Suspended Animation lacks all semblance of melody, structure and sanity, but that’s not why it fails. The fourth album from avant-metal band Fantômas, which includes members of The Melvins, Slayer and Mr. Bungle, fails because it’s an utter slap in the face to the 0.001 percent of listeners who give…

It’s Saturday night, and I’m on a date with my mother. She drags me onto the empty dance floor and imitates the dance sequence from Pulp Fiction. Even without a crowd, I feel embarrassed. My mom is pretty typical: sweet, compassionate and quiet. But when she hits the town, the…

Posters were missing, the kitchen had vanished and the girls’ bathroom sink lay shattered on the floor, but the Barley House drunks kept the kegs, bottle openers and speakers working for one more night before moving to Yale Boulevard on Friday. Rather than end the bar’s 12-year stand with a…

South San Gabriel’s The Carlton Chronicles is the greatest concept album about a kitty ever made. Granted, singer Will Johnson is probably the first to write nine songs from a pet’s perspective, but the man known for hundreds of songs in SSG and Centro-matic has turned his cat’s stories of…

Fortunately, this isn’t an album review. On CD, Shonen Knife requires an acquired taste or a strange appreciation for “Engrish,” as the Ramones-loving girl trio adds little more to the three-chord pop-punk formula than weirdly worded phrases sung in Japanese accents. Luckily, their live presence, which makes a rare overseas…

Too broke to attend SXSW? Good Records has your back, as they’re hosting free daytime concerts with some amazing SXSW spillover. Portland’s Menomena stops by on Friday at 7 p.m. to play a quirky rock take on hard-bop jazz, and Sunday will see Britain’s Earlies headline a four-band, all-afternoon show…

Every great musical trend reaches a breaking point. Sure, the band that jump-starts a movement usually deserves fame, and a few good bands follow, but a far-too-derivative act inevitably rings the death knell. Grunge had its Candlebox, boy bands had their 98 Degrees, and next up for expiration is the…

Singer-guitarist Barry Hyde was at a cafe in Detroit when he found out his band’s latest single, a cover of Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love,” cracked the top 10 charts in his native England. For most new bands, it’s a revelatory moment, a chance for back-patting and celebration. But not…

Queens of the Stone Age fans had reason for concern when bassist Nick Oliveri left the band in February 2004. The bald, bearded freak was the psycho to singer-guitarist Josh Homme’s straight man; Oliveri added an off-kilter ingredient that put the Queens one step ahead of other stoner-rock bands. Since…

If your girlfriend thinks Iron & Wine’s Our Endless Numbered Days makes you a bit too sensitive, try handing her a copy of Woman King. Sam Beam’s latest EP doesn’t transform his softly sung folk into power rockers, but Beam and friends expand their minimal approach with a packed studio’s…

Last October, Falkon lead singer Mwanza Dover made a stink when he posted a kiss-off to Dallas on the Internet. He blasted the music scene for not supporting experimental acts and said he’d rather pack up his art-rock band and move to a more receptive city like New York. On…

What do you get when you combine the loose instrumentals of Tortoise with the discordant guitars of Fugazi? Ideally, a band that sounds better than Tank Tank. While perfectly listenable, the Denton quartet fills its debut EP with 18 minutes of random guitar riffs chained together with barely a common…

My bedroom floor is a mess. I lovingly think of it as a multipurpose tool: a dirty-clothes hamper, a bookshelf, a CD case, a file cabinet and even a tool rack. But in spite of the land mines between my bed and my door, a good six or seven square…

Nobody in Dallas had heard of Stuart Sikes. It was 2002, and the unemployed recording engineer walked into Bass Propulsion Laboratories and introduced himself. “Someone told me I should come by here,” he said vaguely. The owners, Todd and Toby Pipes, gave him a nod and the standard spiel. The…

If you’ve been making lame excuses to avoid checking out the renovated Granada, then Friday’s amazing local bill should render your excuses null and void. To drive the point home, the lineup is so crowded with talent that Dallas mainstay Pleasant Grove is relegated to an opening slot. Arrive early…

Let me clear up a bias: I distrust the Dallas Music Festival. Bands compete with each other by selling tickets to earn high-profile time slots, and that, along with a lack of quality headliners (Drowning Pool, despite selling out, does not count), instantly puts a stink on the affair. But…

The Wu-Tang Clan shouldn’t still exist. In an industry where today’s rap superstars become tomorrow’s MC Hammer, nine Staten Island MCs pulled off the impossible. They outlasted the three great pitfalls of modern hip-hop: ego battles, gang violence and, most important, irrelevance. Rappers worldwide would be wise to learn from…

On Friday night, after Gourds singer/multi-instrumentalist Kev Russell inevitably belts out, “With so much drama in the LBC,” the crowd at Poor David’s will hoot and holler louder than they have for the rest of the Austin band’s set. It’s a damn shame that the band’s novelty hit, a countrified…

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, there’s really no better concert to take a sweetie to this weekend than Mates of State. On the flip side, there’s also no worse concert to attend if you’re lonely, single and bitter. The husband-and-wife duo–Jason Hammel on drums and Kori Gardner on keyboards–spin sad…

Chances are Bright Eyes’ Fort Worth show is sold out by now, so why plug it? Well, the current tour was originally labeled a softer affair, but recent reviews have called it fiery and raucous, so consider this a warning–Monday’s show won’t be wimpy, quiet emo. Take earplugs…

Tired of spinners, chrome and bling? Then check out the hottest new shit in hip-hop: a rapping spider named MC Pee Pants who wears diapers and tries to rule the world by yelling about candy. It’s the jam! All right, so the bizarre moment on Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger…

Last Friday night at Double Wide looked more like the biker bar Reno’s Chop Shop Saloon. That’s because Dallas’ Maltoro, featuring members of the now-defunct country-metal band Ghoultown, headlined the evening and brought their favorite roughnecks and rockabilly babes along for the ride. Sadly, those fans weren’t much of an…