Bad Brains

Moon Tower Inn Reopens After 15 Months, Ragged Edges Still Intact

The T-shirt I woke up in on Sunday morning came from Moon Tower Inn, but not in typical fashion. This isn't one of their "Come and Take It" or "UGHDK" shirts. The tattered sleeveless Misfits shirt once belonged to former Moon Tower bartender Bryan Jackson. He and I were so fond of each others' shirt ... More >>

The 30 Best Texas Albums

Ranking the 30 best Texas albums of the past 30 years seemed like an impossible task. We did it anyway.

The Rocks Off 100: Willow Villarreal, Hatetank Maniac

If you are under 30 in Houston and grew up going to punk or hardcore shows off Washington Avenue -- when it was still scary for the right reasons -- you were probably there because Willow Villarreal of Hatetank Productions booked the gig. His booking and promoting work helped bring tons of nationa ... More >>

Top 5 Hardcore Bands That Should Make New Music

Last month, Bad Brains announced they would be releasing a new album, Into the Future, in November, their first since 2007's Build a Nation. Five years is a long time between albums, but for aging punk rockers, it's just about the standard. Some seem to take even longer. What is it that's so hard ab ... More >>

Hyro Da Chameleon

Houston’s Hyro Da Hero rhymes with a side of hardcore punk.

New Album GEN Makes B L A C K I E a Capital-A Artist

GEN is the name of B L A C K I E's newest album, a disc which is by far one of the most artistically groundbreaking and emotionally raw releases to come from anyone in any art medium this year in Houston. GEN doesn't prove that B L A C K I E is gifted; no, he did that a long time ago with hundreds ... More >>

Missed Connections: 5 Summer Fest Weekend Team-Ups We'd Like To See

In terms of pure variety, the weekend of June 1-3 may be the most stacked weekend of music Houston will see this year, and that's not just because of Summer Fest. In addition to the wide variety of acts playing Eleanor Tinsley Park there's the regular weekend mass of shows taking place across the ci ... More >>

Know Your Subgenre: The Bros(tep)

Photo by Matthew KeeverThe Doom That Came To Dubstep?​Subgenre: Brostep Parent Genre: Dubstep Imagine that you're a genre of music. You've been on the underground for a few years taking the sounds of your parents and evolving in to something new. For a long time few noticed but the last fe ... More >>

Punk Rock's 10 Most Potent Women

David EnsmingerExene Cervenka at Cactus Music​Women are the resilient backbone of punk, providing creative DNA for the movement since the "zero hour," including Houston's own MyDolls and members of AK-47 and Bevatron, among others. Up 'n' comers like Vivian Pikkles keep the faith as Zipperneck ... More >>

SXSW: The Best Things Come In Small Packages

Brittanie SheyThe Vandelles​If we'd been playing SXSW bingo yesterday, Rocks Off would have scored multiple squares for animal hats and "more badges than clothing." We spied a guy in a Borat swimsuit (sooo 2007, brah) and had the pleasure/pain of riding our bike behind Leslie Cochran wannabe w ... More >>

Music's Top Five Hottest Trends For 2011

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Every year-end Rocks Off prognosticates the likeliest trends in music for the upcoming year. So far, we've got a 100 percent success rate, although since the FBI made us take down all of our previous predictions, we have no way to prove it. So you'll j ... More >>

The Top WTF Moments Of The Year

Editor's Pick: WTF doesn't have to mean "bad," you know. About a week ago - a week exactly, as a matter of fact - En Vogue's "Free Your Mind" came on the PA at Fitzgerald's. I have been in a musical fog for a few months, where nothing was really connecting, but this song snapped me right out of it ... More >>

Haunted

Its first time out, GhoulsFest had everything going for it...except people.

GhoulsFest: A Haunted Festival In More Ways Than One

Marco TorresEveryday People: Macy Gray at GhoulsFest​ For lots more photos from Saturday's festival, see our slideshow here. GhoulsFest had everything going for it Saturday except one rather important detail: People. It felt... well, haunted. Normally, that would be an excellent thing to sa ... More >>

GhoulsFest: Everything You Need To Know

Daniel Johnston fuels up.​For the record, Rocks Off is well aware there is more to GhoulsFest than Black Congress not playing the ten-hour festival at Tom Bass Park tomorrow. A lot more. We also wish BC nothing but the best opening for New Orleans Sabbathites Eyehategod at Walter's tonight and ... More >>

Cats with a Knack

D.C.'s Bad Brains may not have invented hardcore punk, but they sure perfected it.

Black Congress Storms Out Of Ghoulsfest

​Earlier today, Black Congress said that the band would not be performing as previously scheduled at Ghoulsfest, Houston's newest music festival taking place at Pearland's Tom Bass Park next Saturday and featuring Bad Brains, Macy Gray and many local acts. The band announced its departure from ... More >>

Vanilla Ice And 11 Other Artists Dallas Can Keep

​Tomorrow night at 2016 Mainstage, Houston gets to relive its (our?) dark white-rap past when Dallas native Vanilla Ice hits the stage at the venue formerly known Sammy's On Main. Yes, that Vanilla Ice, from our haughty neighbors to the north who can do no wrong in the eyes of Texas Monthly. ... More >>

Handsomebeast Loves The Funk, Promises You'll Get Wet

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. handsomebeast.bandcamp.comR ... More >>

Devo, MGMT, Mastodon, Devin, Black Congress Head Fun Fun Fun Lineup

GroovehouseMGMT at House of Blues in June​The official lineup for this year's Fun Fun Fun Fest, set for November 5-7 at Waterloo Park in the heart of downtown Austin, was released moments ago. In terms of firepower, this year's Fun Fun Fun roster arguably brings the festival within striking di ... More >>

Upcoming: D.R.I., Neon Indian, LCD Soundsystem, Texas Tornados, Etc.

​The American Heist, Hell City Kings, Blackmarket Syndicate, All At Sea: Sat., Sept. 4. Walter's on Washington. Atlanta Rhythm Section: Sun., Nov. 14. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. Best Coast: Sat., Nov. 6. Fitzgerald's. Blitzen Trapper: Tue., Oct. 12. House of Blues. Bring Me The Horizon, Au ... More >>

Inside GhoulsFest, Houston's Newest Music Festival

​This weekend the first annual GhoulsFest was announced for October 30 out at Tom Bass Park in Pearland. Things like this usually get telegraphed in a big way from bands leaking things out on Facebook and the like, but not this time. The event is thankfully set for one of the cooler parts of ... More >>

Road Dogs

LP on the way, Houston's American Fangs stay sharp through constant touring.

Inquiring Minds: Henry Rollins Has A Lot To Say. Surprised?

​Since his debut in 1981 as Black Flag's fourth, last and best lead singer, Henry Rollins has been the emissary of intelligent hardcore punk rock and its accompanying ideals. Through his five-year history with the band, from the LPs Damaged to In My Head, he brought an animalistic, poetic spirit t ... More >>

One to Grow On

What we'd like to see happen in Houston music this year.

Tonight: Houston Filmmaker Raymond Gale's Electric Purgatory at Domy Books

Electric Purgatory screened almost two years ago at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, but Rocks Off still hasn't seen Houston director Raymond Gayle's film about the plight of the black rocker. We're gonna miss the next screening too - tonight at Domy Books - due to Thanksgiving travel, but we are ... More >>

Aftermath: Fun Fun Fun Fest In Austin Day 1 - Death, Young Widows, Melt Banana, The Sword, Jesus Lizard

Photos by Marc Brubaker/ Click here for a slideshowDeath, reborn​This year's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin was the exact thing Aftermath needed in the midst of his fall concert schedule, even though the last day was marred by mud and constant rain. But after last month's dillo-dirtied Austin City Lim ... More >>

Rocks Off's Picks for This Weekend's Fun Fun Fun Festival

You can think of this weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin as the indie, metal, and hip-hop little brother of the more staid Austin City Limits Music Festival. The fourth edition of the two-day event held in Waterloo Park in Austin starts tomorrow afternoon. Per our stated life path, Rocks Off will ... More >>

Dear Sy~3nc3

Tonight: MDC at Walter's on Washington

Early 80's hardcore punk would have been a tad empty without Austin's Millions Of Dead Cops (or MDC for short). Singer Dave Dictor was one of the first sexually ambigious - as outlined on "America's So Straight," from the band's 1982 debut Millions of Dead Cops - singers among the decidedly mach ... More >>

Lil Wayne, Live In Living Color

After all the hype and air-guitar awards-show appearances, Lil Wayne's much-anticipated debut as a full-on rock performer, "Prom Queen," has finally leaked. This will be above-the-fold news on whatever content-aggregator supplies your RSS fix, but only because for the music business right ... More >>

Aftermath: Scott Weiland at Warehouse Live

Photos by Mark C. Austin There has to be an unspoken rule from now on that solo albums from the lead singers of big rock bands should be studio-only affairs. These are meant to fulfill record-company contracts, and should never be passed off as an extra insight into the artistic machinations of ... More >>

Aftermath: TV on the Radio at House of Blues

Grand Theft Auto X: The Screwston Chronicles

Know Your Idols

Drenched in Blog: Hall of Fame Nominations a Big Cleveland Steamer

Houston Rap: Kicked to the Curb?

Dub Trio

Dub Trio performs Thursday, March 8, at Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, 713-225-5483.

311, with Unwritten Law and Papa Roach

Friday, September 9, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands, 281-363-3300.

Warped Minds

A day at punk rock's biggest summer tour takes more than just stamina

Family Feud

Hip-hop turns 25, and the battle lines are drawn

Afro-punk: The Rock n Roll Nigger Experience

Sunday, December 14

Master Blaster

Cody ChesnuTT sees rock and roll, and he wants to repaint it black

Playbill

Soul Brains (né Bad Brains)

Fringe Dwellers

Straightfaced's hardcore sound and message practically guarantee it a spot in the underground

Dude Raunch

All-girl quartet Kittie has more balls than the rest of Ozzfest 2000

Children of the Korn

Conference Kudos and Crud

Getting a Grip

Live Shots