The Get Up Kids
with Youth Group and Pretty and Nice
The Glasshouse, Pomona, CA
Free parking, ins and outs and a stern, yet fair security force have always kept the Glasshouse as one of my favorite places to see a show. Seeing The Get Up Kids there was all too enticing, especially seeing as how they are rolling out to promote the 10-year anniversary release of Something To Write Home About.
Strolling in to find Boston’s Pretty & Nice on stage, I found myself debating whether to start a brand new West Coast …

Sinner Sinners
Characters, Pomona, CA
September 26, 2009

Since when did the French know how to play punk like that?
The dark punk duo of Sam and Steve Thill really did justice to the underground during their US tour this summer, making a pit stop in P-Town on a Saturday night. They were accompanied by their touring band, which included non-French drummer, Marky from the Morlocks, a bassist who they just call Ed, and this super sexy guitarist named Mike Zebra.
I decided to take Spanish in high school instead of French, so I epically …

The Emperor!: So, from what I hear, you’re quite the manly man in the world of musicians. So, Mr. Mountain Man, what do you feel about Tim “The Toolman” Taylor?
Murder By Death Adam: I watched that show a little, but what I remember about him most is, I grew up in Michigan, and he’s from Detroit, and what I remember is that he would always get arrested for drunkenly driving his Ferrari at like 130 miles per hour. He went to jail like 3 times and kept buying his way …

Katamari Forever
PS3
7/10
Get ready for more weird surreal fun and giant garbage balls then you can shake a tiny fist at.
Katamari Forever seems a bit self-aware, basking it its own strangeness and charm rather than working on retaining the feel of being something new and unique. However, those who liked the other games will still be thrilled to get back behind a Katamari ball and take it for yet another spin. Somehow, wreaking cheerfully animated havoc with impossibly sticky rolling mounds of death never seems to get old.
The picture book …

Zombieland
Columbia Pictures
9/10

In reviewing this year’s latest zombie flick, I find myself unable to find where to start, not because it was a bad flick, but simply because there were so many kick ass things about the movie. I am no connoisseur of zombie movies, but I have seen my fair share and can safely say that this is the best zombie movie I have ever seen. Zombieland is a careful collaboration of sarcasm, slapstick, artful direction, cool special effects, and even a minimal amount of sappiness. In short, something …

As much we love Maynard James Keenan, move over, Tool.
Enigmatic and beautiful, English-originated band, Porcupine Tree pushes artistry in music to an even more psychedelic and progressive level. They often collaborate with graphic artist Lasse Hoile via sonic and visual stimulation experienced during their live shows. Formed and led by the self-taught producer and songwriter, Steven Wilson challenges himself and the band with each album release. Even though their style has evolved since 1987, their tenth and most recent album release, The Incident is influenced by ‘70s rock music. According …

Gaslight Anthem
W/ Murder By Death, The Loved Ones and Frank Turner
Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA

Holy fuck. This was the best show I’ve been to in forever. Everything was smooth as silk, except parking. Fuck you, Target. Why would you start towing cars at 11? Eat my ass. Not that I got towed, just that I find it annoying.
Frank Turner started off the night, with just him and a guitar captivating everyone in the crowd, except for us, we had shit to do. We had to find this lycan-looking motherfucker from …

Scribblenauts
Nintendo DS
Warner Bros.
8/10
“So many nouns, so little time”
In Scribblenauts, you play a boy armed with a notebook that can make any object written in it magically appear, and spend your time running around solving puzzles in a colorful world of imagination, limitless exploration, and strategic destruction.
If you ever wanted to stage fantasy death matches Scribblenauts is a dream come true. Will they help you find an elusive Starite? Who cares, that werewolf just made Beggin’ Strips out of the Egyptian sun god! Junior cockfighting at its finest. Things …

Disclaimer: Sorry for the delay. We’ve had a hard time finding people to talk to for our fourth installment of “Deck.” However we did find a trio o hipster-ish folks who opened their mouths- and their hearts- to us, touching on one of the biggest controversies in hipster culture right now: that of the so-called “blipsters.” Consider this one of the more educational writings we’ve done.

For hipsters, the man known to the rest of the world as Colonel K is hardly a radical in the ink-and-barrel sense. …

The Blakes
Souvenir
Self Released
7/10
Souvenir is the latest album by garage rock band The Blakes.  Even before their formation in Seattle, brothers Garnet and Snow Keim were on the road traveling the country writing and playing music anywhere they could, on their way from Maine to Washington, and taking in as many influences as possible in the process. Overall Souvenir is the 5th LP dropped by The Blakes since their formation in Seattle, Washington back in 2001.
Since that creation the Blakes have been fine tuning their garage rock sound with catchy hooks, …

Ghostbusters
Atari
(PS3/Xbox 360/Wii)
(5 out of 10)
I am a fan of the Ghostbusters films and was excited to see how the game was going to turn out. All of the original cast, minus one Rick Moranis, returned to voice the game. Seeing the cast in all their simulated preserved glory, spouting off quips and witty banter, does much to keep the dream of the iconic 80’s films alive while avoiding the unfortunate sight of the cast’s now aging sagging bodies stuffed into a set of tan overalls, and of course getting …

By all accounts, Joel Allen Schroeder has few vices. Besides his love of filmmaking- a pursuit which has landed the Minnesota resident in Hollywood after a stint at the University of Southern California- and Priuses, the Milwaukee-born director and producer is atypically average for H-Wood. He doesn’t drive fancy cars. Nor does he carry a Rolodex of names in a Blackberry somewhere. To outside eyes, he is the very definition of milquetoast. Yet behind the façade lies a secret life few have glimpsed, until now.
For Joel …