Forth Worth’s Fate Lions just dropped some hot wax on Plano’s 7-inch-centric Tree Fall Sounds to follow up their 2009 full-length Good Enough For You, and the three songs pick up where they left off. Lead Lion Jason Manriquez has a way with a melody, and “Natural Champion” showcases that,…
The O’s just spent a month on an East Coast tour with the Old 97’s, and this marks their triumphant return. Taylor Young and John Pedigo are still riding the good country-folk fumes of last year’s Between the Two, but they’ve got to be working on some new material as…
The last time I went to a King Khan & the Shrines show, I was sprayed with at least three different fluids and burned myself with a cigarette on purpose. Don’t you want that life experience? That’s just the voodoo that happens when the R&B big band, led by the…
Take one part punk, two parts R&B, mix with bass and you get Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree. Featuring solo musicians Dessa, Sims, Mike Mictlan, P.O.S. and Cecil Otter (the latter of whom put out last year’s mash-up of the Wu-Tang Clan and Fugazi, aptly titled Wugazi), the five-piece combines forces…
Recalling the post-punk and hardcore bands that frequently played Rubber Gloves in the late ’90s, Denton four-piece Bad Design just released a new self-titled album on Gutterth Records, their second LP since forming in 2009. They celebrate with two release shows: Friday at Bryan Street Tavern and Saturday at Rubber…
Listening to any effort from Eleven Hundred Springs, including latest Midway, is like having your cool uncle pull out his favorite albums. Matt Hillyer and crew have that old-school country sound down. When the band started up way back in 1998, some folks thought it was just guys imitating the…
The unofficial turning point for local hip-hop came with the late 2009 release of Sore Losers’ Free Loaders, a free mixtape that gave Dallas artists like The Mohicans, A.Dd+, Tunk and -topic room to explore new territory. At the time, the freeloaders were emcee Vince Brown and producer Brandon Blue,…
It came from inside the house. Or rather, from below: The very familiar sounds of someone learning to play bass. And not just that: Learning to play “Iron Man.” Then, 15 minutes later, came another sound from across the hall: Pink Floyd’s “Money” at full blast, as if to negate…
Remember when we said it was a busy week for Bad Design? Add the premiere of their new video for “Stained Glass,” directed and shot by Christopher Bryan and starring Ally Hoffmann, both of Denton’s Peopleodian. In this week’s print edition, a shorter version of the My First Show Q&A…
With all Jason Pierce has been through over the past two decades, it’s a wonder he’s still alive. Even more miraculous: His band, Spiritualized, is still together. Even though his drug-heavy days are behind him, Spiritualized’s recent albums are still just as hazy as Pure Phase and Lazer Guided Melodies.A…
Austin-based photographer/documentarian Otis Ike captured this slice of life before the Super Bowl in Dallas last year, and it’s getting some hits over at Funny or Die. Like most things Ike documents, it’s a fascinating anthropological study of what happens when sports fans collide with Bible thumpers and rappers. Will…
A Lull, Deleted Scenes, Botany Dan’s Silverleaf Tuesday, January 31 Chicago five-piece A Lull took the Dan’s stage at 11:30 p.m. with two drummers in tow, in front of roughly 20 people. Raucous, tribal beats rolled along for a majority of the set and, propelled by these rhythms, the high-pitched,…
Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox’s solo project Atlas Sound has been added to the 35 Denton lineup, as have Purling Hiss, Dinosaur Feathers, Night Beats, Chapter 24, Finn Riggins Aan, Races and Twin Tigers. If you haven’t already seen it, may I direct you to this interview Cox did last fall,…
Fort Worth five-piece Fate Lions just dropped a new three-song 7-inch and and are celebrating with a show at the Kessler on Friday. With that in mind, I asked guitarist Jerko Dabelic and singer/guitarist Jason Manriquez about some of their favorite 45s growing up. Jason Manriquez Barry Manilow “A Nice…
Matt Pryor’s main gig is fronting The Get Up Kids, but every year or so, he decides to go the sensitive singer/songwriter route and bring a few friends along, including Bayside’s Anthony Raneri and Chris Conley from Saves the Day. They all play under the banner of Where’s the Band?…
With the excellent addition of SoCal punk supergroup OFF! to the Bro Fest 2012 roster last week comes four more acts, these being of the hazy pop variety: Maps & Atlases, Gauntlet Hair, Hospitality and Netherfriends. The subtract part: The Entrance Band and Cerebral Ballzy have canceled their SXSW plans…
A Lull is a relatively new band hailing from Chicago. In just a few years, they’ve developed a solid reputation for edgy indie pop and chaotic live performances. Currently on tour in support of Confetti, their impressive debut, A Lull seems primed for a larger audience. Speaking from his car…
On Wednesday, Pleasant Grove singer-guitarist Bret Egner was involved in a bicycle accident near Red River in Austin, when he swerved to avoid two jaywalking pedestrians and hit the pavement. Sadly, the pedestrians he swerved to avoid didn’t offer help. Egner went into surgery today to repair a shattered collarbone,…
The saga continues: From the Internet ether comes the (partial) fruits of that Erykah Badu/Flaming Lips collaboration we talked about a few weeks ago. “Now I Understand” sounds about right coming from the left/right brains of these two. Ambient, heavy-lidded, soulful and it features a sample of Siri’s vocals. (The…
It’s quite a week for Denton’s Bad Design. They’ll be releasing their new self-titled album on Gutterth Records, as well as playing two release shows, Friday at Bryan Street Tavern and Saturday at Rubber Gloves. And how did Violitonist know exactly what I needed to hear on Monday morning? Bad…
Last year saw a wave of popular bands from a few decades ago reuniting and releasing new material. The wave continues this year with new albums from Van Halen, puzzling announcements by Fiona Apple, and the Irish yodeling of Dolores O’Riordan and The Cranberries. The band will release a new…
After listening to Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die over the weekend, I have to say, as usual, Sasha Frere-Jones nails the thinkpiece so we don’t have to. I felt the need to give this woman, who’s already been unnecessarily dissected, a chance. She does have a great voice, I…
