Music

I usually don’t go after underage artists (har dee har, guys) in this column. Most of the kids you see on the charts are likely being paraded around by their parents and music industry captains with little artistic integrity on their part. So, it’s not usually their fault they’re making…

This week’s poster gives us the warm fuzzies–which is perfect for a poster promoting a show at the new Kessler Theater, whose multiple intimate performance areas can provide the warmth and fuzz this poster portrays, just as I’m sure the performers do. And if they can play the guitar in…

Front man Shaant Hacikyan may be the lone original member of power pop band Cute is What We Aim For, but that hasn’t prevented him from keeping the band’s music fresh and intriguing over the past few years.Hailing out of Buffalo, Cute is What We Aim For started up in…

In this week’s paper, Darryl Smyers previews the Devin The Dude show coming to the Granada Theater tomorrow night, recalling the man born Devin Copeland’s hazy, smoke-filled 20-year career and lauding him for taking pedestrian topics like marijuana and the state of hip-hop and keeping their discussions fresh and interesting…

Dear Hollywood, We know it’s hard to cut trailers, and you want to the maximum possible appeal. It’s understandable, and we all know the game. Unfortunately, you’ve recently achieved critical mass on one subject: overused, hackneyed trailer songs. Sometimes they’re indie and soft and intellectual, and other times they are…

This is, essentially, a “closure” post. I think we all have to come terms with the fact that Fort Worth/Cool’s Casey James was let go in favor of the inferior Lee DeWyze. Whether or not I think CJ should be the American Idol, I’ve blogged the finale because he and…

The Bamboozle Roadshow hits Six Flags Over Texas on a day perfect for its core audience—a Saturday. School will be out for the tweens and teenagers, and it’s almost time to enjoy the summer break. What better way than to spend the day at an amusement park with some of…

Hailing from Houston, Devin Copeland, aka Devin the Dude, has been offering up his unique brand of rap for nearly 20 years. In that time, little in his music or delivery has changed—and that’s a good thing. After all, Devin’s high-profile guest appearances on Dr. Dre’s “F*** You” in 1999…

Denton’s Sundress is not one of those bands whose members jump around yelling, “Look at me!” They don’t clamor excitedly for attention in conversation, talking over one another and cutting each other off mid-sentence. Nor do they do it in song. They’re not a band, like many others, whose personality…

When deciding what to name their trio, Warren Spicer, Matt Woodley and Nic Basque came up with a tag that they, at the time, felt was relatively innocuous and meaningless moniker as it pertained to their collective future. In short: Deciding on Plants & Animals wasn’t exactly an earth-shattering experience…

My Elvis Costello phase started pretty much by accident. I found a cassette copy of Blood and Chocolate in a thrift store, marked at 50 cents, and bought it not knowing much about Costello or his work. I did, however, have the concrete sense that I was supposed to know…

The Monco Poncho’s new record, Miserable Man, is an album by four men who know exactly who they are—an act that is passionately filling the surf-rock void in the Dallas music community. For filling such a weird niche, their popularity is somewhat baffling. With this new disc, though, it’s almost…

When the Dallas all-girl quartet Lovie set out to make their latest seven-song EP, Because Of My Mattress, they had the great idea to recruit top indie producer Dave Fridmann (MGMT). When Fridmann was busy, they enlisted his former right-hand man, Bill Racine (Mates Of State, Rogue Wave) to man…

Imagine a line stretching down the block from Trees, one filled with patrons just dying to enter the storied Deep Ellum venue. Or, well, don’t. Because, really, there’s no need to imagine it at all: Last Friday night, that scenario was real. It was palpable. It existed. Yes, in godforsaken,…

YouTube, and so can we.Can call them country if you really want, but don’t expect The Orbans to agree. The description might have fit better with these guys’ past incarnations–as the Lifters and Thief–but even with a slide guitar and a banjo behind him, frontman Peter Black says no way…

Hello friends! We’re interrupting your Wednesday to bring you a tasty gig poster update. Tonight, at the Lounge on Elm Street in the heart of Deep Ellum, the good folks of Parade Of Flesh are not only bringing you a  real solid gig featuring The Spits, No Bunny, The Uptown…

Welcome to Staff Trax, the weekly feature here on DC9 where we shed some light on the music we’ve been enjoying of late, regardless of the touring or album release schedules that tend to bear the focus of most of our coverage. Consider it a chance for you readers to…