Influenced by, of all things, teenage death ballads of the ’50s, the Nebraskans in Mayday actually fly closer to alt-country than they may care to admit. “Booze and Pills” would have sounded at home on an ’80s Mekons release, while “Continental Grift” is a dead ringer for Cracker. Bushido Karaoke…
There it is again, that staccato beat copped from Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control,” which is rapidly becoming the “Funky Drummer” of indie dance rock. It’s the pulse behind Windsor for the Derby’s “Empathy for People Unknown,” which harnesses luscious synths and subdued vocal harmonies atop the familiar broken thump…
When members of late ’90s Dallas bands join forces, it’s easy to expect a local supergroup. So it comes as a surprise that Sons of Sound’s Chris Bonner (guitar, vocals) and Vibrolux’s Kim Pendleton (vocals), older and wiser, have returned with a new band as average as The Disasters. The…
Jeff Wade
Brave Combo is, hands-down, the most dependable band in local music. They almost always play “The Chicken Dance,” they never fail to start a party in concert and they add another platter of polka goodness to their merch table nearly every year; their 26th album in 26 years, Holidays, arrives…
With an instantly recognizable style and a body of work as substantial as any session guitarist, Adrian Belew makes a rare Dallas appearance. For three decades Belew has played and sung on some landmark recordings, from David Bowie’s “Lodger” and Talking Heads’ “Remain in Light” to the revamped King Crimson’s…
Let’s be frank: If only a few years ago MTV announced a meeting between Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland and three former Guns N’ Roses members, Gideon Yago would probably report live from a methadone clinic to break the story. But Weiland, guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer…
As a founding member of the Knitters, John Doe is often credited as one of the inventors of alt-country. Just don’t tell him that. “Hogwash,” says Doe when informed of his status. “No one band can be credited for anything. I mean, even the Beatles were trying to write songs…
This week, we offer a special guest column in remembrance of Austin’s Randy Biscuit Turner. On the eve of a highly anticipated art opening, with his face on the cover of the Austin Chronicle and his name on the lips of every punk rocker in town, Randy “Biscuit” Turner, the…
No sol no más: As of 6 a.m. Thursday morning, Clear Channel says “adios” to 97.1’s “Sunny” format and “hola, ¿ que tal?” to “La Preciosa.” The station is switching formats for the second time in 16 months, which proves that switching from The Eagle’s hard rock format to soft,…
Death Cab For Cutie was bound to go major eventually. What’s remarkable is that it took so long for the Bellingham, WA band to make the jump to the big leagues, as it has at last with Plans. This is the band’s fifth LP, six years removed from its first,…
The “woohoos” in “Sympathy for the Devil” have been begging for the high and lonesome treatment ever since the Stones laid them to tape in 1968. So when Danny Barnes launches into the tune five songs into Get Myself Together, it’s nothing short of exhilarating. With just his banjo and…
Just a few years ago, hopes for a Wrens tour through Texas were as optimistic as hopes for a new Wrens album. Neither had happened for nearly seven years until the New Jersey four-piece finally put the finishing touches on its home-recorded masterpiece The Meadowlands, an album that might’ve languished…
Let’s face it–bad press and gossip about Deep Ellum hurts local music. It’s one of those vicious cycles–banter about crime and unseemliness increases, fewer bands book shows in the historic downtown district, people complain about the lack of good bands, fans stop seeing shows, etc. etc. etc. I visit Deep…
In concert, Jon Mikl Thor wields fake swords and foam war hammers in mock battle with masked opponents. He also bends steel bars between clenched teeth and sings heavy metal songs about how mighty he is. Even stranger is his age–this 51-year-old Vancouver bodybuilder and self-proclaimed “rock warrior” is returning…
On March 13, 2005, Slobberbone was done. Singer Brent Best, guitarist Jess Barr, drummer Tony Harper and bassist Brian Lane finished their decade-plus run with a three-hour concert at Dan’s Silverleaf in their hometown of Denton, and a remarkably international crowd visited to say goodbye to fan favorites like “Billy…
Buried beneath the found sounds and homemade instruments of the intriguing debut from London five piece Flotation Toy Warning are songs of quiet but epic remorse. Frontman Donald Drusky has one hell of a wail–a yearning, nearly operatic tone, not far removed from Roy Orbison–and behind him, FTW’s engineers and…
“Being Joan Crawford at 21 was easy,” sings John Vanderslice on “Letter to the East Coast,” one of many tantalizing obscurities collected on his fifth solo CD, Pixel Revolt. Once a member of the experimental pop collective MK Ultra, Vanderslice has been honing his song craft for nearly a decade,…
For all the accolades The New Pornographers have received for their supergroup cast, the Northwestern indie champions never made an album designed for a complete sit-down listen. Their encyclopedic grasp on the past three decades of power-pop resulted in some of the best singles of the aughts, but it also…
Supergrass no longer sounds like a hyperactive younger brother jumping up and down, clamoring for attention. After releasing last year’s retrospective, Supergrass is 10, perhaps the band decided that year 11–and the album that goes with it, Road to Rouen–marked the time to grow up and mellow out. With help…
It can’t be easy for the Swinging Steaks to make a living as a country band in a rock ‘n’ roll college town like Boston. Peers are few and far between, and easy audiences must be even fewer. “Time Stands Still” acknowledges the fact with its hyperbolic opening, “Around here…
Ever since Doug Sahm passed away in 1999, there’s been a Sahm-sized hole deep in the heart of Texas. Sir Doug was the consummate Texas musician, equally adept at country, blues, rock, conjunto and Western swing–combining all these genres into an innovative brand of music that sounded like nothing but…
