Frank Black

Five Great Texas Tributes from Unlikely Sources

All month long now, the AV Club has been running a new feature called State Songs featuring performances of famous songs revolving around each of the fifty states, one state per month. This month was Texas, so of course it caught our attention here at Rocks Off. But it made me think about something. ... More >>

Pope Francis Who?

Five who might have inspired the name.

Pope Francis I: Who Could The Name Really Be Honoring? Five Possibilities

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio surprised a lot of people yesterday when he chose the name he'd be using as leader of the Catholic Church: Pope Francis I. As the "I" indicates, he's the first to ever use Francis, and there have been a hell of a lot of popes before him who could have done so. About ( ... More >>

The Wiggins: The Myth of Man Is the Truth of Awesome Part 1

One thing that Houston has had for decades is an incredible avant-garde noise scene. Bands like Fiskadoro, Female Demand, and Black Leather Jesus all bring definition to the indefinable genre here in town, but the king of them all is Jon Read, better known as the Wiggins. He followed the evolution o ... More >>

It Was 20 Years Ago Today

RIP Ray Bradbury: 5 Musicians Who Love the Sci-Fi Author

Sci-fi fans across the world were saddened when prolific author Ray Bradbury died Tuesday, Wired magazine reported. The typewriter-loving Bradbury was 91 and lived in Los Angeles. Bradbury was best known for writing that set the standard for post-WWII science fiction such as Fahrenheit 451, The Mar ... More >>

Five Great Middle Finger Moments In Music History

Monday morning, the Internet was awash in consternation and jpegs after M.I.A. flashed her middle finger during Madonna's Super Bowl halftime performance Sunday, meaning Janet Jackson is finally off the hook after all these years. To be honest, Rocks Off watched the entire halftime show and must hav ... More >>

Trampled by Turtles

Playlist for the Missing: 5 Songs for the Bermuda Triangle

​66 years ago five U.S. torpedo bombers dubbed Flight 19 disappeared during a navigation training exercise in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle, claiming the lives of 14 airmen. It is commonly assumed that the flight became disoriented and lost, ran out of fuel, and then ditched in the oc ... More >>

Yo Gabba Gabba's Creator Talks Bands and Stage Diving Kids

What do you do when you have kids but you can't stand any of the TV programming geared toward them? Get together with a long-time buddy and make a low-budget version of what you'd like to see on television. That's how Christian Jacobs, lead singer of the punk band The Aquabats, and friend Scott Sch ... More >>

Christian Jacobs on Yo Gabba Gabba, Stage-Diving Kids and Biz Markie

What do you do when you have kids but you can't stand any of the TV programming geared toward them? Get together with a longtime buddy and make a low-budget version of what you'd like to see on television. That's how Christian Jacobs, lead singer of the punk band The Aquabats, and friend Scott Schu ... More >>

deadhorse (Or Dead Horse) Reuniting In October

​This is pretty exciting stuff. The original lineup of legendary Houston tongue-in-cheek thrash-metal band deadhorse has confirmed a reunion show at Warehouse Live on Saturday, October 22. You may also refer to them as Dead Horse - Rocks Off found the band's name spelled both ways numerous ti ... More >>

Top 10 Musician WTF Hobbies

Zazzle.com​Musicians are weird. Well, the good ones, at least. It's a little-known, beloved factoid. While artists' news, drama, and private lives are sometimes aired to the point of over-saturation, it becomes more interesting when we learn relatively kept insight into their rockers' offstage ... More >>

Middlefinger

Some Can Whistle: A Playlist To Don't Worry, Be Happy

​It's often the little things that make our favorite songs our favorites - the curious, unforeseen additions of small touches like an understated bit of whistling. For those who like to categorize their playlists into themes, we present you with the Rocks Off approved Whistle Playlist. The S ... More >>

Bluefinger on Broadway?

World-premiere musical could be Catastrophic Theatre's next smash hit.

Bluefinger: Rock & Roll Tragedy, One Comic Moment At A Time

Pnotos by Anthony Rathbun/ Courtesy of Catastrophic TheatreMatt Kelly (prone) and Troy Schulze as Herman Brood and Koos​Plenty of rock stars have shown that there's a fine line between fuck-up and folk hero. Herman Brood, the central figure of Catastrophic Theatre's Bluefinger, doesn't bother ... More >>

Bluefinger: The Music

Bluefinger: The Bald Truth

Our Art Attack blogger on the slippery role of editor/actor.

Bluefinger

Catastrophic Theatre stages a rock opera redemption.

Cover Story: Jason Nodler Discusses Bluefinger, His New Rock Opera About One Debauched Dutchman

Herman Brood, Black Francis and Jason Nodler coming together​"I am only ever interested in art/work/plays/music about how weird and fucked up it is to be a human animal on the planet earth, aware of and in necessary denial of our mortality, of the fact that each of us will die and go off the p ... More >>

FAIL: ABBA, Animal Collective, Diddy, Pete Doherty

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Hooray! Now Your Feet Are Boring, Too!: A clothing designer called Keep took a whole bunch of ecstasy (probably) and then invited Animal Collective's Avery Tare to design some shoes for them. By "design," we of course mean "scribble on some plain beige ... More >>

Will Concert Craziness Continue At Smashing Pumpkins?

Sunday night we watched a rambling and, supposedly, elegantly wasted Scott Weiland confound a packed crowd of Stone Temple Pilots fans at the Woodlands. The comments are blowing up left and right, and even industry blog Pollstar took to quoting us on the occasion. Somehow even Rocks Off got accuse ... More >>

True Blood: "Hitting The Ground" With Gordon Gano & PJ Harvey

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. Season 3, Episode 7: "Hitting the Ground" ​When things ... More >>

(Don't) Book 'Em, Dano: 42 Artists Who Have Absolutely No Business Touring Together

​ When Rocks Off received word last week that indie duo The Big Pink was embarking on a 2010 tour with NYC's A Place to Bury Strangers, our initial thought was, "Cool," followed closely by, "Ew." For once, there's a promo poster we really have no desire to see. But then our next thought was, "Coul ... More >>

Oregon Trail

Art Brut taps ex-Pixie Black Francis for the down-and-dirty Art Brut vs. Satan.

Twice-Told Tales

How Houston's Justice Records came to release a spooky, sexy Love & Rockets tribute album.

The World's Most Unfortunately Dressed Bank Robber

The FBI has put out the alert for a new bank robber, one who knocked off a Memorial Drive Wachovia and a west-side Bank of America last week.This is not just any bank robber, though. This dude has style. A very outdated, ridiculous style.Photo courtesy FBI​The FBI is calling him the "Sweatin' to t ... More >>

Michael Berry vs. Bill White

Highlights from the Blog at HOUSTONPRESS.COM

Industrial Icon Martin Atkins Knows From Touring

Road Warrior

Working With A God: How That New Musical By Pixies' Frontman Came About

Photo by Keith PlocekWe told you yesterday about how Pixies founder Black Francis is collaborating with Houston's Catastrophic Theatre on a new musical play. Now we have the details of how the seemingly improbable event came about.Jason Nodler, formerly of Infernal Bridegroom but now the heart (or, ... More >>

Free Press Exposes Local Scene's Disturbing Turtle Fetish

Moscvitch Howdy, sailor...While Rocks Off has been valiantly battling the evil forces of pop-country, preparing for SXSW and breaking news about Frank Black's upcoming collaboration with the Catastrophe Theater folks, Free Press Houston has totally scooped us on some disturbing news out of th ... More >>

Working With A God: How That New Musical By Pixies' Frontman Came About

Photo by Keith PlocekWe told you yesterday about how Pixies founder Black Francis is collaborating with Houston's Catastrophic Theatre on a new musical play. Now we have the details of how the seemingly improbable event came about.Jason Nodler, formerly of Infernal Bridegroom but now the heart (or, ... More >>

Pixies Founder To Develop A Musical In Houston

Photo by Free-ersHey...There's news for Houston fans of the Pixies: The heart of the band, Frank Black (going by his name Charles Thompson), is going to be working with the Catastrophic Theatre to produce a "musical play" based on his album Bluefinger. (Which was released under the name Black Franci ... More >>

Pixies Founder To Develop A Musical In Houston

Photo by Free-ersHey...There's news for Houston fans of the Pixies: The heart of the band, Frank Black (going by his name Charles Thompson), is going to be working with the Catastrophic Theatre to produce a "musical play" based on his album Bluefinger. (Which was released under the name Black ... More >>

Remembering Houston's '60s Psych Clubs

The Deal sisters bring back the Breeders

Role Playing

Yesterday Afternoon: Westheimer Block Party at Numbers, Mango's and Avant Garden

Frank Black

Frank Black appears Wednesday, October 11, at the Meridian, 1503 Chartres. Call 713-225-1717 for more info.

Letters to the Editor

Frank Black

Fast Man Raider Man

Playbill

Back in Black

Commercial Potential

Hail to the '80s

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

Out of Zion

Rotation

Stolen Moments

Jonny Polonsky knows that a little larceny never hurt rock and roll

Sound Check

Dumbass Deluxe