Music

C’mon, y’all. What’d you think we’d pick? Designed by our own art director, Alexander Flores, with an assist from local graphic novel illustrator, Kristian Donaldson, who drew for us this fictitious band we’ve calling The She-Devils behind the scenes, the poster has all the pertinent info (bands, date, time, location,…

When I first heard Hot Chelle Rae’s summer hit “Tonight Tonight,” I assumed that the pop-rock band came from the West Coast. Young, sun-drenched energy? A bit of naivete? Apathetic pop hooks? Check, check and check. Also: They name-checked the Hollywood sign. Turns out I was wrong. Hot Chelle Rae…

Los Angeles alt-folk quartet Dawes turned heads with their 2009 album, North Hills. One of those heads belonged to Robbie Robertson, which led to the band backing The Band’s former guitarist and songwriter for a variety of promo and festival gigs. Dawes drew in part from that experience when recording…

The Way Sound Leaves A Room is a short compilation of cover songs and demos intended to hold fans over while adored Denton-based singer-songwriter Sarah Jaffe works on her second LP. But it doesn’t necessarily feel like the appetizer it’s meant to be. Each track on the eight-song collection may…

Most people agree that The King Bucks are a great live act. Their newest record, the brilliantly named Bar-B-Que Drugs, certainly solidifies that claim. The album is a diverse mix of songs — some that sound great on record, most that would probably go over better in a honky-tonk —…

For the past couple years, K.MC has been bubbling at the edges of the North Texas hip-hop underground, forming alliances with other standouts like Tunk and Blue (formerly of Sore Losers) as a member of the Brain Gang collective. There’s been a steady stream of music and guest appearances from…

Fort Worth’s Earthquake Country sounds, based on name alone, like a lame cover band looking to regale muffin-topped boot-scooters with the latest America Has Idol Talent disco-and-Western blend. Thankfully, Diaspora, the first record from Jason Worley and his backing band, which includes members of Telegraph Canyon, isn’t anywhere near such…

It’s all about the voice, stupid. Always is. Here, too: Jason Corcoran’s baritone is the first thing that jumps out on Peel, his debut release as Gaston Light. Deservedly so: It’s vulnerable, compelling. But it sounds, well, a little Red Dirt. Blame Corcoran’s Texas twang for that. Considering that his…

Over the course of the past few years, The Blurries may have been the best-kept secret in town. Proficient in driving, catchy power-pop anthems — and among the tightest performers around, if not the flat-out tops in that category — the band has existed mostly under the radar. For a…

The old-timers about town would have you believe that Deep Ellum was maybe the single greatest place in the world some 15 years ago, right at the height of the neighborhood and the area music scene’s tandem peaks. And, hey, maybe it was. But, y’know, some of us weren’t of…

Eventually, mash-up artists grow up. They tire of seeking out familiar samples, chopping them up and laying other singers’ and rappers’ vocals on top of them. There are other reasons, too, of course. “Well,” admits Manchester, England’s Darren Williams, the 25-year-old behind the Star Slinger moniker, “obviously I don’t want…

The Black Angels, gods of Austin’s psych-rock scene, spent three years living in a ghost-infested house on the weird city’s east side. Untouched cymbals would rattle, things would go thump in the night, and, while living under that haunted roof, the band released its excellent Passover in 2006 and Directions…

As misspent youth becomes forgotten and hazier with age, there’s something rather bittersweet about the passing of the torch from one era of heavy-metal fans to another. The generation that grew up — and threw up — in Heavy Metal Parking Lot now wears Dockers and watches doppelgangers of themselves…

Count Adam Granduciel among the ranks of musicians who have benefited greatly from the availability of affordable home recording technology. As the man behind Philadelphia-based The War On Drugs, Granduciel fondly recalls as the foundation for what has evolved into his career in music the countless hours he spent at…