For Lucero’s Ben Nichols, the development of his band’s sound has been a matter of mere evolution, not a purposeful attempt to piss off longtime fans who wish they would play the same songs on every tour stop. The change began with 2009’s 1372 Overton Park, which introduced a horn…
With the release of their second album since moving to Austin, the self-assured Arrow, Erika Wennerstrom’s Heartless Bastards should be able to forever laugh off the asinine thought of them being musical carpetbaggers. After the triumph that was the group’s 2009 album The Mountain, Cincinnati transplant Wennerstrom used her voice…
Quirky, curious quasi-intellectuals, gird up your non-ironic berets: Stuff’s going to get busted. The Mythbusters themselves, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, will again show audiences how they too can seek truth from clichés (aka “myths”). Maybe the stars of the Discovery Channel hit will bring a good ol’ Texas bull…
Flogging Molly House of Blues Sunday, March 4 Sunday night’s Flogging Molly show more or less served as the triumphant closing ceremony for what might have been the most Irish-intensive week in recent Metroplex history. Last Monday, Boston shamrockers Dropkick Murphys kicked things off, while the North Texas Irish Festival…
Back in 2010, I was privileged to be a regular judge for that year’s edition of the Shiner Rising Star contest. The band that won the very first round I helped judge, Saille Branch and the Big Benders, went on to convincingly win their second round match-up and almost took…
While Roky Erickson and the Black Angels get proper credit for being ambassadors of Austin psych past and present, let us consider the Boxing Lesson. Mixing swirling, soaring guitars with synth instead of bass, the trio is looking to expand minds beyond the boundaries of what other psych rock bands…
In all honesty: the thought of performing on stage in an improv troupe scares the feces out of us. The thought of having to be hilarious and insightful, often at the same time, at the unexpected drop of a rubber chicken is enough to make us find a gang-banger to…
Whether it’s Mark “The Bird” Fidrych from the ’70s, or William “The Fridge” Perry from the ’80s, we can not get enough of athletes that seemingly come out of nowhere. Before the season finally started, a game with the New York Knicks would’ve been circled on the calendar for the…
Regular readers of DC9 and regular drinkers at just about any North Texas honky-tonk are likely familiar with Grant Jones & The Pistol Grip Lassos by now. Between celebrating a great victory in the 2009 Shiner Rising Star Contest (where they won a recording contract) and suffering unimaginable loss when…
Dropkick Murphys House of Blues Monday, February 27 A Dropkick Murphys show isn’t one to hold surprises, nor is it one to attend when you’re just looking for a decent night of music. Don’t get me wrong, the beloved Celtic punk band’s performance last night at House of Blues was…
If it seems as though we’ve been discussing emerging New West Records signees or inventive bands who know how to artfully blend folk, rock and country together lately, it’s because we have. So why don’t we continue that trend right here, yes? OK, good. Buxton, a five-piece from Houston, has…
One of the better young acts excelling in rootsy chemistry is Florida’s Have Gun Will Travel. While their current album, Mergers & Acquisitions, is the band’s strongest to date, the quintet’s last LP, Postcards From the Friendly City, was an excellent example of their talents as well. For those who…
At the end of the 2005 movie Sideways, Paul Giamatti’s character Miles decides to create a special event by drinking a bottle of high-dollar wine on a less than extraordinary day, instead of waiting for a cork-pop-worthy occasion to magically occur. Now, apply the same line of thinking to a…
Look. We can’t all bring it on. We can’t all sit in the back of the bus with the football studs. Some of us have to haul the water bottles and sweaty uniforms and then sit up front with the coach and his spit cup. Lucky for those of us…
Reigning MVP, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Hart Trophy Winner, and J-Lo’s current boy toy: These are a few of the more coveted titles in the world of pop-culture today. None of them, regardless of the spoils that come with such a victory, sound anywhere near as cool as Adventurer of the…
There have been some notable record deals inked among North Texas artists in recent years — Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights on Atlantic and Midlake on Bella Union pop to mind — and as of February 10, Dallas-based singer-songwriter Ronnie Fauss joined the ranks of regional artists with serious…
There’s not just one Austin roots band that knows how to produce a video that must be watched a bajillion times to be believed. While The Possum Posse’s “Guy On a Buffalo” series has proved to be quite the Internet phenomenon, the video for the Whiskey Shivers’ “Gimme All Your…
To apply the term “hardcore” in describing the sounds and vibes of Bay Area titans Neurosis is to miss the point. Whether the Scott Kelly-led outfit writhes with more recent ambient tones or pummels with the punk of their late-’80s beginnings, there’s a legitimate sense of emotional heaviness that can…
In a day when a Kardashian is deemed multifaceted for having her own perfume, while allowing cameras to follow her to lunch, it’s especially impressive to gaze upon the resume of someone who’s multitalented. The UK’s beautiful advocate for environmental care, Roz Savage, is multiremarkable. After leaving her corporate job,…
While it has become beyond comical to see everything from mayonnaise to nail polish marketed as “extreme,” there are some realms in which the youth-magnet buzz word is still appropriate, even a bit understated. Motocross is certainly one of those worlds where to be simply extreme is almost to be…
Michigan’s Breathe Owl Breathe knows how to make young parents rather happy. Their latest offering is an imaginative and heartwarming 7-inch/children’s book combo, The Listeners/ These Train Tracks. (Personal aside: I’m a father of a 4 year old, and I’ve put in way too much time singing to Wonder Pets…
This Saturday at the Granada Theater, one of the best Texas oddball pop shows of the year takes place, featuring Austin’s The Octopus Project, Houston’s Wild Moccasins and locals Mystery Skulls. Recent New West Records signees Wild Moccasins are nearing the re-release of their shimmering, catchy-as-all-get-out LP, Skin Collision Past…
