Indie Rock and Indie Pop

Austin City Limit's 2013 Lineup

Austin City Limits' lineup for 2013 was just announced: Headliners include Depeche Mode, The Cure, Muse, Kings of Leon and noted teenage-girl-advice-givers Atoms for Peace. Tickets go on sale May 7 -- early bird passes are sold out but VIP is available if you just can't wait. See also: -50 Don't ... More >>

Go Outside and Listen to the New British Sea Power Album

British Sea Power's new record Machineries of Joy is out this week, and it's everything you'd hope for from one of the most underappreciated and upbeat indie rock acts of the last few years. Marking ten years since their debut The Decline of British Sea Power, Machineries of Joy beguiles the listene ... More >>

Ultra 2013: Yeasayer Insulted the Ravers While Matt & Kim Charmed Them

On day one of Ultra Music Festival 2013, the main-stage DJ surprisingly played Red Hot Chili Peppers' "By the Way." It's not one of the Cali crew's early songs, but it's a hit that came out when about 60 percent of the crowd (now dancing in tutus, "Show Me Your Tits" tees, and beaded masks slathered ... More >>

My Bloody Valentine's Website Crash Shows What it Means to Be Indie in 2013

My Bloody Valentine released a new album over the weekend, and by all accounts it's very good. There are a lot of thick, quavering guitars on it, you can't really hear the vocals, and nothing goes much like you expect it to, which is to say that if you enjoy My Bloody Valentine, you'll enjoy m b v. ... More >>

Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Granada Theater

Preview: KXT Summer Cut at Gexa Energy Pavilion

Friday, June 1, at Gexa Energy Pavilion

The Shins, Yeasayer, Big Freedia and More of This Week's Show Announcements

The ShinsThursday, October 11, at House of Blues, $39.50The Shins were sort of indie-rock darlings until they got Braff-ed in the mid-Aughts. That's when they blew the eff up. We haven't heard much from them since 2007's Wincing the Night Away, but now that they've got a new one under their belts -- ... More >>

10 Top Acts With Dual Drummers

Tonight, The Melvins will perform at Trees. While perusing the Internet in search of photos, I realized the band has two drummers. I thought about how pointless and excessive it is to actually employ two drummers to support a band, but then I considered how powerful the result can be. Two drummers s ... More >>

New Fumes Covers Gary Numan's "Observer"

Today, we mark Gary Numan's 54th birthday with a Covering Tracks homage by Dallas' own New Fumes. The godfather of synth-pop is still going strong, touring extensively last year, performing 1979's The Pleasure Principle in its entirety and providing guest vocals on the Battles track "My Machines." W ... More >>

St. Marie Records Sends Up a Prayer for Labels

Founder Wyatt Parkins has an angel on his shoulder.

Real Estate, Big Troubles

Thursday, November 17, at Dada

The Beauty in Ra Ra Riot's Sound

Four Other "Big Four" Shows We'd Love To See

​The recent Big Four shows featuring thrash-metal kings Metallica, Megadeath, Slayer and Anthrax were massive, epic spectacles that were barely contained by the huge venues they were performed in -- legendary spots such as the Coachella-approved Empire Polo Club and Yankee Stadium, and some Europe ... More >>

BRAIDS' Raphaelle Standell-Preston Explains How To Start a Band Over a Blueberry Muffin

BRAIDS' members are young -- all four members are in their (very) early 20s -- but the Canadian band is already earning quite a bit of critical buzz for their cool and collected, and heavily influenced by Animal Collective, brand of experimental pop. Led by the talented Raphaelle Standell-Preston, ... More >>

Over The Weekend: TV on the Radio & Broken Social Scene at the House of Blues

TV on the Radio & Broken Social Scene House of Blues September 16, 2011 Better than: having a ticket with a "rain or shine" guarantee from the box office, only to have it cancelled at the last minute.TV on the Radio​As a general rule, when two bands with large fan bases of their own share a bi ... More >>

Night Three of Austin City Limits '11: If You're Gonna Go Out, You Better Go Out With a Bang.

Pete FreedmanArcade Fire played a familiar set to end Austin City Limits 2011. But it was still thrilling.​ The hot sun from the morning of Day Three at the 2011 Austin City Limits Music Festival persisted well into the afternoon and evening at Zilker Park. But with the festival end looming and pl ... More >>

Tim Kasher, Aficionado, SeaLion

Mister Heavenly Is More Than a Celebrity Bassist

Death Cab For Cutie, Frightened Rabbit

Saturday, August 13, at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie

Avi Buffalo

Friday, August 5, at Dada

Foster the People

Sunday, July 3, at The Loft

Kanye West, Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire and Coldplay Highlight 2011 Austin City Limits Bill

​We had some fun yesterday trying to guess the bill for the 2011 Austin City Limits Musical Festival -- and, hey, we were right about Kanye West, if nothing else. Early this morning, the folks behind the festival announced for full lineup for their end-of-summer offering. And, as expected, the 10t ... More >>

Mogwai's Hidden Sense of Humor

Last Night: Cut Copy, Foals, Holy Ghost! and The Naked & Famous at the Granada Theater

Cut Copy, Foals, Holy Ghost! and The Naked & FamousGranada TheaterApril 20, 2011Better than: going to see Foals and Cut Copy headline separate shows. Last night was a serious two-for-the-price-of-one experience. Cut Copy​Blue lights hovered over the stage, as the crowd anxiously awaited Cut C ... More >>

Tonight, Tonight: Busiest Wednesday Ever?

Holy crap! We have a shitload of killer shows in our area tonight!

Tonight, Tonight: Devotchka at the Granada, The Supervillians at The Loft, O'Brother at Hailey's, Fleshtones at Dada, and Apollo 18 at Double-Wide

Good golly Miss Molly! SXSW frontwash is flooding into seemingly every venue in town. Enjoy it while it lasts...

The Must-See Acts at 35 Conferette

My First Show: The Demigs' Guyton Sanders Explains The Thought Process Behind Buying His First Ever Concert Shirt On INXS' Kick Tour

Welcome to My First Show, where we give bands a chance to talk about the first shows they ever attended -- no matter how uncool and embarrassing those tales may be. The Demigs plan to take off... eventually.​Guyton Sanders is literally a drummer about town. Whether he's ... More >>

Abe Vigoda, Wild Nothing, Soft Environmental Collapse

Saturday, February 5, at Sons of Hermann Hall

Tokyo Police Club, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Tuesday, February 1, at the Granada Theater

Last Night: Best Coast, Wavves and No Joy at the Granada Theater

Best Coast, Wavves, No Joy Granada Theater January 24, 2011 Better Than: Being separated from your best friend/cat. Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino and Wavves' Nathan Williams​Over the past year, the relationship between Nathan Williams and Bethany Cosentino, lead singers of Wavves and Best Coas ... More >>

The Best National Album Releases of 2010

Listomania: The 15 Best Concerts of 2010

​With apologies to Robert Earl Keen, Devin the Dude, Cake, Hayes Carll and the multitude of also-rans filling up the regional concert calendar in these final weeks of 2010, it's safe to say, I think, that, with Friday night's Wu-Tang show at the Granada Theater, the year in live music effectively ... More >>

Giveaway: Three Pairs of Tickets to See Tame Impala at The Loft Tonight

Check how gangster Tame Impala looks​Although to an American ear the name "Tame Impala" may sound like some sort of ironic hip-hop group, it actually refers to a species of antelope. Which is a lot more fitting for a western Australian psychedelic rock quartet who, in 2008, topped the Australian I ... More >>

Giveaway: Two Pairs Of Tickets to See Stars Saturday Night At Granada

Stars​Some artists function under just one name, while others function with multiple groups. Canadian indie pop group stars is the latter, with all of its members also being in super group Broken Social Scene on top of also having a plethora of solo albums and even TV appearances between them. But ... More >>

Giveaway: Two Pairs of Tickets To Tonight's Wolf Parade Show at the Granada Theater

In this week's paper, Hannah Levin lays down some serious praise to Wolf Parade, placing the band's 2005 release, Apologies to the Queen Mary, in the esteemed company of Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 opus, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, exclaiming that Wolf Parade's work is likely as close as we'll ever ... More >>

Wolf Parade's The Closest We're Gonna Get to Neutral Milk Hotel

Fun Fun Fun Fest: MGMT and Bad Religion Cap A Great Saturday

​Oh, the decisions. As was the case last year, Fun Fun Fun's Saturday schedule forced some hard choices; today's toughest might be Washed Out and Deerhunter's simultaneous sets, thought there are plenty of other conflicting sets. But one of the things that makes Fun Fun Fun great is that the three ... More >>

Ra Ra Riot, Villagers, Givers

Thursday, October 28, at the Granada Theater

Tonight, Tonight: Red Bull SoundClash at the Palladium, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead at The Loft, Doug Burr at Lochrann's Irish Pub, Minus The Bear at House of Blues and Ra Ra Riot at The Granada

Another day, another busy musical evening here in the metroplex. Seriously busy.

Giveaway: Two Pairs to See Ra Ra Riot Tomorrow Night at the Granada Theater

As a fellow Syracuse University alum with some connections to the band, I may be a little biased in the matter, but, listen, there's a lot to like about the SU-spawned Ra Ra Riot, whose endearing chamber pop thrust the band out of the college basement circuit and into the indie mainstream in 2008, r ... More >>

Giveaway: Yet Another Pair of Free Tickets to Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin

​We've done this not once but twice before, so by now you should know the drill. If not, a quick refresher: On November 5, 6 and 7, at Austin's Waterloo Park, the other fall music festival in the capital city will present it's biggest--not to mention, we think, it's best--lineup offering to date. ... More >>

Giveaway: A Pair of Tickets to See Land of Talk and Suuns Tomorrow Night at The Nightmare

Montreal-based Land of Talk is an alternative indie rock band with dreamy vocals provided by jazz trained vocalist/guitarist Elizabeth Powell. The trio formed in 2006 and provide an amazingly dense sound that is both clear in its soundscape and technically proficient in its execution. The group sup ... More >>

A Blow-by-Blow Field Report From Austin City Limits 2010.

ACL 2010 So-Far Superlatives: The Best Performers, Songs and Movements of Days One and Two.

Here we are, final morning of Austin City Limits, and we're getting all wistful and whatnot. It's a busy day ahead filled with North Texas connections like whoa: 15-year-old Dallas-born fiddle wunderkind Ruby Jane kicks the entire day off with her 11:15 a.m. set; Midlake will somehow have to physica ... More >>

Tonight, Tonight: Vampire Weekend at the Palladium, Local Natives at House of Blues, Light Pollution at Hailey's and Phantogram at The Loft

Quite the hopping hump day we have here. While Monday and Tuesday each had a couple of interesting musical offerings, this particular Wednesday night has a bounty of choices for those in search of cool sounds.

Crystal Castles, Mr. Kitty

Tuesday, September 14, at House of Blues

Giveaway: A Free Pair of Tickets To Fun Fun Fun Fest

​Back at the beginning of the month, we shared with you all the very impressive lineup for the fifth incarnation of Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest, which is set to take place on November 6, 7 and 8 in Waterloo Park, down in that pretentious city about three and a half hours south of here.This year's ed ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Announces Badass 2010 Lineup. Included On It? Dallas' Own Power Trip.

​The folks who run Austin''s Fun Fun Fun Fest have made it clear: Heading into their fifth year of operation, they aren't planning on slowing down their ever-growing momentum. Quite the opposite, actually: The fest is ramping up to seriously challenge ACL as Austin's premiere fall fest.Seriously: ... More >>