Music Guide
"Southern Culture on the Skids has made a career of hanging loose. For 18 years, the North Carolinian trashabilly trio has crafted fun, funky platters that sweat joy and barbeque sauce; their fans await these with all the patience of a caged, type-A monkey on a banana boat." - Harp
"If you've ever been fortunate enough to find yourself front and center in witness of the thrashabilly spectacle that is Southern Culture on the Skids, you already know that the trio's studio work just barely translates the manic power they bring to every show, every club, every night." - Amplifier
"For good timin' greasy glitzy fun, SCOTS is one of the best bands on the road." - Blogcritics
Featuring members of The Dead Tones, The El Camino Royales play some mean garage-rockabilly.