Men at Work Pictures

The National's fame starts to live up to the name

Men at work:The name The National calls to mind an obscure federal agency. But to the Brooklyn band's fans, it's a voice for ...

Published: 2008-09-17 Provider: USA Today

MEN AT WORK

Matt Berninger, the lead singer and songwriter for New York indie group the National insists he couldn't sing or write when he joined his best friend's rock band in college. "I was lucky to be friends with guys who were amazing musicians," he tells...

Published: 2007-05-27 Provider: New York Post Keywords: Berninger, National, Devendorf, album, band, couldn, friend, needed, rock, songs, tour, write, music

Artist to Watch: Pela

THE FORMULA: Bruce Springsteen + The Pixies – Major Label Bank Accounts You learn a lot when you work as a bartender, but the people who benefit from slinging drinks at all hours of the night aren’t just the drunks getting their buzz on. “I’ve seen so much dark shit, man” says Billy McCarthy, singer and guitarist for the Brooklyn band Pela, who release their debut Anytown Graffiti this month. “I’ve served strippers who’ve just had men slip dollars into t

Published: 2007-04-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Artist to Watch

Dave Grohl Discusses U2, Eddie Money and LSD, Jams with Jon Brion at L.A. Chat Show

Photo: Mazur/WireImage One monster jam went down at Hollywood’s Largo Theater last night, as Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and producer/multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion pounded through a medley of classics by Rush, Foghat, Eddie Money and the Edgar Winter Group all in under three minutes. It followed a dramatic stage reading by Grohl of metal band Manowar’s “Gloves of Metal” and “All Men Play On Ten,” recited as poetry while Brion tickled the piano keys with a serene lullaby. If that sounds ridiculously absurd, comedian Greg Proops intended it that way. Best known for his improv work, a recurring role on Nickelodeon’s “True Jackson, VP,” and guest stints on shows like “Flight of the Conchords,” Proops is hosting a monthly “Chat Show” at the recently relocated Largo, and asking friends to share the stage and their personal stories. Last night’s line-up included half-hour sit-downs with Grohl, whom Proops met last month at a Valentine’s Day dinner, and comedian David Cross. Both Daves regaled the audience with tales of their younger years — Cross describing the fake ID he used to sneak into Athens punk shows (checking out bands like Pylon); Grohl telling of the first time he met U2’s Larry Mullen, Jr. during the Nirvana days. Proops proved to be a solid interviewer, leading the conversation gingerly while making sure to draw plenty of laughs, but it was Grohl who had bellies aching by the end of the night. Grohl described the first time he did acid at 17. “I was scared, because I knew that’s a fuckin’ gnarly commitment, man,” Grohl told Proops. “It’s like, nine hours.” And as it turned out, coming down from that fateful trip was just as dangerous. “I saw this percolator from, like, the Dick Van Dyke show in the 50s,” said Grohl, “and all I could think was, ‘coffee!’ So I take it down, plug it in, don’t put anything in it, and then, poof! I was thrown to the ground, in altered states, out of my mind! I was out for, like, two days. Good blotter, dude.” Grohl also went

Published: 2009-03-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Devo Confirm First New Album In 19 Years, Announce “De-evolution Has Arrived”

New-wave art-punks Devo are announcing plans to release a new album this fall, the band’s first in 19 years. The “Whip It” quintet are in the studio now, putting the finishing touches on the still-untitled new LP. “De-evolution has finally arrived… and who better to guide us through the mess than Devo,” the band says in a statement. “It’s pretty much fact — we now live in a devolved world that’s getting wackier each and every day.” The band’s last album was 1990’s Smooth Noodle Maps. The group is still anchored by co-founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, with Bob 1 and Bob 2 — or Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale — backing up their older brothers. Former Nine Inch Nails/A Perfect Circle/Gn’R drummer Josh Freese fills out the quintet. Devo briefly returned with new music in 2007, as their awesome Teddybears-produced “Watch Us Work It” was released as a single and featured prominently in a Dell computer commercial. In July 2007, Casale told Rolling Stone the Dell song could lead to a new album: “Mark is less resistant to it than he has been in years. He did sit down and cooperate on a few songs, so odds are better than ever.” 2009 promises to be packed with Devo activity, as the band will first perform in Dallas on March 18th, then appear at this year’s SXSW Festival, sitting in on the keynote panel on March 19th and performing live at the Austin Music Hall on March 20th. From there, the band will perform their entire Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo album May 6th in London, then play a May 8th set at All Tomorrow’s Parties. Although most recognized for their 1980 hit single “Whip It,” the band was one of the most influential and fascinating bands of the late-’70s/early-’80s with album like Q: Are We Not Men? and Freedom of Choice and hits “Jocko Homo,” “Girl U Want,” and covers of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Working In a Coal Mine.” In the time since Smooth Noodle Maps, Mark Mothersbaugh has carved a niche as a premiere film composer with scores for f

Published: 2009-03-10 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Bono Talks Frank Sinatra in First “New York Times” Op-Ed

Photo: Charrlau/Wireimage Rolling Stone has been pleased to publish Bono’s writing in the past (see his lengthy comment on the band’s first albums, his meditation on Immortal artist Elvis Presley, his essay on Greatest Singer Bob Dylan), and now The New York Times is putting the multitasking rock star to work. Bono’s tenure as a Times op-ed writer began yesterday. Rather than devote space in the world’s most-read newspaper to his many charitable causes, the recession or Barack Obama, the U2 frontman threw everyone a curve ball by dedicating his first piece to the “Chairman of the Board,” Frank Sinatra. Bono does briefly connect the recession’s hit on Ireland to the legendary crooner, recounting a recent trip to a Dublin pub where there was revelry but “builders and bankers laugh uneasy and hard at the last year, and swallow uneasy and hard at the new.” The one cure to mend all of their sorrows? Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” which blares out of the bar’s speakers. From here, Bono gives us a critical take of what makes Sinatra Sinatra. “Fully inhabiting the moment during that tiny dot of time after you’ve pressed ‘record’ is what makes it eternal,” Bono writes, “If, like Frank, you sing it like you’ll never sing it again. If, like Frank, you sing it like you never have before.” Bono also examines the two different versions of “My Way,” from the triumphant 1969 version to a later version, when 78-year-old Sinatra sings “a heart-stopping, heartbreaking song of defeat.” Bono remembers the time he spent time with Sinatra around when they sang together on Duets‘ “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” “I don’t usually hang with men who wear earrings,” Sinatra told Bono. In addition to penning the column, Bono also read his piece “Notes From the Chairman” aloud, which you can listen to over at the NYT Website. For those who’d rather listen to Bono sing than read, you might be in luck: U2 will reportedly perform new song “Get On Your Boots” at this year’s BRIT Awards on February 18th, pl

Published: 2009-01-12 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Reality Show Recap: Spinderella Mixes it Up on “The Salt-N-Pepa Show”

Every week on The Salt-N-Pepa Show, two MCs from the late Eighties try to prove they don’t hate each other (and the rap game), while our Rock Reality Show Recaps attempt to prove we don’t resent VH1 for exploiting the heroes of our youth (again). Here’s our take on the second episode: Thirty Minutes in Two Sentences: Salt and Pepa meet up with their trusty old DJ Spinderella at VH1’s Hip Hop Honors, and after a bit of third-wheel bashing, decide to support Spinderella at her DJ gig in Atlantic City. Pep parties hard, Salt bounces early and Spinderella is far from the tie that binds. Disowning the Shoop: Salt begins their night in Atlantic City with questionable logic — “I’m gonna party really hard and then I’m gonna read my book.” Pep, on the other hand, is “on the prowl.” In her quest to find some “me time” in the gambling city, Salt leaves the club before midnight, only to be woken up at 4 by Salt, Spin and some Queens men they picked up on the dance floor. Salt packs her bags and leaves early the next day without a goodbye. Whatta Band: The dynamics between the trio remain as tense and awkward as ever when Spin comes on the scene. Spin blasts Pep for initially declining her invitation because she had to do her “hair.” The three argue over who gets the single room at the hotel, and Salt thinks Pep and Spin always team up against her. In the end, there aren’t hard feelings but most-expensive-wine-ordering Pep resolves never to go to Atlantic City with the-club-is-too-loud Salt ever again. Pushin’ It Forward: Salt and Pep are actually hanging out on a friendly non-required basis now, but there’s still no talk of making music or any new performances. Next week, the two attend an outdoor retreat with a life coach to work on their trust issues. Pep will confront Salt about abandoning the group back in their heyday, and Salt will ask for forgiveness. [Photo: Cou

Published: 2008-02-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock Reality Show Recaps, Rock Daily

"Marilyn Manson turned me off sex for a year"

Marilyn Manson's ex-wife, burlesque star Dita Von Teese, has admitted that her split from the American shock rocker turned her off sex for a year. The pair married in 2005 but split up within a year because Von Teese allegedly was unable to put up with his partying lifestyle or budding relationship with 21-year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood. "After the divorce I was going through complete heartbreak," Von Teese told British newspaper The News Of The World. "It changes you. I spent the first year not having sex at all, which was strange as I still continued to convey sex in my work," News of the World quoted her, as saying. "But I didn't feel ready to have another partner," she continued. "I didn't feel the inner chemistry you need to want to have sex. It wasn't there. I needed to get the past out of my system and to listen to my emotions. After a split a lot of men put on a band-aid by getting another woman. I wanted to deal with the break-up and learn from it and I've done that now. I wanted to come through it and be able to love again as if my heart had never been broken." Marilyn manson's new album, The High End Of Low, will be released in May through Interscope.

Published: 2009-02-12 Provider: Kerrang!

"Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" by The Cribs

The Cribs are the rare band that can make music with pop accessibility without ruffling their cred-begetting cool. Marrying pop songwriting skills with a DIY grit, England's three brothers Jarman know how to write a song like Buddy Holly and play it like Sham69. On their major label debut, The Cribs reel in the sloppy, punk aesthetic of their previous works and sand down the edges. Largely gone are the days of lamenting snooty hipsters, now replaced with introspective pseudo-ballads and even some acoustic guitar. The songs bop with Ryan Jarman's staccato guitar work and lazy vocals provided by the twin voices of (identical twins) Ryan and Gary (bass). As the album title would suggest, relationships are a frequent topic, and the songs to run the gamut of emotions: love, loss, longing, heartbreak. You still get tongue-in-cheek one-liners ("I'm a realist / I'm a romantic / I'm an indecisive / piece of shit"), but they're juxtaposed with more earnest tracks like the nearly

Published: 2007-07-20 Provider: Artist Direct

Fear Factory men reunite for a new side-project

Fear Factory frontman Burton C. Bell has reunited with guitarist Dino Cazares for a new side-project. This is the first time the pair have work together since Cazares left the seminal industrial band in 2002. Although details on the new band are currently scarce, bassist Byron Stroud, who previously played with Fear Factory and Strapping Young Lad, and former Testament drummer Gene Hoglan are rumoured to be featuring in the line-up. Word on the street is that a studio album will appear before fo

Published: 2009-04-14 Provider: Kerrang!

Paris Hilton Goes To Jail, Cartel’s Bubble Bursts, Ruff Ryders CEO Busted For Drugs

After enduring a series of jokes make at her expense at the MTV Movie Awards, Paris Hilton checked herself in early to jail late last night.Hilton turned herself in at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown L.A. at 11:15 p.m. and was booked at 11:38, Us Weekly reports. The body of missing Ra Ra Riot drummer John Pike has been found. The twenty-three-year-old musician disappeared after leaving a party near the beach in Fairhaven, MA early Saturday morning. Pike’s body was found on the beach near around 4 pm yesterday afternoon, about 200 yards from where his cell phone was discovered. You know that bubble on New York City’s Westside Highway in which Cartel is recording its new album for a show on MTV? Yeah, well it burst. The bubble wasn’t designed, apparently, to handle the light drizzle we experienced in the city last night, and early this morning the bubble’s front wall shattered. It was only a matter of time before Pete Wentz and his girlfriend, Ashlee Simpson, decided to work together. Wentz reportedly collaborated with Ashlee on one song, set to appear on her new album. Martin Scorsese’s new Rolling Stones documentary, Shine A Light, will appear in theatres on September 21st. The film is said to include lots of footage from the Stones’ Beacon Theatre dates last year where guest performers included Jack White, Buddy Guy, and Christina Aguilera. Because what the world really needs is another biopic, a film based on Michelle Phillips’ memoir California Dreamin’: The True Story of the the Mamas and the Papas is in the works. “It’s not something I can really talk about in detail,” Phillips said. “But I will say this — it will happen, and it will happen in a good way. The gears are all churning.” Writer and friend of the band Marshall Brickman, is reportedly attached. Ruff Ryders CEO Darrin “Dee” Dean and an associate were arrested in New York last week. The cops initially s

Published: 2007-06-04 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Morning News Roundup

'80s hit 'Down Under' copied kids' song

SYDNEY, Australia - Australian band Men at Work copied a well-known children's campfire song for the flute melody in its 1980s hit "Down Under" and owes the owner years of royalties, a court ruled Thursday.

Published: 2010-02-04 Provider: Canoe