Passion Pit

Depeche Mode, The Cure, Kings of Leon, Phoenix, Lionel Richie Head 2013 ACL Fest Lineup

Moments ago, Depeche Mode, The Cure, MUSE, Kings of Leon, Atoms For Peace (featuring Thom Yorke and Flea), Lionel Richie, Phoenix, Wilco, Vampire Weekend, The National, and Eric Church were announced as the headliners of the 2013 Austin City Limits Music Festival, which plans to expand to identical ... More >>

Free Press Summer Fest Releases 2013 Schedule & Stage Times

The moment many of you have been dreading has arrived: this morning Free Press Summer Fest announced this year's schedule and stage times for its fifth year, scheduled for June 1 and 2 in Eleanor Tinsley Park. The festival's eightysomething performers this year are spread across six stages from the ... More >>

David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest: The Soundtrack (With Endnotes)

One of Time magazine's Top 100 English-language novels of the last century, the late David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest is a gargantuan book. Its cutting, comedic views cover a broad swath of American life, but focus on family dysfunction, chemical dependency, depression, entertainment saturation ... More >>

ACL 2013 Predictions & Rumors: Is This Jimmy Buffett's Year?

2013 marks the first year that the Austin City Limits Music Festival -- Texas' other large outdoor music festival, never to be confused with Houston's own Free Press Summer Fest -- expands to two consecutive weekends with identical lineups. At this point the lineup for the festival, scheduled for Oc ... More >>

Top 10 Educated Guesses for Free Press Summer Fest

Tomorrow, we will know who will be playing the fifth annual Free Press Summer Fest June 1 and 2 in Eleanor Tinsley Park. We know this because Monday, our rivals over at the Houston Chronicle revealed that they will have an exclusive announcement of the FPSF lineup sometime Thursday, thanks to what w ... More >>

Free Press Summer Fest '13 Announces Postal Service, Stooges, Cat Power, TV On the Radio, Social D, Geto Boys, Calvin Harris, etc.

Moments ago, the lineup for the 2013 Free Press Summer Festival was announced online at fpsf.com. Let's get to it, shall we?

The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Imagine Dragons, fun., etc.

Imagine Dragons House of Blues, February 12 You've seen the name all over, from Blog A to Blog B, and the haircuts should look mighty familiar. This Las Vegas act has a sound in the same vein as Passion Pit and AWOLNATION, two acts with a veritable stranglehold on the rock dollar these days. Their ... More >>

So, Who Should Play the Super Bowl Halftime Show Next Year?

This past weekend, I was honored to cover the Super Bowl XLVII festivities and game in New Orleans for the Houston Press and local TV outlet KIAH (Channel 39). Great fun, if not for locals in NOLA, who were ravaged by drunken football fanatics puking onto their 49ers and Ravens jerseys in the street ... More >>

Coachella 2013 Takes It Back to the '90s

Coachella, the Only Music Festival That Matters (or so we're told), announced its 2013 lineup late Thursday night, no holograms or Rolling Stones included. Instead, two beloved '90s UK acts whose popularity in the U.S. is spotty at best, Blur and the Stone Roses, headline the first night of the tw ... More >>

Coming Soon to Houston: Tons of 2012 Critical Favorites

"No good bands ever come to Houston, I swear." Welp, you're wrong buddy. In the next few weeks and months, plenty of critical darlings are coming to Houston venues, and it's not even festival season. They are coming because they are actually on tours and not taking pity on us. OK, Houston crow ... More >>

Underdogs and Juggernauts

The 10 best new restaurants of 2012.

Defining Triniti

The casual, elegant, New American-with-a-twist restaurant isn't easy to pigeonhole, but it's good.

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 >>

If Houston Restaurants Were Bands: Oxheart As an Oi! Punk Band, Plus More

In a recent story meeting, I mentioned The Pass & Provisions to my fellow staff writers here at the Press. Assistant music editor and all-around pop culture buff Craig Hlavaty quickly threw out there: "That sounds like a screamo band." "In fact," he continued, "a lot of these new restaurants have n ... More >>

The Top 20 Greatest Goth Albums of All Time, Nos. 20-11

BY CHRIS GRAY AND JEF WITH ONE F Even at this late stage of the game, "goth" is a loaded word. Years and years of bad emo bands in too much eyeliner and corsets on sale at Hot Topics coast to coast will do that. Some even doubt the existence of goth as its own genre anymore, which seems strange co ... More >>

#MadeInAmerica: The Heat, Crowds & Fireworks of Day 1

Rewind: #MadeInAmerica: Translation's Steve Stoute Talks Diversity, Honesty, and The Digital Revolution "If you put on a festival full of good music, people will find you". That was advertising executive and Jay-Z inner circle member Steve Stoute's answer to my question regarding the who/what/why ... More >>

25 Gorgeous GIFs From Lollapalooza 2012

Another Lollapalooza blog by our friends at City Pages -- ed. Lollapalooza 2012: The People BY REED FISCHER Ready for some GIFs? To quote Ozzy Osbourne, "I can't fucking hear you!" I said, ARE YOU READY FOR SOME GIFS?! This past weekend's running of Lollapalooza in Chicago was intense. The hea ... More >>

Katy's Point to Infinity Wins Spot on Lollapalooza Stage

This is one of those stories that can't help raise even the most cynical journalist's cockles a few degrees: Band fresh out of high school, with a disposition as sunny as its melodic brand of pop-rock, wins a spot at one of America's biggest, most important music festivals. Any Hollywood producer wo ... 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 >>

Our Top Ten Picks For Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011

Photo By Marc BrubakerBest Coast at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010​This weekend the Rocks Off team will cover their third Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, at the festival's new home Auditorium Shores. Each year this fest seems to get bigger and better, without losing it's grimy luster. Is it the Austin City ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Leaking 2011 Lineup On Turntable.fm

​After leaking artists including Okkervil River, Odd Future, X and - most people believe - Slayer, Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest has officially begun announcing its 2011 lineup via the brand-new file-sharing/social-media hybrid Turntable FM. Fun Fun Fun began streaming songs from this year's arti ... More >>

Eight Halfway Decent Songs With Godawful Titles

​So, we listened to Coldplay's new single, "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" for the first time and, try as we might, we just can't hate it. Now, it's not great. One could argue that it only barely crosses the line into "good" territory. It sounds like Chris Martin locked himself in a room and l ... More >>

Last Night: Foals At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Jim Bricker​Foals Fitzgerald's April 19, 2011 Just minutes after Fitzgerald's opened its doors for last night's Foals show, tickets were gone. The sold-out venue was packed before second opener Freelance Whales even hit the stage, and it's no wonder - Oxford quintet Foals, fresh off ... More >>

Record Store Day: If You Take A Dump, Don't Tell The Staff

Marco TorresCarlos Hernandez and Los Skarnales' Felipe Galvan at Cactus Music's "Day of the Dead" opening last year.​Today is Tax Day (boo), but it's also payday for a lot of people, which comes in handy because tomorrow is Record Store Day. In a few short years, RSD has become one of the bigg ... More >>

Portuguese Men of War

The Walkmen jump-start their momentum on Lisbon.

Tokyo Police Club Enter Indie Big Leagues With Champ

Canvas Media​Though Ontario indie-rockers Tokyo Police Club might still technically be considered wet behind the ears in terms of age, their notable résumé and relentless work ethic speak a different story. Forming in 2005 after disbanding their previous group, Suburbia, the foursome, then b ... 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 >>

Passion Pit, Tokyo Police Club

Dance The Night Away: Passion Pit Ticket Giveaway

You know the phrase. While the cat's away, the mice will play. Señor Rocks Off is taking a much needed vacation and in the meantime, the natives are going nuts around here. The above video is pretty much what it looks like in the Rocks Off offices right now as Craig Hlavaty and yours truly have t ... More >>

Possible Sponsors For 6 Summer Tours

​Sunday night, resurgent '90s nu-metaleers Korn stop by Verizon Wireless Theater as headliners of the annual Jagermeister Music Tour. Wonder if they've still got the gorilla suit. It seems like more and more artists are following the model of bands like U2, whose recently scratched 360 Tour was "p ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Chamillionaire & Paul Wall, Jordin Sparks, Local Natives, Passion Pit, Paramore, Toots & The Maytals, Weird Al Yankovic, Etc.

​Aziz Ansari: Fri., July 30. House of Blues. Black Congress (7" Release Show), Golden Axe, Omotai: Sat., April 10. Rudyard's. Blue Oyster Cult, Foghat: Sat., May 29. The Showgrounds @ Sam Houston Race Park. "BuzzFest XXIV" With Limp Bizkit, Deftones, Metric, Three Days Grace, 30 Seconds To Mars, ... More >>

SXSW Aftermath: Freelance Whales And Local Natives Shine At French Kiss Records' Showcase

Photos by Brandon K. HernsbergerFreelance Whales​For as long as French Kiss Records has put on a showcase at SXSW, French Kiss Records has not dissapointed. The bands in their stable are a who's who of up and comers along with a number of indie mainstays that have remained in the public conscious ... More >>

Rocks Off's 2010 Predictions: The Fate of Owl City, Chingo Bling vs. Chamillionaire, the Next Twilight Soundtrack and Madchester In Katy

www.flickr.com/photos/dherholz/​ Adam Young of Owl City will mystify the scientific community, yet surprise no one in the music community, when he is hacked in half in a freak sawmill accident, and it's discovered he is filled with gummi bears. The Arcade Fire/Flaming Lips feud is resolved when ... More >>

Curse Your Branches: The Top College-Rockish Records of 2009, Part 1

​Yeah, pal, that's "college rock," scare quotes very much included. Look, it's a meaningless term. As are "indie," "alternative," "hipster," etc., etc. Let's not overthink this: Here we have ten splendid records with an amorphous rock 'n' roll designation, albeit in a perhaps slightly more experim ... More >>

Songs By ACL Artists That Should Be Covered By Other ACL Artists

Isn't it fun to imagine all your favorite bands are best friends? And that when they spend time together, as so many of them are doing right this second at the Austin City Limits festival, they would inevitably learn each others' songs? Here are some songs by ACL bands which we'd like to see covered ... More >>

Inquiring Minds: Pop Princess Katy Perry

Mike Ruiz​They say man can't exist on indie-rock and metal alone, or something like that. Rocks Off firmly agrees, so when we hear good mainstream pop we ride that horse for all it's worth. That's why a little over a year ago, when Katy Perry hit with her single "Ur So Gay," we were enamored with ... More >>

John Mayer Is Full of Crap

​Something about John Mayer just gets under Rocks Off's skin. We'll admit there was a time he made us believe our body was a wonderland, and yes, we've even wanted to "run through the halls of our high school and scream at the top of our lungs." But no more. The quiet little guitar player we once ... More >>

Good Manners

Passion Pit's improbable journey from laptop love notes to live band.