Jane's Addiction

Retro Active: 1987, Here We Come

Give Us a Hand

Butthole Surfers Pt. 1: Ex-Manager Tom Bunch on BHS' First Houston Show, "Gibby Used to Drop His Pants a Lot," His Punk Rock Video Archives, Explaining the Music Business and More

Butthole Surfers Pt. 2: Ex-Manager Tom Bunch on Managing the Band (Officially and Otherwise), the "Ranch" in Dripping Springs, the Rough Trade Bankruptcy, pioughd and Steering BHS to the Majors

Butthole Surfers Part 3: Tom Bunch on Signing With Capitol, the Media's Problem with the Name, Babysitting the Buttholes, Gibby vs. Paul and the End of the Affair

Fannypack

Saturday, July 12

Jane's a-DJ

Alterna-god Perry Farrell's been caught spinning

Been Caught Stealing

Alterna-god Perry Farrell's been caught spinning

A Uniquely Pervis Perspective

Alterna-god Perry Farrell's been caught spinning

RIP Gary Kurfirst

Stop Making Sense Music-business legend Gary Kurfirst passed away from undisclosed causes while on vacation in Nassau, the Bahamas, January 13. A venue owner, talent manager, film producer and label founder, Kurfirst opened New York City's Village Theater, later known as the Fillmore East, in 1967 ... More >>

Rotation

Stop Making Sense Music-business legend Gary Kurfirst passed away from undisclosed causes while on vacation in Nassau, the Bahamas, January 13. A venue owner, talent manager, film producer and label founder, Kurfirst opened New York City's Village Theater, later known as the Fillmore East, in 1967 ... More >>

Off the Wagon

Stop Making Sense Music-business legend Gary Kurfirst passed away from undisclosed causes while on vacation in Nassau, the Bahamas, January 13. A venue owner, talent manager, film producer and label founder, Kurfirst opened New York City's Village Theater, later known as the Fillmore East, in 1967 ... More >>

Radio Shy

Stop Making Sense Music-business legend Gary Kurfirst passed away from undisclosed causes while on vacation in Nassau, the Bahamas, January 13. A venue owner, talent manager, film producer and label founder, Kurfirst opened New York City's Village Theater, later known as the Fillmore East, in 1967 ... More >>

Reunion Rigor Mortis

Stop Making Sense Music-business legend Gary Kurfirst passed away from undisclosed causes while on vacation in Nassau, the Bahamas, January 13. A venue owner, talent manager, film producer and label founder, Kurfirst opened New York City's Village Theater, later known as the Fillmore East, in 1967 ... More >>

Jane's Addiction: Will They Or Won't They? Houston DJs Will

Sounds like Jane's Addiction is more or less a lock to play tonight's Playboy/C3 Presents super-exclusive late-night party at an old supermarket at 1107 N. IH-35 this evening starting around 11. It's pretty much the most popular rumor making the rounds at SXSW at this point - Rocks Off has heard it ... More >>

Austin City Limits Goes Grunge; Tickets On Sale Today

Just in time for tickets to go on sale - as in now - leaks have conveniently begun to spring in C3 Entertainment's carefully under wraps lineup for this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival, scheduled for October 2-4 in Zilker Park. (Don't worry, Longhorn fans: Unlike last year, that's UT's ... More >>

Playing Favorites

Just in time for tickets to go on sale - as in now - leaks have conveniently begun to spring in C3 Entertainment's carefully under wraps lineup for this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival, scheduled for October 2-4 in Zilker Park. (Don't worry, Longhorn fans: Unlike last year, that's UT's ... More >>

Aftermath: SXSW

Just in time for tickets to go on sale - as in now - leaks have conveniently begun to spring in C3 Entertainment's carefully under wraps lineup for this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival, scheduled for October 2-4 in Zilker Park. (Don't worry, Longhorn fans: Unlike last year, that's UT's ... More >>

Warlocks: Heavy Deavy Skull Lover

Just in time for tickets to go on sale - as in now - leaks have conveniently begun to spring in C3 Entertainment's carefully under wraps lineup for this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival, scheduled for October 2-4 in Zilker Park. (Don't worry, Longhorn fans: Unlike last year, that's UT's ... More >>

Lollapalooza, Year Four: The bloom is back

Just in time for tickets to go on sale - as in now - leaks have conveniently begun to spring in C3 Entertainment's carefully under wraps lineup for this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival, scheduled for October 2-4 in Zilker Park. (Don't worry, Longhorn fans: Unlike last year, that's UT's ... More >>

Clipd Beaks

Just in time for tickets to go on sale - as in now - leaks have conveniently begun to spring in C3 Entertainment's carefully under wraps lineup for this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival, scheduled for October 2-4 in Zilker Park. (Don't worry, Longhorn fans: Unlike last year, that's UT's ... More >>

Weird Wide Web: International Strange Music Day, Oddmusic, Starving Weirdos, Strange Glue and many more

Ten sites dedicated to offbeat, off-kilter and downright strange music

Honor Bound

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

Encore Performance

Don't fret. Guitar Hero II kills the opening act

Musica Fresca

The Musica Fresca tour stops Friday, September 22, at Planeta Bar Rio, 6400 Richmond, 832-251-9600.

The Black Album

A new film examines the darker side of rock

Do the Hustle

Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle breaks all the rules

The Music, with Morningwood

Friday, March 18, at the Meridian, 1503 Chartres, 713-225-1717.

Don't Choke

Fishbone skanks into town

Moddening Crowds

DJ Mod Scott brings '60s pop to Helios

DJ Peretz

Friday, January 11

Dave Navarro

Trust No One (Capitol Records)

Local Rotation

Local Music Reviewed

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 >>

Kommunity FK

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 >>

ACL 2009 Day Three: Aftermath

Photos by Mark C. AustinDavid Garza​So, what happens to freshly laid grass in a public park after a day full of rain and thousands of people walking back and forth across it at the same time? Well, as anyone who was present for Day Three of Austin City Limits Festival 2009 (ACL) could tell you ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day Three: Pearl Jam With Special Guests Ben Harper and Perry Farrell

Photos by Mark C. Austin​Pearl Jam closed out this year's ACL with aplomb, the audience stretching nearly the entire length of Zilker Park to see Eddie Vedder and the seminal band while nostalgically recalling large portions of the 1990s as songs like "Daughter" and "Evenflow" washed over the ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day Three: Spin the Black Circle

Photos by Mark C. Austin​It only took one song in to Pearl Jam's Sunday night closing set at the Austin City Limits music festival for it to dawn on Rocks Off that for way too long this band has been forsaken by back-handed hipster discount and radio-influenced apathy. No band from the grunge- ... More >>

Are "Folsom Prison Blues" and Jane's Addiction's "Summertime Rolls" Appropriate Lullabys for Children?

​ Despite our collective knowledge of many arcane forms of music here at Rocks Off, we have noticed that we are remarkably deficient when it comes to lullabies. This deficiency which has been compounded by our complete and utter refusal to succumb to the twisted evil that is most children's music ... More >>

What Constitutes a Killer Show? Six Personal Case Studies

​ Rocks Off is going to suck it up and go on the record as saying we had a great time at the Lady Gaga drag karaoke event last Sunday at Guava Lamp. Perhaps it was just the impaired judgment induced by the holiday cheer we'd imbibed at the Christmas party before, but the show was thoroughly enjoya ... More >>

Back To The Future: Ska Selecters Who Beat The English Beat

This Sunday, Valentine's Day if you nasty, Warehouse Live gets a two-tone shot of ska history when the English Beat and Fishbone hit the stage. The two bands tour together quite a bit and have become the sort of elder ambassadors of the genre while bands like the Specials mull over extensive tourin ... More >>

The 6 Absolute Ugliest Custom Guitars On The Planet

​Rocks Off is currently in the market for a good guitar yet has next to no money, so for the past few months we've been tantalizing ourselves by poring over the multitude of guitars of the Internet. There are some mighty pretty signature guitars out there, including Angus Young's signature Gib ... More >>

Backmasking Bieber, Black Keys, Kanye, Etc.: What Do You Hear?

​"It's my sweet Satan ... Oh I will sing because I live with Satan." "Turn me on, dead man." "Turned out nice again." "Eat donkey crap." Every since the beginning of rock and roll, listeners and disgruntled parents alike have been searching for hidden meanings in music. Was Paul dead, w ... More >>

Black Queen Speaks Checkmates Other Funk-Rockers

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essential gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we're working to find some meaning in the monikers. ​Black Queen Speaks' own description of itself is better than any other we could possibly come up: They sound like Jane's Addiction and Soundgar ... More >>

More Local Music News Than Half-Price Deals At Cactus

Another week, another teeming cup runneth over, full of local music news. Here's our latest installment of Magnolia City Mixtape. ​This week's soundtrack comes from Roosh Williams, whose Common Struggles of a Modern Man album just dropped. Roosh also has a video for the track "No Hard Feeling ... More >>

Video: Jane's Addiction Announces Bin Laden's Death At Buzzfest

Last night during their Buzzfest 26-closing set at at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, classic alt-rockers Jane's Addiction had the distinct honor of announcing to the nearly sold-out crowd at the shed that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by American special forces.

The Five Best Shows Bob Schneider Has Ever Seen

Jeff Swensen/Bob Schneider on Facebook​It's been said that if you have lived in Texas for at least a decade and haven't at least been in the vicinity of a Bob Schneider show, you are probably lying. Our introduction to the Austin-based Schneider was kind of heartbreaking, but that's another st ... More >>

Say My Name: Bands Named After Actual, Real People

Punk Rock Elite​This Friday would have been Z.Z. Hill's 76th birthday, but the popular Texas bluesman passed away in 1984 from a heart attack. Most people only know who the late soul crooner is through his connection to ZZ Top. The moniker of that little ol' band from where we are sitting righ ... More >>

Christmas Crunch Time: Five (Kind Of) Shopping (And Thieving) Related Songs

​So, did you get all your Christmas shopping done? Oh, uhh...you haven't started? You're not alone. Tons of us procrastinate and leave it all until the last possible weekend (or if you're really ballsy, Christmas Eve) and then we're super screwed, forced to brave Memorial City, Katy Mills or e ... More >>

Tumblrin' Dice: Clipart Covers Hurt Your Eyeballs

"Dazed and Confused" indeed...​Today I discovered Clipart Covers, a Tumblr site dedicated to remaking classic album covers with just clipart and comic sans, turning them into nightmarish, though amusing, affairs. Random urban-looking folks and what looks like a Wii avatar make up the cover of ... More >>