"Kinch... (are) Catchy as hell." - Hear Ya
"Fans of The Shins, The Flaming Lips and Coldplay... you'll be pleasantly surprised." - In Your Speakers
"Kinch are savvy - in how they craft piano-driven hooks, in how they market themselves, in how they have built a fan base" - So Much Silence
Seashell Radio consists of four great musicians, including Esme Schwall on cello, Cassie Van Gelder, Fen Ikner who helped write a song that was adopted as theme music by NPR’s Science Friday and local singer-songwriter favorite Courtney Robbins.
"Seashell Radio... gorgeously moody tunes that at times recall the sophisticated pop of Talk Talk and Air." - Tucson Weekly
"Young Mothers... is the simple intersection where a moody Elliott Smith guitar crashes into the chipper sounds of a Weezer melody." - I Guess I'm Floating
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!
Tokyo Police Club is set to release its second full-length album, Champ. This follows the well-received, Elephant Shell, and two earlier EPs.
"Tokyo Police Club... poised to become the biggest Canadian export since Molson." - Rolling Stone
"Tokyo Police Club retain their enthusiasm with Champ." 4/5 - Alternative Press
"The new album... find(s) TPC reaching out, growing more comfortable, and letting loose." 7.6/10 - Pitchfork
"Tokyo Police Club indulge in plenty of echoey atmospherics but also add Foo Fighters–esque blasts of guitar, as if leaping into action and kicking over their chairs." 3.5/5 - Blender
"The songs on Elephant Shell are a sensible progression from the Strokes-like hooks of earlier material, showing an increasing sophistication. As with before, the brilliance is in the brevity." - Billboard
"Elephant Shell is great. It really is." 4/5 - MusicOMH
"Elephant Shell... may be svelte, but it’s far from slight." 7/10 - NME
Finalists in the 2008 Zig Zag/CMJ Live Contest and picked by the Las Vegas Weekly as the fifth best concert of 2008 (coming in higher than Gogol Bordello!!) Mostly Bears have become a force to be reckoned with. With tons of critical acclaim, a couple national tours under their belts, and a debut full-length album that made it to #30 on the CMJ charts, Mostly Bears have left the “local band from Tucson” label in the dust and are making an impact with their outstanding live shows. Much like an explosion when you throw an aerosol can into a fire, a Mostly Bears show might just singe your hair off... well, your eyebrows at the very least.
"On their outstanding full-length debut, the Tucson trio Mostly Bears own a dense, swirling wall of sound on par with early Modest Mouse and The Mars Volta... One of the year's best albums thus far, and among the top indie bows of the past decade." 4.5/5 - Creative Loafing
"Adventurous and never boring, Mostly Bears have stirred up a hornet's nest of buzz since a SXSW showcase earlier this year. And based on this album, they have quite a few things going from them." 7/10 - Pop Matters
"One of Tucson's most promising new bands. Fireworks, pounding drums, unusal backing vocals and sounds, perfectly rumbling bass lines, chaotic and frenzied guitars played with aplomb... conjure the progressiveness of the Mars Volta and counts influences from screamo to Radiohead to Animal Collective." - Village Voice
"Full of verve and with chops to burn, Mostly Bears... sounds a bit like a non-acoustic, amped-up version of Arcade Fire... and (at times) contains the brawn of Muse but the intricacies and nuances of the Dears." 3.5/5 - All Music Guide
"Tucson touts its Bears as the next Mars Volta... the youngish progsters sound far less dense and much more inviting than that. Raw, sure, but gripping in enough places to make the Arizonans worth keeping tabs on." - Las Vegas Weekly
“Chillingly raw... astonishingly sophisticated... Whether you want to be there from the start or just hear decent tunes, you should find a way to get this album.” – Arizona Daily Wildcat
"Keep an eye on Arkells, an up-and-coming five-piece with a surprisingly mature knack for rock-solid comfort music. Their first full-length album, Jackson Square is a truly impressive collection from a band that has only been together a couple of years" - Raise the Hammer
"Jackson Square is a great album from one of Canada's up-and-coming bands." - Ultimate-Guitar
"Jackson Square is by no means a classic... but it is a very, very good debut for a very promising band that nobody heard of two years ago.... The Arkells have just punched in as rock n’ roll’s newest pioneers - and it doesn’t look like they’re about to be punching out anytime soon." - Sputnik Music
Spreading lush electronic arrangments and rhodes electric piano underneath pedal steel, Birds & Batteries mesh indie/electronica with occasional hints of Americana.
"Birds & Batteries... a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll, a little bit electronic and all kinds of intriguing pop." - The Onion
"Blending together hypnotic vocals and melancholy melodies, Birds& Batteries... (have) influences ranging from Daft Punk to Neil Young, the band is a nuclear bomb waiting to explode all over indie countdowns and the pages of Spin" - Zero Magazine
"Birds & Batteries is an oddly appropriate moniker for a band whose synthy soundscapes seem to float effortlessly in the air." - Mother Jones
"Birds & Batteries... has a gritty sound that could pass as either alt-country garage rock or fuzzy-synth psychedelia. No song remains completely in either category." - West Coast Performer
Ghost Cow performs a blend of garage rock/psychedelica that can be describe as Tucson Desert Rock.
"As the band's debut CD, Vistas, demonstrates, Ghost Cow are indeed a rock band, one influenced by '60s rock, particularly the garage and psychedelic varieties." - Tucson Weekly
"Loren Dircks has been a fixture in Tucson's music scene for more than two decades, first as a founding member of 'country metal' stalwarts Gila Bend and currently as a solo performer " - Phoenix New Times
"Loren Dircks knows how to keep listeners guessing. The singer-songwriter and wild-guitar tamer, who for years led Gila Bend, recently released a new solo CD... the album couldn't be more interesting, and at times, it approaches genius. " - Tucson Weekly
"With a classic rockabilly style, and a course, gin-soaked voice, Arizona's Al Foul has just released a solo album. After one listen, you will be left swimming in images of crinoline and sideburns with a grin from start to finish. The One, The Only is an album with an unmistakable 50's flair, reminiscent of Elvis' glory days; but Al Foul has added his own style to bring in a distinctly modern feel..." - Left of the Dial
"Al's rockabilly sound feels like it best suited as mood music for a good ol' white-trash bar. Maybe that explains that special thanks to Schlitz Beer in the liner notes... Al Foul and the Shakes are a cool sounding band, but are their songs too ridiculous? Like Pet Sounds, the Beatles' White Album, Led Zeppelin IV, and Back In Black, this is a landmark album in the annals of rock and roll. Or maybe not. - Agousti Music
Vampyros Bonobos combine funk, jazz, and elements of acts like Medeski Martin and Wood and Galactic with a mod '60s sound that can only be described as groovy. While Vampyros Bonobos is a new band, they are not new to the Tucson scene. Their members have played with Michael P., Tommy Larkins, Ozlo, and The Infernal Racket among others.
Guaranteed to make you wanna shake yo' thang!... Drama Club specializes in songs not normally tackled by other Tucson bands, including works by Etta James, Koko Taylor, and Ike & Tina Turner. Add a little bit of the Rolling Stones, Sharon Jones and other tasty tidbits thrown in, Drama Club is designed with the shake-a-tail-feather-dancer in mind.
Featuring two of the most experienced Tucson musicians - Naim Amor and Jeff Grubic along with a rotating cast of other amazing Tucson talent - The Jazzholes play jazz standards as well as improvisation... very cool!