Making any sort of comprehensive pop culture list is bound to be controversial no matter what. At the end of the day, it’s a matter of opinion and is completely subjective, but that will never stop people from complaining about their personal favorites missing the cut or claiming that the…
Is punk dead? It depends on who you ask. The Exploited said it wasn’t. Crass said it was. Dead Kennedys said it wasn’t, but that it deserved to be. Perish the thought that you should take a stance on that, however, because it is the stupidest and most meritless musical…
As Texans, we’re duty-bound to say that it is the best state in the union. As music critics, however, we have an even bigger obligation to say that our official state song (“Texas, Our Texas”) is truly terrible. We’ll give our dear Texan readers the requisite space to lash out…
Pre- and post-pandemic worlds greeted each other in an awkward handshake-turned elbow bump at the first concert of The Rustic’s Safe Sounds Music Series on Thursday night. On their website, the popular Uptown restaurant and music venue describes their new endeavor as an “intimate, seated dinner” where guests can “experience…
You might not be able to tell by looking at him, but the rail-thin, mustached, cowboy-esque Garrett Owen loves to work out. The folk singer-songwriter can frequently be found nose-deep in fitness literature, yearning to bend, stretch, crouch and contort the way that the pros do. He does pistol squats,…
Racks of clothing line the walls as you enter the apartment, studio and workspace of local rapper Smoke Stkz, and not because his closet wouldn’t fit the entirety of his drip. It’s because his latest endeavor has placed him in a new field of artistry: fashion design. The 29-year-old Plano…
The record, released Sept. 22, feels like home in a way not much has since the world began to unravel earlier this year.
Tradewinds Social Club announced Wednesday that it would not reopen. Since 1968, the neighborhood bar and music venue in North Oak Cliff has been a hotspot for local musicians with its Run With Scissors concert series and annual South by Oak Cliff festival. Dallas garage rock stalwarts The Deathray Davies…
Long before the pandemic had us all becoming just a bit more health conscious, the members of Dallas metalcore band Slit were concerned with another national health crisis. “The plan from the beginning was for the EP to center around a lot of mental struggles and the idea of giving…
Instead of her usual promotion with big box stores such as Target and Wal-Mart, musician Taylor Swift has partnered with indie record stores all over the country to sell signed copies of her folklore CD. For Dallas, that record store was Josey Records. Waric Cameron, owner of Josey Records, wrote…
As one of the first industries to shut down and likely one of the last to reopen, live music venues are fighting for their lives to remain standing once the COVID-19 dust settles. Insufficient government assistance has left business owners high and dry and a predicted 90% of venues face…
The Travis Scott meal at McDonald’s inflicted the worst bodily harm I’ve ever experienced in the performance of my journalistic duties, and I say this as a reporter who has gotten tear-gassed while covering a riot. In case you haven’t had the displeasure: The fast-food giant announced a limited partnership…
Many artists have used pandemic time to get creative and crank out an album within the course of a few months. Some have used this time to revisit projects that they have previously abandoned. In the case of doublepluspop, the four-piece revisited the project that was supposed to be their…
Most venues are trying their best, and some are even doing it right. Still, the words “COVID safety and precautions” have become the new “thoughts and prayers”; they may be filled with good intentions, but the practical results amount to a placebo effect at best. Any weekend drive-by glance around…
J. Rhodes wants white and non-Black people to listen. In It’s a Wonderful Plight, the new film from the Oak Cliff native, the story of Black America demands to be heard. Writing a hip-hop musical, Rhodes says, is one of the many creative ways he’s found to grab others’ attention…
A new and used record store, Growl, is blossoming in downtown Arlington along Abrams Street. This retail space has cycled through different phases over the last few years, trying to figure out what it wants to really be when it grows up. With low ceilings, a cement floor, bars on…
Iconic pop trailblazer Madonna is co-writing and directing an upcoming biopic on her life and music career, Universal Pictures confirmed in a statement on Tuesday. Joining the Queen of Pop on this endeavor is famed writer Diablo Cody, whose most notable works include films such as Juno and Jennifer’s Body…
The Kessler announced a new music series that will take place on the lawn behind the theater. The Kessler Green will offer live music, drinks, food trucks and pop-up favorites. Catch Thomas Csorba and Jacob Metcalf later next week. Chilldren of Indigo premiered a new music video this week directed…
This year, we were graced with the releases of quality albums from the likes of Fiona Apple, Taylor Swift and Bob Dylan, but even that can’t mitigate the concert withdrawals we’ve had to suffer over the course of the pandemic. Even worse is that we’ve somehow adjusted to this new,…
If all of this world is a stage and men and women merely players, as Shakespeare suggested, then Will Schutze is a director. While most of us remain unaware of our various stages and roles, Schutze builds his and dreams up the beings to populate them in puppet form, whether they…
In a battle of political slogans, critics of the Black Lives Matter movement often come back with their own version: Blue Lives Matter. But blue lives don’t matter, Dallas punk band Sub-Sahara wants to make clear with its song “13-12,” which was released in late July. “1312” is derived from…
Sure, he’ll admit it: Did rapper Lou CharLe$ imagine one day owning a gleaming Lamborghini? Yes. Was there an ocean view involved? Of course. Supermodels and tequila? You bet. All of that was on his vision board, he jokes, but alas, there’s no extravagant whip in his garage, nor an…
