With Reports From the Threshold of Death, Junius prove themselves to be quite a strange, intriguing beast of a band. Right from the pseudo-Gregorian chanting at the start of “Betray The Grave,” which rapidly shifts over into thundering guitars and distant, echoey vocals…
Everybody, whether they’re interested in him or not, recognizes the name of Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ signature creation: Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. But except for a few hardcore fans, the public at large is less well-acquainted with his other great creation…
Some albums — the best ones, generally — have personalities, just like people. Even though they may swing wildly between different styles, they’re tied together somehow by this overarching thread that runs throughout. They step beyond, “hey, this isn’t bad,” to pull you along with them on their emotional journey, wherever it happens to lead…
This one, I have to admit, has taken some time to get under my skin. After 2009’s Regular Dreams, I was psyched to see where swooning, post-New Wave pop outfit The Fox Derby might be headed next, hoping they’d build on the sharp-edged…
Laura Gibson’s latest album, La Grande, is wonderfully rural-sounding, and not in a big belt buckle kind of way. Rather, it’s an album that evokes back roads and wooded hideaways and distant campfires, with the music drifting through the trees…
Unlike a lot of albums I’ve heard lately, the Southern Backtones’ La Vie En Noir doesn’t barrel into the room with a crash, grabbing hold of you and forcing you to listen. Rather, they’re like a sneakily low-key band that’s already there, already playing…
The Maybe Laser is not an easily quantifiable album, and this is a very good thing. Lead vocalist Jef “With One F” and his beat-making cohort Gorilla Bill appear to be truly disturbed, maladjusted, talented psychopaths…
The first time I listened to Ume’s most recent full-length, Phantoms, I was driving through a lightning storm, with big, bulging raindrops smacking the windshield while bright sparks danced across the sky faster than my eyes could follow…
Holy Fiction is a rare kind of band — they’ve got influences, to be sure, but at the end of the day, they sound like nobody but themselves. They’re the sort of band other bands get compared to; they’ve managed to craft a sound that rides the line…
There’s an incredible feeling of serenity throughout Nothing Here Seems Strange, the latest full-length from La Porte heroes Buxton. It’s this weird calmness, a kind of resignation, almost, that things are changing and there’s nothing that can be done about it…
According to Q, if you break down a narrative you will find at its heart seven essential conflicts: man against man; man against nature; man against himself; man against God; man against Society; man and woman; and man caught in the middle. Any one of these is more than enough grist for a storyteller’s mill…
Okay, so it makes perfect sense when you know the history. Back in 2009, now-icons Kings of Leon started up their own label, Serpents & Snakes, with the intention of releasing music by bands they themselves liked and wanted to give more exposure…
First, we set the stage. Pina Bausch was one of the giants of, not just German dance, but modern dance as a whole, helping to usher in the wave of dance theater — Tanztheater — into the modern dance oeuvre since the 1970s. Combining acting with intricate set design, score, and other hallmarks…
It’s like they never left the club. It may’ve been more than a decade since died-and-resurrected punks Latch Key Kids last released any new music, but listening to the new Democracy: The Art of Maintaining a State of Fear EP…
I’ll say it straight out: this is a truly remarkable album. I’ll admit that when I first listened to Quiet Company’s We Are All Where We Belong, I didn’t have particularly high hopes — at first glance, it seemed like yet another disc’s worth of well-crafted, shiny-sweet indie-pop, good but in no way unique…
While Jealous Creatures are not going to surprise anyone with a brand-new unique sound, they write songs that can sit up on the shelf next to some of the biggest and best classic rock songwriters. The band consists of singer/rhythm guitarist Sarah Hirsch…
Sometimes, the time and care you put into something shows right through its skin. And when that happens, it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. When I put on Finnegan’s five-years-in-the-making debut album, What Happened To Jacqueline?, that’s exactly how it feels…
Back when I was first introduced to hardcore, one of the most crucial elements of the scene — one of the things that most set it apart from what felt like a big, muddy puddle of emotionless, purposeless rock or punk — was the focus on making things better…
There’s a great, great, unassuming warmth and charm to Harts of Oak’s recent EP Birds & Bees; it’s almost like a kind of innocence, really, where the band thinks they’re okay but aren’t really sure beyond that…
There is nothing new under the sun. The circular, self-consuming nature of musical inspiration has renewed the heavy synths, minimalistic vocals, and ornately layered sound of the early ’80s. Despite a myriad of names (neo-wave, chillwave, nu-gaze, etc.)…
It should go without saying that no adaptation is going to please everyone; it’s impossible to encompass all the nuances of one medium across the transition to another. Which makes comparisons not exactly a waste of time but certainly counterproductive…
I bought a used Nikon D80 in the summer of 2010 and was instantly discouraged by my photos. It took a lot of reading, looking at others’ photos, adjusting my camera, buying new lenses (most of these are taken with a 35mm f/1.8), and messing around to finally get in a photography groove…
The Manichean are one of Houston’s bands on the rise. They first got onto my radar a few years ago, when I went and saw them at one of those hodgepodge showcases The Meridian was known for, and their brand of drama-rock was an instant success to me…
I can’t believe psychedelic noise-rock band Pterodactyl are already on their third release, and I’m only just now giving them a try. The Brooklyn-based trio recently released said third album, Spills Out, in November…
When I stumbled across post-emo rockers Adelaine a year or so ago, the band almost sounded too good to be true, honestly. I mean, c’mon; how could I not like a band that melds melodic-yet-heavy, very emo-influenced guitar rock…
The Dead Revolt have quickly evolved into my favorite Houston band. They take cues from so many of my all-time favorite bands — Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Yes, and At The Drive-In, to name a few. And they do it all with just three extremely talented individuals…
Despite an influx of New Wave-inspired dance-pop, indie-rock continues to fight for relevance as Maritime releases its fourth album, Human Hearts. For those unfamiliar with the band, Maritime was formed from the ashes…
On Saturday, October 29th, Halloween came early this year at legendary Fitzgerald’s. For, seemingly from the bowels of hell itself, up came The Age Of Hell Tour. For the night, this included four notable bands…
I’m humble enough to admit that while I am many things, sadly, “timely” isn’t always one of ’em. There’ve been a few times in recent years when kindly folks have handed me the fruits of their hard work and talent, and I’ve dropped the ball…
I have seen The Wheel Workers three times in the past year. They are relatively neglected by the Houston music media, but hopefully I can begin to change that. There’s something about them that screams, “we should be on tour opening for The Decemberists”…
It’s extremely difficult to make music that’s genuinely, truly scary. In fact, I’d postulate that it’s harder to make frightening, menacing music that’s effective and well-done than it is to make, say, insanely catchy, cheery pop music…
With H.C.K., garage-y, grimy, facepunching “deathpunk” gang the Hell City Kings — whose name I freaking love, by the way — have definitely found where they need to be. I was a bit underwhelmed by the band’s previous full-length…
The whole practice-makes-perfect adage isn’t always true, at least not when it comes to music. There are plenty of bands out there that come out of the gate, guns blazing and with fire in their eyes, and then after they’ve made their name somewhat…
My first interview subjects are Kenny Hopkins and Steve Wells from the up-and-coming Houston indie/psychedelic rock band Featherface. Featherface are everything a young Houston indie-rock band should be…
After making my way a handful of times through Gringo Star’s latest hazy, earthy, rambling full-length, Count Yer Lucky Stars, I was struck by the way in which the band grabs hold of both rough-edged ’60s pop and psychedelia…
For most of the band’s debut EP, You’re Gonna Get Me, it feels like A Sundae Drive just rolls hazily along, serene smiles across the band members’ faces as the music unwinds itself to whatever…
Some days, you just need to forget; well, I do, at least. Lately I’ve been watching the economy and our political arena go batshit crazy almost simultaneously, while keeping a constant eye on the borrowed-from-Hell temperatures…
With Walls, Brisbane duo An Horse hit all the absolutely-right drone-rock notes, barreling along purposefully and intently through a full pile of awesomely catchy, fast-strummed indie-rock tunes…
For some, hip-hop excellence still begins with geographical location, which is then solidified by earning honors like “XXL Freshman” or “Jay-Z co-signee.” So what are we to make of Wichita, Kansas, hip-hop? The words barely make sense when compared to more iconic Kansas-centric phrases like “Kansas barbeque”…
Late, late, late on this one, as always. The Wild Moccasins have been steadily been making a name for themselves for quite a while now, and they just keep getting better and better as they go…
