Against Me!

Fuck-off Friday: It’s Too Hot to Work Anyway

Last Night: Against Me! at the Meridian

I Can’t Stand the Rain...

Has ACL Festival Jumped the Shark?

Dispatch From the VIP Grove

Against Me! at ACL Fest

Venue Shuffle: Rise Against, Tek9 Cancel; Alkaline Trio, Thrice Moved to House of Blues

Aftermath: The Revival Tour at Walter's on Washington

Musicians Don't Have W. to Kick Around Anymore... So Now What?

Now that Lil' Bush has shuffled off the Presidential coil - or will in a couple of hours, anyway - and heads off into some Dallas burg to write his memoirs and reflect on his two wild and strange terms as Commander in Chief, it seems that the writers of so many protest songs can call off their guns ... More >>

Turkey Trot

Artists choose the songs that rocked their 2008 worlds

The Best of ACL Fest

Artists choose the songs that rocked their 2008 worlds

We're All Gonna Die

So you might as well rock out with XBXRX

Our Favorite Albums of 2007

Panning for gold in an avalanche of 2007 releases

Against Me!

New Wave

Protest Songs for George W.

That's my Bush!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Wack's Very Special Holiday Music Guide

Rockin' Renewal

The imminent launch of new venue Warehouse Live makes it official: Downtown is now Houston's live music hot spot

Playbill

The imminent launch of new venue Warehouse Live makes it official: Downtown is now Houston's live music hot spot

Various Artists

Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 (Fat Wreck Chords)

Long Shot

Are the odds against the Bellamy Brothers' cheesy country-pop?

Aftermath: Fake Problems and Born Anchor at Walter's on Washington

Photos by Craig Hlavaty On a Monday night, all you can really look forward to is a decent evening of lackluster television and maybe some leftover barbecue from the weekend's flame-kissed debauchery. But last night at Walter's was the exact anecdote for a "case of da Mondays" in so many ways. In rec ... More >>

Tonight: Florida Indie Beach Boys Surfer Blood Sail Into Mango's

​Florida-based indie kids Surfer Blood pull into Mango's tonight, touring ahead of their upcoming Astro Coast LP. The band was recently anointed by Rolling Stone's online feature "Hype Monitor" as "bright and booming and hooky as FM radio in the late '70s." Rocks Off can hear traces of early "Blue ... More >>

O Pioneers!!! Roll Bus While On Tour in California

​We got word early this afternoon through Punknews.org and our Twitter page that local indie-punkers O Pioneers!!! got into a van accident yesterday. The van rolled a few times on Interstate 80, which runs through the northern half of the US. No life-threatening or serious injuries were repo ... More >>

Previewing the Year Ahead In Local Releases

​ 2010 looks like it's going to be a banner year for music in general. We can look forward to a new Arcade Fire opus, another Spoon outing, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and a Beach House record that is already getting Animal Collective-like buzz. Rocks Off is chomping a ... More >>

Leatherface

​ 2010 looks like it's going to be a banner year for music in general. We can look forward to a new Arcade Fire opus, another Spoon outing, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and a Beach House record that is already getting Animal Collective-like buzz. Rocks Off is chomping a ... More >>

Friday: The (Very Wet) Vans Warped Tour At Sam Houston Race Park

Photos by Marc BrubakerTyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects​Vans Warped Tour Sam Houston Race Park July 2, 2010 As they always have, teenagers get a bad rap these days. In our minds, any kid who was willing to brave the dirty side of Hurricane Alex on Friday afternoon to see their favorit ... More >>

Last Night: Silversun Pickups And Against Me! At Warehouse Live

Photos by Faith SilvaAgainst Me!​Silversun Pickups, Against Me! Warehouse Live July 20, 2010 Against Me! opening up for Silversun Pickups would be like the Replacements opening up for My Bloody Valentine in 1991. Except that Against Me! isn't on the wane of their career and Silversun has way ... More >>

Adios Houstonist, Hello H-Town Rock

Keep Houston Rich posts this video from Chingo Bling and Fade Dogg's new collaboration, "Let Me Know". The song is featured on Chingo's new mixtape, Stuntin 4 The Summer. As you well know, the HMPAs are coming up in the next few weeks, but you can find out what Texas bands from north of the Sam H ... More >>

Springsteen 2.0: Can Baby Bosses Cruise The Backstreets?

Daniel Kramer​This fall, Houstonians salivating for another touring run by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band don't have to search to hard to find bands heavily influenced by the man's sound and work ethic. Even though Springsteen and his merry band of musicians may be cooling their road ... More >>

Upcoming: Avett Brothers, David Allan Coe, Moody Blues, Etc.

​Adema: Wed., Jan. 12. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Against Me!, Cheap Girls, Fences: Tue., Jan. 25. Warehouse Live. Andy Bell (DJ Set): Sat., Jan. 15. Numbers. Avett Brothers: Thu., April 14. Verizon Wireless Theater. Big Freedia: Fri., Feb. 11. Fitzgerald's. Brent Nettles & The Texas Tea Part ... More >>

Guns N' Roses, Rolling Stones, Prince Coming In 2011?

Sind Axl und Slash wieder Freunde geworden?​Rocks Off is in the concert business for all intents and purposes. We scour Pollstar and other Web sites and almost hourly looking for new shows and tours to tell you about around the clock. In the span of writing this introduction we just listed Luc ... More >>

Music's Biggest Disappointments Of 2010

​Editor's Pick: I'm tempted to say myself on this one. I just didn't connect to a lot of music this year. Especially new music, most of which I was either indifferent to or outright loathed. I'm not really the navel-gazing type, though, so I'll just chalk it up to an off year and move on. I do ... More >>

We Hold Britney Spears Against Us For Four Minutes

Bellamy Bros. may hold new single against her a good deal longer... Jive Records​Britney Spears' new single, "Hold It Against Me," leaked yesterday and was officially released earlier today. As of this moment, it's blowing up the charts at iTunes and radio. The song sounds as if she walked ou ... More >>

Against Me!

Bellamy Bros. may hold new single against her a good deal longer... Jive Records​Britney Spears' new single, "Hold It Against Me," leaked yesterday and was officially released earlier today. As of this moment, it's blowing up the charts at iTunes and radio. The song sounds as if she walked ou ... More >>

Fake Problems

Bellamy Bros. may hold new single against her a good deal longer... Jive Records​Britney Spears' new single, "Hold It Against Me," leaked yesterday and was officially released earlier today. As of this moment, it's blowing up the charts at iTunes and radio. The song sounds as if she walked ou ... More >>

Out Today: Other Things Besides Born This Way... Seriously

​This past weekend was magical, what with Rocks Off finally getting to see Foo Fighters play songs from Wasting Light and all. You may remember that we have been wanking over Light since it came out in April, but it's really good. Best rock album of the year? Maybe, unless Jack White or Josh H ... More >>

The 25 Most Influential Bands Of The '90s

Trent Reznor, you know, before the Oscar and all the weightlifting. ​As a music writer, we are asked constantly to compare the new with the old, to decipher the periphery where modern bands' influences come from to understand where we are going and what we are seeing. We can hear everything Ke ... More >>

Saturday: Vans Warped Tour At Sam Houston Race Park

Photos by Matthew KeeverSimple Plan​Vans Warped Tour The Showgrounds at Sam Houston Race Park June 25, 2011 As we made our way into the barren, asphalt-covered desert that was Warped Tour 2011, Aftermath was stopped by a young woman standing just outside the gates. "If I give you my number, ... More >>

Full Collapse: The Best Pop-Punk & Emo Albums Of 2002

​Monday, Taking Back Sunday will be at House of Blues with Thursday, making that evening an orgasm of 2002 nostalgia for a few hundred older indie folks here in Houston who were weaned on TBS' Tell All Your Friends and Thursday's Full Collapse. We were a part of the latter group, but we got in ... More >>

Happy Birthday Butch Vig: A Quick Discography

Butch Vig making the donuts.​Today is Butch Vig's 55th birthday. The acclaimed record producer and sometime musician has been at the helm of some of the best grunge and indie records of the past 25 years, and his production style has made him one of the most sought-after sound architects in t ... More >>

2 Become 1: Musical Match-Ups We'd Like To See

​Kanye "Hitler" West and Jay-Z released their (overused music writer word alert) epic Watch the Throne album this week, to mostly great reviews. This fall the first fruits from the recently announced Lou Reed/Metallica collaboration should be on the store shelves, which still sorta weirds us o ... More >>

Lord of the Hipsters

Whatever mashup-pioneering DJ Diplo decides to spin, it's a guaranteed party.

BestFest Adds Los Skarnales, The Last Place You Look, Umbrella Man & Honky Tonk Blood Trio

Half-price GA passes = today's "Deal of the Day" GroovehousePachuco Boogie: Los Skarnales' Nestor Serrano (left) and Felipe Galvan at the 2011 Houston International Festival​The first Best of Houston® BestFest is shaping up nicely. Today it gives Rocks Off great pleasure to announce four mo ... More >>

One More For BestFest: Hell City Kings

Jim BrickerHCK's Josh Wolf guts it out at the 2010 HPMA showcase.​The Houston Press Best of Houston® BestFest is also proud to welcome Hell City Kings into the mix on Saturday afternoon. The band, led by Houston punk Zelig Josh Wolf, was nominated for a Best Song Houston Press Music Award la ... More >>

BestFest Finalizes Lineup, Releases Schedule

​As much as Rocks Off has been talking about it, planning it, and writing about it these past two months or so, it doesn't seem possible that our first-ever Best of Houston® BestFest is only 10 short days away. By the time we finish coughing up all the dust from our trip to the no-smoking Aus ... More >>

BestFest Single-Day Passes Now On Sale For $25

Marco TorresBun B: As trill as it gets.​You asked for it, you got it. Like KISS. Now, right now, you can buy single-day passes for this weekend's Best of Houston® BestFest on the festival's Web site, bestfesthouston.com. If the virtual ticket window isn't quite ready, give it a minute or to ... More >>

BestFest: Slim Thug's Sweet Tooth, Against Me! Destroys, Bun B Trills

Photos by Marc BrubakerSlim Thug​Slim Thug is in front of me eating a popsicle right now. That sums up the second half of my day pretty well. There was skanking at Los Skarnales - both kinds - and a surprise Baby Bash mini-set before Slim Thug came onstage. I forgot how much "Suga Suga" remind ... More >>

BestFest: Bun B, Rap God; Toadies Close Out With A Shred

Photos by Marc BrubakerYou know who this is.​It's hard to write about Bun B objectively anymore. Really, it is. He has ascended to where ever it is that people who are hard to write about objectively ascend to. It feels like, if he just did it with conviction, he could walk out on stage, take ... More >>

This Just In: SXSW Announces First Round Of 2012 Showcasing Bands, Including Fat Tony and Something Fierce

Photo By Marco TorresFat Tony at a day show at SXSW '11​Sweet lord, it's not even Thanksgiving yet and South By Southwest is making us excited for March in Austin already. Today the industry festival announced a few bands coming to the capitol city next year, and a few Houston names and Rocks ... More >>