There was a time in our younger days when there simply was no bigger band than Smashing Pumpkins. Depending on who you ask, double-album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Saddness is either one of the greatest triumphs of the mid-’90s alt-rock boom or one of the most self-indulgent, overrated albums…

In this week’s print edition Daniel Hopkins catches up with regional darlings Eisley in advance of their show this week at The Loft, in the process reminiscing about the numerous ups and downs in their nearly decade-long career. We too were thinking about the early days of the band this…

While it isn’t exactly the Moth and Moon LP Roy Robertson’s fans have been expecting since this past summer, the recent release of the Wonderness EP isn’t a stopgap intended to satiate his hungry audience, either. From the gentle opening notes of “Icing” to the closing refrains of “In Your…

With 11 full-length studio albums under his belt, and too many guest appearances to count over the last 20 years, it is somewhat ironic that a passing phrase of veneration made by Lil Wayne in a jailhouse interview back in July is what finally has the mainstream hip-hop community taking…

Over the last six years, California trio Tera Melos and their ever-evolving blend of jazz, prog, math-rock and off-kilter punk have started developing a cult-like following with an affection for the band’s unconventional song structures and live performances, which blend manic time signature changes with intense noise-influenced improvisational passages with…

After a nearly five-year break between albums and a two-year hiatus, LAZËR, Fort Worth’s self-professed “favorite sons of Rhineland,” have finally gotten around to recording a sophomore album. And with a title like Twatobahn, the duo of Hammel Heinrich and Briso leave little to the imagination this time around. Rarely…

When retailers and critics began singing the praises of digital media—namely the newly en vogue compact discs in the mid-1980s—vinyl began its slow descent into the background, fading into virtual obscurity around 1991. Or so mainstream labels and retailers would have you believe. Despite its dwindling availability, vinyl never stopped…

Little is known about Bob Log III, the mysterious one-man Delta blues wrecking ball from Tucson, Arizona, other than the self-propagated tall tales of his origins and the debauched accounts of his freakish live performances. For one thing, there is his choice of attire: Mr. Log never appears in public…

Sophomore efforts are generally marked with a feeling of familiarity, most often finding bands settling into a pattern of contentment, becoming comfortable with their newfound status as scene vets. This is not the case with Denton band The Primary, whose Days Among Giants is chock full of uncomfortable moments as…

I’d like to think that, somewhere, the members of Smiling at the Ceiling are sitting in the sunlight, talking about days gone by. Because their latest self-titled EP is tailor-made for such activity—not only because it harkens back to 1970s-era yacht rock with its silky smooth lead guitar licks, but…

Smiling at the Ceiling just might be the best kept secret to emerge from the plenteous Denton jazz scene. And while they can’t quite be called a supergroup, per se, it’s still safe to say the group’s members are still probably best known for their other projects. Formed in 2007…

It’s hard not to remember Santana’s 1999 album Supernatural. Besides just the Rob Thomas collab “Smooth,” which we’ve spent the past decade trying to erase from our memories, the album received a lot of attention at the time for being one of those records that featured a different collaboration with…

Upon first listen, the simple structures and soft melodies of Sundress’ new Fever EP may come off as a bit wearisome or even sleep-inducing—perfectly fitting for the dream-pop label that the group hasn’t managed to shake since even before threats of lawsuits forced the band to change their name not…

J. Paul Slavens is about as well-known and well-respected a commodity as there is in the DFW music scene. He’s been kicking around the Metroplex for nearly 25 years, playing with bands like the much-heralded Ten Hands or the more experimental Chameleon Chamber Group. But he might have become even…