Conspiracy theorists, ready your blogs: I believe the government has unleashed this week’s Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now on the American public to convince us to stop sending aid to Louisiana. This two-disc benefit album is the musical equivalent of 9/11, each disc an unforgivable falling tower of smoldering wreckage…

San Francisco’s Heavenly States was the first American band to ever play a concert in Libya…barely. In February, the band’s Australian record label organized the trip as a super-sized chance at publicity, and unfortunately, it became just that–the barely-known quartet was put through every wringer possible, from missed flights and…

In our September review of Broadcast’s third album, Tender Buttons, we insisted that the British band’s recent reduction to two members has done nothing but emboldened the daydreamy, electronically fused French-bistro-in-Mars sound of the group, and the same can be said for the duo’s live shows. Live drums have been…

The best rock show of the week starts early at the Cavern, when Detroit’s Hard Lessons open the night like a Pabst. Agostino Visocchi’s guitars and howls are loud and foaming, but the synthesizers and cooing vocals from organ player Korin Cox make the trio’s garage-infused bite go down smoothly…

Let’s get this one out of the way: On Thursday, the Drams didn’t play a single Slobberbone song. In fact, during the group’s first full-blown, 19-date national tour a few weeks ago, the three former Slobberbone members (along with Budapest One’s songwriting duo of Keith Killoren and Chad Stockslager) didn’t…

Proof that Madonna’s handlers have given up on her: Nobody stepped in and slapped the gap-toothed smile off her face when she insisted on rhyming the words “York” and “dork.” Well, at least she isn’t trying to sound smart this time. On Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madonna makes progress…

Summer time: Colleyville’s Bryce Avary, better known to screaming emo fans across the world as The Rocket Summer, needs your help. The one-guy-who-plays-everything band that makes Conor Oberst look like a geezer in comparison headlines a concert at The Door on Friday, November 18, but before heading back on the…

Does the bad news for Deep Ellum ever stop? The official problems–Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings by the Entertainment Collective (owners of Gypsy Tea Room and Trees) and the Curtain Club–haven’t done much to help the not-so-official problems in the downtown music district. Parking is more difficult than ever, local music…

Hard rock is the biggest cliché in the world, but really, the formula works for a reason–there’s no ignoring the rush that a low riff, a snarling singer and a loud, crashing cymbal create. So it’s heartwarming to hear one of the fresher hard rock releases of recent memory come…

Shine on, golden warriors: Allow us to make a few enemies right here, right now, by making a hyperbolic declaration. Dallas’ best chance at giving the world a Coldplay-level mega-success–one that can strike the perfect balance between mainstream adoration and critical acceptance–is Radiant. Sure, we ultimately think other local bands…

Years ago, I had a running joke with a group of friends in a band. Whenever something stupid happened, I’d be quick to quip, “This is ‘part two’ of your VH1 Behind The Music episode.” That is to say, one guy dropping a ketchup bottle would become the reason behind…

This week, I’ve caught myself taking more than a few bitter glances at Reunion Arena. You might think this has something to do with the political goings-on surrounding Ray Hunt and the possibility of the building crumbling to make room for a parking lot, and I could try to sound…

For Spune Productions’ second woman-focused showcase, local music kingpin Lance Yocom has extended his space-rock arms not only outside his favorite genre but also his favorite city. Three stand-out Austin bands lead the way in this must-see concert, starting early in the evening with the incredibly surreal One Umbrella, an…

To think, the music industry had a potential super-genre to milk and didn’t jump all over it. The suits who oversaturated our ears with boy bands, rap-rock and grunge had an opportunity to do the same with revitalized country singers after Johnny Cash’s successful American series, but it’s probably better…

Bullets over Broadway: Two months ago, we reported that Undeniable Records, the local imprint behind the 2005 Dallas Observer Best Of-winning albums by The Happy Bullets and The Tah-Dahs, was going national, baby. More precisely, they teamed up with national publicity firm Team Clermont to spread the word as the…

One of the best things about hate mail is when angry readers get upset about a band that I’ve lauded repeatedly. “Why do you go on and on about Record Hop, The Tah-Dahs and Man Factory when you could talk about a real band like Feces Frank and the Porcelain…

n 2005, Erika Wennerstrom saved South by Southwest. Thanks to record-setting attendance, most of the Austin music fest’s big-name shows were reduced to laminate-only status, leaving real music fans in the cold…that is, until Wennerstrom’s Heartless Bastards snuck in with a ’70s rock blast that any casual fan could attend–and…

Deep Trouble: On Friday, October 14, the Entertainment Collective, owners of Gypsy Tea Room, Trees, Jeroboam and the Green Room, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Chapter 11 allows a company to continue operating while it reorganizes to repay its creditors (rather than, say, sell off the trees inside of Trees),…

Because I was an ’80s kid, MTV glowed in the background for many of my most formative moments. The first time I bonded with my father was while watching Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” video together. My first taste of rebellion came in kindergarten when I stayed up late and…

At the Dallas Observer, we can’t always speak with big stars, but that doesn’t stop us from conducting interviews with them. Here, with the help of every U2 album’s liner notes, is an interview with Bono himself. Sort of. Dallas Observer: Good afternoon, Bono. Bono: Hello, hello. DO: Why are…

In a dream world, John Dufilho’s first “solo” album would be hailed by the major music media as a “return to form” for the songwriter behind the Deathray Davies and I Love Math. Rolling Stone and Spin would dedicate full pages of their October issues to the release, recapping the…

Call a band’s style of music “freak-folk” for long enough, and eventually they’ll get tired of it. That’s the lesson to take from Animal Collective’s Feels, an album that sees the New York quartet not only excising the acoustic elements that dominated last year’s Sung Tongs but also reaching a…