Sometimes, to progress, you don’t necessarily need to burn everything down and start all over again. You don’t need a full-on reinvention, but a tweaking, a subtle shift; it’s less like rebuilding something from scratch than it is like cooking a dish you’ve cooked before…
I’ve got a bit of a complicated relationship with NY trio X Ambassadors; it’s been kind of an up-and-down thing, to say the least. I’ve been a fan since back before the added the “X” to the band’s name, first hearing their album Litost and falling head over heels for the whole damn thing…
Even back when they were Yet Another Band with Melodic Guitars and Shy-Boy Vocals on an Emo Diaries comp (that’s where I first heard ’em, at least, literally 20 freaking years ago), Kansas band The Appleseed Cast was always a bit different. A bit smarter, maybe, more thoughtful and with more intent to what they were doing…
It hasn’t even been a full decade since the first time I heard The Wheel Workers — which was then less a “band” and more just frontman/songwriter Steven Higginbotham yelling (okay, okay, speaking eloquently) into the void — but in the intervening years, it feels like we’ve seen change enough to last a century…
It’s bizarre to even type it, but it’s been longer than I’d realized since I last heard anything from one of my favorite bands, Edinburgh’s We Were Promised Jetpacks. They released the stellar Unravelling back in 2014, and I loved it, and I finally got to see the band play live and loved that, too, and then…well, nothing, for a good long while…
Hey, Ex-Optimists crew; look, we need to talk. I mean, I love y’all — you know I do — but it’s starting to creep me out having you rummage around inside my head and pulling out all the damn sounds I loved back in college. It feels like some Inception-level shit, y’know? I’d appreciate it if you’d at least let me know when you’re going to do it…
Andrew W.K. has always been an enigma, at least to me; truthfully, it’s part of his charm. Is he serious about his whole “Party Hard” shtick? How can anybody be that goddamn positive all the freaking time? That can’t be real, can it? Is it all a big put-on, a character he’s playing, like an Adult Swim version of an irrepressibly upbeat kids’ TV show host?…
I may have underestimated Matt Costa. No, scratch that — going by Santa Rosa Fangs, I definitely underestimated Matt Costa. I’ve only seen him live once, back in the mid-2000s when he was touring with surf-folk guy Jack Johnson; my wife was a big Jack Johnson fan, at the time…
Once upon a time, there was an awesome, promising young indie-rock band called Ruiners; they released a handful of songs, one of which, “One,” lived in my head for about six months straight. And then, they were gone. Singer/guitarist Shan Pasha moved to London to go to school…
We’re stepping forwards a bit in time for this installment of Live in Pictures, with pics from photographer Marshall Forse Walker of the relatively-recent show at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion with Styx, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, and Tesla…
The backstage door opened, and a young woman wearing sunglasses peeked out. I thought to myself, “Perhaps the show is about to begin.” She wore a saxophone around her neck and took the stage alongside her bandmates, a blond, shaman-looking figure with a guitar and another mustachioed man on violin…
The first time I saw this band play, they were, well, pretty damn different from what they are now. See, if you’d asked me back then what Jody Seabody & The Whirls — a four-piece that currently consists of Clint Rater on drums, Bryce Perkins and Dave Merriett on guitar, and Stuart Perkins on bass — sounded like…
I know it’s been years in reality, but it seems like yesterday that we were treated to The Suffers and The Tontons on the same night together at the Houston Press Music Awards, and now we’re celebrating The Suffers’ second album, Everything Here, with two nights at The Heights Theater…
When I first listened to WATERWORLD, the newest EP from The Wiggins, aka Jon Read, a surprising thing happened. I was in the car, driving my 8-year-old around, and as the first strains of lead track “Dreamland” convulsed through the speakers, all raw, fucked-up percussion, scratchy production, overfuzzed guitars, and sung-chanted-snarled vocals…
Back again with the Live in Pictures series we’ve been doing, this time with photographer Marshall Forse Walker’s photos from the reportedly-excellet Julien Baker show…
The first time I listened to The Suffers’ new album, Everything Here, I was sitting on a desert island in the Caribbean; no, seriously, that’s what happens when you’ve got vacation time booked but you also need to actually keep up with reviewing stuff…
I’ve been eagerly waiting to see Caroline Rose live again since first seeing her at Stubb’s in March during SXSW. The act was by far my favorite takeaway from the festival, with such an impressive, energetic, bright, fun performance and no compromise in musicianship. These witty songs were well-put-together and enjoyable…
And here we go once more, with Marshall Forse Walker‘s pics from back in December when ZAO, Eyeagainst, and SLEEPERDRONE hit the now-shuttered Walter’s…
Hello, SCR friends! It took a little while to get beyond the allergies, but now I’m ready to get started with my field report on Houston’s newest “big field fest,” In Bloom Music Festival. I’ll begin with Day One and then cover Day Two soon, along with some random thoughts and hopes for the future…
Took a brief breath there in the post-Madness on Main, um, madness, but we’re back. Here’s the next in the “Live in Pictures” series, courtesy of Marshall Forse Walker, this time from last December’s Wye Oak show with Bayonne…
Digging back once again into late last year, here’s the next installment of SCR‘s “Live in Pictures” series, with photos by Marshall Forse Walker from the show at WHOM with Ministry and Death Grips…
If you’re an artist of any kind, whether it’s music or painting or writing or photography or whatever, editing is one of the hardest things to do. And no, I don’t mean the actual action of editing is hard — hell, that’s what I do for a living, and it doesn’t really take a lot beyond a nitpicky eye…
Back with the second of our new “Live in Pictures” series, this time with murky British indie-rock guys alt-J, who played back in November of last year with Philadelphia duo Marian Hill. Here you go…
So, a thing happened with quirky, half-smirking/half-serious indie-pop, one-woman “band” Hearts of Animals — I suspect it happened a while ago, maybe even when 2015’s Another Mutation came out, but I guess it didn’t really click for me until listening to Human Size. I like to think I’m pretty perceptive about stuff like this…
I was skeptical, it’s true. When I read the initial press about famed indie-rock band Superchunk’s latest release, What a Time to Be Alive, proclaiming it was the band’s best album ever, or at the very least, in more than 20 years, I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow — “yeah, right. Here we go…”
I’ve got a serious soft spot when it comes to funk — there was this whole phase in college back in the ’90s, plus some time spent combing bins at record stores and all that, yadda, yadda, and while I’ve generally shifted away from it in later years in terms of stuff I listen to regularly, that initial love still burns deep down in my heart…
Omotai, I’ve missed you. It feels like I just haven’t been listening to enough truly, truly heavy, head-kicking, ear-shattering music lately, probably not for nearly a year; hell, even the metal I’ve been listening to recently has been generally on the more melodic side of the spectrum. Beyond that, I’ve been on a fairly steady diet of synth-y pop, EDM, and ’70s throwback rock lately…
Damn. I’ve been thinking back and realized that it’s been two damn decades since I first heard Arthur Yoria play and sing — I think it was back when he was with late-’90s pop band Lavendula — which says something both about how old I feel these days and, much more importantly, how seasoned and accomplished a musician and songwriter Yoria is…
Well, damn. If you asked me to paint a picture of the quintessential band of modern-day, London-bred punks, I don’t think I could do much better than actual South Londoners Shame. They’re young, raw, and unapologetically in-your-face, with lyrics that both want a fight and to just say “ah, fuck off” at the same time…
I’ve put this off to the last minute, as I plan my yearly trip to Austin. Every year, I try to find my new favorite band at SXSW, and many years, I’m successful. In the past I’ve found acts like Temples, The Milk Carton Kids, Band of Skulls…
Let me be clear right here, right now: Sarah Shook’s voice ain’t for everybody. It’s not pretty, it’s not seductive, it’s not bright or cheery or sweet or any of that other stuff people normally go for when it comes to female vocalists in music, including in country music. When Shook sings, her vocals are rough around the edges…
Lately, I’ve been really, really slow about writing reviews of stuff I’ve received; I’m ashamed to admit it, I have to say, but it’s true. Sometimes, I’ve been so freaking behind that by the time I’m able to put on the headphones and listen to an album…
It’s been 12 years since singer/songwriter David Bazan has played under the band name Pedro The Lion. After a little over a decade as Pedro, Bazan split up the band to go solo, and since 2006, solo Bazan has made a bigger name for himself while also keeping his original devoted fanbase…
Metal — well, good metal, at least — is a delicate balancing act. That seems weird to say, really, given that it’s a musical genre built around heaviness, whether you’re talking about guitars or drums or even vocals, but it’s true. Going too far in any one direction can derail a band’s sound completely…
I am a big fan of Wolf Parade. As such, at this past weekend’s show, I was pleasantly surprised by the audience turn out — the crowd was large, warm, and loudly appreciative. White Oak Music Hall is a fantastic venue, making for a great-sounding, great-looking show in a great-sized room. Those few who came early were rewarded with fun NYC opener Charly Bliss…
Back in the chaos that was the latter half of 2017, our very own Marshall Forse Walker was able to get up to the WOMH and catch The Jesus & Mary Chain‘s triumphant return to Houston, alongside excellent rock dudes The Dig. No words to go with this one, just pictures — this is the first in a series of photos-only articles we’re calling “Live in Pictures”…
If you’re a fan of Texas-bred indie/emo, odds are pretty good that you’ve heard Matt Hammon, even if you don’t realize it. That’s the way it was for me, at least; I thought my initial introduction to the guy’s music…
While I’ve only heard Memphis-dwelling folksinger Julien Baker relatively recently, it hasn’t taken long for her to leave me stunned and amazed with my mouth wide open. I’m reluctant to use the “folksinger” tag, honestly, because it doesn’t really do Baker’s music justice…
Here at SCR, we’re fortunate to have worked with some truly talented photographers over the years, and at the top of that list are Jason Smith and Marshall Forse Walker, both of whom are wonderful guys and both of whom have shot a whole lot of pictures for us…
The relationship between sound and pictures is fascinating to me; it seems counterintuitive to think these two, seemingly disparate sensory pieces would fit together so tightly, would mesh together so well. And yet, they do…
