The Tinklers are the musical duo of Charles Brohawn and Chris Mason. They have been performing together since 1979. They have released more than four albums’ worth of music, much of it produced by the well respected Mark Kramer and released on his influential (and now defunct) indie Shimmy Disc label.… Read More
Cities bereft of a centralizing celebrity culture (i.e. cities that are not Los Angeles or New York) take an unusual pride in the famous people who were born in, grew up in, or once passed through them. Somehow a half-interesting bit of trivia about a movie star’s origin takes on more significance than it probably should.… Read More
“This city is very… neighborhood-y,” a relative explained recently while driving us around Portland, where we were spending Memorial Day weekend. “People here are very reluctant to travel just a few miles for anything.” In car-centric Detroit, where this relative is from, that’s not so much the case, so this was novel to her.… Read More
Across the nation, local music scenes mourn the breakups of the once-stalwart bands we loved and took for granted. Dependable mainstays who played often and variously: every weekend or at least every other, seemingly too many shows to keep track of, at slick music bars, dive bar, legit “performance venues,” and in some rando’s basement.… Read More
I saw a band play the other night, enjoyed it, and as I’m wont to do when I enjoy a band live, I moseyed over to the band’s “merch” booth, ready to happily part with some hard-earned cash. (By the way, the band was Columbus’ Psychic Wheels, whose sound, if I were a music critic, I would resort to a facile “Buzzcocks meet Beat Happening” description in an attempt to communicate their awesomeness.) You can usually tell how good or bad a band is by a glance at their “merch” booth.… Read More
The Gizmos were a punk band from Bloomington, Indiana active from 1976-1978. They’re not terribly well known and deserve a larger following for their appealing Velvets/Stooges-influenced sound. I’d place them in a protopunk phylum alongside The Modern Lovers and The Dictators, great and worthy company.… Read More