Echo & The Bunnymen

The Rocks Off 100: Richard Ramirez, Noise God and Black Leather Jesus

Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Richard Ramirez is one of Houston's fi ... More >>

Island Reunion

"Pontoon": Most Insidious Song of the Summer, or the Best

I had a bit of medical trouble late last year, so I spent the entire first six or seven months of 2012 immersed in '80s alternative rock. I suppose it was a sort of cocoon of some kind. I was in a rotten mood most of the time, so anything by the Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen or the Smiths was perfect. M ... More >>

New Wave Crazy: Blondie & Devo Hit Arena Theatre September 19 (UPDATED)

UPDATE: According to Press Here Publicity, the venue is Arena Theatre, not Bayou Music Center. Everything else is the same. This makes me happier than anything on a Monday morning should. I listen to music in cycles, and for the past several months have been stuck in the '80s, more specifically any ... More >>

Wild Moccasins: Zahira Gutierrez's Top 10 New Wave Songs

Have you seen the Wild Moccasins? Rocks Off is starting to get a little worried. Just kidding. Houston's favorite indie-pop quintet has been strangely scarce recently, working their day jobs and getting ready to head out for a month of dates with Michigan don't-call-them-emo crew Saturday Looks Goo ... More >>

6 Cool & Cheap Things To Do This Weekend

The "Reggae Riddim Revival" rides into Last Concert Cafe Friday with D.R.U.M., Bigga Staar, Zin and DJ Meshak, plus live painting and dancers. Before 9:30 p.m., cover is only $5 if you bring a hand drum. In case you were wondering, there will be a drum circle. In one of the oddest bookings we've s ... More >>

Gothic Council Sings Your Kids to Sleep

We hate you, Peter Murphy. Well, OK. Not really. Murphy is a good guy who is a joy to interview and who still puts out amazing music. That being said, we are getting thoroughly sick of his trademark voice. Our two-year-old daughter requests his song "The Line Between the Devil's Teeth (And That Wh ... More >>

The Hair Balls Super Bowl Live Blog: Remember To Piss

In some alternate universe, the streets of Houston are currently bathed in Miller Lite, Reliant Stadium and every bar in town is a watch party, with even the homeless folks are wearing soiled Texans jerseys. But alas, our Houston Texans only made it into the second round of the playoffs, and here we ... More >>

Travelin' Band: What Do The Features Listen To On The Road?

So The Twilight Saga has exactly two things that keep the films from being absolute torture. The first is Ashley Greene in all her pixie-hotness, and the second is that there really are some excellent bands that end up on the soundtracks. Case in point, the Features were featured recently in Break ... More >>

The 12 Best Songs in '80s Movies

​For many of us Generation X and Y-ers, much of our adolescence can be directly linked back to '80s cinema. Thanks to writers and directors like John Hughes, '80s teen movies were accurate depictions of suburban (non) happenings. Furthermore, the '80s were a special time in film history thanks ... More >>

The Horrors

Forrest Gump & Other "Generation-Defining" Soundtracks

​The Forrest Gump soundtrack debuted on June 28, 1994, a week ahead of the film itself, which would go on to smash box-office records, win numerous awards and become one of the most beloved movies of the past 20 years. It is still endlessly quotable, emotional, and entertaining, and the soundt ... More >>

Zoo Station: A Noah's Ark Of 75 Animal Songs

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee ... More >>

Echo & the Bunnymen

Five Recent Movies That Needed A John Hughes Soundtrack

​Even though John Hughes had not made a decent movie since 1991's Dutch (missile twisters FTW) when he died one year ago today, the world still mourned the loss of one of the best filmmakers to ever take on the human experience. Hughes may have only dealt with dysfunctional Midwesterners, but ... More >>

Edge Of Twilight: The Secret History Of Forgotten UK Proggers Gentle Giant

​ Who Dat? Ah yes, the '70s, fertile ground for prog-rockers of mostly English descent like Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. But a cult has grown around the (many would say) even more complex and experimental Gentle Giant - a quintet that, among them, could pla ... More >>

Cry Little Sister: A Corey Haim Soundtrack Retrospective

​The last time we were visiting our parents in Friendswood, Rocks Off noticed a new DVD version of 1987's The Lost Boys at the sales counter of the local Hollywood Video (which must be one of the last remaining franchises in the Houston area, but we digress). We didn't buy it - it actually hasn't ... More >>

2009 Concert Rewind: SXSW 09 Revisited, Broken Arm and Everything Else

​ Balaclavas: "On the way to see Houston's own Balaclavas at the Independent to debut new stuff off the soon-to-be released Roman Holiday, I abruptly hit a curb with my bicycle. Luckily my elbow took one for the team. Well, it ended up getting fractured and I have all kinds of internal business go ... More >>

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

2009 was definitely a year, we'll say that much.

Season of the Witch

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

White Lies

MP3 of the Day: Morgue City, Not Metal But Still Plenty Dark

​Rocks Off was sure that Houston's Morgue City was a metal band - it's a perfect metal name, that's for sure. Not quite. The Houston duo, descended from bondage-loving former HPMA Best Industrial winners Bozo Porno Circus, plays a brand of "noiz" not far off from KMFDM or My Life With the Thrill K ... More >>

HPMA Aftermath: Heptic Skeptic, Runaway Sun, the McKenzies, B L A C K I E, the Tontons and Spain Colored Orange

Photos by Shea Serrano​ 5:08 p.m.: About two weeks ago, vocalist Kammera Franklin broke her ankle. It has not stopped her hustle. Sunday, she sang for Heptic Skeptic, Umbrella Man and every single other band on the HPMA schedule. 5:27 p.m.: The Skeptics, who have always been a little more soulful ... More >>

Aftermath: Cake at Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Craig HlavatyCake has never sounded like anyone else, and no one that came after has ever come close to sounding like the Sacramento band either. It's not like Nirvana or Green Day, with 1,000 copycat bands immediately coming out of the proverbial woodwork to shove out their own shingle. E ... More >>

Seattle's KEXP Loves Our Hungry Villagers

Photo by Craig Hlavaty The fruits of Hungry Villagers' labors have seemingly paid off. Today, while perusing the concert industry website livedaily.com, we saw the Houston indie-pop group has today's free download of the day, new track "Tree Full Of Ghosts." Further investigation led us to the music ... More >>

Aftermath: SXSW

Top Five SXSW Performances

Chris Gray Black Joe Lewis and a couple of HoneybearsWell, thank God that's over. SXSW 09 is history now, so before we completely block it out of our mind for another 11 months, here's Rocks Off's top five reasons it was worth going to after all. Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women: ... More >>

SXSW: Echo & the Bunnymen at Stubb's

Photos by Chris GrayBy Friday afternoon, SXSW fatigue has taken hold. You're walking a little slower, less inclined to whip out the notebook to jot down every little observation - Rocks Off has seen many journos just typing notes into their BlackBerries, a trend that both intrigues and dismays him - ... More >>

SXSW Stream: Notes From The Field

Photos by Chris GrayGuaranteed, at least one person will completely ignore this sign this week.So far the SXSW rumor mill has spun out tales of private or surprise performances by Kanye West, the Roots, Jane's Addiction and Bob Dylan. Further details, if there are any, to follow.Estimated badge pick ... More >>

How About Some SXSW Day Parties? A LOT of SXSW Day Parties?

We here at Rocks Off are only about a week away from chafed inner thighs, weird Japanese punk bands puking in hotel pools and sweating out our morning mojitos while walking to an art space off 4th Street. South By Southwest is now only a week away. It was all fun and games in December when we w ... More >>

Tonight: Windsor Drive EP Release at Fitzgerald's

Windsor Drive Bridges EP www.myspace.com/windsordrive The second EP, Bridges, from local indie darlings Windsor Drive (currently signed to Ping Pong Music) drops this Saturday at what promises to be a spectacular show. Luckily, Rocks Off managed to snag an advanced copy in electronic form so ... More >>

Aftermath: Gene Loves Jezebel at Meridian

Photos by Daniel Kramer/ click here for a slideshowEvery so often, a show that might otherwise be just OK becomes something much cooler when there's hardly anybody there to see it. Aftermath isn't talking about some fresh-out-of-the-box band playing its first show in front of friends and fami ... More >>

Gene Loves Jezebel

This Week in SXSW: Katy Perry Kisses the "Lake of Fire"

There's now less than a month to go until we here at Rocks Off throw sobriety and sane living to the wind at this year's SXSW festival. This past week we learned of a boatload of new stuff about the weeklong liver-damaging voyage in March, so here goes... The list of bands keeps growing and gro ... More >>

SXSW Update: Watch Out for Devo; Peter, Bjorn & John; Justin Townes Earle; Hungry Villagers and More

Devo on the BBC's Top of the Pops 2 With the big bad final band announcement coming next week, all is quiet on the SXSW front. For now. This past week was slow, with the biggest names confirmed being Devo, Cursive, Peter, Bjorn & John, and Justin Townes Earle. Devo will be clos ... More >>

SXSW Last Night: Coconut Coolouts, Black Angels, Young Mammals, Tontons, Studemont Project

Get Lit: Rock & Roll Heaven, by Robert Dimery and Bruno MacDonald

Joy Division's Expanded Reissues

Unknown Pleasures, Closer, Still, Control Original Motion Picture Sound Track

Retro Active: 1987, Here We Come

Arcade Fire

Neon Bible

Letters to the Editor

Sugar Kisses

Bunnyface Killahs

A veteran Liverpudlian rock band and a kung-fu-obsessed Staten Island MC have more in common than you think

Faux Fox

Black Glove or White Glove (Quartz Inc.)

Baring Fangs

Heavily hyped L.A. punks the Distillers jump to the majors with a highly guarded new album

The Shins

Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop)

Hot Tunes, Summer in the City

Houston Press Music Awards Showcase 2002

The Sound of Money

Static

Rotation