Two Cow Garage For the many folks, including me, who miss Slobberbone, this trio from Ohio could be just the alt-country fix you’ve been aching for. Featuring the tortured yowl of Micah Schabel and the lock-step, hayseed rhythm section of Dustin Harigle and Shane Sweeney, Two Cow Garage creates an…

Approaching his 68th birthday, Ian Hunter is still the consummate rock star. With his flowing, blond locks and those ever-present sunglasses, Hunter continues to be relevant nearly four decades since he sang “All the Young Dudes.” On his first studio release in six years, Hunter candidly explores the perils of…

Punk rock got me through high school. Not the quivering-lip brigade currently masquerading as punk under the emo banner, but the real deal: late ’70s British snot like the Pistols and the Clash and the American ’80s hard-core response in the likes of Minor Threat and Black Flag. This was…

Brother/Sister, the debut effort from New York City’s Hymns, was one of the most underrated discs of 2006. Mixing the most stable elements of Wilco, Pavement and Spoon with refreshingly light and easy folk, songs such as “Magazines,” “Scenery Glow” and “Power in the Street” are tailor-made for folks who…

“A lot of what is played on country radio today is the same as what we were playing in the early ’70s,” says Rusty Young, singer, guitarist and founding member of Poco, one of the trailblazing groups in the genre of music that is now labeled roots or Americana. “Of…

With a stiff wind blowing in their faces, the members of the Cut*Off, Fort Worth’s sole grunge/psychedelic combo, played Lee Harvey’s with a valiant determination. Guitarist Jason Hamilton battled endlessly with a broken guitar strap as the yard fires sent carcinogens billowing across the makeshift stage. Singer Kyle Barnhill smiled…

Typically, summer festivalgoers migrate to the same sites and are treated to the spectacle of vendors all lined up hawking overpriced clothing, terrible food and beer at gentlemen’s club prices. And the music? Just how many maudlin, middle-aged musical memories need to be rehashed? How often can Cheap Trick play…

Dee Prescott, frontwoman for this Canadian doom metal quartet, looks like a Joan Jett starter kit, but once she lets loose her commanding roar, it’s obvious that she’s from an entirely different universe. Don’t Worry Lady, I Hate Sally’s sophomore effort, is a raging beast of a disc, a 10-song…

Chris Demiglio, the slightly rotund, bald frontman (and namesake) of this Denton quartet, is, for better or worse, a dead ringer for Frank Black. The fact that his band channels the best attributes of the Pixies only makes simplistic comparisons that much easier to make. Yardling, the band’s just released…

In 1967, there were many singers claiming to be poets, but Leonard Cohen was a real poet who was trying to be a singer. And although there are still critics who decry Cohen’s singing ability, very few disparage the man’s strengths as a wordsmith. These reissues of Cohen’s first three…

“Environmentalism is not a partisan issue,” says Martin Sexton. “It’s a human issue.” Speaking from his home in Boston a few days before the second leg of a cross-country tour, the guitarist, singer and songwriter has decided to add activist to his already full résumé. Using only biodiesel fuel in…

Since being championed by Peter Gabriel in the early ’90s, Ohio-born singer-songwriter (and painter) Joseph Arthur has been walking the fine line between indie and mainstream for more than a decade. He’s toured with R.E.M., Tracy Chapman and a host of other big-name artists, yet his musical efforts have stayed…

Although born in Wills Point, Texas, roots singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave is more closely associated with Stillwater, Oklahoma, the place where he honed his pleasing mixture of folk, country and rock. LaFave calls what he does “red dirt music” and throughout his fine new effort, Cimarron Manifesto, he presents an earthy…

Denton’s Daniel Folmer is a prolific 20-something wunderkind who somehow found time between delivering pizzas and playing pick-up hockey games to release two CDs in six months. Folmer’s debut, Wear Headphones, was a 22-song indie rock paean to caffeine and contradictions that showed equal parts gall and slacker intelligence. Gloria…

Since music is said to be the universal language, it should come as no surprise that many hidden treasures come from all around the globe. And with import/stateside release schedules fluctuating with reckless abandon, it’s easy to overlook some intriguing music. The focus this time is definitely international, but at…

Tristeza guitarist Jimmy LaValle is the Album Leaf, and it’s his orchestral vision that sets his music apart from many making similarly experimental pop. Tranquil to a fault, LaValle creates compositions with a pulse so faint that listeners might want to invest in a stethoscope. Into the Blue Again, LaValle’s…

Pixel Revolt, John Vanderslice’s most recent concoction, was such a well-constructed, thoughtful and original piece of indie pop that it was a shock to find out he lists such bloated fare as King Crimson and early Genesis as key influences. Yet a quick glance at Vanderslice’s impressive bio will show…

While he was growing up, Olav Larsen would search the record stores of his native Norway for imported records by Jimmie Rodgers, Neil Young and John Prine. It only takes one listen to Larsen’s impressive debut, Love’s Come to Town, to appreciate the capability of the Scandinavian import/export trade. Although…

If you saw the potent and distressing documentary Before the Music Dies, you had the opportunity, aside from a concert venue, to see why Erykah Badu is so special. Badu’s critique of the current climate in popular music and her hilarious (but dead-on) list of exactly what physical attributes are…

When the Smithereens debuted in 1980, they actually had to refute criticism that they sounded too much like the Beatles. Such dated lunacy makes it especially ironic that a quarter-century later the band would release Meet the Smithereens, a song-for-song re-creation of Meet the Beatles. Frontman Pat DiNizio has always…

Lake Highland resident Annie Benjamin is hard to miss. With her fiery red hair and tirelessly animated personality, Benjamin has been a fixture of the local music scene for more than two decades, writing and performing her brand of urban folk while championing a variety of causes. Some Kind of…

Hailing from Brooklyn, Type O Negative is one of the few metal bands to dare to actually smile while performing, even though they are most commonly associated with the gothic-doom subgenre. Formed in the early ’80s, the band features singer Peter Steele, best-known for using a chain for a guitar…