Known for high kicks and good times. Caught up with American Werewolf Academy frontman Aaron Thedford after hearing word that his power pop act was heading to The Echo Lab this weekend to record some tracks for its next record. “We’re finishing it up” he says, before cautiously continuing, “…hopefully…
Maybe a month and a half or two months ago–I’m blanking at the moment–back when Shibboleth was still doing its month-long artist-in-residence thing at Club Dada, I found myself at the Deep Ellum club on a Thursday night, asking club co-owner Amanda Newman some questions for an article I was…
Denton’s had a big week. So, for this edition of Aural Ambush we drove from our Dallas office all the way to Denton’s town square. Our mission: to find out what people think about New York-based Japanther’s poppy-punk track “$100 Cover” off its 2007 album Skuffed Up My Huffy. Want…
Songstresses Alicia Keys and Jordin Sparks took advantage of the acoustics at Nokia Theater last night. DC-9 photographer Michael Insuaste hit up the show and snapped up-close pictures of both ladies for your viewing pleasure — especially those who went to the show but were stuck in the back. –…
Denton bands don’t exactly have an aversion to roots or regionalism. That said, a bent blue note or shit-kicking shuffle is likely to raise eyebrows in these parts—if for no other reason than the very real fear that yet one more band is trying to put its own spin on…
Every Old 97’s album features a couple of tunes written and sung by bassist Murry Hammond, the George Harrison of the group. And, for some fans, Hammond’s tunes, such as “W. Tx. Teardrops” and “Valentine,” have become highlights of the band’s performances; Hammond’s cornpone demeanor and soft-spoken charm have always…
Jemina Pearl’s seen the other acts the music industry passes off as “punk rock” these days—and the fiery front woman for the pretty effin’ legit punk rock throwback Be Your Own Pet just ain’t buying it. “I don’t think anyone really knows what punk means anymore,” she says over her…
Free-jazz legend Albert Ayler’s body was found floating in New York’s East River in November 1970, a victim of either suicide or murder (ostensibly due to his association with the Black Panthers), depending on who you ask. So why then, nearly 40 years later, would the 15-piece Athens, Georgia, rock…
By now, the acolytes, fetishists and mildly interested already possess their copies of Trent Reznor’s latest freebie—as in, “this one’s on me,” he cagily notes on the band’s Web site, from which you could pluck the 10 tracks to share and remix as you please. So, sure, as far as…
Narrow Stairs sounds just like Plans, right down to the obvious production, weepy lyrics and inoffensive guitar, continuing Death Cab’s tradition of aping Morrissey lyrics without Moz’s counterintuitive turns of phrase or dark jokes. Songs like “Long Division” seem the product of some sort of indie-rock nerd-crafted lyric generator: “And…
To explain Shibboleth’s instrumental prowess, one could probably point to the fact that they have been the go-to band for Dallas R&B legend Bobby Patterson’s recent live performances—despite the fact that they are not an R&B band—and leave it at that. It’s just proof that guitarist Don Cento, keyboardist Rich…
Brothers Derek and Glenn Jackson dissolved their last band, the atmospheric, new-wavy Until They Arrive because they wanted to pursue a more rock-oriented direction. Enter Tiger Moth, a heaving, Zeppelin-inspired quartet whose members don’t give a rat’s ass about subtlety, mood or texture. The five cuts on this terrific debut…
Naw, bullshit—really? The Tomorrowpeople, live onstage after being left for dead somewhere ‘twixt infamy and fortune eight long years ago? True enough, in the words of one Jody Powerchurch: “It won’t be big, it won’t be pretty.” Though, that’s kind of the way we prefer it—baby steps, baby, back toward…
Radiohead’s only the best live band in the world, as evidenced by the countless in-concert bootlegs (and the sole official release) that way outstrip the studio efforts, even when recorded from inside a concertgoer’s back pocket 5,294 rows from the stage. Since The Bends, anyway, the albums have sounded as…
Sorry, but this is heresy—must be a typo, eh? Elvis C. sharing a bill—and opening no less—for that shite lite-jazz-rock trio formerly known as The Police? At least you can boogie out of the shed early, before Sting and the geezers launch into their soggy soccer-mom redos of “Walking on…
In a hilariously bad video custom-made for the lite-rock crowd, the city of Richardson has declared its annual mess of mismatched has-beens “North Texas’ Biggest Music Gig,” giving the Melodica Festival yet another kick in the crotch. Big, we’ll grant them. But it’s also perhaps the least essential music fest…
Sloppyworld’s announcement came first. We’d written about the Exposition Park DIY venue twice in print: first in January, profiling it as a promising new local venue, and then again in February, this time because of its involvement with the Melodica Festival. About a month later, Sloppyworld owner and operator John…
Rhett Miller sounds surprisingly at ease. Not eager. Not too excited. Pleased. He blissfully discusses the new Old 97’s record, Blame It on Gravity. And yet, he also does so ever so carefully. He thinks about each question, mulls over each word choice and all the while reflects on how…
“Spice-alicious?” Um, no. The Old 97’s are no longer–how you say?–“spice-alicious.” After more of the Hammond vs. Old 97’s Great Album Discussion of 2008, we decided that, when it comes to the band many of us around here grew up loving, we do, in fact, agree with the sentiment of…
Old 97’s guitarist Ken Bethea. Just in case you haven’t yet had your fill of the Old 97’s and the guys’ non-stop whirlwind promotion for Blame It On Gravity yet, you can catch the 97’s performing for free at Victory Plaza tonight at 6. And, in case you’re salivating for…
If you have eyes, you’ll notice something about the page in which we interview Rhett Miller about the new Old 97’s record, Blame It On Gravity in this week’s paper. Like, specifically, how we included a sidebar review of Murry Hammond’s I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m On…
Spoke with Dallas’s own hip-hop sensation Lil Wil last week about his upcoming album for a story that’ll come out in our print edition in a few weeks (right before his Asylum Records-released debut Dolla$, TX drops on June 3). So, yeah, look forward to that. Wil’s an interesting guy;…
