Most Popular
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How Progressive insurance lost what made it progressive
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An ancient Apollo statue landed in Cleveland and touched off an international outcry
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Joe Cimperman hopes to tear down his former hero, Dennis Kucinich
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At Indie-Rock Singles Night in Cleveland, an event for hipsters lacks one key ingredient: Hipsters
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Justice Maureen O’Connor says campaign money doesn’t affect her
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How Progressive insurance lost what made it progressive (31)
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At Indie-Rock Singles Night in Cleveland, an event for hipsters lacks one key ingredient: Hipsters (22)
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$100 Bounty on That Kid (19)
Copley-Fairlawn finds a way to keep the impostors out.
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Dennis Kucinich’s brave talk about working and fighting — from the safety of the officer’s tent (10)
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Beat Down (4)
Cleveland teachers swap stories of school violence.
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Years after he gave up on rock music, Bob Mould plugs back in
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Boozing through St. Patrick’s Day with Bono, Van, and the Pogues
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Beer, BBQ, industry schmoozing: Rounding up SXSW 2008’s local delegates
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Summery pop bands brave Cleveland’s harsh weather and reputation
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It took them 10 years, but the Sadies finally craft a country-rock classic
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For March Madness lovers, the Boss Button is a gift from on high
02:22PM 03/21/08 -
'4 Minutes' in Heaven with Madonna
01:14PM 03/21/08 -
Picks of the Weekend: Bold-colored belts and blue paint are all the rage this weekend
11:52AM 03/21/08 -
Mic Check: The Cribs at the Grog Shop on Sunday
11:43AM 03/21/08 -
Ripper Watch: Tim "Ripper" Owens rocks the world
09:45AM 03/21/08
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Recent Articles By Michael D. Ayers
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Goldfrapp
Seventh Tree (Mute)
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American Music Club
The Golden Age (Merge)
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The Lemonheads
With Racoon. Monday, December 17, at the Grog Shop, Cleveland Heights.
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Celebration
With Dragons of Zynth. Sunday, November 25, at the Beachland Tavern.
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Liars
Liars (Mute)
National Features
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Village Voice
A Long Way Wrong?
Another celebrated memoir threatens to blow into a million little pieces.
By Graham Rayman -
LA Weekly
Hoop Dawg
Billionaire Donald T. Sterling owns the L.A. Clippers and loves the ladies. And those are just two of his problems.
By Patrick Range McDonald -
The Pitch
Children of the Porn
Elvin Boone's sex-shop empire crumbles as his offspring feud.
By Justin Kendall -
Westword
The Good Soldier
When the Army tried to take down Andrew Pogany, they messed with the wrong coward.
By Joel Warner
Subject(s): New Order, indie-rock, Teenagers
Imagine a really awful soundtrack to an equally horrible fashion show, and you've got a pretty good idea what the debut album by the Paris-based Teenagers sounds like. The trio mines a bunch of late-'80s/early-'90s Britpop on Reality Check, but it all ends up sounding like leftovers from one of New Order's blah '00 comebacks. The band claims it started off as a joke, but more than anything, it comes off like a deliberate attempt at jacking some cash from blog-hopping hipsters. Most of the time, lyrics are spoken rather than sung, offering bland and cliché-stuffed observations about chic youth culture: Paris is "crazy" in the electroclashy "Streets of Paris," and "French Kiss" chronicles a late-night party that results in a, yep, French kiss. Even the band's ode to buxomly actress Scarlett Johansson (not-so-cleverly called "Starlett Johansson") is painful — although it is one of the few songs that includes a chord change. Here's hoping that these Teenagers grow up real soon.
