P.J. Harvey

Is That All There Is?: Philosophy's Greatest Hits

I love Queen, and the late Freddie Mercury had the best rock voice ever (in my opinion), so it pains me to say that some of music's worst thought-out lyrics are scrunched into the opening lines of "Bohemian Rhapsody." "Is this the real life?/ Is this just fantasy?", the song begins, but mere breath ... More >>

5 Bands Who Pioneered Modern Indie-Rock... Besides the Smiths

Legendary guitarist Johnny Marr is set to release his first ever solo record next month after years of being a sideman for other bands, some rather important. In anticipation, he's had some choice words to say that one would have expected more from his less level-headed ex-Smiths compatriot Morrisse ... More >>

What Was Your Favorite Concert at The Summit?

It must be music-venue day today. Rocks Off would like to thank Jon Harvey of Houston (@oompahead) for alerting us via Twitter to the fact that on this day in 1975, when I was a few weeks away from turning one year old, the sports and entertainment arena then known as the Summit opened in Greenway P ... More >>

#1 Crushes: Our Favorite '90s Rock Vixens

Tonight House of Blues welcomes Garbage back to Houston after a seven-year hiatus. The group, lead by fearsome Scottish redhead Shirley Manson, has been sorely missed from the music scene. They are currently touring behind their upcoming album Not Your Kind of People, which hits stores May 14. Rock ... More >>

Gemma Ray

'90s Soundtrack Battle: Angus & Batman Forever Duke It Out

​The movies couldn't be any more different. One is about an obese, kindly high school guy with a heart of gold. The other is about an crime-fighting millionaire orphan inside a cartoonish world full of super-villains, cringe-worthy puns, and Jim Carrey at his muggiest. Obvious Angus is a bette ... More >>

The Kills

The 39th Pazz And Jop Poll Features Quite A Few Surprises

​And by surprises, I mean that I didn't like most of the albums in the top ten. Usually I fall lock-step in with the crowd, but this year not so much, with my love for arena-rock and Americana dominating my list. Pazz And Jop is the Village Voice's annual critics' poll, with critics from music ... More >>

Tori, Tool, TLC And The Other Musical Debuts Of 1992

1992 was a pretty heady year for music in general, with the masses gobbling up all the gangsta rap, grunge, and pop-country they could. That year would see the release of not only R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People, Peter Gabriel's Us, Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power, but also what is arguably The ... More >>

Rocks Off Lists Our Favorite Downloads of 2011

It's getting to be that time of year, when the temperature drops and the lists start rolling in. Read any blog, magazine or newspaper and you're bound to run across at least a handfull of year-end lists, particularly when it comes to music. We all like to talk about the stuff we like. It's just what ... More >>

Intergalactic: A Playlist For The Space Shuttle's Last Flight Home

NASA/Hair BallsNo more cool pictures like this for a long time :(​If you're an astronaut, you recently might have awoken you from a sound night's rest on the space shuttle to the sounds of U2, Beyonce, Electric Light Orchestra, Aaron Copeland, or even some old Coldplay. On those more unlucky d ... More >>

Not A Drop Of Rain: 10 Modern-Day Dust Bowl Songs

Barry Sigman​Rocks Off just walked outside and saw something we almost didn't recognize: Rain clouds that look like they might, you know, rain. We'll believe it when we see it. Even if we do get some relief in the next couple of days, it won't be enough. Rocks Off forgets the exact number - w ... 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 >>

The Best Albums Of 2011 (So Far)

​The year isn't quite half over, but as of today, "summer" is officially here - even if the calendar needs a few weeks to catch up - and by the time summer is over, so will 2011. Or close enough. So Rocks Off asked our staff to give us their favorite two albums of the year so far, plus one out ... More >>

The 25 Most Influential Bands Of The '90s

Trent Reznor, you know, before the Oscar and all the weightlifting. ​As a music writer, we are asked constantly to compare the new with the old, to decipher the periphery where modern bands' influences come from to understand where we are going and what we are seeing. We can hear everything Ke ... More >>

Music's Top 10 Most Fashionable Women Right Now

GroovehouseThe Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O at the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival​Fashion, like songwriting and other artistic outlets, is a form of self-expression. It adds to one's aura; it speaks on her behalf. Yet fashion sometimes gets overlooked in music, and undeservedly so. Follow ... More >>

Out Today: Glee Warbles, Gorillaz Fall, Kinks Ride Again

​It's been a week since the Foo Fighters' album, Wasting Light, hit the stores, and Rocks Off has probably averaged at least one or two spins of the solid disc per day. Right now, we are actually on track four. Will anything top Light this week? That remains to be seen. Next week will bring ... More >>

Who Was The Best Female Artist Of The '90s?

The album that started the whole thing.​Rocks Off Sr. was straightening up our office a few days ago, something that happens like clockwork every time Middle Eastern governments start toppling like dominos. In one of the piles and piles of al fresco CDs, we ran across two of our favorite album ... More >>

Top Five Songs About Horses

​Rocks Off's regular readers presumably know by now that we love few things more than offbeat anniversaries, and recently we came across one of the oddest yet. Thirty-two years ago Monday, on Feb. 28, 1979, the "actor" who played the original Mr. Ed in the 1960s TV show passed away. Yes, we're ... More >>

Slutwave: Pop Phenomenon Or Feminist Scourge?

"Every generation needs a new revolution." - Thomas Jefferson Marc BrubakerKe(Dollar Sign)ha at House of Blues, July 2010​As one of the few women on the Rocks Off writing team, we were fervently proud to take an introspective stab at the new, curiously named micro-genre that 2010 bestowed upo ... More >>

The Most Anticipated Albums Of 2011

​NATIONAL White Lies, Ritual: They killed at festivals in 2008 and 2009, but do London's Interpol-styled lads have longevity? Dr. Dre, Detox: It's been on hold or gestating since at least Clinton was in office. Will it continue to be hip-hop's Chinese Democracy? R.E.M., Collapse Into No ... More >>

Ten Rock-Star Crushes We Still Haven't Outgrown

​Artists like Elvis Presley, Madonna, and Mick Jagger undoubtedly helped define the consumate rock star crush. But there have been a handful of worthy others along the way - armed with that certain je ne se quoi - who haven't left our radar. Years later, turns out we're still smitten with thi ... More >>

Taylor Swift's Ten Best Disses On Speak Now

​Taylor Swift has just released her third, and angriest, album, Speak Now. It's an alternately aggressive and poppy turn for the country girl, who is quickly shedding any previous genre trappings and very much becoming one of the pop industry's biggest stars. She combines female conviction wit ... 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 >>

White Widow

Rid Of Me And Other Great Albums With Truly Hideous Covers

​MGMT's new album, Congratulations, comes out in April! We're excited. MGMT's 2008 debut album, Oracular Spectacular, was fantastic, and we can't wait to hear what they've got in store for the follow-up. We're positive it will be awesome, as those weird-ass kids are only going to get weirder as th ... More >>

Love and Theft

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

Westheimer Block Party Listology: The Watermarks (Minus One) Choose Their Favorite Duets

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of. Next up, four-fifths of local electro-tinged post-punks the Watermarks choose their favorite duets. Jessica Brand ... More >>

A Rocks Off Playlist: Halloween Songs That Don't Suck

Yeah... screw this thing.​Let's face it: the Monster Mash blows. So do many of the songs we're forced to suffer through every Halloweentide. A couple of years ago, Rocks Off heard "One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater" on XM Radio's Halloween-themed channel, and wanted to sneak into a ha ... More >>

Million-Dollar Mud

The 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival became a quagmire everywhere but onstage.

ACL Aftermath, Part 2: Now That That "Dillo Dirt" Unpleasantness Is Out of the Way, How About Some Music?

Mark C. AustinSeems like we recognize this guy from somewhere...​ More and more, Aftermath uses ACL more than SXSW to see which recent buzz bands are worth their salt, and of course to check on how some old favorites are doing. This year, tops on our new-to-us list were Blitzen Trapper, who manage ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day Three: In Which We Fall In Lurve With White Dress

Photo by Craig Hlavaty​White Dress opened for the Heartless Bastards on Thursday night in Houston, while we were at Them Crooked Vultures in Austin. We finally got to catch them just a few minutes back and sweet mama was it nice. The Austin-based band, led by the raven-haired Arum Rae, kicked the ... More >>

On the List: Jonx Drummer Danny Mee's 11 Favorite Female Vocalists

​The other day, Houston Press Night & Day editor Olivia Flores Alvarez - whom we're so glad is feeling better and back at work again - handed Rocks Off Lisa Nola's new book called Music Listography: Your Life In (Play)Lists, and the wheels started turning like "Proud Mary." Because we're not q ... More >>

Aftermath: Heartless Bastards at Warehouse Live

Photos by Craig Hlavaty Sometime Wednesday night, Aftermath tweeted into the ether that we were watching a "female-fronted southern fried T Rex" while semi-Austin transplants the Heartless Bastards cranked into "Early In The Morning" about halfway through their set opening up for the Houston-bashing ... More >>

SXSW: Born Free

Photos by Craig HlavatyHeartless Bastards' Erika WennerstromTight economies ain't gotta slow anyone down. SXSW is chock full of free shows and most importantly, FREE BOOZE. Yes, anyone of legal age can literally walk into some shows and guzzle to their dark heart's content. Or until they set somethi ... More >>

Last Night: X at Warehouse Live

Our Favorite Albums of 2007

Panning for gold in an avalanche of 2007 releases

PJ Harvey, White Chalk

CD Review

Sparklehorse, with Danny & the Nightmares

Wednesday, September 13, at The Proletariat, 903 Richmond, 713-523-1199

Corset Rock

C.J. Chenier

C.J. Chenier appears as part of the Accordion Music Festival on Saturday, June 3, at Miller Outdoor Theatre, 100 Concert Drive, 713-284-8350

The Duke Spirit

Saturday, May 27, at Verizon Wireless Theater, 520 Texas, 713-230-1600

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Show Your Bones

PJ Harvey

Uh Huh Her (Island)

Azita and Carina Round

Life on the Fly (Drag City) and The Disconnection (Weapons of Mass Entertainment / Interscope)

New Releases Reviewed

Tricky

Rotation

Rotation

Sound Check

End Game

This is the way the year ends, this is the way the year ends, this is the way the year ends, not with a bang but a ... year-end roundup