Tour Talk with the Blank Tapes; Playing the Earl Tuesday, June 25

By Jhoni Jackson Matt Adams’ musical yield is exceptional, like a less eccentric, younger R. Stevie Moore, who he actually shared bills with in Europe a few years ago. Still, the output is freakish. Since first releasing tunes as The Blank Tapes in 2005, he’s amassed hundreds of recordings. (Many collections are available via Bandcamp.) […]

Mikal Cronin Playing the Earl Sunday, June 23

By Jhoni Jackson Now on his second LP, Mikal Cronin has fully escaped the confines of being simply “Ty Segall’s bandmate.” He’s been at it for a few years now, but MCII solidifies Cronin as a luminary crooner in the garage-pop realm. The album is contemplative and compelling, replete with energetic jams like “Change” and […]

5GB Interview: Jacuzzi Boys; Playing the EARL Saturday, June 8th!

By Jhoni Jackson As far as bands on Instagram go, Jacuzzi Boys (@jacuzziboys) are among the best. Well, maybe enviable is more accurate. Their feed is full of goofiness, rockin’ and rollin’ and, you know, the occasional hang sesh with Iggy Pop. Onstage, however, they’re not so silly. The trio rips through their psych-laced garage […]

Interview with Snowden; Playing the EARL June 5th!

By Jhoni Jackson Back in the mid-to-late 2000s, Snowden was ubiquitous in the Atlanta dance scene. You simply could not go to MJQ without hearing “Black Eyes” and shake, shake, shaking to Jordan Jeffares’ sticky synth-pop. Anti-Anti wasn’t just a hit here, either. Snowden scored big in clubs all over, even landing a 2009 touring […]

5GB Interview: O’Brother; Playing @ the EARL Friday, May 31

By Jhoni Jackson O’Brother has been on a heck-of-a-ride these past few years. The notches in the Atlanta band’s touring belt are enviable: The Features, Thrice, Moving Mountains, Junius and, most recently, Alice in Chains. (Let’s not forget their frequent pairing with their pals in Manchester Orchestra, either.) The ethereal, epic-leaning rock act’s stint with AIC […]

5GB Interview: Cosmonauts; Playing 529 Thursday, May 16

By Jhoni Jackson Orange County outfit Cosmonauts boasts a blend of chaos and comedowns in their forever-fuzzy rock ‘n’ roll repertoire. Last year’s If You Wanna Die Then I Wanna Die (Burger Records) hits both amped-up, anxious highs and droning, lost-in-lament lows with equal intensity. Nailing an energetic, raucous jam like “Motorcycle #1” is a feat in […]

Interview w/ Wax Idols & TV Ghost; Playing the Mess-Around April 26!

By Jhoni Jackson There’s a little bit of L-U-V hidden in the lineup of this year’s Mess-Around. Two of the annual weekend throwdown’s most theatrical performers, Hether Fortune of Oakland’s Wax Idols and Tim Gick of Lafayette, Indiana’s TV Ghost, married in February. Their Friday-night sets at the EARL are part of a joint tour […]

5GB Interview: Jennifer Clavin of Bleached; Playing the EARL tonight, April 16!

By Jhoni Jackson Jennifer and Jessica Clavin, sisters and former members of all-girl post-punk outfit Mika Miko, are poised to garner even greater success than the much-beloved (but now defunct) band achieved. The Clavin’s debut LP as Bleached—which was several years in the making—is finally out, and the reception’s been more than ideal. This time, […]

5GB with Wayne “the Train” Hancock; Playing Vinyl Thursday, Feb. 28

By Jhoni Jackson Wayne “the Train” Hancock is a honky-tonk hero, a bona fide blessing to both country and rockabilly. Since the ‘90s—and that includes his latest LP, Ride—he’s stuck to his signature guns: earnest storytelling, premium pickin’ and, more often than not, a swingin’ tempo. It makes sense that Hancock’s responses to our 5GB […]

Q&A with Helado Negro; Playing 529 Thursday, February 28

By Jhoni Jackson South Florida native Roberto Lange, better known as Helado Negro, has lent a hand to various projects, like mixing Bear in Heaven’s Beast Rest Forth Mouth and producing Prefuse 73’s Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian. But generally, his solo work over the past five years has been in Spanish—until now. On Invisible Life, […]

5GB Interview with Cory Branan; Playing 529 Friday, Feb. 22

By Jhoni Jackson If you’re at all familiar with Cory Branan, you won’t be too surprised by his answers to our 5GB series. The Memphis-based artist’s work follows the storytelling vein of classic country and folk, and his responses reflect how deeply that tendency is rooted within him. He doesn’t give many short answers—he can’t […]

5GB Interview with K-Holes; Playing the EARL Thursday, Feb. 14

By Jhoni Jackson The bill at the EARL this Thursday is practically a sonic rejection of Valentine’s Day traditions. None of these bands are going to croon the soundtrack to your candlelit, arm-entwined sip of wine. More likely they’ll score your evening of white-knuckled can-crushing and drunken ex-bashing. The anti-cupid sentiment will abound—or at least […]