Band of Horses

Your 2013 Houston Record Store Day Rundown

Your financial situation be damned, Record Store Day 2013 is coming this Saturday, April 20, to drain your wallet of life and those little green pieces of paper. This Saturday your dance card should be full with all the major indie record stores in Houston and the surrounding areas offering up giv ... More >>

The Best of Coachella, Weekend One

Ed. Note: Rocks Off proudly presents to our readers coverage of Coachella's first weekend courtesy of our sister papers LA Weekly and OC Weekly. Karen O's Outfit Karen O's wardrobe on Friday night was bad-ass. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs front woman appeared on the main stage in a technicolor cape draped o ... More >>

Jazz Fest Scores With Willie, John Mayer, Frank Ocean, Fleetwood Mac, Patti Smith, etc.

Well, I never thought that I would have John Mayer and Patti Smith together in the same headline with Willie Nelson and Frank Ocean, but that's why I kinda love New Orleans Jazz Fest 2013, whose lineup was released earlier this morning. Rewind: A Texican in New Orleans: Lessons Learned from Jazz F ... More >>

Red Fang Brings the Heat Back to Houston on Sunday

Autumn temperatures may finally be creeping into Houston at last, but Portland's Red Fang promises to work up one last sweat in the city on Sunday when the shaggy rockers roll into Fitzgerald's. The band had too much fun hitting the road this summer to close the books on it just yet. Red Fang playe ... More >>

Last Night: Band of Horses at House of Blues

Band of Horses, Skating Polly House of Blues October 24, 2012 When this fall's highly-anticipated Railroad Revival Tour was scuttled a lot of hearts broke, but luckily one of the artists on that traveling bill, Band Of Horses, ended up booking a House Of Blues show instead. The band's previous pr ... More >>

The 5 Best Shows In Houston This Week: October 22-25

Rodriguez House of Blues, October 23 Had he not fallen victim to slow sales in the early '70s, Detroit-born rocker Rodriguez could have been one of the biggest acts of the decade. After releasing two sturdy, Dylanesque albums, 1970's Cold Fact and Coming From Reality the next year, Rodriguez left r ... More >>

10 More Things I'll Be Doing at ACL Festival This Weekend

That's right folks, it's ACL Music Festival time again in Texas, and Rocks Off will be flying to Austin on the private Rocks Off jet this weekend to cover the fest from Friday until the last notes of "Give It Away" at the end of the Red Hot Chili Peppers set on Sunday night. That's my way of telli ... More >>

Upcoming: Band of Horses, Devin the Dude, Keane, Shadows Fall, Etc.

The Abyss, PuraPharm, The Scars Heal In Time, Obscured by Echoes: Sat., Oct. 13, 8 p.m., $5/$8. Notsuoh, 314 Main, Houston. Amplified Heat: Fri., Oct. 19, 9 p.m., $10. Continental Club, 3700 Main, Houston. Band of Horses: Wed., Oct. 24, 8 p.m., $25.00-$30.00. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline, Houston ... More >>

UPDATED: Railroad Revival Tour With Willie, etc. Cancelled; Band of Horses Adds House of Blues Date

UPDATED (3:15 p.m.): According to Live Nation, Band of Horses has added a show October 24 at House of Blues. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon at livenation.com. The Railroad Revival tour, featuring Willie Nelson, Band of Horses, Jamey Johnson and actor John C. Reilly's band, has been canceled, a ... More >>

7 Cool & Cheap Weekenders: Bang Bangz, Praia Urbana, Greezy Wheels, Etc.

First up: Damn. According to Space City Rock (via Pegstar), the upcoming Guided by Voices show next Monday (Sept. 24) at Warehouse Live has been canceled. That would have been cool. Anyhow, if you're a fan of shimmery guitars and sad songs, get thee to Cactus Music this evening at 5 p.m. sharp, for ... More >>

Willie Nelson-Led Second Railroad Revival Tour to Stop In Old Town Spring

Last year the newborn Railroad Revival Tour made waves with Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Mumford & Sons on a six-show jaunt from California to Louisiana with a stop way out west in Marfa. The tour even spawned a concert film, Big Easy Express, that premiered at th ... More >>

10 Rom-Coms Even Guys Will Watch

Can you smell it? Either love is in the air or the Chick-fil-A has started using chicken-scented billboards. Yes, Valentine's Day is coming to give all men night sweats over what to do on the most romantic of the Hallmark holidays. As we were searching around for entertainment suggestions, we were t ... More >>

In Ten Years, Will Indie Be Remembered Like Nu-Metal?

​What exactly do you remember from the summer of 2002? Stop and think -- of the music on the radio, the CDs you were most excited for, who won the Grammy for Best Album, and so on. What exactly stands out from 10 years ago? If you find that your answer is "Not much," then you're probably l ... More >>

Friday Night: Mountain Goats at Fitzgerald's

Let us be clear from the very beginning -- this member of the Rocks Off Aftermath team isn't the most storied fan of The Mountain Goats. Though we'd heard of the legendary John Darnielle before, out first actual exposure to his music was in 2007 with Heretic Pride, and we were so struck by the power ... 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 >>

Band of Horses

What Is A Music Critic's Life Really Like?

​Walter Peck: Because I'm curious. I wanna know more about what you do here! Frankly, I've heard a lot of wild stories in the media and we want to assess any possibility of dangerous and possibly hazardous waste chemicals in your basement. - Ghostbusters Rocks Off can promise you we are not 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 >>

More Local Music News Than Fighting Navy SEALs

It's not every week that Arcade Fire returns to the suburbs whose ennui inspired a Grammy-winning album, but it is every week that we bring a brimming local music roundup for all of our Rocks Off readers. Without further ado, we present the latest installment of Magnolia City Mixtape. ​Hot of ... More >>

Kings Of Leon Return To Houston - Again - July 30

Groovehouse​The Followill boys from Tennessee, Kings Of Leon are coming back to Houston and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on July 30, with openers Band of Horses. The date marks the first Band of Horses stop in Houston in what looks to be forever. As for the Kings, this will be their t ... More >>

Top Five Songs About Horses

​Rocks Off's regular readers presumably know by now that we love few things more than offbeat anniversaries, and recently we came across one of the oddest yet. Thirty-two years ago Monday, on Feb. 28, 1979, the "actor" who played the original Mr. Ed in the 1960s TV show passed away. Yes, we're ... More >>

Music's Biggest Surprises Of 2010

Faith Silva​Editor's Pick: The renewed, and continuing, interest of local indie-rockers and hipsters (and people who are a long way from neither) in traditional honky-tonk as played by Robert Ellis & the Boys and as documented by a certain Lonesome Onry and Mean and myself this summer. Encoura ... More >>

Top 10 Worst Top 10 Lists Of 2010

​Now that's a headline, ladies and germs. It has the added benefit of being succinct as well. That's exactly what we're summing up here, the worst Top 10 lists our peers have written this year. Let's get started, as we've got a lot of ground to cover. 10. This One Not really, this is just t ... More >>

Katy Perry? For Album Of The Year? Seriously?

​Don't get Craig's Hlist wrong, we think that Katy Perry is extremely attractive. In fact, if we think about her long enough, it makes us want to cry and punch a wall. She's a buxom, bubbly, raven-haired pop star who dresses like she's expensive grandma candy. We even interviewed her last ye ... More >>

Top 10 Recent TV-Show Soundtracks

​A few choice adjectives come to mind when musing on bawdy Eastbound & Down character Kenny Powers. "Inspiring" is not one of them. However, as Rocks Off watched this week's season finale of the side-splitting HBO series, we were pleasantly surprised as we heard indie troubadour Kurt Vile's a ... More >>

Capital Steps

Dispatches from ACL 2010

ACL Day 3 Recap: Eagles, Norah Jones, Wayne Coyne's Diet

Ed. Note: Updated at 1:42 p.m. to include information on Don Henley's medical condition we received from Eagles manager Irving Azoff. Photos by Marco Torres​It's just a few hours after the Eagles left the stage at this year's Austin City Limits Festival, closing out the weekend. Rocks Off mad ... More >>

ACL Day 3 Recap: Devendra Banhart, Band Of Horses, Other Beardos

Photos by Marco Torres​Aftermath doesn't know the bargain Austin City Limits promoter C3 Presents gets by booking both Lollapalooza and ACL, but to this dog-tired participant, this year's Zilker Park festivities ended up feeling less Austin weird and more something-something. Not that it's a ... More >>

ACL: What Could Possibly Be Worse Than Last Year's Mudbath?

Mark C. AustinCan't WAIT to go back!​In exactly one week, Rocks Off will be broadcasting live from the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin's Zilker Park. This will be our fourth spin around the grounds since 2007, and every year we swear we won't fall in love with a bartender in the me ... More >>

ACL Fest Releases Schedule; Adds Black Lips, Silversun Pickups

black-lips.com via FlickrBrand-new ACL 2010 adds The Black Lips​The Austin City Limits Music Festival released the schedule grid for this year's gathering in Zilker Park Oct. 7-9. The festival also added several bands, including Atlanta garage-punks (and recovering exhibitionists) the Black Li ... More >>

Last Night: Thrice At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Thrice, Kevin Devine & the Goddamn Band Warehouse Live July 6, 2010 Walking up to Warehouse Live for Thrice Tuesday night, Aftermath witnessed one of the most interesting spectacles we've ever seen outside of a venue. As we got there, we heard a gentleman - and we use ... More >>

Buxton, Small Sounds

2010 ACL Line-Up Goes Live And (Early) By Surprise

The line-up for the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival went live at the fest's website at midnight this morning while the rest of the world was snoozing. Luckily we are up and stirring to bring it to you. No Pavement and no Soundgarden, but we do have the Strokes down. More commentary coming in ... More >>

Acts We Think - OK, Hope - Are Playing ACL Fest This Year

​By this time Tuesday, we will all know who is playing the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October. Damn, it seems like we have speculating about the line-up since, well, we got the last of the "Dillo Dirt" out the middle of our toes after last year's muddy and rainy ACL weekend. Tuesday brig ... More >>

Minus the Bear

SXSW Aftermath: Alex Chilton Haunts A Festival Full Of His Musical Children

Dan OkoThe line for the Black Keys outside the Mohawk Saturday afternoon... we have no idea about the pinata truck, either​ After the mega-shows last SXSW with Metallica and Kanye West, the 2010 version of SXSW launched struck your humble badgeholder as busier than last year, just on a smaller ... More >>

Still Not Sold On SXSW? How About Smokey Robinson, High On Fire, She & Him, Band Of Horses, Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick, Anya Marina, Black Angels, Major Lazer...

Today the organizers of the SXSW Music Festival announced their showcase schedule for the music portion of the industry fest starting on March 17. This is the news Rocks Off has been looking for, so let's get it on. We are now one month away from Sixth Street and one of the world's biggest conglome ... More >>

Houston 2020: The Future Is Unwritten

But hey, that's not stopping Noise.

Love and Theft

The decade with no name left behind plenty of memorable music.

Season of the Witch

U2's awe-inspiring Reliant Stadium show prompts a search for the unknown — and unknowable — in music.

Ghosts of Washington Avenue

Noise goes whistling through the scenester artery's music venue graveyard.

Top Ten Americana Albums of 2008

Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn't feel right stuck in the category. Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen Trapper's fantastic ... More >>

The Best of ACL Fest

Two Mediocre Adaptations: How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Two movies by directors who really should have known better

Tonight: Donkeys and Listenlisten at Rudyard's

A Classic-Rock-Free Morning

Has ACL Festival Jumped the Shark?

Independence Day

What's indie rock? Who cares? Here's ten great CDs that will blow you away, no matter your definition

Band of Horses

Saturday, June 24, at Walter's on Washington, 4215 Washington Avenue, 713-862-2513

Scott Faingold Listens to Everything

And comes up with a random smattering of tortured musings