Highway to Hell… Oops, I Mean Wilkes-Barre, PA

In my confirmation email from the record label representative, I was told that travel from Manhattan to Wilkes-Barre, PA, ("Wilkes-Berry?" "Wilkes-Bar?" Actually, it’s "Wilkes-Bear-Uh") and back for an exclusive AC/DC performance Sunday night would be by VIP Bus. For those of you who don’t know what a "VIP Bus" is, predictably, it’s a bus that looks like a limo from the inside. Meaning wavy-edged mirror ceiling with colorful lights, comfy leather bench seats, and lots of places to stash drinks.

It also means pizza, chips, pretzels, assorted candies, ice buckets full of water, soda and beer, AC/DC’s live DVD No Bull, and later This is Spinal Tap, playing on two screens, and a bus driver who keeps making jokes about how fucked up you all are getting and tells you, with a nudge and wink, that you can go ahead and light up a smoke if it’s ok with the other [...]

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Crystal Stilts

What? No, they don’t blast terrorizing 8-bit electro-clash beats while screaming nonsensically — that’d be Crystal Castles. And their drummer doesn’t go by the nom de plume "Sexual Chocolate" — think Crystal Antlers. Instead, Brooklyn, NY’s Crystal Stilts marry the garage-rock and alt-pop aesthetic of New Zealand’s late and eternally unappreciated the Chills with the gloriously gloomy moan of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis in a sound both lo-fi obsessives and file-sharing fetishists can attend. The group’s debut full-lentgh, Alight of Night (out Oct. 28), is lined with tunes that shine and glimmer ("Shattered Shine," "Prismatic Room"), even as other tracks stare menacingly into the darkness ("The Dazzled," "The Sinking").

Who? Crystal Stilts were founded in New York in 2003 by Brad Hargett and JB Townshend. Soon the band — still just a duo — recorded their debut single, "Shattered Shine," with Sean Mafucci (Gang Gang Dance, Kid Congo Powers) and then [...]

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Parts and Labor

What? This quartet of Brooklyn, NY, noise-pop enthusiasts creates tunes that are jam-packed with glossy hooks and brash sounds, using guitars, keyboards, computer-generated sounds, and jittery vocals. Last year’s breakthrough album, Mapmaker, is followed by the just-released Receivers, for which the group sought out sound samples from their fans — "snippets of noises, field recordings, found sounds, drones, speaking, etc" — and weaved them into an electronic quilt of caffeinated new wave melodies ("Nowheres Nigh") and rhythmically-jagged anthems ("Little Ones"), proving that collaboration truly is the root of inspiration.

Who? Parts and Labor were formed in 2002 by B.J. Warshaw (bass/vocals) and Dan Friel (keyboards/guitar/voice), who had met three years earlier while the two were working at iconic New York venue the Knitting Factory. Since their 2003 debut, Groundswell, the band has pushed to the forefront of the noise-rock genre, scoring tour-opening gigs with the likes of TV on the Radio, [...]

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The Jayhawks

Who: Formed in 1985, the Jayhawks broke through to the mainstream on the strength of their 1992 classic, Hollywood Town Hall, and its surprising hit single, "Waiting for the Sun" (watch video below). Possessing their own two-headed songwriting monster in co-frontmen Gary Louris and Mark Olson, the Jayhawks channeled Americana’s deepest roots through an indie rock prism long before bands like Band of Horses, Blitzen Trapper, and Two Gallants made it one of the more exciting trends of this decade.

What: Louris and Olson recently released Ready for the Flood (produced by Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson), their first collaborative studio effort since the 1995 Jayhawks classic, Tomorrow the Green Grass. And this week, Louris releases Acoustic Vagabonds, an offshoot of his Vagabonds album, which emerged earlier this year. The canon produced by the Jayhawks is staggering, from Louris and Olson’s solo projects to revolving-door side project Golden Smog [...]

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The Sea and Cake

What? Much like their namesake, Chicago post-rock quartet the Sea and Cake have created music that combines a subtle sweetness with an impossibly cool beachside vibe, thanks to a mix of electronic sounds, Krautrock styles, and strong post-jazz influences. After the jigsaw puzzle austerity of last year’s Everybody, the Sea and Cake return this week with their eighth studio album, the propulsive Car Alarm. Inspired partly by the birth of vocalist/guitarist Sam Prekop’s first son, Car Alarm effervesces with bursts of energy while harking back to the silky-smooth pop of 2000’s Oui. For a taste of the record’s rockier direction, stream the title track below.

More on SPIN.com:
>> The Sea and Cake, Everybody (Thrill Jockey)
Who? Named after a misinterpretation of “The C In Cake,” a song written by experimental rockers Gastr del Sol, the Sea and Cake originally formed as a one-off project in 1993 when Prekop and bassist Eric Claridge’s [...]

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Metallica Kick Off World Tour

If the opening night of Metallica’s world tour in Glendale, AZ, Tuesday was any indication, rock’s not dead. Check its pulse, and you’ll hear the double-bass drumming of Lars Ulrich.

The over-the-top arena show is alive and kicking, too. Metallica’s props included eight silver coffins (each the size of a car) that hovered above the band, a laser show, a dozen multi-colored flames shooting from effects boxes, giant fireballs coming up from the stage, and tons of flashing red strobe lights.

More on SPIN.com:
>> Review: Metallica, Death Magnetic
>> Metallica’s ‘Magnetic’ Hits No. 1
>> Metallica Reveal Extensive North American Tour

The quartet’s set included a little bit of everything. They opened with two songs from Death Magnetic, "That Was Just Your Life" and "The End of the Line," followed by a double dose of "Black" album songs, "Sad But True" and "Wherever I May Roam."

Fresh from a summer of festival appearances, the members of [...]

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Electric Six

What? "Look out, here comes the flashy man," Dick Valentine, singer of Motor City rockers Electric Six, screams over crunchy guitars and a disco-rama of synths on "Flashy Man," a tune off the band’s aptly titled fifth studio album, Flashy. One listen to the record and it seems Valentine is musing about himself. The 13-track collection is a totally flamboyant amalgamation of funk, garage-rock, new wave, and metal that is truly in-your-face. And Valentine’s cigarette-raw chants lead the assault, as batshit crazy combinations of instrumentation — distorted power-pop guitars, blasting horns, and creepy keys — unite in a shocking, silly, and undeniably enticing sound.

Who? Originally formed under the short-lived moniker the Wildbunch in 1996, the Electric Six have always been the brainchild of singer/songwriter Valentine, a.k.a. Tyler Spencer. Part of the DNA of the Motor City’s incestuous rock scene, the band saw numerous lineups before its brush with fame after [...]

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Of Montreal

What? Let’s face it: From his band’s 1998 concept album The Bedtime Drama: A Petite Tragedy to his performance — stark naked! — in Las Vegas last year, no one may ever fully understand Of Montreal’s oddball bandleader Kevin Barnes — or his black transsexual alter ego, Georgie Fruit. And Of Montreal’s ninth record to date, Skeletal Lamping, is Barnes at his zaniest. Performed and produced entirely by the frontman himself, Skeletal Lamping is spring-loaded with a myriad of melodies and genre-blending experiments, from hedonistic funk (”Id Engager”) to Imagine-era John Lennon balladry (”Touched Something’s Hollow”). Your feet won’t stop moving — even when your ears are freaking out.

More on SPIN.com:
>> New Of Montreal MP3: “Id Engager”
>> Of Montreal: Welcome to Normal Town

Who? Though Barnes has been writing and performing the entirety of Of Montreal’s albums since 2004’s Satanic Panic in the Attic, the group started out as a trio [...]

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Springhouse Reunite in Philadelphia

For just the third time in six years, wistful New York romantics Springhouse reunited Saturday night, playing to devout fans at Philadelphia’s Johnny Brenda’s venue.
This time around, the band — drummer Jack Rabid, who is also the founder of music mag The Big Takeover, vocalist/guitarist Mitch Friedland, and multi-instrumentalist Larry Heinemann — not only returned with fresh vitality, but excellent new tunes to boot.
Springhouse started their set with an extended instrumental that broke into “Asphalt Angels,” a shimmering song off 1993’s Postcards From the Arctic.
However, the trio didn’t waste any time before delving into material from their new album, From Now to Okay, including stunning tracks such as “Passion” (a self-reflective tune about restarting a band), “Moving Van,” “Time Runs Out,” and “Never Impossible.”
The new material’s tuneful melodies melded intuitively with Springhouse’s selections from years past, and moved an initially skeptical crowd to become completely locked in on [...]

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Jay-Z, DJ AM Reopen Hollywood’s Palladium

After undergoing a major remodel, Hollywood’s historic Palladium Theatre reopened with a bang Wednesday night thanks to an enthralling performance from Jay-Z and DJ AM. A sold-out crowd gathered for the set, which saw the hip-hop mogul and his DJ play for nearly two hours.

In homage to Frank Sinatra, the first artist to ever perform at the venue, Jay-Z was backed by a 12-piece band dressed in matching white dress shirts, black vests and ties. At one moment during the night he even jokingly referred to himself as "old brown eyes."

However, the story of the night was DJ AM, a.k.a. Adam Goldstein, who made his first public performance since surviving a fiery plane crash last month. Singing along, waving his arms, and even pulling out and pointing to his wallet during a classic Jay-Z line about money, the mix-master looked like he was certainly enjoying himself. When called out by [...]

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