Screw that whole “bands get quieter and more mellow as they get older” thing; who the hell wants that? The Wheel Workers, for one, sound like they’ve actually gotten louder and angrier as they’ve matured, band-wise, and I’m here to tell you that yes, that’s a very good thing. See, back in 2013 the band released their stellar second album, Past to Present, which pretty much took any problems I might’ve had with the band’s earlier stuff and threw them, smiling, into a running garbage disposal…
Written on May 22, 2015 | Posted in
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Sometimes, even when I really, really like a band — like is the case with, say, Houston-dwelling emo purveyors Football, etc. — there’s just some little thing/person/whatever missing to shove the whole thing over the edge into “holy crap, this is amazing” territory. Going by Football, etc.’s new four-song EP, Disappear, it looks like that thing is badass producer J. Robbins. Okay, that’s not all that’s happening here…
Written on May 14, 2015 | Posted in
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Got a nice surprise in the inbox this week: the Pegstar folks have officially released their plans for their long-promised new venue, which they’re planning to have up and running early next year. The new place is going to be called White Oak Music Hall, a name that has pretty lofty aspirations and a nice historical tie both to the current Pegstar venue, Fitzgerald’s…
Written on May 14, 2015 | Posted in
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The mesmerizing, hypnotizing, beautiful Angel Olsen and her four-piece band came to Houston for a show at Fitzgerald’s a little while back, bringing with them the opening band, Lionlimb, who happened to be Ms. Olsen’s guitarist Stewart Bronaugh and drummer Josh Jaeger‘s band. Lionlimb were an easy-going, light surf-rock-meets-Pink Floyd affair…
Written on May 13, 2015 | Posted in
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This album is in my Top 5 for 2014. I’m giving it 5 stars not just because I love the album (I do), but because it is that most rare of albums these days: an actual masterpiece. John Bassett steps away from his band, KingBathmat, and puts the focus solely on himself. Although he is the singer, bass player, and songwriter for KingBathmat, the songs are written with a band environment in mind…
Written on May 13, 2015 | Posted in
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I have an admission to make: I yell at the TV every weekend. No, not during Fox and Friends (well, okay, I do that sometimes, too), but during Texas Music Scene, or rather, right at the beginning of Texas Music Scene…
Written on May 8, 2015 | Posted in
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As I’ve proclaimed a few times before in these pages, it’s no small thing to try to convey an emotion, a feeling, using music alone. With a vocalist standing out in front of the band, you can make things a lot more clear, declare your intentions more succinctly, and actually pull the audience along with you to where you want them to go emotionally. If the lyrics of a song are about someone dying, then odds are good…
Written on May 8, 2015 | Posted in
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Oh, how I love this band. {The Suffers} may be the ones getting all the press right now (and deservedly so), but my own personal Magic 8-Ball proclaims/hopes that {The Wheel Workers} are the next H-town band to surge upwards into the spotlight. They are simultaneously brilliant and down-to-earth, sincerely progressive and catchy as hell, that rare band that can incorporate thoughtful politics into music while keeping things fun and engaging. All of which explains why I’m so, so happy to see/hear new full-length Citizens coming down the pike…
Written on May 7, 2015 | Posted in
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Alright, friends and countrymen and everybody else, we’re back once again with another batch of writeups (possibly the last one before the actual thing starts) of all the awesome folks playing this year’s Madness on Main Street Music Festival tomorrow, Saturday, May 2nd. There will be 30 or so excellent bands…
Written on May 2, 2015 | Posted in
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And here we are, people, with the second bunch of writeups for this Saturday‘s (May 2nd, to be precise) Madness on Main Street Music Festival over in the Mid-Main ‘hood. Before I dive headlong into that, though, I wanted to quickly point out that you can (and probably should) get your tickets in advance…
Written on May 1, 2015 | Posted in
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Alright, so there’s a big, big pile of no-shit, truly-awesome stuff happening tonight — Friday, May 1st, that is. Before you make your evening plans & such, though, I wanted to point up one show in particular as being eminently worthy of consideration, I didn’t want to miss the boat. See, this evening the House of Blues plays host to H-town’s own {Second Lovers}, who’ve grown over the past few years now into one of my hands-down, absolute-favorite roots-rock bands…
Written on May 1, 2015 | Posted in
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Yes, yes, yes. It’s May, just starting to edge into the warmer months here in H-town, and that means it’s time once again for the ever-awesome Madness on Main Street Music Fest. Virtual high-five to both organizers Jason Smith and Phil “Bassman Pep” Peterson for pulling this thing together once again, damn near out of thin air — they’ve worked their asses off to put on one hell of a music festival…
Written on May 1, 2015 | Posted in
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