NOISE

Were you apprehensive that people wouldn't take the music seriously because of your other career?

I didn't even think about it that way, because my intention wasn't really to ... you know, I just wanted to get a band together and gig around town. It wasn't my intention to really have it go where it's gone. That to me really doesn't matter. You always kind of have to go out there and just show people what you have. Not everybody's going to like everything. Even in my other business, everybody doesn't like every movie I made. You just keep making movies and hope that you can satisfy those that go see it.

There was a certain backlash when it was announced that you were playing Ozzfest.

Oh, absolutely. That to me, that makes sense because A) nobody even knew that I was doing music; B) just trying to reconcile the persona that's already been created with the woman that's supposed to be heading a heavy band at Ozzfest, it was just like, "What?" It's like somebody saying Celine Dion has made a gangsta rap album and is opening for 50 Cent. It's just like, "Huh?" Once again, it's just about showing and proving.

Do you encounter people surprised to see an African-American heavy metal band?

No, not at all. Not so much that, because you have God Forbid, you have a lot of bands now that have—you've got Sevendust—black lead singers. I think the part that is difficult to reconcile until you come to a show is the idea of a celebrity, a black female celebrity at that, who you know is married to Will Smith, who is the Fresh Prince and does happy-go-lucky music. So I think it's just overcoming those ideas, more so than the whole black thing.

Since the Weekly last caught up with Panic! At the Disco midway through the Nintendo Fusion Tour for our October 27 issue, the Las Vegas outfit has continued to check milestones off of its to-do list. A few of the quartet's recent accomplishments:

January 17: Appeared on MTV's TRL, premiering the music video for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies."

January 20: Performed "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" on NBC's Last Call With Carson Daly.

February 15: Inspired backlash on Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival message board: "Spot the difference: Backstreet Boys and Panic at the Disco. I didn't think you could. Oh, yes, Panic has dark hair. Panic - Coachella. I think I would rather hear James Blunt ... twice."

February 18: Debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.

In honor of Vice President Cheney:

• AC/DC—"Shoot to Thrill"

• The Beatles—"Happiness Is a Warm Gun"

• Curl Up and Die—"You'd Be Even Cuter If I Shot You in the Face"

• XTC—"Melt the Guns"

• Mission of Burma—"That's When I Reach For My Revolver"

• Gang of Four—"Guns Before Butter"

• Minutemen—"Little Man With a Gun in His Hand"

• Motorhead—"Shoot You in the Back"

• Nancy Sinatra—"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)"

• Junior Walker & The All Stars—"Shotgun"

• Warren Zevon—"Lawyers, Guns and Money"

• Lynyrd Skynyrd—"Give Me Back My Bullets"

• The Fall—"Jawbone and the Air-Rifle"

• Circle Jerks—"Under the Gun"

• LL Cool J—"I Shot Ya"

Janiva Magness


Bury Him at the Crossroads (3 stars)

Magness won the 2004 W.C. Handy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Female Artist the same year this, her fifth album, was released (her sixth is Do I Move You, released this year). It's a strong collection of Delta-flavored blues, with an emphasis on stripped-down acoustics and Magness' rich voice.

Pearls and Brass


The Indian Tower (3 stars)

This heavy-blues Pennsylvania trio name-checks Zeppelin in its official bio and does a reasonable job living up to the lofty comparison on its second full-length album. Sure, the sludgy, stoner-rock sounds retro, but not so much that its '70s vibe doesn't stand out in '80s-centric 2006. Bring your earplugs.

Mower


Not For You (1 star)

Loud, grating and obnoxious heavy metal, but what else would you expect from a band opening for the Kottonmouth Kings? Features the most ill-advised cover of "California Dreaming" ever put to disc.