Public Image Ltd.

Transcribing Is a Bitch: The Collected Craig Hlavaty Interviews

My last official day at the Houston Press is tomorrow, so these past two weeks I have been sifting through my body of work here at Rocks Off, almost seven years of words. I've been gleefully overdosing on nostalgia here at my desk, and I have (almost) no regrets. I'll have some more words on my depa ... More >>

The Disco Experiment: Why It Worked For Pink Floyd, But Not KISS

In 1979, disco was all the rage. For all the kids who had never bothered to pay attention when their parents would talk about it, it was sort of like dubstep. It was ubiquitous on the radio and even rock bands were vying to get in on the action so they didn't get left behind in the new revolution. S ... More >>

Friday Night: Public Image Ltd. at Scout Bar

Public Image Ltd. Scout Bar November 2, 2012 Not many shows remind you that sound has actual, physical mass, but Public Image Ltd. sure did Friday. Mass, as in something tangible and discernible, with density and volume. Especially volume. But don't count out density. Yes, I'm talking about some ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday In Review: Kreayshawn, Refused, Girl Talk & More

Saturday's FFFF was a dusty affair, with merch tables making money off bandannas and other face coverings hand over fist. Where did that phrase come from, by the way? What do hands and fists have to do with making money, aside from petty crime? SLIDESHOW: PiL, Refused, A$AP Rocky: Fun Fun Fun Fest ... More >>

Public Image Ltd.

Rocks Off's Picks For This Weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest

First off, the entire Rocks Off team agrees unanimously that we are all excited to see Run-D.M.C. at this year's edition of Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, even though writer /photographer Marco Torres has already seen them this year at Jay-Z's Made In America Music Festival. REWIND: Fun Fun Fun Fest ... More >>

Top 5 Bands Influenced by Public Image Ltd.

Public Image Ltd will be performing in the Greater Houston area on Friday, tomorrow, and as previously mentioned here, their choice of Scout Bar out in Clear Lake is a little unexpected. Rewind: Talking Politics, and Almost No Music, With Punk Legend John Lydon For those who haven't heard of PiL, ... More >>

Talking Politics, and Almost No Music, With Punk Legend John Lydon

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of speaking with John Lydon, iconic lead singer of the Sex Pistols, currently touring and recording with Public Image Ltd. That group has been Lydon's main squeeze since the Pistols' 1978 implosion, and released their First Issue later that year. REWIND: John Ly ... More >>

Texans-Titans: The Best Rapper Tweets

10-Plus Vinyl Albums You'll Always See at Thrift Stores

I have been cursed with an affliction to mindlessly buy vinyl at thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, and estate sales, without regard for how much room I have at home. The problem now encompasses compact discs too. It's a genetic trait. My father collects containers. His garage looks like the ... More >>

Keith Morris Talks OFF!, Politics & Touring In 2012

Next Thursday night, punk legend Keith Morris comes to Warehouse Live for his second Houston visit in a year with his group OFF!. The band is made up of Morris, Steven McDonald of Redd Kross, drummer Mario Rubalcaba, and guitarist Dimitri Coats, also front man of Burning Brides. OFF! was birthed o ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Releases Daily Schedule

This morning Fun Fun Fun Fest organizers released the daily schedule for November's three-day orgy of booze, denim, and loudness in the middle of Austin's Auditorium Shores. The color-coded stages -- black, yellow, orange, and blue -- are set up according to genre and size of the act. Last year th ... More >>

John Lydon: "You Can't Hold Prejudices To Brick And Mortar"

On Wednesday morning I had the pleasure of speaking with one John Lydon, the founding member of Public Image Ltd and the lead screamer of punk legends the Sex Pistols. PiL -- that's what he calls it, never the full name -- released a new album This Is PiL earlier this summer. It's been getting gre ... More >>

Yes, Public Image Ltd Is Playing Scout Bar

The runoff attached to Fun Fun Fun Fest during the first weekend in November has paid off for Houston, which will see dates from Baroness -- fingers crossed, Tomahawk, Converge, Red Fang, Valient Thorr, and now Public Image Ltd. The post-Sex Pistols John Lydon project will play Clear Lake's Scout ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012: A$AP Rocky, De La Soul, PiL, Santigold, X, Turbonegro, Etc.

This morning Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest, the best music festival in Texas that isn't Free Press Summer Fest, announced their full 2012 lineup after months of teasing us and leaking a handful of names at a time -- and then hip-hop legends Run-D.M.C Tuesday morning. Scheduled for November 2-4 at Audit ... More >>

5 Artists Whose Second Acts Surpassed Their First

Rocks Off has always had a soft spot for Rick Nelson. Although our oldest memory of him is probably hearing about the plane crash outside Texarkana that killed him, his band and his fiancee on New Year's Eve 1985, we're also old enough to remember actually his songs like "Hello, Mary Lou," "Lonesome ... More >>

Garage Sale Cowboy: Rod McKuen's The Sea

​Today Rod McKuen, poet, composer, and sometime singer, turns 77 years old. Most people do not remember McKuen - at least nobody born after 1980 - but for one summer he was the strangest thing to come into Rocks Off's record collection, and remains one of our favorites. It would have been th ... More >>

No Fools

Mingling Cat Power and the Cure, Warpaint brings glee to even their darkest songs.

FAIL: Prince, Johnny Rotten, Too Short, Auto-Tune

Photos by John Seaborn Gray​Internet Not As "Over" As Prince Had Hoped: Remember last week when Prince said the Internet was "over," and that was why he's now giving copies of his new CD away for free whenever you buy a copy of that thriving and relevant medium, a British newspaper? Well, ent ... More >>

Flaming Lips Still On For Summerfest... For Now

Neuski via flickr.com​ The Grand Ole Opry, which was supposed to celebrate its 85th birthday party May 25, is currently underwater, like most of Nashville (above). Nashville Public Radio is reporting that the Cumberland River crested at a whopping 52 feet. When does hurricane season start aga ... More >>

Inquiring Minds: Henry Rollins Has A Lot To Say. Surprised?

​Since his debut in 1981 as Black Flag's fourth, last and best lead singer, Henry Rollins has been the emissary of intelligent hardcore punk rock and its accompanying ideals. Through his five-year history with the band, from the LPs Damaged to In My Head, he brought an animalistic, poetic spirit t ... More >>

Night Worship

A band apart, Houston's Balaclavas explores some dark places indeed on new LP Roman Holiday.

He Said She Said: Songs for Your New Year's Eve Party, Part 2

​ When it comes time for He Said to make a party mix, you would think he would go for some classic metal or punk rock. But you would be totally wrong. When it's time for single boys and single girls to drink, mingle and start making questionable choices, we can leave the Motorhead and AC/DC for th ... More >>

Industrial Icon Martin Atkins Knows From Touring

Road Warrior

Wilderness: (k)no(w)here

Last Night: The Slits and Friends at Numbers

Funk Flashback