MGMT (Band)

Free Press Summer Fest: Saturday's Best Acts, 6/1/2013

Alabama Shakes I went into this expecting to enjoy the set by Alabama Shakes, but I didn't realize how it was going to set the tone for the rest of my day. I arrived under the overbearing sun, and struggled to catch glimpses of Japandroids. Festival frustrations threatened to make a bad scene. But ... More >>

Last Night: Tame Impala at Fitzgerald's

Tame Impala Fitzgerald's February 25, 2013 It's been a heady past few months for Tame Impala, the drone-y Aussie band with a jones for Floyd, Abbey Road and endless Teutonic jams. Their sophomore album, Lonerism, hit the rock press close to the end of 2012 and began an assault on best-of lists all ... More >>

Underdogs and Juggernauts

The 10 best new restaurants of 2012.

The 10 Best New Houston Restaurants of 2012

If I had to pick one word to describe the mad, exciting rush of restaurant activity that's defined 2012, it would be this: exhilarating. Followed closely by: exhausting. Trying to keep up with every single new restaurant that's flung open its doors exuberance -- welcoming the city's burgeoning food ... More >>

The Handshake: Local Rockers Greet Us With Obscenity

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we're trying hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers. HPMA-winning group the Handshake's music sounds like it's being pulled out of an old radio one note at a time by an angst-ridden teenager with a ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Brant Miller of Royal Oak

This week, I stopped into Royal Oak to chat with Brant, a.k.a. "The Marshall." Inspired by some Civil War documentaries he had been watching a few weeks ago, Brant cultivated a mustache and chops, adorned his vest with a badge, and got behind the bar. He said that as the night wore on, folks started ... More >>

ACL: Molly's Revenge & Other Encounters

Jim BrickerColdplay: Also with the pretty lights.​A Zilker field. As Friday's shadows lengthened, a young woman - tall, pale, boots - approached Rocks Off. "Are you going to Pretty Lights?" "I don't think so." "Why not?" "I don't know." "Do you know where I can get some Molly?" "Uhhh... ... More >>

Out Today: Beyonce's 4 Is Square, Limp Bizkit Chokes The Cobra

What is this I don't even....​This week in new releases sees is one of the most varied in months, with new discs by Beyonce, Limp Bizkit, Dolly Parton, and Thievery Corporation hitting shelves and digital outlets today. By far though, the sexiest album cover is the Beyonce art for 4, and the m ... More >>

Summer Fest Saturday: A Sizzler With Beirut, Big Boi, Black Joe, Fucked Up, Sharon Jones, Ween & More

Ed. Note: We're not done yet... Chris GrayRusted Shut​Chris Gray: I think the quickest way to sum up Summer Fest, environmentally, is in fact biologically: In eight hours at the festival Saturday, hydrating continuously with mostly water, I made my own water once, shortly before Beirut. Sunda ... More >>

Solo Albums: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

​Tomorrow night, former Audioslave lead singer and (thankfully) current Soundgarden member Chris Cornell will be at House of Blues for a long-sold-out acoustic show. Recent set lists have included a number of Temple of the Dog songs, some solo work, the usual 'Garden and 'Slave tracks, plus a ... More >>

Ukuleles: Suddenly The Hippest Instrument Going

​Trends in music can be as prevalent - and subsequently fleeting - as they are in fashion. Though the eagerness to join trendy-indie bandwagons can be puzzling, music's most recent instrumental trend, the ukulele, grabbed our attention, especially after SXSW. Among the dozens of SXSW-related ... More >>

Still Fun Fun Fun, Festival Is On The Cusp Of Change

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Miss the bands in Austin this weekend? See as many as we could squeeze into our handy slideshow. Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin is on the cusp of change. A renovation to its home base, Waterloo Park, is due within the next year, so come next November the festival more than ... More >>

Matt & Kim Talk Lady Gaga, Erykah Badu, Naked Videos And New Music

Right On! PR​This weekend the Houston Press welcomes New York indie duo Matt & Kim to town to headline this year's edition of the Houston Press Music Awards, along with Trae tha Truth and Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights. Rocks Off will be giving away a bunch of HPMA wristbands today and t ... More >>

Passion Pit Moves Bodies, Emotions at Warehouse Live

Photos by Groovehouse/Check out a slideshowPassion Pit played to a sold out crowd at Warehouse Live​Aftermath remembers the first book that ever made us cry. It was Katherine Paterson's controversial but also much-loved young adult novel Bridge to Terebithia. In all likelihood it was also the ... More >>

Girl Talk: "Me Wanting To Interact With The Music I Really Like"

Bridget Maniaci​ A few days before Girl Talk's Summerfest show this Saturday, Rocks Off took some time to chat with the mash-up maestro - who refuses to call himself a DJ - about his biomedical engineering degree, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2008's Feed the Animals and Super Happy Fun Land. ... More >>

Love, Shelby

Shelby Lynne smolders on Tears, Lies, and ­Alibis.

Hlavaty On The Hloose At SXSW: The Fader Fort, MGMT Rumors, Mariachi El Bronx, The Meaning of "Prison Wallet" And A BBQ Truck In Peril

Photos by Craig Hlavaty2:36 p.m.: Our man on the scene's wrist, not even three hours into SXSW.​ 2:04 p.m. Rocks Off Sr. to Hlavaty: "OK hoss, let's hear something about some music this hour." 2:22 p.m.: Hlavaty, by phone: "I gotta run over to the Fader Fort to pick up some credentials, and I'm do ... More >>

Houston 2020: The Future Is Unwritten

But hey, that's not stopping Noise.

He Said She Said: Our Christmas Musical Wishlists

​She Said's music listening habits have become so lazy thanks to the Internet. She can barely bring herself to pay for a full CD any more when there's so much awesome music for free online. She can't even remember the last time she bought a full CD in the concrete, plastic wrap and all. That said, ... More >>

Rocks Off's Picks for This Weekend's Fun Fun Fun Festival

You can think of this weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin as the indie, metal, and hip-hop little brother of the more staid Austin City Limits Music Festival. The fourth edition of the two-day event held in Waterloo Park in Austin starts tomorrow afternoon. Per our stated life path, Rocks Off will ... More >>

Aftermath: U2 at Reliant Stadium - One Love, We Get to Share It

Photos by Groovehouse/ Click here for a slideshow​A day or two before U2 (and love) came to town, a friend emailed us a joke. At least we think it's a joke. It really doesn't have anything to do with U2, except that it has everything to do with U2. "I was so depressed last night thinking about the ... More >>

Ghosts of Washington Avenue

Noise goes whistling through the scenester artery's music venue graveyard.

Walter's on Washington Leaves Its Namesake Avenue Behind.

Moving on up!

Walter's on Washington Closing In October; Club May Relocate

Bill OliveSilver Jews at Walter's on Washington, September 2008​Rocks Off learned this morning that Walter's on Washington, one of Houston's primary venues for local bands, indie-rock, hardcore and touring acts not yet on the radar of Warehouse Live and House of Blues, will close at the end of Oct ... More >>

How Classic Is Classic Rock?

Through Being Cool

Juneteenth Revisited

Two arts organizations attempt a new spin on an old event