10th Grade Cutie is a part of a new wave of punk bands like The Wrong Ones and The Ginslingers festering around town who mine more from Johnny Thunders and the late 70’s than grunge or early 90’s indie like most H-Town kids. Whereas the other two are straight-ahead rock, Cutie seems... More >>
Tonight is one of those rare nights in recent Houston music history where the whole family can sated with sound. Almost every venue in town is hopping with shows, strange for a Wednesday. You can drop off your teen daughter off at New Found Glory at Warehouse Live, send the older kids to the... More >>
Everyone has their first big band, the one that is their aural gateway drug into the unknown pleasures of rock before them. They aren’t always the most critically-acclaimed, nor are they going to be idolized by the people at Pitchfork. But they nonetheless get the ball rolling. For many... More >>
You really can’t get any more chest-thumping and masculine, while keeping a modicum pop sheen than Saliva. Led by barrel-chested howler Josey Scott, this Memphis-based alt-metal band had a kung fu grip on modern rock radio at the turn of the decade with singles like “Your... More >>
Haters and even casual fans may find Ratatat a bit one-note, seeing how the New York duo mostly wields zippy guitar riffs and bubbly synths in the service of breezy, instrumental electro-pop. But there’s always enough vivid color lingering around the edges to draw us in upon closer... More >>
As the hoary adage avers: "Good artists borrow, great artists steal." So what are we supposed to make of Vivian Girls, a Brooklyn-based, all-girl punk band who manage to rip off Tiger Trap, The Ronettes, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, plus seminal first-wave punk band The Wipers, all in one fell... More >>
Not many people remember that Howard and David Bellamy, aka the Bellamy Brothers, began their career with the cheeseball, saccharine pop smash “Let Your Love Flow” in 1976. Fewer still, probably, know they originally honed their craft on the Southern chitlin’ circuit with the... More >>
You may only know Jon Black as the devastatingly handsome bartender who works the happy hour shift at Boondocks, but when he’s not opening our Lone Stars or trimming his beard, he’s also the lead guitarist for sludge-metal dudes Whorehound. If you haven’t seen them live,... More >>
The history of The 71's is not well documented, and a tireless Google search, set to their appropriately soul-seeking music, leaves many questions unanswered. Two previous EPs, The 71's and Want You Know, seem to feature none of the lineup present on latest LP We Are Locomotive save guitarist... More >>
Every Friday night at Catbird’s is like partying with your Grandpa, back when he was spry and catting around town on leave from the military, way before he met your Grandma and had to start like, a family. DJ Mike spins 30’s and 40’s hot jazz all night to soundtrack your hours... More >>
Since 2003’s catchy as hell folk-grungey single “I Don’t Want To Be” hit America’s ears, Gavin DeGraw has been firmly implanted on pop radio. Routinely lumped in with the Mayer’s and Mraz’s of the world, DeGraw has a decidedly rougher edge, wielding a soulful... More >>
Thanks to differences with Spain Colored Orange's former label Lucid Records, the songs on the local psych-pop quintet's brand-new disc Sneaky Like a Villain are already old hat to the band members. For the rest of us, though, Sneaky - released on Brooklyn's Shout It Out Loud Music - is a... More >>
DJ Brett Koshkin’s monthly “Dirty Honey” sounds like a gritty soul-drenched jukebox, doused with a gallon of the best funk of the past century and set ablaze with by the fiery voice of Mr. James Brown. On the first Saturday of each month at Boondocks, Mr. Koshkin lays down... More >>
Although the singer who once famously clutched Oscar Wilde to his chest might seem misplaced among the roster of distinctly American artists like Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams, Morrissey's ninth solo album Years Of Refusal sounds right at home on his new label, Nashville's Lost Highway.... More >>
Critics likely will never agree on whether Split Lip Rayfield should be classified as bluegrass or country. The good news is that it really doesn't matter. The band is doubly blessed with top-notch fast-picking skills and a twang more natural than any that Keith Urban could muster, so fans of... More >>
Carrots is the former Dimes' first full-length, and first physical product of any kind since 2006's Delilah EP netted the quartet a slew of Houston Press music awards and set the local indie-rock community's hearts atwitter long before a "tweet" was anything besides the sound certain birds... More >>
We hope we have some gas left in our metaphorical tanks for today’s “KTRU Outdoor Show”. Between SXSW and Westheimer Block Party still waking us up at night like PTSD-plagued soldiers, our festival energy and motivation is quickly dwindling. But between the Pasadena boys in... More >>
Under his given name, Miami native Clarence Reid penned numerous soul songs for the likes of Betty Wright, Sam & Dave, K.C. and the Sunshine Band and himself. Then he became Blowfly, turning to a full-time career of singing about dildos, dirty pussy, big dicks and assorted sexual antics on a... More >>
Spend some time with Two Star Symphony during Discovery Green’s Sundays in the Park for a lovely, if eerie, afternoon. The local string quartet will be performing its classical, Danny Elfman-esque tunes as part of the Sunday concert series. In the past, Two Star has used its symphonic... More >>
Between Gavin DeGraw hitting town days ago and former Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale pulling into downtown’s House Of Blues soon, and Dance Gavin Dance’s show tonight at Java Jazz you could say our city has a case of “Gavin” fever. Yeah, you could say that, but we may have to... More >>
What’s amazing about bands like Trapt is how many of them are out in the musical ether lurking. Each major city has to have about a dozen or so of varying names playing the same clubs, with guys that all look the same and seemingly all took classes together at the Clear Channel School Of... More >>
What’s worse than being kicked out of your band? Getting kicked out of a band that you were in with your two brothers and being replaced by your brother-in-law. It didn’t happen to some ringer in a country bar band from La Porte. It actually happened to Joe Loeffler, formerly of... More >>
My son, a guitar plunker raised on huge doses of Rockpile and Joe Ely, tipped me to the Magpies. He saw them at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Festival last spring and pronounced them the hardest-rocking band of the whole soiree. Tooling over to MySpace, it only took a brief introduction to the band's... More >>
With a helluva live show and already garnering a devoted following, Muhammad Ali is knocking ‘em dead left and right. Ok, we had to get the boxing reference out of the way, because as much as we tried to sidestep it, we couldn’t resist. Since releasing a split cassette with party boys... More >>
With 2007's Spiderman of the Rings, Baltimore oddball Dan Deacon went from underground noise nerd to Pitchfork darling. Two years later, he returns with Bromst, an album that'll likely earn him just as much attention. It's hard to grasp why Deacon's music is so appealing. It's noisy and... More >>
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