Ian Williams

Q&A: NARC's Nicky Smith On Working Alone, Writer's Block, And Korn's Badass Guitar Tone

Mister Hands, the debut album from NARC, is the sound of Balimore's Nicky Smith bisecting and pinning to cork several the electric guitar's sonic flavors: the panning-stereo patty-cake blare of "Gangrene/Snickers"; the drowsy, Drunken Master splay of "Sweater"; "Don't Touch," which bear-hugs a meat ... More >>

Live: Battles Get In The Groove At Webster Hall

Battles w/Nisennenmondai Webster Hall Tuesday, November 1 Better than: Standing stock-still for 75 minutes. The members of Battles took the time to remind the crowd at Webster Hall on Tuesday night that they were from New York, but one look at their live setup could have indicated that; while t ... More >>

Q&A With Battles Drummer John Stanier: "I Was Determined To Use The Last Drop Of My Blood To Make This Happen."

Jason Frank Rothenberg​The rock band Battles is often likened to a machine. It's not too much of a stretch: on their breakthrough debut Mirrored, they soldered together eerily controlled riffs, futuristic textures, and fiendishly powerful drumming; and on stage, the group's wrench-heavy, wrenc ... More >>

Live: Battles at Webster Hall, 11.12.07

Smurf Attack!

Battles unveil their primal, robotic, bewildering, anthemic lullabies to paralyze