Paul Sharar on the Replacements

FLYER by PAUL SHARRAR
I heard the Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me for the first time in 1987. I was 14, a freshman at Miraleste High, and it would take two years for the band to catch me—to grab me and help me grow into the person I am today.
I had maybe [...]

AUGUST 28  SAMUELI THEATRE
Cheery audience sing-alongs, calls for hand clapping and impromptu choreography—bump up the set time by eight hours and this could have been a toddler bop show, the sort of thing that unbridled cynicism usually deflates but tonight was just my favorite bits of pop rock & roll, fully realized. The set began [...]

A Little Ol’ Place Where the Commotions Get Together

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY
Ruben Kaban thought that when his band the Commotions—who are set to play a breast cancer benefit this Saturday—started early last year, they’d be a natural fit for the mod crowd. And in theory, he was right: His band (in which he plays guitar [...]

Another side of the blues with Ana Popovic

Ana Popovic grew up in the former Yugoslavia at a time when fighting, unemployment, inflation and government propaganda ruled. Her country had been slowly crumbling for decades thanks to the Nazis, the communists and unremitting internal strife. And if the Balkans might not seem the likeliest of places [...]

What you should learn in school, but won’t
Some nights, deciding where to eat or what band to see can be as difficult as settling on an elective course to round out your schedule. Whether you’re new to town or have been here since graduating college (in 1983), here’s our cursory course catalogue of Long Beach [...]

Black Francis’ double seance

PHOTO by MICHAEL HALSBAND
In the thick of all the tension and band conflict in Steven Cantor’s Pixies reunion documentary loudQUIETloud, there’s one moment of surreal honesty that flawlessly articulates Frank Black’s frustration, both with his own solo material and the Pixies. He’s doing a phone interview while lying on a hotel bed [...]

Anavan is out from the cold

ILLUSTRATION by JOE MCGARRY
Anavan drummer and singer Aaron Buckley left hometown Ketchikan, Alaska (famous for its salmon and Senator Ted Stevens’ botched “bridge to nowhere” project) in 1998, but he never regretted his Alaskan childhood: “It was a really really fun experience,” he says. “All kids should grow up there!” [...]

STAG BITTEN AND BAD PARENTS | THE BAD PAD | AUG 15

PHOTO by FEVER DRAGON
Every piece of furniture was turned up on edge and stuffed unceremoniously into the kitchen at the Bad Pad (a house on Seventh Street) before Stag Bitten went on. Stag Bitten are from Portland—but like most Portland bands, none of them [...]

The Humpers reform (again!) for the greater good of punk rock ‘n’ roll

PHOTO by LISA JOHNSON
On Friday the Humpers will return to Alex’s Bar to remind all the tenderfeet in the audience that they are still the Eagle Scouts of rootsy punk rock. I caught up with founding member Scott “Deluxe” Drake as he babysat [...]

Jeremy Enigk’s soul on display

Days after Seattle legends Sunny Day Real Estate had signed their contract with Sub Pop, the band was offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to sell out: “We were just taking a tour of the Sub Pop office,” says singer/guitarist Jeremy Enigk. “The PR guy got a call from Nordstrom [...]