The Postmarks make music that, at times, is part Burt Bacharach, part Beach Boys and part folk rock. That’s an odd blend in 2007, but this emo-pop trio knows how to bring it together. The Postmarks have raised their profile during the past year. They’re charting in the U.S. and…
The DIY success of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was surely a promising story way back in 2005. Garage bands and dudes with nasally voices regained faith in the can-do spirit that so often is squashed. Some Loud Thunder sees Clap Your Hands remaining label-less and should have record labels…
Scott Loomer, namesake and leader of this Canadian sextet, is a songwriter of unqualified vision. Like Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy and Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor, Loomer is capable of encapsulating raw feeling and humor by way of cryptic lyrics and detailed musical arrangements. Songs of the Wild West Island, the…
For a whole subsection of America’s young and young at heart, sad-puppy punk rock is more than an interest, it’s a way of life. Which is why hilario-funtimes punk rock, like that of the Queers, is always a very welcome counterpoint response. Friends, booze, sex: The pleasures of the simple…
The Great Black Tie Dynasty Debate continues to rage through the hallways of the Dallas Observer, echoing over the clack of keyboards and cursing editors. On one side, BTD proponents praise the quartet’s sexy, moody oeuvre, while the anti-BTD contingent bad-mouths them as derivative Interpol clones. To the haters, I…
In eyelinered Chicago goth-pop wannabes Kill Hannah’s sort-of hit “Kennedy,” singer Mat Devine brags that he wants to be a Kennedy and, after living fast and breaking hearts and kissing the girls of centerfolds on the tongue, die young. We don’t really believe Devine, because two songs later on that…
Finding quality among the seemingly endless parade of faceless emo bands parading their oh-so-hip bangs and pronounced use of eyeliner is not an easy task. Oakland’s The Matches display, for better and worse, the continued influence of Green Day on today’s poppy punksters (or would that be punky popsters?). Decomposer,…
While Gram Parsons’ legendary mystique has earned him most of the credit, it seems as if every long-haired hippie in California was reconnecting with their roots in the summer of ’69: Roger McGuinn and the Byrds followed the influential Sweetheart of the Rodeo LP with the country-tinged Ballad of Easy…
“Electronica with mistakes,” says Dosh, describing his own music. “I record everything and then take an accident and turn it into a song.” His full name is Martin Dosh, but ever since his 2003 debut, he’s favored simply his family name. On tour in support of his fine third effort,…
Exotic Diseases: The disquieting social phenomenon wherein you think you see the Hold Steady’s Craig Finn everywhere you go. Like Being John Malkovich with a louder soundtrack. Bizarre Resurgence: Ladies and gentlemen, America—yes, that America, “Horse With No Name” America—now have a MySpace page. Something should be done about this,…
The cover shot of Sloan’s 650th album echoes that of Television’s Marquee Moon—four gaunt, haggard dudes stare down the camera—except these Canadian power-pop lifers have more gray hair and opted for a bright pink background, a solid wall of bubblegum with silver streaks. Sonically, Never Hear the End of It…
In Beat Kings: The History of Hip Hop, Wu-Tang Clan’s Mathematics has assembled a revealing documentary from the point of view of the genre’s architects. The DVD is an entertaining crash course in the nitty-gritty of hip-hop’s evolution beyond the platinum records and glitzy videos—from turntables to 808s to ProTools…
For more than his pinchable cheeks, Ron Sexsmith has always been the kid at the adult-alternative cocktail party: He put together his first band at 14 and soon found Elvis Costello clutching his solo debut on the cover of Mojo like a life raft of youthful relevance. Occasionally, talented pups…
The members of Liverpool’s Clinic are up to their surgical masks in Nuggets-worthy psychedelic splendor here, from the bass-driven pulse of an opening track whose instrumental section could practically pass for The Yardbirds paying tribute to the Far East, to the dark narcotic haze that hovers over “Gideon.” On “Animal/Human,”…
When talking about Under the Skin, his first solo effort in 14 years, Lindsey Buckingham sounds like a man discussing a memoir. “There is a circular tension involved, an optimistic melancholy,” says Buckingham from his home in Los Angeles, a few days before beginning a national tour. “Being in the…
The earth is not a cold, dead place, at least not in Texas, which has produced some of the finest and most carefully crafted instrumental post-rock in recent years, courtesy of artists such as Explosions in the Sky, Cue and My Education. Out of nowhere—San Marcos to be exact—This Will…
Hailing from Longview, Sunny Sweeney is exactly the kind of old-school country singer that gives Texas its good reputation. Possessing a booming voice with just the right amount of drawl, Sweeney delivers backwoods passion in spades on Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame, her sturdy debut. Besides clever and poignant original tunes…
Oh, sure, it’s not like you haven’t seen these artists before; we all know Salim Nourallah’s consistent and benevolent influence on Dallas’ music scene, Johnny Lloyd Rollins’ updated take on classic songwriting a la Buddy Holly or the Beatles, Airline’s upstart youth tunes, etc. But just think about it: These…
Back when B.B. King first began banging his guitar in front of a Memphis microphone, he was doing it alongside the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Little Junior Parker, Rosco Gordon and…you know what, baby? Those cats are all, like, long gone, and the mighty Mr. King (alongside the unstoppable Bobby…
Well, of course country music is bound to spring up in Lubbock. The town enjoys three factors that make it so: a legacy of music, a desolate Western environment and the desparation of sheer boredom, all three of which imbue the population with a latent impulse to create music by…
Two new venues, one rainy night. Saturday marked the inaugural evenings of ellum:ONSTAGE (check And Another Thing, page 59 for an update on that) and the Palladium Ballroom, aka What Happened to Gilley’s. What happened is that Gilley’s is now split into the traditional country venue (relegated to the much…
New Life: In addition to the Palladium Ballroom’s grand unveiling, Deep Ellum saw a new venue opening. Who knew the Life in Deep Ellum complex was gonna be such a refined and spacious spot? Entering the complex, one is immediately greeted with polished concrete floors, decent art on the spotless…
