The Knocks. STAFF photo. Even if you haven’t yet heard of The Knocks, chances are your favorite artists have. From 2010, when Chiddy Bang sampled several of their songs to various collaborations that followed, Ben “B-Roc” Ruttner and James “JPatt” Patterson began a trek that turned them into one…

The Wombats perform at Outside Lands 2016. Photos: Che Holts. U.K. indie rock trio The Wombats were running on fumes by the time they arrived at Outside Lands last Saturday. The previous day, singer-guitarist Matthew Murphy, drummer Dan Haggis and bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen performed in Santa Ana. Then they…

On their first album, 2011’s Rise Ye Sunken Ships, rock trio Augustines tackled the suicide of singer-guitarist’s William McCarthy’s brother. In 2014, McCarthy, guitarist Eric Sanderson and drummer Rob Allen focused on rebuilding broken lives and thoughts on their self-titled sophomore album. On their third album, June’s This Is Your…

Chuck D (right) and Public Enemy, courtesy. Hip-hop icons Public Enemy and their cohorts on the Art of Rap tour—mastermind Ice-T, Naughty By Nature, Grandmaster Melle Mell and Scorpio, among others—have found themselves accidentally swirling in controversy this week. While Public Enemy frontman Chuck D and his supergroup Prophets…

Photos: Norman de Veyra If some people might not understand why someone with the pedigree of Aubrie Sellers and multiple offers from major record labels would instead choose to instead go down the indie route, it’s only because they don’t understand Sellers’ mindset and perspective. The country music artist…

Photo: Jon Ching The music of San Francisco band Dangermaker may sound happier than it did in the past. The four piece pulls heavily from influences like The Killers, Interpol and their late ‘70s predecessors. It was a conscientious effort the band made by naming their last two EPs,…

Photos: Jon Ching Fans of New York pop sextet MisterWives were given a treat at BottleRock Napa Valley when the band busted out one of five new songs written for the record that will follow up debut album Our Own House. “The Machine” is bouncy, energetic and sharp-tongued like…

Atlas Genius. Roman Gokhman/STAFF and Jon Ching. Several thousand music fans who watched Atlas Genius play at BottleRock on May 28 didn’t know that the band considered cancelling their fiery performance. Singer-guitarist Keith Jeffery had a hay fever attack shortly after arriving in Napa the previous day. The pollen…

Photos: Roman Gokhman Earlier this year, Provo, Utah, alt-rock quartet The Moth & The Flame released their second album, called Young & Unafraid. Many of the songs were already upwards of a year old at that point, which has Brandon Robbins (vocals, guitar), Mark Garbett (keys), Andrew Tolman (drums)…

Rose’s Pawn Shop performs at BottleRock Napa 2016 in Napa, California. More than a decade into the Americana and folk revival movement, bands like the Lumineers have grown to headline festivals and sell out amphitheaters with a now all-too-common mix of fiddle, foot-stomping drums, banjo, guitar and crowd-friendly chant-alongs.…