As recent exiles from Panic! at the Disco, Ryan Ross and Jon Walker espouse a take on recording music that stands opposed to the overcooked Pop-Punk they left behind. In Walker's case, that view involves urging fellow artists to exercise a greater sense of in-studio ad-libbing: "They'd all be enjoying themselves a lot more."  

"Bigger is better" is a cliche that VNV Nation must hold close to heart. Composed of Ronan Harris (vocals and synth) and Mark Jackson (manning percussion), VNV produces industrial-inflected Electronica with a thirst for the grandiose, as witnessed on their lastest LP, 'Of Faith, Power and Glory.'  

Two local bands team up for a dual release party celebrating their latest creations. And the disparity between the their musical styles (Small Time Crooks's Pop/Hip Hop blend and I Am the Messenger's Metal/Punk) is a great testament to how local bands don't seem too concerned about genre classification, at least in terms of what bands they play shows with.  

This Friday at Covington's Mad Hatter, two local bands team up for a dual release party celebrating their latest creations: Small Time Crooks (Hip Hop/Pop) and I Am the Messenger (Punk/Metal). The disparity between the their musical styles is a great testament to how local bands don't seem too concerned about genre classification, at least in terms of what bands they play shows with.  

Kiss Kiss revels in melodrama. This New York outfit loads its strain of Indie, Emo and Experimental music with endearingly over-the-top flourishes: electric violins that strike and whine, snatches of slow burn piano and blasts of guitar that ring passionately. The five-piece version has recently picked up steam supporting last summer's CD release, 'The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left' (Eyeball Records).  

John Norwood Fisher remembers hearing Two Tone Ska for the first time. It was the early 1980s, and fellow Fishbone member/trumpeter "Dirty" Walter Kibby introduced him to The Selecter and The English Beat. The bassist's reaction? "I was disappointed. We didn't invent Ska?!" Fishbone barely profited from the cachet they earned as the style's U.S. elders (the cultural focus shone on younger bands like No Doubt and Mighty Mighty Bosstones), but the group has rocked steady for 25 years.   

I Am Ghost cycles through over-the-top macabre motifs (vampires, blood, guns, fire, coffins, etc.) that Atreyu and My Chemical Romance would have utilized in their early days and bashes their dark aesthetic over your head.  

If you're a frequent attendee of local music shows, you've no doubt seen Pat Rice, the 65-year-old "superfan" who probably attends more music events than just about anyone and is beloved by the bands she consistently checks out. Rice recently lost her residence and is without the money for a deposit on a new place to stay, so several bands are hosting an "emergency" benefit show for her.  

A lot of Punk bands' political activism extends as far as sporting a stylishly ripped Che Guevera T-shirt, but Strike Anywhere is not a band that wears its politics on (or as) its sleeves. You'd be hard pressed to find a more informed and literate group of guys playing political, social and cultural manifestos at skin-blistering volume.  

Singer Liam Cormier vows to expand his repertoire of aching, personal tracks on Cancer Bats' new album, due in April. He describes it as "Glenn Danzig going on a camping trip with Black Flag's Greg Ginn, a reanimated Vincent Price and the Beastie Boys." Despite that incongruous congregation, he swears the band's third CD is its most cohesive work yet.