It’s about midnight on a Saturday night at the Monkey Bar, and I find myself rather confused. It’s a few beers into the evening, so colors are blurring and edges are bending at odd angles, but, though my wits are softened, they are still about me. It is not the…
If these local punks had a bit more chutzpah they would have covered the Psychedelic Furs’ song they poke fun at with the title track of this terrific EP. As is, this potent trio has all the things that make for a good punk experience: loud, bracing guitars, a significantly…
If he hadn’t choked to death in London’s Samarkand Hotel 37 years ago, how many mediocre records would Jimi Hendrix have dropped by now? Stevie…the Stones…Sir Paul…they’re all way past the point where any residual genius is still expected. Since at least The Gold Experience more than a decade back,…
Obsessed with a found trashed white piano, decidedly quirky and channeling everything from ’80s pop to Modest Mouse, Bishop Allen is a band chasing after the heart of every scenester from here to Williamsburg. The group, consisting of permanent members Christian Rudder and Justin Rice and a rotating cast of…
It’s a shame, but it seems most piano-men end up behind the scenes and known only to those who obsessively read liner notes. Though not known by the common fan, Ian McLagan has played keyboards on some legendary records by the Stones, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and others…
DJ/producer Tiësto first came to prominence with “Traffic” and solidified his reputation with his remix of Delerium’s “Silence,” a track that enjoyed considerable crossover success and radio airplay. Since then, Tiësto has branched out from his trance roots to incorporate elements of house and techno into his productions and DJ…
The brief untitled debut EP from Syracuse, New York’s Ra Ra Riot is but a six-song launch pad, but the band impresses memorably, with strong undercurrents and spirited, intricate arrangements. Two string players cushion surges of energy on this disc, and singer Wes Miles pushes almost too many thoughts into…
Moral dilemma: What do you do when one of the bands performing at your newspaper’s very own showcase proves disappointing, and you feel compelled to write about it? Compelled, not because you want to be an asshole or because you maintain some inner drive to take on Dallas’ sacred cows,…
Boi Howdy: Rapper Countri Boi, who was born in Dallas, then moved at the age of 2 weeks to California, then back to Dallas after his folks got worried about his gang lifestyle during his teenage years, has signed to independent label TVT Records. OK, let’s try to figure out…
When asked what disc is currently in his car’s CD player, Ben Templeton’s expression is one of bemused sincerity. “I listen to me a lot,” says Templeton, singer-songwriter and guitarist for Roy Bennett, a relatively new entry into the Dallas music scene. His full name is Roy Bennett Templeton, but…
Candee D*Vine wants to be your friend! She’s 19, cute, bisexual and “up for anything.” If you approve her request, and you probably will, she’ll go into the pile with the rest of your “friends,” who are more than happy to invite you to check out their naughty webcams, remind…
I wouldn’t call it bad luck, but Friday the 13th seemed to have some strange effect on the space-time continuum. After opening acts Sarah Jaffe and Dove Hunter cleared off the Granada’s stage, we were transported back to 2001, when Joe Butcher still played with Pleasant Grove and Centro-matic was…
From the sound of “My Ship Is Coming In,” a smooth-as-silt track near the end of Li’l Cap’n Travis’ latest platter, you’d assume the Austin sextet is manning the helm of a yacht-rock revival. You wouldn’t be quite right, but only because the band refuses to tie up in any…
On its third album, Pelican continues its quest to incorporate the best bits of shoe-gaze stoner rock and heavy music—and then flip the bird at the genre conventions of all three. Since debut album Australasia, the Chicago quartet has progressively drifted away from its earliest, most metal compositions toward more…
Five years later, Spoon’s 2002 release, Kill the Moonlight, still feels new. In fact, it still has the acute ability to make listeners pace from room to room, clapping their hands, attempting bad imitations of Britt Daniel’s raspy croon, wishing there was a sweet party about to happen. It’s almost…
After leaving the pioneering roots ensemble the Jayhawks, Mark Olson married singer-songwriter Victoria Williams and retreated to the California desert where he fronted a loose collaborative called The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers. Sadly but predictably, Olson’s post-Jayhawks work has been spotty and unfocused; the voice that once sounded so remarkably…
Feigned ironic excitement and flat-out ridiculing people who never left the Headbangers’ Ball are probably the two most common reasons to attend this pairing of less-interesting GN’R predecessor L.A. Guns and shock-rock also-rans W.A.S.P., but there are other angles. There’s the semi-obscure conflict: Play up the angle of bad (fake)…
Somebody call Pitchfork, cuz it’s time to believe the hype. Denton’s Ghosthustler is the real electronic deal, rolling up scuzzy, evil, synthetic riffs in a big spliff coated in angel dust and blowing them out at the audience. The consequences of attending a Ghosthustler show are therefore varied and dangerous:…
Although tremendously talented, Stan Ridgeway can be both pretentious and annoying. Such disparagement does not prevent his music from being incessantly interesting however. With a vocal delivery like a James Cagney impersonator, the former leader of Wall of Voodoo has balanced chutzpah and cheese for the better part of three…
10 Things About 10 Hands: 1) They’ve been around since the mid-’80s in various lineup incarnations, though the brilliant Paul Slavens has been a constant throughout the band’s tenure. 2) The band began in Denton when members of Slavens’ band the Gonemen fused with members from a band called Zane…
The Winter Sounds: Four guys and one gal from Georgia and South Carolina have a debut CD, Porcelain Empire, that’s old-fashioned modern rock. Built on chiming guitars, intermittent synths and catchy choruses, there’s a dash of emo here and a pinch of U2 there. They are better when they generate…
Sumner Erickson’s on the phone from Copenhagen, Denmark, explaining that his older brother, Roger Kynard Erickson, will be phoning a few minutes later than expected. “We’re in the car, and he wants to do it from his hotel room, if that’s OK,” says Sumner, who, in no uncertain terms, helped…
