It’s a shame that Pearl Jam is a great album. Not because there’s anything wrong with Pearl Jam tugging their huevos out of their pants, whose waistlines increasingly edge upward on the quintet’s 30-something bodies, and putting together a pop-rock album with fire and vigor. The first three songs, particularly…
Daddy knows best: The Polyphonic Spree’s friendship with California’s Grandaddy is no secret; the bands released a special split 7-inch in 2003, and Grandaddy front man Jason Lytle has given the Spree plenty of nice quotes for press clippings over the years (along with a T-shirt that he designed for…
In April 2003, I attended my first-ever Dallas Observer Music Awards. I’d just begun freelancing for the paper weeks earlier, a bewildered 21-year-old who lucked into a VIP ticket for the ceremony, and the party was my Dallas-rock equivalent of “Mean” Joe Greene tossing me a jersey. Members of my…
When you stretch your legs, double-knot your laces and chug your water bottles at the Third Annual United States Secret Service 5K Run, you might want to be a little extra careful. The run is advertised as a benefit for the American Cancer Society, and the 5K festivities also include…
For something as lighthearted as a comics page, I sure take it seriously. Point to any strip and I’ll rattle off an opinion about it—from the generic, unfunny Curtis to the off-center semi-insanity of Pearls Before Swine, I know ’em all a little too well (and don’t even get me…
If it really is better to burn out than fade away, then Last Beat Studios certainly took the low road. For months, rumors have spread about the slow, quiet death of the huge Deep Ellum recording studio and rehearsal space, and people thought its demise would come in the form…
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Sara Beck isn’t an easy read. After all, the Wichita, Kansas-born singer, now living in Austin, mixes the dark and the sweet from the very first strum of her guitar. “BTK Blues,” from her forthcoming record Mold the Gold, devolves rapidly from a…
Driving to Denton on a Sunday night is a pain, I know, so thanks a shitload, Hailey’s, for giving people a reason to be late to work on Monday. Last time Montreal’s Islands came through Denton was when the members were part of the Unicorns; the 2004 show was a…
So proud: Voting’s still open one more week for the 2006 Dallas Observer Music Awards–we just cleared out some ballot stuffers, and that leaves more than a few categories up for grabs, so if you haven’t voted, do it–but the 2007 awards’ Best New Artist category is already heating up…
Historians believe the Mayans, one of the earliest recorded civilizations in North and Central America, originally grew and developed the cacao leaf, the precursor to cocoa. For that, Spanish explorers thanked them with pain, disease and destruction. Mmm, sweet chocolate! Celebrate the ancient Mayan discovery with the True History of…
Way to blow it, Zac Crain. You spent years pissing off local bands as this paper’s music editor, and now that you’ve announced your mayoral candidacy in Dallas, you might expect them to come rushing back with open arms and cheerful votes. Time heals all wounds, right? Well, a certain…
Ass Clown
If you say the words “Michael Bolton” to most passers-by, two reactions are common: smiles and fond ’80s memories of AC radio hits like “Time, Love and Tenderness” and “How Can We Be Lovers,” or punches to the face. But there’s a third response that’s grown in popularity over the…
You’re Joshin’ me: The 2006 Dallas Observer Music Awards voting period still has another two weeks to go, so tear the ballot out on page 74 or visit dallasobserver.com to cast your vote if you haven’t already. Chances are you don’t need a reminder, though, as nominees have inundated e-mail…
The other night, I got a call from an old high school buddy who wanted to catch up. When we met for dinner, we asked each other the usual questions–jobs, relationships, did you see how fat what’s-his-name got–and then he asked me a point-blank question that, for whatever reason, caught…
Chances are, if you’re a New Balance shoe owner interested in fun run bulletins, you already know the drill—pay a small fee for charity, run a 5K with a bunch of people, get an award if you lead the pack. But this one’s called the Bunny Boogie Fun Run, and…
Charles Barkley, we’re sick of your shit. Every time our glorious hometown warriors, the Dallas Mavericks, make an impression on a TNT broadcast, you babble and stutter in halftime and post-game analysis about whatever element of the Mavs’ offense/defense/picket fence is “soft.” You know what’s soft, Chuck? Your wrinkly, bald…
It’s hard to write about Neko Case without admitting my utter, total bias toward the Tahoma-bred bombshell. Really, there are plenty of other angles to start from–the folklore of a girl who began her musical career as a Canadian punk/rockabilly drummer, her recent signing to Anti- Records, the never-ending help…
Kudos to the Flaming Lips for releasing the best A-side/B-side of the year so far. The Lips kick off their latest “of course it’s gonna be weird” album, At War With the Mystics, with a bang: “Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” has its freak-folk-meets-psychedelic-guitars lunacy capped off by a subtly political…
At the end of March, Justin Wilson drove up to the Dallas Observer to drop off a box of promotional materials…a huge one. The bottom was blanketed with every single disc released by his first major Dallas band, Red Animal War, since 2000. He added some copies of his side…
Velvet casket?: On April 1, Undeniable Records threw its first-ever birthday bash, and the burgeoning record label picked the Double Wide to host the festivities. The 2006 Dallas Observer Music Awards nominee for Best Music Venue, tucked into the outskirts of Deep Ellum, was an ideal spot; after all, Undeniable…
Thirty-three hours after the Wall of Sound Festival 2006 kicked off, I was worn down to a nub. I’d seen roughly 44 acts by Sunday evening. Some were full sets, while others were just one song, but still. A similar sense of fatigue and exhaustion was evident on the faces…
Put your bomber jackets away, kids, and leave the aviator shades at home. In spite of the title, Saturday’s Iceman Triathlon is not a Top Gun-themed competition with costume contests, Air Force dogfights (“Splash that sucker!”) and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” sing-alongs, and even if it were, why would…
