Past Stories
BAND OF THE WEEK
Cities of Origin: Riverside, Perris
Members: Mark Nemetz (vocals/guitar), Lisa Nemetz (vocals/guitar/percussion), Johnny Hawthorn (lead and steel guitar), Stephan Silveira (bass/vocals), Joey Stafford (drums/percussion/vocals)
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Band of the Week
Cities of Origin: Riverside, Pomona, Covina
Members: Vanessa Soto (vocals); Dana Reed (guitar); Amy Kirk (bass/vocals); Jennifer Reyes (drums)
Recent Release: Moscow (self-released; coming this summer)
Kindred Spirits: Berlin, ...
Band of the Week
CITIES OF ORIGIN: Yucaipa & Joshua Tree
MEMBERS: Jason Mustachio (vocals), Kevin Wright (bass), Erik Mountain (drums), John Page (guitar)
RECENT RELEASE: Whiskey and Knives (self-released; 2007)
KINDRED SPIRITS: Bl’as...
BAND OF THE WEEK
Another Corona/Riverside band determined to dispel the stereotype of the IE as a dumping ground for atrocious, unlistenable vomitrawk, Winston & the Telescreen are instead the 180-degree flip of that scourge—sort of a...
YOUNG DOLLA
Some people with anti-social tendencies hole up in a shack in the mountains and, a la Ted Kaczynski, believe that society is shutting them out and shutting them up.
Moreno Valley rapper Young Dolla was similarly afflicted...
BAND OF THE WEEK
Every halfway decent college town needs a great stoner band, so Ojos Rojos might as well be Claremont’s (the name translates as “red eyes,” which pretty much explains everything). As stoner bands go, they lean...
BAND OF THE WEEK
The Cabookies have a cute name, one that alternately denotes both traditional Japanese theater and chocolate-chipped, high-caloric goodness. But the Fontana band is actually pretty scary—a trio of fierce musicians who scr...
ATOM THA IMMORTAL
It almost feels insulting to brand Riverside’s Atom tha Immortal as a rapper, because there’s so much more going on here than mere beats and rhymes. He’s an eloquent essayist, political activist, Biblical scho...
CEREBRO NEGRO
In a region where too many bands are as cookie-cutter as the tract homes, a good ska band is like a refreshing oasis in a desert of punk/metal sameness.
Like the 7-piece Fontana ska en espanol outfit Cerebro Negro, who…
Band of the Week
The epic eight-bit struggle between space pirates and Earth-born intergalactic bounty hunters immediately come to mind when people—mostly sunshine-deprived video game nerds—think of Metroid.
But IE music geeks know ...
Band of the Week
Stokley is the only group in the IE cocky enough to post groupie applications on its website. The five-piece also tout their dynamic songwriting abilities about as much as their dashing good looks.
But the band can back up thei...
Band of the Week
There is a cadre of adjectives used to describe every death metal band that has ever been: brutal, crushing, intense, ferocious, savage, merciless, etc. But this mere collection of words isn’t enough to describe the crunc...
Band of the Week
Just when it seemed like the Inland Empire music scene had coughed up its last good band and was content to breathe its death gasp (a sound weirdly similar to almost every Dashboard Confessional song), we stumble across Corona ...
Band of the Week
Divide the Day seamlessly fuses guitar-driven punk rock riffs and hardcore intensity with melodic arrangements, and there is a constant battle between soothing, harmonic vocals and wrath-induced hardcore growls and scream...
Band of the Week
Personal drama and scheduling conflicts have a way of keeping good bands from ever releasing recorded testaments to their musical ingenuity. But if you’re IE local Janette Kantzalis (of The Chubbies fame), you’d get...
Band of the Week
Most post-rock or proggy rock bands blur the line between boredom and apathy just enough to get away with pushing album after album of formulaic songs that strive to be a dissertation on the State of Mopey Nation, but ins...
Band of the Week
Bands that aim for an avant-garde kind of rock are generally too artsy for their own good. There’s something to be said for music that strives to break down artistic barriers and musical conventions, but the music t...
Band of the Week
Most hardcore/screamo rock isn’t exactly inventive. It doesn’t need to be—add guitars, drums and shrieking vocals, heat and serve. But Fontana three-piece Needless To Say bring a creative fervor to the genre, ...
Band of the Week
The post-rock thing has been done to death, seemingly with no shortage of bands eager to jump onto a genre whose members bear little resemblance to one another, except for song structure. The term is attributed to music journal...
Band of the Week
The problem with most retro bands is that they lack the originality of their predecessors, and merely offer a rehash of old musical ideas that are neither as fun or vivacious as the original. But not if you’re Riverside f...
Band of the Week
Some bands struggle for years in the shadows of obscurity, regardless of actual levels of talent, desperately hoping that if they write some moderately catchy tunes, someone will take notice.
Hurka’s Hero isn’t one ...
Band of the Week
Against Me, at its earliest inception, was easily accessible, lo-fi, and surprisingly subversive and relevant. They single-handedly broke down the conventions of a genre and gave new life and creative energy to punk, which had ...
Band of the Week
Most two-piece bands aren’t worth a mention. Not because they lack talent, but because they blend in with the miasma of other two-piece bands. With the exception of a handful of notables, it’s a style oversaturated ...
Band of the Week
Apparently for City of Monstrocity, living in Ontario is a bitch. But they think their brand of modern rock—the type that recalls Maynard James Keenan’s progressive metal projects, is worth your time anyway. Singing...
Band of the Week
A lot of bands go for the cute angle when trying to market their sound. Manufactured rockers Cute Is What We Aim For are a perfect, ironic example. Good Charlotte and the cadre of other prefab pseudo-punk acts are another…
Band of the Week
So you’re impressed by your friends who can pull off the furious pseudo-fretwork of the “Free Bird” solo on Guitar Hero, but you’re still conflicted as to how cool it is? Sure, it seems really awesome wh...
Band of the Week
Vernon Falls Off a Building are a fairly anomalous bunch. While their live sets usually present a kinky, ambitious sort of space-rock, as a rule, they write whatever they feel like writing–jagged nu-prog, wispy ballads, d...
Band of the Week
Beginning in 1950, Joseph McCarthy began his reign of progressive idea-squashing by going after communist sympathizers in the government and, more aggressively, in artistic circles that were demonized by McCarthy as "anarc...
