Evan Foster sure makes the life of an interviewer an easy one. The hyper-kinetic frontman for Boss Martians is friendly and accommodating, almost to a fault. “Dude, that’s a good question,” is Foster’s opening response to almost every inquiry. Even when the question is purposely lame, Foster is quick to…
Local young hunk Ryan Cabrera’s third effort, The Moon Under Water, is supposedly his entry into serious music. Check out Cabrera’s brunette locks and soul patch as well as his Bono-inspired attire on the album’s back jacket—this guy is a thoughtful rocker, damn it. He’s been listening to Springsteen (actually…
When I walk into the modest house in North Garland, the children—McKayla and Matthew Butler Jr.—quickly latch onto my legs, 1-year-old daughter on the left, 2-year-old son on the right. “They miss their daddy,” says Teresa Butler as she leads me past the family dog and a collection of paper…
This local sextet has the influences down pat: Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Faces and Stone Roses are all incorporated into a well-produced, well-played concoction that is packed to the brim with hooks and sweat. Throw in a little Motown edge to Americanize the sound just enough and Shake Till…
A few days before going out on tour, Alex Bhore, drummer for alt-country rockers The New Frontiers, wants people to know that his group is definitely from Dallas. “We play a lot more outside of Texas,” says Bhore from his Waxahachie home. “The fact that we’ve been touring so much…
Some musicians who leave Dallas have negative things to say about the city and the music scene. Not Brandon Curtis, though. As the leader of psychedelic space rockers The Secret Machines and the former member of such local luminaries as UFOFU, Tripping Daisy, Comet and Captain Audio, Curtis has only…
Like so many who ply their craft under the seemingly all-inclusive banner of emo, the members of local rock quintet Kessler appear to have it all: tasteful clothes, high cheekbones, an excellent hair stylist and the ability to write punchy and catchy three- to four-minute odes to love, both lost…
Rarely will one find a bill of metal-related shenanigans better than what will take place at the House of Blues this particular night. Local progressive art metal heroes Fair to Midland are the evening’s headliners, but each of the other acts offers an interesting perspective on heavy music. The Feds…
Twenty years ago we launched this annual tradition called the Dallas Observer Music Awards—way back in April of 1988. “Our stated goal with these awards is to narrow the odds a bit in favor of locally created sounds,” then-music editor Clay McNear wrote at the time. It still rings true…
Wanna start a heavy metal band? OK, then you should probably name it after a prehistoric beast. Most are large, bloodthirsty monsters that trampled about wherever they pleased, running free in a humanless world, feasting and shitting, paying little heed to anything until a few big rocks fell from the…
For better and worse, saxophonist Dave Koz has always suffered from a physical and musical resemblance to David Sanborn. While both men ply their craft within the dreaded smooth jazz/adult contemporary genre, it would be erroneous to label what Koz does as simply background music. Although definitely smooth, Koz’s way…
Most every male who went through puberty in the early ’80s had fantasies involving Dale Bozzio, lead singer for Missing Persons. With her flare for see-through plastic dresses and sexually charged vocals (complete with perfectly placed high-pitched squeals), Bozzio’s erotic chutzpah more than made up for what she lacked in…
Not really a threesome (tour manager Nolan McGuire often plays guitar for live shows), Chicago’s Alkaline Trio is nonetheless one of the best purveyors of catchy and thoughtful punk/hardcore at a time when fashion sense and well-applied eyeliner have sadly become the modus operandi of many in the genre. Even…
The term “indie” barely describes the Alaskan combo Portugal. The Man. While maintaining ties with soul, blues and folk, the band’s experimental bent is both its calling card and, occasionally, its curse. Using drum machines and synth loops to set the rhythm, frontman John Gourley and the rest of this…
Having just turned 60, legendary singer/songwriter/producer/video director/computer programmer Todd Rundgren might want to slow things down, perhaps even think about retirement. Yet the mercurial artist doesn’t want to hear anything of the sort, preferring instead to confound expectations as he has done consistently over his four decades as a performer…
He’s about to turn 51, and Peter Murphy, the godfather of goth, still has that maniacal look to him, that flamboyant edge that set him and his band, Bauhaus, apart from the crowd back in the ’80s. Forever remembered for “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (and his appearance in the David Bowie…
Huffing and puffing, Casey Wescott, keyboardist for Seattle’s Fleet Foxes, makes it to the phone just minutes after sound check. Judging by his lack of breath, preparing for a show in Glasgow, Scotland, appears to be quite the job. Winded and apologetic, Wescott is eager to talk about his band…
When listening to country-folk-bluegrass bands that clearly have rock leanings, the first question becomes: Why not have a drummer? Take Denton’s feisty sextet A.M. Ramblers, for example. These guys pick, grin, shout and carry on like someone’s got a hot poker dangerously close to a sensitive area—yet nary a rhythm…
Reckless Kelly more than lives up to the implications of its moniker (inspired by a infamous Australian bank robber) and its hometown (Austin). Led by brothers Willy and Cody Braun, Reckless Kelly plays alt-country the old-fashioned way: lots of sweat and spit and no time for the catatonic slickness inherent…
Dean Spunt, drummer/vocalist for unconventional rock band No Age, doesn’t mind being referred to as a punk rocker. After all, Spunt was first inspired by the likes of Hüsker Dü and The Minutemen, bands that were initially lumped in with American hardcore punk of the ’80s, but quickly distinguished themselves…
With such a generic moniker, it’d be easy to confuse Islands with some Jimmy Buffet cover band hailing out of Denver. But there’s nothing at all common about this Canadian indie rock unit. Full of all the acrimony and pretension it could possibly muster, Islands is a haphazard but intriguing…
Although Mat Brooke isn’t anxious to talk about his departure from the highly acclaimed Band of Horses, he is still amazed at how quickly his former band gathered critical acclaim and how his new one, Grand Archives, has also managed to appear on the indie radar so rapidly. “Maybe someone…
