Sneak are a newer band that I recently discovered from my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona that almost made me jump in the air with one fist extended towards the bright blue heavens. That's probably what I would have done if I didn't think I'd hurt myself doing so. Just know that mentally, I was also doing backflips like a Cirque du Soleil performer. This band hit many of my musical sweet spots. Sneak are made up of members from other bands such as Knife's Edge, Heavy Breather and Here In Spirit. This here is their debut release and it is bound to make some waves in the valley of the sun this year. These guys play a type of music that I can only describe tormented hardcore punk.   Alright by Sneak Let's dig into this shall we? The first song simply titled "Sneak" serves as the perfect introduction to the house of horrors you're about to enter tip toeing, afraid to wake the sleeping beasts. It wet's the sonic appetite just right though. It's not unt...

Interview conducted with singer/songwriter Andrew Cline Shock Treatment: Let's start off by telling me who all are in Astrologer at this very moment as we speak? Andrew: Starting with the tough questions! This one is always hard to answer… people pretty much view Astrologer as my project because I’m the songwriter, or Candy and I, since we are sort of a duo! That said, at any given time, we have several other people I would consider members of the group in some fashion. Wyatt Blair, Don Bolles, Joel Tyler Wall, Blake Garmon, and Nick Florence have all been involved with us both live and in our recorded output intermittently since we began. Shock Treatment: What is the Astrologer conception story? How did you guys meet and decide to play music together? Andrew: I started Astrologer after my last band broke up. I played one show under that name in 2020 with two of my friends in Phoenix, Andrew Jemsek and Eddie Horn. Then, the pandemic happened, and it changed the trajectory of the en...

Phoenix’s own rock n’ roll soul shakers Freaks of Nature sweat and bleed on stage as if it was 1966 all over again. Their music is as raw as a side of ground chuck and sounds like it could fit right between One Way Streets and The Swamp Rats on a Back from the Grave compilation. Freaks of Nature’s music is by four guys that “get it.” They immerse themselves in this kind of music and culture from a certain time period not because it’s a trend, not to get girls, or to get rich but because they found kindred spirits in the type of music young people made in the mid to late 1960’s in their parents garage, it spoke to them and awakened a sleeping giant in their creative souls. This music won’t dazzle you with technical skill or bore you with metaphysical lyrics and metaphors, but if you can smell what these cats are cookin’, it’s going to exorcize your demons right where you stand! Interview by Jay Castro Shock Treatment: Please tell me who’s all in Freaks of Nature and what does every...

Labor Party is a trio of veteran hard rock n’ rollers influenced by bands like The Stooges, MC5 and the Dead Boys that reside in the Phoenix metro area. Their music is fast, loud, guitar fueled rock n’ roll with enough power in the backbeat to run the city they’re playing that night. Their experience really comes into play when you see this band live. They seem very much at ease on stage allowing them to put on a highly energized, highly entertaining show as they hurl their music at their audience like boulders on catapults. They have a look in their eyes like all they do is start the engine and where the music is going to take them is anybody’s guess. And that’s what makes Labor Party so undeniably great at what they do. This interview originally appeared in Audio Ammunition on January 14th, 2015 Interview by J Castro Shock Treatment: Who’s all in the band and what do they do to keep the Labor Party rolling? Buck Ellis - Drums, backing vocals. Sharon Labor – Bass guitar, ba...