BY: ALEX B

When you are rockin' the night away with the New Times Summer of Sound it’s always a party! Out of all the shows I have had the fortune of representing Bookmans as the Bookmans Bombshell, this was the sickest show of them all!

The show opened with the most radical (yes I said radical) band in Arizona: PEACHCAKE. One can only describe their music as a combination of energetic, enthusiastic art performance, techno-infused pop, spiced up by a dash of surrealism. Lyrics from from “Did I Just Do That Or Was It Jim Carrey?” such as “This ones for the audience, can't you see that I’m runnin', runnin' round Adam’s apple tree, from capital grounds to the smallest town, issues with control of the crown, they're trying to set our moral provisions by reconfiguring our sexual decisions, this wont last long we must take action, against the grain…” inspired audience members to a better look at our political system and the values deemed important by societal interest groups but enjoy an upbeat pop tune while doing so. 

Along with PEACHCAKE, Back Ted-N-Ted, Army of Robots, Dappled Cities, the Love Blisters opened for the renowned Tokyo Police Club. Back-Ted-N-Ted’s sounds can be likened to the Beastie Boys - light rap, serious attitude and hip- hop beats galore. I found myself reminiscing of the time when I was 11 and I would sneak into the living room, flip on MTV and catch a minute or so of “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” just before my mom would barge in screaming about the perils of hip hop to the young mind.

All in all I would say that this was the best Summer of Sound event I have attended thus far. Audience members were frequently hitting up vendor booths, spinning prize wheels, and winning awesome freebies and jamming out to the chill sounds of the pop show. The Anderson’s Fifth Estate crew was both warm and welcoming and created a wonderful atmosphere for locals to enjoy a live pop show. A shout-out to the bartenders for making a mean SoCo Lime, Hotchy the New Times MC for dragging on stage to toss out some Fight Censorship shirts, and Todd from the Mesa store for…well just being his fabulous self!