Queens of the Stone Age

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 >>

Tenacious D Debut Album Getting Deluxe Reissue Treatment

Tenacious D's self-titled 2001 effort, the album that soundtracked a million bong sessions and made Dio cool all over again, is getting the deluxe reissue treatment on vinyl on March 5. The comedy duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass brought in a star-studded team for their first album, building on the ... More >>

Locals Grandfather Child, Le$, Tontons, Killa Kyleon Added to SXSW 2013 Roster

Houston acts Grandfather Child, The Tontons, DJ Buddha, Beat King, Hoodstar Chantz, Slim Thug, Z-Ro, Killa Kyleon, Branzil, Le$, Lucky Luciano, and Essay were among the artists added to the SXSW 2013 lineup today. Previously announced were Young Von and The Linus Pauling Quartet. As it stands now, ... More >>

Old News: Paul McCartney Could Have Been In Them Crooked Vultures

If you have seen and heard Paul McCartney's collaboration with the surviving members of Nirvana this past week, then you no doubt have entertained the thought of a tour or at least an album by the super group. As of now of course, they have only publicly released one track, "Cut Me Some Slack", whic ... More >>

10 More Things I'll Be Doing at ACL Festival This Weekend

That's right folks, it's ACL Music Festival time again in Texas, and Rocks Off will be flying to Austin on the private Rocks Off jet this weekend to cover the fest from Friday until the last notes of "Give It Away" at the end of the Red Hot Chili Peppers set on Sunday night. That's my way of telli ... More >>

Looking Back On Queens Of The Stone Age's Songs For The Deaf

This past week one of the most beloved rock disc in the decade turned 10 years old. It was August 27, 2002 that the world met Queens Of The Stone Age's third LP, Songs For The Deaf, a blistering, swaggery, pummeling kick-in-the-nuts of a rock album. The band, lead by towering Ginger Elvis Joshua H ... More >>

ZZ Top Returns to Espanol for September's LA FUTURA

Moments ago, ZZ Top's publicist Bob Merlis officially announced the title and release date of the trio's first studio album since 2003's Mescalero, a record even many diehard fans were starting to doubt was real. LA FUTURA will be released September 11 on American Recordings, the recently rebooted l ... More >>

Why Shouldn't the Zombie Apocalypse Have a Playlist?

Yeah, yeah, we all know it's 2012. Apparently the end of the world is near. The apocalypse is coming. Or better yet, a zombie apocalypse is coming. If you aren't so in touch as to what the hell a zombie even is, it's the living dead, and they are scary as can be. I have my roommate and good friend ... More >>

Top 5 Singular Musical Forces

Great bands are a dime a dozen. How often has a great band broken up, only to have the individual efforts of the ex-members lambasted by critics and public alike? Sometimes the chemistry of a band, collectively, makes them great, but sometimes it's "The Talent," a singular musical force. When I sp ... 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 >>

Mosquitoes: A Tiny, Highly Annoying Musical History

​The Texans are in first place (for now), the Texas Rangers may become the Lone Star State's first-ever World Series champions tomorrow (ouch), and early voting for the November 8 mayoral/City Council election started Monday. The Houston Press Music Awards showcase is less than three weeks awa ... More >>

Kyuss Lives!, The Sword

Arctic Monkeys & The Rock N' Pop Class Of 2006

Arctic Monkeys, Version 2011​This past decade, 2006 was one of the better years in music, with a ton of debuts, great albums and catchy singles. It was also the year this member of Rocks Off started putting his musical critiques into a computer, joining the great circus known as the music indu ... More >>

Out Today: Danger Mouse In Rome, Nick Cave & Queen Reissued

​It's back to the usual grind for Rocks Off after last night's late-night Austin City Limits Festival lineup announcement. Sadly, we will not be seeing the Foo Fighters play songs from Wasting Light in Austin come September. And yes, still playing it, along with a steady diet of Guns N' Roses. ... More >>

SXSW: The 10 Best Of The Fest This Year

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​

SXSW Last Night: Queens Of The Stone Age At La Zona Rosa

Craig Hlavaty​Rolling Stone magazine surely knows how to throw a showcase, bringing forth Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis, Mini Mansions, and Black Angels to open for a reinvigorated Queens Of The Stone Age on Wednesday night. Every band on the bill coalesced with each other beautifully and succinctl ... More >>

Rocks Off's Must-See Music Picks For SXSW '11

​As you may have heard, there's a teeny-tiny little music festival going on in Austin later this week. Some of the early birds on team Rocks Off are either already there or well on their way, as a matter of fact. With more than 2,000 artists playing the official part of SXSW alone, trying to ... More >>

Groundhall Now Open, Not Changing Name Anymore (We Think)

Groundhall on FacebookThe patio at Groundhall, the former... well, the former lot of things.​Over the last couple of months, it's been kind of fun - and kind of frustrating - to try to keep up with what's been going on over at the old Engine Room at 1515 Pease, up to and including what the dam ... More >>

Acts We Think - OK, Hope - Are Playing ACL Fest This Year

​By this time Tuesday, we will all know who is playing the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October. Damn, it seems like we have speculating about the line-up since, well, we got the last of the "Dillo Dirt" out the middle of our toes after last year's muddy and rainy ACL weekend. Tuesday brig ... More >>

A Guide To Record Store Day 2010 In Houston, Cage Dancing And All

www.recordstoreday.com​ Vinyl fetishists, are you ready to be separated from your mortgage or rent money? Record Store Day is tomorrow, and indie record stores across the whole city will be sticking you up all day Saturday. Rocks Off gets paid today, so you will more than likely see us browsing sw ... More >>

Back to the Future: The Musical Lineage of the Sword

Craig HlavatyThe Sword at Free Press Summerfest 2009​This Sunday night, Austin's The Sword pulls into Warehouse Live to lay waste to our city's collective eardrums. The band was in town last August for Summerfest and was shit-hot, coming right off of an opening slot for Metallica over in Europe. T ... More >>

He Said She Said: Songs That Make Us Feel Like a Man, Baby!

Mad Men's Christina Hendricks makes us feel like a man in the best possible way...​He Said's view of manhood wasn't built on sweat and labor the way most guys would probably say. Early on in our musical journey, we always equated music to being sleazy and slithery, or just dancing. It makes sense ... More >>

He Said She Said: Albums From the Past Decade of Our Lives

​When this decade began, He Said was but 15 years old, bored, jobless and chubby. It ends with him 26, overworked, overstimulated and chasing away his self-imposed demons with too much of everything and too little of most things. But the one constant has been the power of music to lead him out of ... More >>

Does Anyone Care About Super Tuesdays Anymore? Besides Us?

​Time was that Tuesdays used to be the best day of the week for your average recorded-music consumer. Since Rocks Off was just a wee music nerd, Tuesdays were his favorite days of the week because it was always the universal day for all new releases to hit the stores. It started with begging our p ... More >>

Aftermath: Alice Cooper's "Theatre of Death" at Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Craig Hlavaty/ Click here for a slideshow​ Who needs to go to an Alice Cooper show more: the 34-year-old satisfying his curiosity or the 61-year-old onstage for whom the gate receipts will buy many, many rounds at Pebble Beach? The 44-year-old whose eyes are blacked out like Alice's or t ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day Three: Arctic Monkeys Are All Growns Up

Photos by Groovehouse​Just weeks after the release of their new Humbug, the Arctic Monkeys hit the AMD stage at mid-afternoon with a newly grungy sound reminiscent of Primal Scream and somehow, hairy period Kinks.

Aftermath: Them Crooked Vultures at Stubb's in Austin

Photos By Craig Hlavaty​Just a few short hours ago Aftermath saw the rock world's newest supergroup in action as Queens of The Stone Age's Josh Homme, ex-Nirvana drummer/current Foo Fighters helmer Dave Grohl, and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones took the stage at Stubb's in Austin for a warm- ... More >>

Arctic Monkeys

Aftermath: Passengers' Robotic Drug-Rock Drone at the Mink

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​ Seeing that Aftermath is childless (we hope), it's a rare occasion for us to see something be birthed before our very eyes. Sure, we have probably unwittingly been around for some conceptions, but never a full-on screaming mama genesis like we saw and heard Friday night at ... More >>

He Said She Said: Songs for Getting It On, Part 2

[Ed. Note: Here's Web Editor Katharine Shilcutt's top 10 picks for baby-makin' music. Now it's the boys' turn.] 1. Ryan Adams, "Come Pick Me Up": This has to work, because it shows vulnerability and warmth. It tells her you are the kind of guy who will be the one to get out of bed to get the Wet On ... More >>

Flannel File: Screaming Trees, Dust

Is there any file more flannel-y than that of Screaming Trees - a hard-rock band with long hair from Seattle, influenced by the sounds of the '70s and '80s, whose career began to take off in the early '90s but was brought down by substance abuse and infighting? Tom Moon, in his very cool book 10 ... More >>

The Shredder

One Show, One Sentence

Eagles of Death Metal

Who Stole the Roll?

Our Favorite Albums of 2007

Panning for gold in an avalanche of 2007 releases

Drenched in Blog: Top Ten Albums of 2007

Drenched in Blog: Listing 2007

Weekend Music: Get Your Free On

Drenched in Blog: Queens of the Stone Age in a Salt Mine

Drenched In Blog: Drenched in MySpace

Give Us a Hand

Last Night: Queens of the Stone Age and Arctic Monkeys at Verizon Wireless Theater

Drenched In Blog: Goin’ Out West for ACL Fest

Confessions of a Classic Rock Whore, or One Man’s Journey

ZZ Top, David Allan Coe, Hank Williams III, Old 97's

ZZ Top, David Allan Coe, Hank Williams III and Old 97's perform Saturday, July 14, at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Dr., The Woodlands, 281-363-3300.

Shock Treatment

Overlooked in '05

Ten great discs that were underserved by the media but are more than worthy

Alive and Kicking

For colored girls is a tale for everyone

Baring Fangs

Heavily hyped L.A. punks the Distillers jump to the majors with a highly guarded new album

God Awful