Pop-Punk and Emo

The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Carrie Underwood, Filter, Paramore, etc.

Carrie Underwood Toyota Center, April 23 Seemingly shoved off the queen-of-country throne by Taylor Swift's ascendancy, Carrie Underwood may have taken the title right back now that Swift has crossed over completely into the pop realm. No one will ever mistake Underwood for Loretta Lynn, of course, ... More >>

The Five Strangest Artists You Never Knew Courtney Love Worked With

Fall Out Boy is set to save rock and roll, and they're bringing a few friends along with them. Apparently, saving rock and roll requires the combined efforts of prose auteur Pete Wentz, "Rocket Man" Elton John, and, of course, Courtney Love. What? Courtney Love? Yes. As the video announces, "it's C ... More >>

Saturday Night: Coheed and Cambria at Bayou Music Center

Coheed and Cambria, Between the Buried and Me, Russian Circles Bayou Music Center March 2, 2013 The last time Coheed and Cambria came through town, they were opening for Iron Maiden at the Woodlands. I'd never really considered Coheed to inhabit the same universe as those heavy-metal gods; their mu ... More >>

Underoath

Skeleton Dick

FallCore

Face to Face

10 Cool & Cheap Weekenders: November 2-4

UPDATED (9:30 a.m.): Per @FitzLiveMusic, Rakim has canceled due to Sandy-related travel difficulties. :( Indian Jewelry Walters, November 2 Houston is a better place for Indian Jewelry still being here. They could have moved somewhere hipper long ago and been welcomed with open arms, but Tex Kersc ... More >>

Now Broadcasting From The Red Planet: 5 Artists Who Deserve A Premiere On Mars

While it was neither a small step nor a giant leap NASA once again made history on Tuesday. Not content with just beaming music in to space they successfully streamed a song from the Curiosity rover hanging out on Mars back to the little blue orb we call home. If we're being honest we were a bit su ... More >>

Knights of the Fire Kingdom: Houston's Hottest Band

Yes, another article about the same band. See a different take on Knights of the Fire Kingdom in Jef With One F's "bus-stop" interview. Houston has known Jeoaf Johnson as the burly beardo playing drums in Roky Moon & BOLT for the past three years. Yes, him. Now that the band has folded and called i ... More >>

O'Brother's Tanner Merritt On Trailers, Thrice & 120 Minutes

Atlanta's heavy, experimental-rock quintet O'Brother has been hitting the road hard in 2012. Rocks Off covered the band's headlining gig at Warehouse Live back in March, and tomorrow the band rolls into town once again, this time supporting Thrice on that band's farewell tour. It's been a busy few ... More >>

Hot Chelle Rae

Boy Bands Are Back In Fashion, But Did They Ever Go Away?

One Direction, the newest UK pop import to make it to colonial shores, announced a full-scale summer tour Tuesday, including a Houston date on June 24 up at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Pretty big venue for a group that is just now breaking in America, and the Brit-Irish boy band just sold ... More >>

Put On A Happy Face: 6 Ex-Emos Who Found More Success By Being Happy

Emo. The word conjures so many images. For your average American, it will make them think of black eyeliner, wrist-cutting, and essentially hair metal for the '00s. For hardcore kids, they'll think of Jawbreaker. But either way you slice it, emo has had its ups and downs as a genre and has changed ... More >>

'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 >>

Ben Folds Five Returns: An Essential Playlist

Photo By GroovehouseBen Folds solo in 2010 at the House Of Blues​The eight-year run of '90s indie act the Ben Folds Five was fruitful in many ways. We got the most catchy song about a Christmas abortion ever in 1997's "Brick", three excellent studio albums full of snarky, romantically-challeng ... More >>

The Kills

Distant Early Warning: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Steve Aoki, Mountain Goats, Heartless Bastards, Voodoo Glow Skulls

​ Red Hot Chili Peppers, Janelle Monae: Thu., March 8. Toyota Center, 1510 Polk, Houston. Agent Orange: Tue., Feb. 21. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston. "Burned Out" With Chase Hamblin, The Literary Greats, The Sideshow Tramps: Sat., Jan. 21. Fitzgerald's, 2706 White Oak, Houston. C ... More >>

The 12 Best Remakes of Hip Hop and Pop Songs by Heavy Bands

​Rock bands covering music in a different genre can sometimes be a sensitive subject. You have people that love both genres separately but then there are fans who prefer their music to be a bit blended. Punk Goes... is a series of compilation albums that feature punk rock artists covering m ... 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 >>

Our All-Time Fantasy Vans Warped Tour Lineup

Photos by Marc BrubakerWarped Tour 2010​Since 1996, the Vans Warped Tour has been a staple of punk and youth culture all over the world, uniting kids of all stripes under the violent heat of the sun one day out of the year in cities across the map. The traveling festival is responisble for bre ... More >>

The Spits

Upcoming: Aretha Franklin, Blink-182, Kyuss Lives!, Etc.

​Agnostic Front, The Mongoloids: Mon., Sept. 19. Walter's On Washington. Amon Amarth: Fri., Aug. 26. House of Blues. Aretha Franklin: Tue., June 14. Arena Theatre. blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Matt & Kim: Mon., Sept. 26. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Buxton: Fri., July 8. McGonigel' ... More >>

Chefs Taste Test Edible "Marital Aids" for Valentine's Day

We were terrified of the ball gag, too.​A chef, a pastry chef and a food critic walk into Erotic Cabaret. It's not the beginning of a joke; it's how I spent my Saturday afternoon. I took chef Jonathan Jones of Beaver's and pastry chef Jody Stevens of Jodycakes to the "marital aid" store this ... More >>

30 Seconds to Mars

Thursday

"Christmas At Fitz" With 30 Foot Fall, Monster Soup, Something Fierce, Skeleton Dick, Commie Hillfiger, The Cutters, Caddywhompus

Today's High Schoolers Shrugging Off New Music

​During this part of the year, your humble narrator treks from school to schools selling contest music to bands and orchestras. It's a good gig, and it enables us to get a good gander at what the next generation of musicians look like. However, after several years of doing it, we started noti ... More >>

Upcoming: 30 Seconds To Mars, Kesha, Linkin Park, Etc.

​30 Seconds To Mars: Wed., Jan. 26. Verizon Wireless Theater. 12 Stones, Taproot: Fri., Jan. 21. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Acid Mother's Temple, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers: Wed., April 20. Fitzgerald's. Adema: Wed., Jan. 12. Meridian. Agent Orange: Sun., Jan. 9. Fitzgerald's. Better Tha ... 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 >>

Foodies Or Hipsters: Who's More Obnoxious?

Okay, we're discussing Hipsters vs. Foodies, not Hipsters Vs. Food. That's your first mistake.​Okay, first up, a little clarification, since a bunch of you just got pissed off at the terms used in the headline and won't even read the article before leaving enraged spittle all over the comments ... More >>

Foodies Or Hipsters: Who's More Obnoxious?

Okay, we're discussing Hipsters vs. Foodies, not Hipsters Vs. Food. That's your first mistake.​Okay, first up, a little clarification, since a bunch of you just got pissed off at the terms used in the headline and won't even read the article before leaving enraged spittle all over the comments ... More >>

Angels & Airwaves Soar On An Adoring Crowd's Energy

Photos by Matthew Keever​ Aftermath has a confession: We're more familiar with Angels & Airwaves' music than we'd care to admit. It's not that AVA isn't a solid group, but we thought we would have outgrown pop-punk by now. However, it seems that Tom DeLonge will always have a special place in ... More >>

Upcoming: Asia, Hawthorne Heights, Natalie Merchant, Silversun Pickups, Etc.

​Ana Egge, Michael Kingcaid, Frank Smith: Wed., May 26. Rudyard's. Asia: Sat., Aug. 21. House of Blues. Asleep At The Wheel: Sat., June 26. House of Blues. Benny Benassi: Fri., June 18. Stereo Live. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Fri., June 25. House of Blues. The Burden, Side Arms, Ghost Town Electric, F ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Billy Idol, Black Crowes, Carrie Underwood, Dax Riggs, Erykah Badu, Goatwhore, The Spits, Etc.

​Stardeath & White Dwarfs, The Besnard Lakes: Wed., May 19. Walter's on Washington. Billy Idol: Wed., Aug. 25. House of Blues. Black Crowes: Sun., Sept. 26. Verizon Wireless Theater. Candlebox, Another Day, Rowe: Sat., May 15. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Carrie Underwood, Billy Currington, Sons Of ... More >>

Alkaline Trio

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 >>

He Said She Said: Songs For A First (Perhaps Only) Date, Part 2

​He Said is going to admit right here and now that he has never been a master of the first date. True it is that we have dated some very awesome and artistic women, but we always lack when it comes to that first swing out of the box. He Said is way better at the weeks, months and years after that ... More >>

Houston Musicians Recall Their Own Rock and Roll High School Days

​Tonight Rocks Off is hosting the first annual Texas High School Rock Off, with local bands from area schools fighting for a grand prize of $500 and bragging rights around town. This past week we have profiled the seven bands in the running: The Paperwaits, Useful Information, The Handshake, Livin ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Alicia Keys, Alkaline Trio, Infected Mushroom, Obituary, Slaid Cleaves and More

​10th Grade Cutie, Muhammadali, Freddie Gonorrhea & The Gunz: Mon., Jan. 25. Super Happy Fun Land. Alicia Keys: Sat., April 3. Toyota Center. Alkaline Trio, Cursive: Fri., March 26. Warehouse Live. Fair To Midland, Chrome 44, Raging Apathy: Wed., March 24. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Finntroll, Moo ... More >>

Flashback: Taking Back Sunday at House of Blues

Groovehouse​ Long Island emo veterans Taking Back Sunday brought the reborn sounds of their latest album New Again to House of Blues Monday night with uplifting Floridians Anberlin in tow. Stay tuned for a review.

Lucero

Distant Early Warning: The Wailers, Bob Schneider (Again), Hayes Carll, Peanut Butter Wolf, Queen Latifah & Dashboard Confessional Cancel, etc.

​The Wailers, The Supervillains: Sat., Jan. 9. House of Blues. 30 Seconds To Mars, Cage The Elephant: Thu., Dec. 3. Verizon Wireless Theater. Adam Richman: Wed., Dec. 2. House of Blues. Asleep At The Wheel: Sat., Dec. 26. Crighton Theater. Bob Schneider: Thu., Dec. 31. Meridian. Breaking Benjamin ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: 311, AFI, HEALTH, Kanye West (Boo!), Regina Spektor, Rob Zombie, etc.

​311, State Radio: Sun., Dec. 6. Verizon Wireless Theater. AFI: Sat., Nov. 21. Verizon Wireless Theater. An Albatross, Dark Meat: Sat., Nov. 7. Mango's. Armin Van Buuren: Fri., Oct. 16. Planeta Bar-Rio. Art Brut: Sun., Oct. 25. Walter's on Washington. Breathe Carolina, Cash Cash, Kill Paradise, F ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Band of Heathens, Glen Campbell, Mastodon, Thursday, etc.

​The Academy Is..., The Secret Handshake, Set Your Goals, Mayday Parade: Thu., Oct. 22. Warehouse Live. All Time Low, Hey Monday, We The Kings, Friday Night Boys: Wed., Oct. 28. House of Blues. Band of Heathens (CD Release Show): Fri., Sept. 11. Warehouse Live. Brand New: Sat., Oct. 31. Verizon W ... More >>

A Static Lullaby

Houston's Rememberances of Warped Tours Past

For the past 15 years, the Vans Warped Tour has been barreling through city after city across the globe creating punk rockers out of boy scouts and riot grrls out of band geeks. The traveling punk, hardcore and emo road show has been coming to Houston since 1995. The first taste local punks got of f ... More >>

Blades, Don Cabellero, Animal

Local instrumentalists get things started for out-of-towners

Gold Metal

Ahoy, Sailors!