The Toasters When Rob “Bucket” Hingley moved from England to New York in 1982, he was shocked and dismayed to find that ska music had yet to make a dent in American pop consciousness. Instead of waiting for someone else to make it happen, Hingley decided to do it himself…
Roger Waters In its lifetime Pink Floyd slowly amassed enough alienation anthems to win the allegiance of kids in high school smoking lounges the world over. “Time,” “Money,” “Welcome to the Machine,” and eventually The Wall, a sprawling two-LP concept album from 1977 that chronicled the fascist impulses of an…
Please forgive me if the following paragraphs amount to little more than someone crying because the neighborhood bully stole his football and refuses to give it back. Maybe I just assumed that I (or maybe Robert Wilonsky) would be the one to pull the plug, that our relationship with Yahoo!…
What jail is like We’re not too sure this belongs here–after all, this paper does have a letters section–but it’s much quicker to respond to this letter in the music section since we can’t call or e-mail the writer, or use any of the typical ways to get in touch…
You’d think there was a law or something. Should you happen to be in charge of the homes section of a daily newspaper, and should you happen to assign a piece about, God help you, stucco, you’ll likely get a story back referring in some way to “Little Boxes,” the…
And then Lou Reed says, “I love you.” It’s his way of answering a question that could, in truth, be interpreted as a vague compliment–something about how his albums have never conformed to fad or fashion, something about how Lou Reed albums always sound like Lou Reed albums. (Guess he…
When bands sign record contracts, they can’t help but believe that life will be easier, better–limousines and Lear jets, or at least someone to pay the electric bill. After all, they’re finally getting paid to do what they love: playing music, making records. What they never consider is what the…
Invariably, conversations at the Dallas Observer offices drift to topics such as, does Britney Spears need a spanking, and if so, would she accept one? (Answer: Yes, and probably.) Or, those guys from ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys must be gettin’ it on more than a lounge singer in…
Todd Deatherage is a sport. No matter what you think of the former Calways frontman, you have to give him that much. Well, maybe you don’t. But we definitely do. Why? Because Deatherage stood in the hall of the Dallas Observer offices for 10 minutes on Friday afternoon, while Robert…
Peter Gabriel OVO: The Millennium Show (Real World Music) Eight years after the release of Us–a meditative, self-flagellating rumination on his breakup with Rosanna Arquette–Peter Gabriel has all but disappeared. Perhaps that’s to be expected when a musician spills his guts with no one there to hold the bucket; it…
Nick Brisco Damn the Possibilities (Pluto Records) Nick Brisco and cast Centaur Battle of San Jacinto (an extended barroom brawl) (Pluto Records) Nick Brisco moved to New York at the beginning of the year, giving up on Dallas again in his quest to Make It. He’s made similar moves before:…
Veruca Salt From a press release, received this week: K-tel proudly announces the release of the second volume of Unlistenable ’90s: The Alternative Years, which will arrive in stores July 4, 2000. Celebrate the spirit of indie-pendence with this cool alternative, featuring Urge Overkill (“Sister Havana”), Concrete Blonde (“Joey”), Liz…
The Makers In the past few months, The Makers have gotten unprecedented hype even though their act–like most of those that get relatively huge in the world of college radio, record-store employees, and alternative newsweeklies–is neither new nor particularly spectacular. Beginning early in the ’90s, they put out some wild…
Modest Mouse The overwhelming bleakness of the Pacific Northwest has produced more than its fair share of melancholy artists, people both inspired to genius and doomed to failure by their dismal surroundings. Kurt Cobain is probably the most famous, the so-called spokesman for his generation who ended up on the…
The Bangs Susanna Hoffs’ former outfit briefly used the name, but it never quite fit; they were Bangles, after all, sparkly-spangly little do-dads no more or less significant than a candy bar or a belly-button ring. To bear the name The Bangs, you gotta have more meat on your bones,…
The Blazers I’ve always thought of The Blazers as the younger brothers of Los Lobos. Of course, The Blazers remind me at times of Los Lobos in their early days, back before Lobos discovered their ability to be as expansive with roots music as The Band, and as artistic, in…
Scene, heard Let’s be completely clear about this: Former Observer writer Christina Rees meant no harm when she wrote about the basement shows happening at Mr. Gatti’s on The Square in Denton (“Rock bottom,” May 28, 1998). Of course, her story indirectly led to the fire marshal coming down on…
When CDs get stuck and start skipping violently, it’s a million times worse than the sound of an album locked in a groove ever was. It’s more like hearing a Martian deathray obliterating a favorite record, one digital particle at a time. Next time you’re at a party and someone…
The Toadies’ new album (titled Feeler last time we checked, though that’s probably changed) is–drum roll, please–finished. As in, it’s been recorded, mixed, and mastered. Done. All of it. Finally. Well, just about. There are still a few pesky details to take care of, such as artwork, liner notes, and…
Scene, heard Of course, there aren’t that many local bands available to open for The Toadies on May 27, mainly because a number of them will be at Trees that night as part of The Adventure Club’s sixth anniversary concert. The lengthy lineup includes, in order of appearance: Alan Randolph…
Billy Bragg & Wilco Mermaid Avenue Volume 2 (Elektra Records) For weeks, the top of the pops has been dominated by pretty, empty heads whose mouths have been filled with pretty, empty words written by hacks who find inspiration in rhyming dictionaries. The teen market has taken over, and grown…
Early Tracks The Old 97’s (Bloodshot Records) At this point in The Old 97’s career, a collection like Early Tracks isn’t really necessary. Early Tracks is a bit of music-industry sleight of hand, a trick designed to divert the attention of their fans until a new album is ready. But…
