Subject: The Smiths (Band)

• Moz & Marr Turn Down $75,000,000 for Smiths Reunion

  The latest from the Morrissey camp: A press release released just today announces Moz's final 30 stops on his latest successful tour promoting his number one UK album, Ringleader of the Tormentors—playing 168 shows in just over 21 months come November. These shows will be the last Morrissey will do "for the foreseeable future." But that wasn't really the interesting part of the release. This was: Finally, in an effort to stop the speculation and kill off the rumor mongers who seem to use the

  August 23, 2007

• Some Names Are Better Than Others

  There's no denying it: Bands have a huge boner for naming themselves after Smiths songs. Tonight, LA's Sweet and Tender Hooligans are playing at the Grove of Anaheim (opening up the second of Tiger Army's five night stand). They get their name, natch, from "Sweet and Tender Hooligan," but it's not just their moniker they got from Morrissey, Marr and Co. - they're a Smiths cover band, and their lead singer makes an admirable attempt at an unenviable task; replicating Moz's distinct vocal style.

  October 24, 2008

• The Top 10 Reissues of 2008

  It's time to rank the best of what went around and came around again. BILLY JOEL The Stranger (Columbia/Legacy) As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man's deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell - and, occasionally, rock. "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and "Anthony's Song (Movin' Out)" remain priceless snapshots of Annie Hall-era NYC, the title track bares real teeth, and the Kenny Chesney fave "Only the Good Die Young" -

  December 19, 2008

• Sweet and Tender Hooligans Coming Back to OC

  Just a couple short days after appearing at the House of Blues in Anaheim (and in the pages of OC Weekly's freshly minted music column, Sound Guy, penned by a certain totally awesome dude), LA-based Smiths cover band Sweet and Tender Hooligans were announced as returning to our county on March 28 at Detroit Bar. "Go get 'em cause this is gonna sell out quick," says the venue, which I guess is...possible.It's certainly not a bad time to capitalize on Moztalgia, given that Morrissey's latest solo

  January 12, 2009

• Rumored/Confirmed Coachella Artists Start to Trickle In

  LAist has about 20 artists they say are "confirmed" for Coachella (coming up soon! April 17-19!), and many more that are "rumored"--and given that just about every act of note is "rumored" for Coachella at this point in the year, a classification that's about as meaningful as last night's Golden Globes (though any night when Tracy Morgan and Bruce Springsteen both get to give acceptance speeches is pretty awesome).Here's who they say are confirmed:

  January 12, 2009

• [Summer Guide] Different Brushstrokes This Summer at OC's Art Venues

  June 4, 2009

• Way Too Early Coachella Must-Sees

  I wanted to be the first person in the blogosphere to comment on what bands you should see at Coachella. So here goes. The Aggrolites -- LA's best white boy reggae/soul/funk band. They wear cool clothes and know how to throw a dance party. Thievery Corporation -- Maybe you know them, maybe you don't. The only time I went to Coachella (hello 2003), I saw these guys and they were great. Killer dance/groove stuff. Or maybe that was the weed talking. Superchunk -- They're still around? Bob Mou

  January 30, 2009

• Album Review: Morrissey, 'Years of Refusal'

  Happy Morrissey day, everyone! I review the album in this week's Weekly, but here it is a few days early. You Are the Quarry, Ringleader of the Tormentors and Years of Refusal are the Mozzer's Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft and Modern Times. Believe it!The Smiths broke up in 1987, but people are still clinging onto hope that they'll eventually reunite. The rumor comes up every year as the announcement of a Coachella lineup looms, and every year, it turns out to be bunk. Routinely, you'll encou

  February 17, 2009

• [Coachella 2009] Everything New Is Old Again--and Vice Versa

  April 9, 2009

• Plug In

  October 16, 2008

• The Boys With the Morrissey in Their Side

  August 7, 2003

• Chill Billies

  August 17, 2006

• !A Todos Bailar el Cover!

  April 28, 2005

• Their Charming Man

  September 19, 2002

• Live(ish) from Coachella: Paul McCartney Plays Nearly his Entire 50-year Catalogue

  Hey, so sorry for not being very update-y last night: my iPhone's Internet apparently decided that we were no longer on speaking terms, and I didn't have any time to make it over to the LUXURIOUS PRESS TENT! because I was too busy seeing shows, man. So allow me to make up for lost time here.Paul McCartney closed down last night, of course. Oh boy did he. He played for two and a half hours (maybe closer to 2:40?), which I think is actually pretty typical for his recent solo shows, but an eternity

  April 18, 2009

• Live(ish) from Coachella: Morrissey Just Says No to Burning Animal Flesh

  So, I love Morrissey. I've seen him four times now, and each instance ranks among the happier moments of my life (yes, I know how lame that makes me sound, what of it?). But last night at Coachella apparently wasn't one of his happier moments.I always tell Morrissey detractors who decry him as just being mopey and gloomy that he's not at all like that, that even his most "woe is me" type songs are pretty tongue-in-cheek, and his current band is tight and rocks in a way that the Smiths never did.

  April 18, 2009

• Talk Talk: Justin Kennedy of Army Navy (Part 1)

  Travis SchneiderReally, it's almost embarrassing how much I like LA-based pop band Army Navy. After seeing them open up for the Shys last October at Detroit Bar, I pushed their self-titled record (released on their own label, Fever Zone Records) on anyone that would listen. Songs like "Slight of Hand" and "Saints" are simply way too much fun not to be shared.I'm pretty giddy that they're coming back into town this week--Thursday, June 25 at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, in a show sponsored by U

  June 24, 2009

• Friday Night: Art Brut at the Echo

  Yeah, I haven't updated to the iPhone 3GS with the better camera yet.Friday Night: Art Brut, the Blood Arm at the Echo, Los Angeles; June 19, 2009.Better than: Listening to the bands Art Brut (playfully) criticized during their set (The Killers, Kings of Leon, U2).Best perk: Freebie show posters given out after the show, with Morrissey, Charles Manson, Alfred E. Neuman and Dick Tracy on them! What a crew! (They also threw out condoms to the crowd, but I didn't get any. Literally.)I wasn't planni

  June 22, 2009

• Girl In a Coma Pull Through With Sophomore Album, Stop in Long Beach

  July 16, 2009

• Incoming: Matt Costa at Detroit, Morrissey at the Fox Pomona

  ​It may be late Friday afternoon, but there's still some stuff to talk about. Like a couple of big new shows coming our way.

  September 18, 2009

• Tickets for LA Morrissey Show on Sale Saturday, Pomona Close Behind?

  Still so dreamy!​"I know it's gonna happen someday."It's been nearly a month since Morrissey tour dates throughout Southern California started popping up on fansites like Morrissey Solo, and official announcement of almost all of them (eventually) followed. There's Morrissey at the Fantasy Springs Resort Hotel & Casino on December 5, Morrissey at the "Majestic Ventura Theater" on December 11, and just announced yesterday evening, Morrissey at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City on De

  October 13, 2009

• On-Sale Saturday: Morrissey, Dokken, More

  ​OK, we can stop complaining about the Morrissey show at the Fox Theater in Pomona on December 7 not going on sale yet.

  October 16, 2009

• Incoming: Modest Mouse at the Grove of Anaheim

  Here's a big one: Modest Mouse, former indie darlings turned mainstream superstars via the massive--and extremely surprising at the time--success of "Float On" are coming to the Grove of Anaheim on August 29. Tickets are on sale this Saturday at noon; $35, and $37.50 at the door (if in fact there are any tickets available on the day of). It's the only LA/OC date on the current tour, so go us.Legendary guitarist Johnny Marr, who co-founded the Smiths and joined Modest Mouse in 2006, is busy with

  July 9, 2009