It takes some cojones to name your band after a state. Not since Kansas and Alabama has a band justified its co-opting of a state name as sincerely as Arizona, a foursome of indie rockers from - you guessed it - Asheville, North Carolina.
The group recently Twittered its excitement at visiting the Tuscon studio that Calexico records at, so maybe Arizona (the state) acts as some sort of mystical muse or something.
Arizona (the band) would sound right at home in its titular state with its wide-
A year and a half after releasing Alopecia, WHY? returns with their fourth album, Eskimo Snow, pre-mixed in Nashville by Lambchop's Mark Nevers (Silver Jews, Bonnie Prince Billy, Calexico) and worked over by Alopecia engineer Eli Crews.
This album was actually recorded at the same time as Alopecia, at Minneapolis' Third Ear studio, with Fog's Andrew Broder and Mark Erickson rounding out a live quintet. The vision for two separate albums emerged on a snowed-in night after a hot toddy or two.
Two tours hitting the area in coming months have opening acts just as entertaining as the headliners. The Dandy Warhols have a show on September 3 at Beaumont Club. They are touring in support of The Dandy Warhols ARE Sound, which is the "Director's Cut" of 2003's Welcome To The Monkey House. Prior to the release of Monkey House, The Warhols had been pressing for a version mixed by Russell Elavedo, whose credits include D'Angelo's Brown Sugar and The Roots' The Roots Come Alive, among others.
