On their eponymous debut, the Futureheads played like there was no future. Everything they had they threw into that recording studio and, as a result, the album is proof of the dangers of indie-mod excess, artsy punks with a clever sense of humor and elaborate four-part harmonies run amok. Maybe…
The two new songs are as forgettable as they are just fine; “Message to the Boys” (docked for debuting on Jim Rhome’s “show”) and “Pool and Dive” neither celebrate nor tarnish the lovable losers’ legacy, and as much as the fan wants to cheer the reunion that really wasn’t (Chris…
Jim O’Rourke–the producer and fifth member partially responsible for the blissed-out, borderline jam-band approach of Murray Street and Sonic Nurse–is out of the Sonic Youth picture now, and Rather Ripped acknowledges his departure in a bewildering way. The sprawl’s been contained, and in the absence of their recent works’ breathing…
Everybody in Dallas, give it up for Callithump Productions. In its short lifespan, the local booking upstart has quickly grown from aimless infant to badass teen, and this Callithump showcase proves it by proudly showcasing two of the area’s most outstanding new acts. Teenage Symphony steals its name from Brian…
Bay Area musical bard Jesse DeNatale delivers one of the most delicious–and rare–surprises for music buffs: the chance to hear a new, distinctive voice and set of songs that nonetheless feel utterly familiar on first listen. Or, in short, a genuine emerging talent. Quick (and highly favorable) references would be…
On their two studio albums, these Massachusetts indie dudes show off the instrumental chops they honed at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. The knotty, densely composed songs on last year’s self-titled disc shapeshift, Frank Zappa-style, moving from tightly wound surf-punk to delicate post-Zombies guitar-pop to shaggy West Coast folk-rock with…
This New Jersey native first emerged in the early ’00s as part of the post-David Gray pack of male singer-songwriters eager to set their sensitive-dude pain to the timeless sound of strummed acoustic guitars. Pop’s moved on to less earnest fare since then, but Yorn’s still worth hearing, thanks to…
Londoners Will Kennard and Saul Milton spent their snotty, late teenage years tagging bridges with the moniker “Chase and Status.” Luckily for dance fans, they traded their graffiti for gyrating hips in 1996. Renowned in dance clubs across Europe for their rumbling drum ‘n’ bass remixes and use of classic…
These days, being French doesn’t provide the advantages it once could. Riots in Paris, political scandals, “Freedom Fries” and, hell, even Lance Armstrong are parts of the recent anti-Franco backlash, but DJ/Mixer/Producer Franck Roger wants to change some of these perceptions. In the late ’90s, Roger was part of hip-hop…
With the MySpace revolution under way, an MP3 can land a record deal, but touring remains rock’s baptism by fire. It can make you an alcoholic, wreck your voice, dull your talent and, in the grip of extreme boredom, inspire some pretty odd schemes. For a solid year after 2004’s…
“At the time I was as depressed as Nick Drake,” singer-songwriter Richard Swift says about the recording of Walking Without Effort, the dark half of his dual 2005 release (along with The Novelist). Speaking from San Francisco at the beginning of his latest tour, Swift is anxious to talk about…
It takes a rare performer to overcome the drawbacks of playing Grand Prairie’s Nokia Theatre. The jumbo cineplex seating removes the audience from the performers like med-school freshmen from a surgery demonstration, and the fact that few can afford a legal buzz on $8 beers after shelling out $12 for…
The following information won’t surprise anyone who’s opened a Dallas Observer in the past year: I’m no fan of Edgefest 15. Sunday’s music festival is certainly worth talking about, though not merely because of my disdain for the middle-of-the-road bands plucked from 102.1 The Edge’s play lists and thrown on…
Ozone alert: Though you’ll find some complaints about local music festivals (er, festival) on the previous page, we at AAT would be damn fools to ignore a good ol’ summer show full of dirty Dallas rhyme kings. It’s not Fitty, the Game or Juvy, but the Southern Alliance Concert at…
Brett and Rennie Sparks have to be one of the most peculiar couples working in alt-country. She writes the lyrics, he handles the melodies and together, they create twisted and distinctly traditional takes on folk and honky-tonk. Working in the same bizarro-Americana universe as Lambchop and Will Oldham, the Sparks…
Sybris’ powerful two-guitar, drum-pounding pop makes it clear that the band is a band, even if Angela Mullenhour sometimes receives enough focus to sound like a singer-songwriter with backing musicians. Mullenhour at times sounds like she’s croaking her words through tightened throat muscles and around a swollen tongue, a technique…
Husky-voiced thrush Moorer had just about played out the string of her languid left-of-center Nashville country. Her initially great promise had been getting Xeroxed over and over again into fuzziness, but new producer Steve Earle kicks her energy up a few notches as Moorer’s songwriting–previously in collaboration for the most…
In what remains of old Yugoslavia, what most folks call the Balkans, there exists a subculture, a group of wayward gypsies called Romani. Treated poorly by both authorities and the native population, Romani are segregated into inferior schools and restricted from working in worthwhile jobs. Surprisingly, the Romani culture has…
On his second CD, Mississippi native Cory Branan has knifed his name into the alt-country canon. The closest analog here in sound and quality is Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker, and the 31-year-old Branan shares Adams’ tendency to nestle introspective ballads against full-throttle rockers. The themes of 12 Songs are also inherited…
As a producer, Jim Dickinson has worked with such monuments–the Stones, Aretha, Big Star and, hell, probably Mozart–that you can’t blame him for choosing a humble setting for his own work. But while this spacious set of Southern soul, front-porch country and juke-joint boogie could be called quaint, it’s not…
In 1999 the Constantines formed and within a few short years had become a favorite of indie music listeners and college radio DJs from Alberta to Albuquerque. They also made some fans in the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, who honored the band’s self-titled debut with a Best…
Forget Hooked on Phonics; Japanese rock trio Electric Eel Shock claims to have learned English by listening to Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. Song titles like “I Love Fish but Fish Hate Me” and “Don’t Say Fuck,” both from the group’s recent Beat Me, suggest that the school of rock…
