People about to change the world rarely look like people about to change the world. Take Gold Shoes — central casting didn’t assemble a new millennium Monkees to storm the music world with calculated precision. Gold Shoes is comprised of oddly yet perfectly meshed parts.   

Fans of East Coast Hip Hop institution the Wu Tang Clan probably once never imagined that Method Man and Redman would become deodorant pitchmen one day, so maybe the announcement that their fellow Wu-man GZA is set to lecture at esteemed universities like MIT and Cornell this spring about — what else? — physics isn’t a huge shocker.  

Charting the history and progress of Dr. Dog requires a flexible perspective. The more recent development of Dr. Dog as a band unit actually arcs much further back to Dr. Dog as the musical teenage pursuit of Philly childhood friends Toby Leaman and Scott McMicken.  

In honor of our Cool Issue and fall preview, we wanted to take a look at some local-music-centric things. As it turns out, a theme this year could be “The Comeback,” as several artists and a late ’90s/early ’00s festival return to not just bask in their former glory, but to also take the projects to a new level.  

Two guitarists in a band is fairly standard, and even two drummers has been done successfully. But two bassists? Now there’s something you don’t often see, unless you follow the exploits of Cletus Romp.   

Local Country/Western band Mack West celebrates the release of its self-titled debut CD this Sunday at the Northside Tavern. The show — featuring an opening set from Bill Alletzhauser of The Hiders — starts at 8 p.m. Admission is $5, or $10 if you want a CD with your cover charge.  

Nobody understands life’s cyclical, circular nature any better than Tinsley Ellis. After learning guitar at an early age and then joining The Alleycats in the late ’70s and in 1982 forming The Heartfixers, Ellis eventually felt the pull of a solo career when he realized he wanted to be a Blues songwriter, not merely a Blues interpreter.  

On their Web site, The Comforts call themselves “crowd pleasers at biker bars and church festivals.” Listening to their latest release, the six-song EP Come On In!, it’s hard to tell whether that nod to their evident fan base is tongue-in-cheek or honest, because the Anderson Township-based band actually sounds pretty damn good for a grown-up bubblegum band content with hitting the suburban circuit.   

If you were to place a bet as to what local band will be the next to follow the likes of Bad Veins, Pomegranates and Daniel Martin Moore into the ranks of “nationally acclaimed” Cincinnati area artists, putting your money on Electro/Indie foursome Eat Sugar is a pretty safe wager. One listen to the band’s excellent new EP, It’s Not Our Responsibility!, and you couldn’t be blamed for betting your life savings.   

During a recent interview, Sony CEO Howard Stringer made some comments that suggested maybe some in the corporate music world might just be ready to enter the 21st century. The music industry has become a bit of a joke for its out-of-touch reaction to technological developments