Lees, Jamie

With grunge-era staples such as "Freak Scene" and "Out There," Dinosaur Jr. specialized in bittersweet compositions in which even the sad songs were love songs and even the love songs were sad. But they were no crybabies: An impermeable wall of screaming guitar concealed much of this melancholy. To the...

Once three-fifths of New Edition, Bell Biv DeVoe were pioneers of a style of music called new jack swing, which combined smooth rapping over sweet R&B beats. But the genre was more than just a type of music; it was part of the late '80s/early '90s zeitgeist. Largely ignoring the...

Bret Michaels is a horny beast. Throughout his time as the lead singer and frontman of classic hair-metal band Poison, this was a well-documented fact. He initially wooed women with a hyperactive stage personality — music videos showed him makin' eyes and advances on wickedly dressed über-babes — but then...

Not everything that comes from Japan is cute. In fact, Melt Banana seems to be doing everything it can to deny the naturally adorable output of its birthplace. Formed 15 years ago, the band remains uncompromising in its ability to mess with audiences' preconceptions by gouging a Hello Kitty-shaped hole...

With his much-missed Fugazi on indefinite hiatus, perpetually outspoken frontman Ian MacKaye has plenty of other projects to cultivate. In addition to speaking engagements and running his legendary proto-indie label Dischord, MacKaye is back onstage with the Evens, his lo-fi, intense duo with Amy Farina, formerly of Washington D.C.'s the...