Music

Yet another PotW win for Parade of Flesh, and the second win for L.A.’s Von Dada, who earned Poster of the Week status the first week of October for the three-skull, three-show Lounge On Elm Street poster. Obviously, the graveyard setting is a rather literal representation of the headlining Austin…

It’s hard to imagine that any of us could ever develop an emotional connection to any of the sterile corporate live music venues here in the DFdub. We don’t think fondly of places where the employees wear headsets and matching uniforms, scowl into walkie-talkies or feel the need to cavity…

For such a self-deprecating city, Dallas still manages to surprise me from time to time. Take, for instance, the story of John Lefler. You may or may not know who he is. For those of you who don’t, a primer: Lefler’s biggest claim to fame is that he’s the guitarist…

Founding guitarist Benjamin Curtis left Secret Machines in 2007 to form his own band (School of Seven Bells), but the remaining members recruited Phil Karnats of Tripping Daisy fame to fill the large void, and his style of play is unmistakably present on the album. Secret Machines—clearly missing Curtis’ fuzzy,…

On its self-titled 2005 debut, Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 was hilarious—and musically innovative too, with vocalist Residente’s lyrics poking fun at every aspect of contemporary Latin culture while his cousin Visitante’s beats combined reggaeton, hip-hop and funk into a swirling, irresistible groove. Last year’s follow-up Residente o Visitante was…

Offend Maggie is the name of Deerhoof’s new album on Kill Rock Stars. It is, like the group itself, totally indefinable. It can make you cry, for some reason, as it scratches your skull. It’s so earnest, but it’s so smart too. And with it, you get a new kind…

It’s been six years since Austin’s Trail of Dead released its seminal Source Tags & Codes record, a masterpiece of a disc that fully launched the band into the national spotlight—and perhaps, along with the band’s reputation for putting on a chaotic live performance, set the bar too high for…

It’s tough to say whether Drag the River is either in the midst of a reunion tour or a farewell jaunt. The Colorado-based alt-country act, led by All singer Chad Price and Armchair Martian singer-guitarist Jon Snodgrass, formed more than a decade ago when Price’s All bandmates reunited with original…

Glasgow’s Scott Hutchison, an art school grad who tired of drawing, picked up a guitar five years ago and hasn’t looked back. His shambling, jangling indie pop with Frightened Rabbit recalls the sweet, guileless, ramshackle charm of ’80s Scottish twee poppers The Vaselines and The Pastels. Steeped in fragile honesty,…

Before Atmosphere’s Slug and Ant made a name for themselves on their 1997 debut album Overcast!, hip-hop fans might not have been very intrigued by the idea of introspective rap from Minneapolis. But since, the indie rap duo has garnered praise, both underground and commercial, for their complexity and honesty…

Brooklyn’s Parts and Labor straddles the great divide between the riotous noises it wrings from tortured keyboards and the irresistibly tuneful songs those sonic eruptions create. In recent months, the band replaced drummer Christopher R. Weingarten (who left the band to pursue a music-writing career—idiot!) with Joe Wong. And, while…

Rather appropriate that Minus the Bear’s name starts with a mathematical symbol, as “math-rock” is the most common description applied to the band’s tricky time signatures and herky-jerky rhythms. Not quite as appropriately named is the band’s latest full-length effort, Ice Planet. The cold synthesizers and crystalline guitar parts frequently…

While the Bush administration spent most of the last decade tarnishing America’s reputation on the global stage and building fences along our border with Mexico, Tucson, Arizona’s Calexico did the opposite, improving international relations (at least musically) and honing their dusty border noir to a fine point—all while expanding its…

Ever look around at all these kids in too-tight fluorescent jeans, cheapie Ray-Bans and musty-smelling thrift-store wear and wonder, “What the hell happened here?” There’s a simple answer for you: Diplo. Or, more accurately, it was the Philly native’s Hollertronix duo that championed the club mash-up in the early ’00s…

Stall!” someone hollered from the back of Dallas’ Lakewood Bar & Grill. “Play a few more.” Here, In Arms had just finished riffing through what frontman Brent Engel had announced as the band’s last song of the night—but half of Denton-based folk-rock duo RTB2 was still on the way to…

Neighborhood Villain plays straightforward, muscular punk rock that can get your adrenaline pumping for about 15 minutes, and fortunately, Look Within doesn’t last much longer than that. From the opening riff of “Decisions” to the end of “Strength to Be,” it’s all power chords, all the time, aside from the…

His best work to date has been with The Blow, Khaela Maricich’s sublime laptop-pop project, but these days YACHT’s Jona Bechtolt works alone. Last year’s I Believe in You. Your Magic is Real. was an absurdly New Age-y and tinny rap-radio pastiche—a fact that hasn’t prevented him from touring nonstop…