Chris Ryan

Last Night: Mission of Burma at Fitzgerald's

Mission of Burma, The Gary, Black Congress Fitzgerald's September 13, 2012 In a day and age when so many of the great groups from yesteryear seem to be reuniting solely for a paycheck, it's refreshing to see a band treat its own reformation as a chance to make up for lost time. After influencing m ... More >>

Roky Moon & BOLT's Mike Hardin Speaks Out On The Band's Breakup

Monday afternoon, Houston music fans discovered that Roky Moon & BOLT! were breaking up this coming summer after five more shows, ending a three-year reign as one of the most party-ready and beloved bands in town. Surely one of the most popular ones here at Rocks Off, and the most fun to cover. Mi ... More >>

Dig This Vol. V: With Hollywood Floss & Born Again Virgins

​The current volume of local music is staggering. New Houston bands are born daily, and all too often pass away just as quickly. Rocks Off wants to help you (and ourselves) keep up. Dig This is back with another handful of local acts for your perusal. On the table today are musical innovators ... More >>

Arcade Fire Tickets On Sale Next Friday

​We'll lead off this week's Magnolia City Mixtape with, well, the headline. It's 10 a.m. next Friday (March 4) at livenation.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000. In other late-breaking concert news, Bob Seger hits Toyota Center April 30. Tickets for that one go on sale next Saturday. Our soundt ... More >>

Friday Night: FPH New Year's Cataclysm At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Marc BrubakerWild Moccasins​Free Press Houston New Year's Cataclysm Fitzgerald's December 31, 2010 See more photos from the Free Press's New Year's bash in our slideshow. Aftermath rang in 2011 at Fitzgerald's Friday night, bathing in Houston music, liquor and a mass of hearty reve ... More >>

Houston Music's People Of The Year

Craig Hlavaty​Editor's Pick: Grandfather Child. It was a good year for the blues all around - the Black Keys' well-deserved radio breakthrough with Brothers; Lightnin' Hopkins' long-overdue historical marker in Third Ward - but Lucas Gorham's crew is a razor-sharp reminder that the best blues ... More >>

The Mink Celebrates Five-Year Anniversary With Young Girls

​Goodness, it's been a while since our last MCM update, but we're back. Rocks Off is scouring the Internet for every tidbit of Houston music news we can find, and reporting it all back every Friday. If you'd like to facilitate our hunt, feel free to drop a line to marc [dot] brubaker [at] gmai ... More >>

Our Readers Go Loco for Zelko Bistro.

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 >>

Catching Up With Sharks & Sailors

Photos by John Van/ myspace.com/sharksandsailors​ Sharks and Sailors last played in Houston in the summer of 2008, riding high on its second release, Builds Brand New, and the resulting accolades. The band--bassist/vocalist Melissa Lonchambon, guitarist/vocalist Michael Rollin, and drummer Phillip ... More >>

sIngs' Brett Taylor: One Musician, Two Songs, Same Name... He Makes The Call

​ Saturday night at Mango's, sIngs debuts its new EP, Hells, to what is sure to be a full house. Also on the bill are the reawakened Sharks & Sailors, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Young Mammals and B L A C K I E. Casiotone was to play a gig at The Husk next to Khon's, but when that venue ... More >>

Night Worship

A band apart, Houston's Balaclavas explores some dark places indeed on new LP Roman Holiday.

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 >>

Artist of the Week: Hormone-Free Vocabularian Herds-Men the Jonx

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 introducingliston@gmail.com. ​ We first noticed The J ... More >>

Aftermath: Puppet Shows, Neo-Rastas, Freddie Gonorrhea, Black Congress and an Impromptu Nap Saturday at Westheimer Block Party

Marc Brubaker​ Saturday's Westheimer Block Party began on a wobbly note, as most music festivals do with fans and staff still trying to find their bearings, aided by alcohol or otherwise. The scene on the ground seemed chaotic just an hour into the first day of the event. Organizer and Free Press ... More >>

Exterminated

Houston's grindcore provocateurs (and HPMA nemises) Insect Warfare reunite for a brief U.K. tour.

Aftermath: Balaclavas and Black Congress, Lacquering the Walls of Mango's

Photos by Craig HlavatyAll my friends know the Low Rider: Black Congress​It's getting harder and harder every day here in Houston to find bands who know how to rock the ever-loving fuck out. Sure some of you do a good job at riding straight grooves and crafting shit-hot slabs of indie swoon. We ap ... More >>

Black Congress, Balaclavas, No No No Hopes

Houston Music Fight Club: Chris Wise vs. Cody Swann, Chris Ryan vs. Frank Beard, Washington Avenue vs. Westheimer

​So this past week, Houston Music Fight Club began getting solicitations from various local musicians to be matched against other strummers and pickers around town in their cage matches. Rocks Off looks around. We see a lot of new faces. This means a lot of you have (happily for us) been breaking ... More >>

MP3 of the Day: Muhammidali

​ All this week, Rocks Off's daily MP3 will spotlight the best and brightest of the local bands gracing this weekend's two-day Free Press Summer Fest indie blowout at Eleanor Tinsley Park. Free Press Houston has assembled quite the lineup, with out-of-towners like Of Montreal, Broken Social Scene ... More >>

Aftermath: Double Dagger at Super Happy Fun Land

Craig HlavatyWallet, keys, lighter, cellphone, camera(s). We had it all last night as we walked into the arty confines of the East End's Super Happy Fun Land. But one thing we didn't have was a pair of earplugs, and right about now we feel kinda silly not dishing out the extra buck for the ones sitt ... More >>

O Pioneers!!!: Neon Creeps

Mp3: Black Congress' "Davidians"

Up until about three or four months ago, Black Congress had been rather reclusive. The veritable indie supergroup, made up of scene vets Roy Mata, Chris Ryan and Bret Shirley, with Dann Miller and singer Bryan Jackson from the Jonbenet, had only played a handful of shows since Black Congress's incep ... More >>

Vinyl & Compilations

Alternatives to the full-Length CD are back with a vengeance.

SXSW Day One: Absinthe to Auerbach

Photos by Craig HlavatyIt's official: This author loves absinthe. Or whatever it was that they were serving at the Music Gym off 6th Street that they were calling absinthe. Who the hell cares? It was free and it opened our SXSW 2009 with a strange and weird sensation in the facial area. Plus, it m ... More >>

Radar Eyes: Hangin' With the Homopolice

Hello and welcome back to Radar Eyes. I've been away for the last three weeks... Our Focus = Underground/ Unreleased/ Underexposed/ Misunderstood/ Unappreciated/ Etc., etc. I am Chemical Mange. R.I.P. Sandor Benczedi. Rosa GuerreroWelcome Beau Beasley of Homopolice, Heavy Leather Records, etc ... More >>

Aftermath: Jana Hunter and Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez at the Petrol Station

Balaclavas: Inferno

Sunday: The Quietest Makes its First Noise

HPMA Aftermath: D.R.U.M., Black Dog, Brian's Johnson, Mighty Orq, Tontons, Southern Backtones and Sharks and Sailors

Fried Rice: In the Hot Seat with Chris Ryan from Black Congress, Dead City Sound Studio

The Night Before Last: The Houston Press Music Awards Showcase, Part Four

2006 Houston Press Music Awards Supplement

Live Sex Chat

Get the dirt on doin' the dirty with these college ladies

Let's Go Down-town!

Now, live music is waiting for you

Johnny Demonic

Kill the holiday crap with some caustic rock at the Proletariat