Depeche Mode

Drenched in Blog: Unknown Pleasures

Miss Pop Rocks: Pop Culture Dealbreakers

Fried Rice: In the Hot Seat with Debra from Two Star Symphony

Hail to the '80s

A rash of new compilations makes a case for the Me Decade's place in rock history

Pony Tricks

The Deftones stick to aggressive rock and watch as the rest of the world plays catch-up

Five Spot: What's Worse Than a Blink-182 Reunion?

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every week, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Apparently, God hates us: Blink 182 possibly plotting comeback. There were a few other things we considered for ... More >>

Gazing Ahead into 2009, Part 2

[Note: see here for Rocks Off's previous prognostications.]   U2 (March) Best Case Scenario: Armed with the backing of Live Nation, they release their best album in over a decade and Bono shuts his face as they sell out Reliant Stadium in two minutes. Worst Case Scenario: The recession (fi ... More >>

Rotation

[Note: see here for Rocks Off's previous prognostications.]   U2 (March) Best Case Scenario: Armed with the backing of Live Nation, they release their best album in over a decade and Bono shuts his face as they sell out Reliant Stadium in two minutes. Worst Case Scenario: The recession (fi ... More >>

Music to Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil

[Note: see here for Rocks Off's previous prognostications.]   U2 (March) Best Case Scenario: Armed with the backing of Live Nation, they release their best album in over a decade and Bono shuts his face as they sell out Reliant Stadium in two minutes. Worst Case Scenario: The recession (fi ... More >>

POISON GIRL's

THE JONES

Johnny Cash/Various Artists: Johnny Cash Remixed

THE JONES

Sigur Rós: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

THE JONES

Precisely 88 mph at Etro Lounge

Montrose Throwback

Wicked Poseur

These local rockers keep our attention with a mature, new wave sound

ASK A MEXICAN

These local rockers keep our attention with a mature, new wave sound

Hootenanny

These local rockers keep our attention with a mature, new wave sound

Hello, Houston!

Noise breaks down the months of live music ahead

Infused Beats

Noise breaks down the months of live music ahead

Honor Bound

A fictional look at the future of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Angst à la Mode

How I became my own personal Jesus

Spank Rock

Yoyoyoyoyo

Will the Real Blue October Please Stand Up?

Local band suffers identity crisis

Junior Boys, with Caribou and the Russian Futurists

Thursday, May 12, at Mary Jane's Fat Cat, 4216 Washington Avenue, 713-869-5263.

Nouvelle Vague

Nouvelle Vague

Minibill

The Faint

Depeche Mode

Saturday, July 14, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Drive

G-strings

Without the right music, strip-club routines can come undone faster than a dancer's outfit

Defending The Buzz: Does 94.5 FM Really Suck That Bad?

What with Creed reuniting, BuzzFest coming up in a couple of weeks and, hell, maybe even the swine-flu scare - As in: What's worse than coming down with swine flu? A Houston radio that only tunes in 94.5 FM - Rocks Off sure has been thinking a lot about The Buzz lately. Probably too much. I mean, it ... More >>

Summer Sounds

Enough shows to keep concertgoers busy all season long

Morning MP3s: Two From the Watermarks' Free Thoughts Like Bombs EP

Houston electro-rock quartet the Watermarks was kind enough to allow Rocks Off to post a couple of tracks from its brand-new Thoughts Like Bombs EP, which you can download for free on the band's Web site. To us, "I Used to Be Your Rock n' Roll" sounds like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's chocolate ... More >>

Single-Album Sets We'd Like to See, Part 2: Blondie, Green Day, U2 and More

There are so many artists coming to Houston this summer and fall who should pick up on the "classic album" trend Rocks Off could hardly stop at just five. See our picks for Nos. 6-10 here. 5. Blondie (Arena Theater, August 23) Album: Eat to the Beat (Chrysalis, 1979) After 1978's Giorgio Moroder-ass ... More >>

Sounds of the Universe

Synth-pop icons Depeche Mode do read their reviews.

Aftermath: Depeche Mode's Black and Blue Celebration at The Woodlands

Photos by Eric Sauseda​ Far, far away from the group once known for bubbly synth-pop anthems like "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Everything Counts," Depeche Mode circa 2009 has pressed its small army of keyboards and electronics into the service of primal urges and raw sexuality. Not terribly surpri ... More >>

He Said She Said: Songs from the Year We Were Born That We Still Listen To, Part 2

​When He Said began researching the music that came out the year we were born, 1983, we were taken aback by how much of this music has warped, shaped and informed our life. Pretty much all of the albums and bands that were prevalent that year are still on our turntables and playlists. Why just thi ... More >>

UK Web Site Shines "Unsigned Spotlight" on Houston's Watermarks

myspace.com/thewatermarksThe Watermarks at Warehouse Live, September 2009​ ​When Rocks Off wrote about Houston electro-rockers the Watermarks' Thoughts Like Bombs back in May, we said a song or two off the quintet's five-song EP - still available as a free download on the band's Web site - remin ... More >>

Love and Theft

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

Tonight: Enlist In the Kunst Fascion at Persuasion Art Opening

Kunst Fascion: Alles Klar?​Rocks Off is a big fan of the honky-tonk, Southern rock and all things bluesy and soulful (as you may have guessed), but our first love will always be the throb and grind of industrial music. Seriously. The first live performance we ever saw was Nitzer Ebb opening for De ... More >>

Guitar Zero: Who's Never Heard "Copperhead Road"?

​One of the joys of attempting to learn a new skill at an advanced age is that little nagging concern in the back of your head that makes you wonder how much of a dipshit your instructor thinks you are. My particular sensei - this guy, in case you'd forgotten - has, like every other person who wor ... More >>

106.9 FM Gets In The Zone, Misses The Point?

​Another Houston radio station has changed formats, or "flipped," although early reaction from some listeners is that the change is so slight it's hardly a change at all. Cox Communications has rechristened its property at 106.9 FM from "The Point" to "The Zone." It's not a sports station, al ... More >>

Stars

​Another Houston radio station has changed formats, or "flipped," although early reaction from some listeners is that the change is so slight it's hardly a change at all. Cox Communications has rechristened its property at 106.9 FM from "The Point" to "The Zone." It's not a sports station, al ... More >>

Ten Songs Worse Than A TSA Pat-Down

​Today is the biggest travel day in the United States, according to the airlines. That means many of you will be experiencing for the first time the intrusive X-rays or demeaning pat-downs handed out by TSA as part of their new "You Assholes Don't Have to Fly, You Know" business strategy. Kee ... More >>

Artopia, Honky Tonk Blood & A Gang Of Music News

​Another Friday, another Magnolia City Mixtape, assembled just for you. Seriously, we put in a lot of time crawling through the internet just to bring everyone up to date on the scraps of local music news floating out there in the cyber-abyss. For this week's soundtrack, how's about this inst ... More >>

Match These Bands With Their Awful Original Names

​Provided they didn't take the easy way out and name themselves after a song (Rolling Stones), their hometown (Boston) or each other (Hall & Oates), almost every band that went on to sell millions of records, get tons of radio play and sell out arenas has had some form of the following convers ... More >>

Deliciously Macabre Desserts at the Gothic Beauty Pageant

​It became apparent as soon as I took my place in the line outside the venue that - in jeans, a green sweater, and ankle boots - I was not properly outfitted for the occasion. In line ahead of me: a woman costumed in top hat and braids a la Boy George (oh, the irony), two guys in spike-laden ... More >>

Meet at the Junction

Finally, a sports bar that your girlfriend won't hate.

The Eagle Flies Away With "Houston's Alternative Hits"

All that's left of The Zone's Web site.​Cox Communications has shuttered its fledgling "alternative hits" concept, 106.9 The Zone, and begun simulcasting The Eagle, The Zone's "classic hits" next-door neighbor, on that frequency as of 5:30 a.m. this morning. "The Eagle's Classic Hits forma ... More >>

1986: Best Musical Year Ever?

​For almost two weeks now, Rocks Off has been obsessed with the year exactly 25 flips of the calendar backward from this one. It started when Steve Earle did one of his "Time Machine" shows, where the singer-songwriter who plays House of Blues Wednesday spotlights a dozen or so of his favorite ... More >>

Grave Babies

​For almost two weeks now, Rocks Off has been obsessed with the year exactly 25 flips of the calendar backward from this one. It started when Steve Earle did one of his "Time Machine" shows, where the singer-songwriter who plays House of Blues Wednesday spotlights a dozen or so of his favorite ... More >>

Electric Six: Love Songs for Mentally Disturbed People

​If Barry White did a record with Al Jourgensen it might sound something like Heartbeats and Brainwaves, the eighth studio album from Electric Six. This is the first time we've come into contact with the band, having only been aware of them vaguely from their song "Gay Bar" and the fact that ... More >>

Taking Apart Yesterday's Facebook Music Screed

​Yesterday, about a half-dozen of my Facebook friends forwarded a gloom-and-doom listicle from a site called Buzzfeed entitled "12 Extremely Disappointing Facts About Popular Music." Now up to over one million hits, the doom-and-gloom piece is subtitled "This is the saddest thing you'll read a ... More >>