Some people would strongly suggest taking a date to see Kelly Willis in concert. After all, she’s a sweet-voiced Texan whose country tunes stand out from the CMT crowd, and such a date would prove a man’s sensitivity without straining his eardrums. But we’re not so sure that’s a good…
Long drives in Texas demand a certain soundtrack. Hills, prairies and farms are the stuff of country songs, but the kolaches, watchtowers and Wendy’s along the way reflect a small-city life that hokey banjos and good ol’ songs ignore. It’s country, but it’s more than country, and Li’l Cap’n Travis’…
Idol Records’ latest split EP joins two of Dallas’ polar opposites to cover each other’s songs. The results? Well, for some reason, the pAper chAse hid its guitars while recording Will Johnson’s “The Riot Jack,” leaving the usually beastly band with only piano, synthesized strings and a processed drum loop…
The members of the Wrens read off like a PTA roll call. Guitarist Greg Whelan and his bassist brother Kevin work for Pfizer in New Jersey and use their vacation time to tour. Drummer Jerry MacDonnell, a father of three, also holds a corporate job, as did singer/guitarist Charles Bissell…
Mothers are the worst people in the world. Sure, some moms aren’t so bad, like the ones on Jerry Springer or the mother of JonBenet Ramsey, but they pale in comparison to mothers who don’t throw their kids’ comics in the trash. See, in our youth, we built up a…
If you like Pleasant Grove, then you’ll love Milton Mapes and Magnolia Summer! Lord help me if some marketing company actually steals that line for a press quote, but cheesiness aside, it’s an accurate recommendation that you can take advantage of at Barley House. Austin’s Milton Mapes smothers a plate…
Though I was late to Double Wide on Thursday night, I caught enough of Dallas band Heaven Is a Hotel to appreciate its discordant, Fugazi-appreciative rock. Bassist Gavan Nelson carried the trio’s musical load by playing more notes than the bassists from Ned’s Atomic Dustbin combined, but he displayed enough…
“Everybody, it don’t matter where you come from…we’re all just a bunch of longhaired, tattooed, hippie freaks,” Matt Hilyer boasts early in Eleven Hundred Springs’ latest album, but the attempt to unite all of the world’s downtrodden into a white trash stereotype makes Bandwagon’s dedication to straightforward, old-fashioned country all…
Isn’t anybody else tired of the longhaired bands from New York? So many greasy, leather-wearing, Iggy Pop-imitating sleaze-rockers call the Big Apple their home, but bands like that make it easy to forget that America’s boiling pot still has some treats in its stew. Trees stirs up a tasty reminder…
Adrienne ran her soft hands across Roland’s bulging chest. In her seven years as a lonely, stranded homemaker in Laredo, she had never felt a body as tremendous as his, while he had not known the touch of true love since his high school sweetheart fell victim to a yearlong…
Shibboleth shouldn’t be in this column. Dallas’ nerd-jazz-rockers put on local shows pretty frequently, but theirs is the music people play pool to or sit in the corner with friends and chat over. It’s among the best (and certainly most unique) live background music you’ll find at a bar in…
“Their album sucks, but you gotta catch them in concert!” is the common defense of pet bands, and heck, I’ve said that about a few artists who didn’t have the money or time to get things right on records. Out of all the inconsistent bands I admire, though, Pleasure Club…
I’ve seen weird instruments listed in CD liner notes before, but a dot matrix printer must be the weirdest yet. The rest of the Dallas duo’s musical arsenal is just as unconventional, but on Cabana EP+, the Casio keyboards and old-school video game systems transcend most gimmicks associated with “blip-hop.”…
In a move that surely shocked about seven Dallas music fans, cover band The Upside Downers changed their name to The Shapes. The new moniker debuted at Bar of Soap on Saturday, and when I asked members of the packed crowd what the big deal was, they told me the…
D12 at the Gypsy Tea Room? What gives? You’d imagine that the MTV-ruling rap sextet would have no trouble filling up Nokia Live or Smirnoff, especially since they feature that white guy who’s named after candy-coated chocolates. Unfortunately, Eminem won’t join his Detroit posse in Dallas on Friday, which means…
My first steps into the Cavern were met with a Dallas-loving sound check. The Happy Bullets practiced riffs from local pop-rock faves like The Deathray Davies and The Tah Dahs before opening, as if to claim music residency in the city. I wasn’t ready to buy that, because at previous…
You’ve come to trust Night & Day for news about events that will improve your sense of culture. For that, we’re terribly sorry, because we’re about to recommend something that will drop your cultural standing about, oh, 400 points. On Thursday, Shock Cinema proudly presents Make Them Die Slowly. This…
I’d been meaning to catch Theatre Fire’s live show for months, but stuff kept coming up. You know, laundry, house renovations. That one night, I really did have to work early the next day. When I arrived at Club Dada on Saturday night, I chugged a beer and hoped that…
When we last left Marah in 2002, the Philadelphia band had blown its shot at minor-league music success. After building a cult fan base with two solid roots-rock albums, the group released Float Away With the Friday Night Gods, a bloated arena-rocker that left fans baffled and records unsold. Perhaps…
If any band was supposed to stay broken up, it was the MC5. After all, neither their political controversy at events like the 1968 Democratic Convention riots nor their pioneering fusion of blue-collar rock with Motown soul managed to make superstars out of the guys who tore through “Kick Out…
You aren’t quite sure who Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood are, but those names sound so familiar. Wait, weren’t they on that show with? Or didn’t they? No bells ring in your head. Lately, though, the comedians have received plenty of exposure, thanks to the improvisational bonanza Whose Line Is…
Looking for a weekend concert in Dallas without the usual crowd? You know, the frat boys, the weightlifters and the vacant groupies. You’re looking for a concert where people don’t shove each other around or talk through a band’s set. Normally, we’d laugh and tell you to find that in…
