A band as bizarre, diverse and complicated as Sleepytime Gorilla Museum couldn’t be expected to travel in any normal vehicle. So it’s only proper that once the band pulls up to New York’s Bowery Ballroom, the usually stoic NYC passersby stop, point and stare. These are pedestrians who don’t blink…
2009 marks 15 years since Cake debuted Motorcade of Generosity, an album that carved the band a niche with its low-key style and quirky lyrics. To celebrate, the band’s re-releasing Motorcade ahead of a new, yet-to-be-named record. Back when Motorcade came out, Cake frontman John McCrae was too cool for…
Third time’s a charm. Things tend to happen in threes. Yadda yadda yadda. Whichever dictum you prefer, it seems to ring particularly true with the Los Angeles-based new wave pop-rockers in Shiny Toy Guns. There are three words in their name, sure, but that’s kiddy stuff. The band’s founding members,…
In the dark recesses of an underground New York club, Flight of the Conchords, an unknown folk music duo from New Zealand, plays an awkward set to its sole fan and crazed stalker, Mel. The HBO comedy series of the same name portrays FOTC as two quirky Kiwis struggling to…
Will somebody please hug Tracyanne Campbell? The girl cannot stop falling for no-goodnik heartbreakers. You’d think the frontwoman of Camera Obscura would lighten up this time around, what with the success of 2006’s Let’s Get Out of This Country, but My Maudlin Career is decidedly mopey (right down to the…
Even with no knowledge of the French language, it’d still be fairly obvious that Serge Gainsbourg’s 1971 album was consumed with lust. The pelvic-thrust bass lines, his ear-licking vocals, and the way Jane Birkin exhaled as if being penetrated made Histoire de Melody Nelson legendary from the word go. A…
Being a privileged white guy from the Philly suburbs doesn’t disqualify Asher Roth from legitimate hip-hop MC status. But not being able to spin an interesting yarn does. The Scooter Braun–championed overnight sensation’s debut, Asleep in the Bread Aisle, has little to say, other than that Roth occasionally likes rapping…
Dear Readers: As you drinko por Cinco this May 5, please take this column around listing songs that mariachis will gladly play instead of having to glumly strum through the umpteenth “La Bamba” and “Guantanamera.” The following eclectic choices (and reasoning) came from hundreds submitted by wabs and savvy gabachos;…
Just months ago, Pete Freedman wrote about the reopened Vampire Lounge. Co-owners Jimi Fritz and Matt Story were confident the Harry Hines Boulevard club would succeed, despite thin crowd turnouts for national metal acts and the club’s Halloween Bash. Unfortunately, the club never managed to overcome its problematic location to…
Something in the Wheel is a clever country duo consisting of Mimo Morreale and Daniel Pease. Both members sing, as well as play banjo, guitar, harmonica and mandolin, and, flanked by a few extra players, the duo captivated a crowd with its down-home sound as it performed on the acoustic…
Seeing that Bob Dylan just announced a tour stop in Grand Prairie on August 7, and knowing that the bard’s new effort, Together Through Life, was released yesterday, now seems as good as time as any to check out what other Dylan product has hit the streets recently.Two of my…
Editor’s Note: Apologies for the mix-up on the date for this show. It’s Friday, for real.Renowned as a member of the legendary art/punk band Television, guitarist Richard Lloyd has spent the decades since that band’s demise as an able sideman for folks like John Doe and Matthew Sweet. Television has…
Your daily dose of national music news for Wednesday, April 29, 2009…Are you tired of your husband or boyfriend always wanting to have sex with you? Well your prayers have been answered: Courtney Love is opening a lingerie store.Pearl Jam aren’t selling out, they’re buying in. The band is allowing…
Gaslight Anthem with Heartless BastardsGranada TheaterApril 28, 2009Better Than: Watching an anti-climatic basketball playoff. The Granada played host to brawny rock last night as the Heartless Bastards and headliner Gaslight Anthem played to a testosterone-rich crowd. In sets that were long on music and short on charisma, both bands played…
This intriguing bill features a nice pair of acts from the Pacific Northwest, each offering his and her own variety of folk and rock. Yes, both Jurado and Gibson have swung through our area in the recent past, but this is a good chance to catch them at the same…
After a few weeks of short listings, the announcements return in full force this week with some more national names scheduled to come through Dallas, including Sonic Youth, Aerosmith, David Allan Coe, Chris Isaak and the Smothers Brothers.On the local scene, meanwhile, the King Bucks (do those guys ever take…
Mates of State kept the crowd happy last night, in a full-participation kind of way, with dramatic slow-dancing onstage and some awkward crowd-surfing along with their upbeat sound. The Black Kids and Sunbears opened, and you can read Cory’s full review here.For more shots from the show, though, check out…
Friday was a busy night in the Dallas club scene, what with Dub Assembly at the Green Elephant alongside Finland’s DJ Cloud, the Broken Teeth crew at Zubar, and Shuttle playing the “D Town Boogie” party at Club Dada. Follow the Lek Brothers through the night’s madness in our slideshow…
Mates of State, Black Kids, Sunbears!Granada TheaterApril 27, 2009Better Than: Getting dropped on your head in a failed crowd surfing attempt. Fans didn’t let the dreary weather–or the fact that it was a Monday–stop them from packing the Granada last night, and the largely underage crowd was handsomely rewarded by…
Late last night/early this morning, the Twittersphere was ablaze with TinyURLs linking to the official 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup, which had suddenly been announced some time around midnight.As expected, the headlining acts are straight out the mid-’90s with Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band and the Beastie Boys…
Your daily dose of national music news for Tuesday, April 28, 2009…Scott Stapp is ready for his second chance to make a first impression as Creed reunites. Too late!DMX is going to be part of VH1’s Celebrity Rehab … er, maybe not.Despite the Oklahoma legislature accusing The Flaming Lips of…
For the last, oh, I dunno, but it seems like forever, The King Bucks have managed to turn the otherwise pretty low-key Monday nights around town into something of a big deal, packing country music and drinking fans alike into Adair’s Saloon at the band’s weekly residency in the ol’…
