Shea Serrano

Essential Rock and Roll Literature For Budding Music Writers

Right about now young, budding rock writers and nerds are sitting on gift cards and credit from the holidays, and may need to know what books to pick up at the local bookstore or Amazon to further their education. It's not enough to just read every new music blog or (gasp!) pick up a few music mag ... More >>

Rocks Off's 10(ish) Favorite Local Albums of 2012

Continuing with our year-end panorama, Rocks Off asked our contributors a simple question with a not-so-simple answer: What was your favorite local album of 2012? ALEXA CRENSHAW: Whatever I say here, I'm going to want to take back shortly because there's so much good stuff out there, y'all. Althoug ... More >>

Rocks Off's 10 Biggest Musical Disappointments of 2012

Everyone's mother once told them, or should have, that life is not always going to be a puppy mill full of unicorns and rainbows. Remember why all those puppies are there. Sometimes life -- and especially pop music -- doesn't turn out like you were expecting, so now we present Rocks Off's Biggest Mu ... More >>

Rocks Off's 10 Best Musical Discoveries of 2012

The thrill of discovering freshly minted treasure or a previously unheralded favorite is one of the main reasons music writers get into this racket in the first place; every so often it can make wading through the ocean of crap mediocrity that is pop music worthwhile. Rocks Off asked our contributor ... More >>

T.I. Unveils Trouble Man at Houston's Wire Road Studios

T.I. is no Marvin Gaye. Or is he? Both men were blessed with supreme talent as musicians and songwriters. Both men exhibit an overflowing charisma and a flair for the dramatic. Both men chose acting as a supplementary alternative expression of their talents. Both men were also cursed with an unfor ... More >>

Suspect Arrested In Fatal Shooting That Also Wounded Trae Tha Truth

Trae Tha Truth Releases Statement on Wednesday's ABN Shooting HPD Releases ABN Shooting Report: Poppa C Was Target Reports: ABN's Dinky D, Poppa C Shot Dead Outside Strip Club: A Houston Rap-Related Shooting Timeline Houston Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting that killed three pe ... More >>

A GAY ISLAND??: The Best & Worst Facebook Responses To Bun B Supporting Gay Marriage

When President Barack Obama said in an interview last week that he supported same-sex marriage, it lit up the Internet with discussion. The dialogue split between those championing the president's words, and his detractors damning him (again) for going against what they saw as biblical and social no ... More >>

Lynyrd Skynyrd Borrows Scarface Album Title For New LP

Something must be in the air, with this bizarre concurrence of Houston rap and classic rock. We blame the supermoon. This morning, Rocks Off told you about ZZ Top using the chopped-and-screwed standard "25 Lighters" in the Texas band's new commercial for flavored malt beverage Jeremiah Weed. Not an ... More >>

Best Of The Rest: Houston's Top 6 Washington Avenue Bars

The Washington Avenue corridor is fascinating if not for the simple fact that its very existence for the last few years has ignited a firestorm of opinions about its worthiness as Houston's king of party scenes. Last year, Houston Press writers Craig Hlavaty, Shea Serrano and Mike Gigilio did an inc ... More >>

Give It Away: Music We're Gifting to Friends for Christmas

​We're a generous bunch at Rocks Off. We just give and give and give until it hurts, and then we give some more. That's just how we roll. And when we give, well, it may seem obvious, but we tend to give the gift of music. Our friends and family are appreciative, though we do think grandma is j ... More >>

Fa La La La La: Favorite Records Rocks Off Got for Christmas

​No matter what year it is or how old you are, if you love music, there is nothing like finding some new music tucked under the tree or crammed into your stocking. iTunes gift cards are easy. So are gift cards to Tiffany's, but we bet your girl would be a lot more receptive to the blue box. Th ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Lend a Helping Hand on Thanksgiving

"Serving" can take on many meanings at Thanksgiving.​Thanksgiving is what? It's next week? Wait, are you serious? If you, like me, are terrible at planning (or knowing what week of the month it currently is), turn to Lauren Marmaduke's excellent guide to dining out on Thanksgiving Day or orde ... More >>

Showcase Showdown

Fifty bands, 11 stages and three music writers talking HPMA highlights.

Baby's Cryin': Rockabye Baby Sends Us Lullaby Renditions of Van Halen

Yep. ​The folks at Rockabye Baby! remake hard rock from the likes of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Tool, and the Smashing Pumpkins into baby-friendly jams with "soothing mellotrons, vibraphones and bells," replacing all the things that made those bands perfect for well, making rock and roll babies. Thi ... More >>

Bun B, Deer Tick Come Aboard BestFest Lineup

Jason WolterDeer Tick at HOB's Bronze Peacock Room, October 2010​Rhode Island rockers Deer Tick do so wish they were from Houston. They have a deep-seated ZZ Top fetish that manifested itself in a cover of "Cheap Sunglasses" at SXSW a couple of years back, nearly causing a couple of members of ... More >>

Last Night: Turnin' Headz Rap Showcase at The Mink

Photos by Shea SerranoFullMetal FDot​Turnin' Headz The Backroom at the Mink July 7, 2011 10:18-10:50 p.m.: So, our intention tonight was to head over to The Mink for this Turnin' Headz underground rap showcase after going to see the premiere of new music videos from local rappers Montana, The ... More >>

Radio Galaxy: Lost In Space, But Down To Earth

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. Radio Galaxy on Facebook​ ... More >>

Saturday: Jack Freeman & Radio Galaxy At The Breakfast Klub

Photos by Shea SerranoJack Freeman (left) and Montana​Jack Freeman (feat. Montana), Radio Galaxy The Breakfast Klub May 28, 2011 12:30 p.m.: Jack Freeman, local R&B wunderkind, attained "I Need To Listen To Whatever This Guy Sends Me As Soon As He Sends It To Me" status* last year when he rel ... More >>

The Best Local & Texas Albums Of 2011 (So Far)

​Chris Gray: My pick is a dead heat between a pair of Lost Highway albums by a couple of artists who just happen to be appearing at Summer Fest this weekend, Hayes Carll's KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories) and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears' Scandalous. Though he's been one of my favorit ... More >>

Idol Beat: American Idiots

Spoiler alert: the smug one wins.​Thanks to Shea Serrano for taking the bullet yesterday. After what felt like eons, the 10th season of American Idol lurched to its inevitable anticlimax last night. It was as especially torturous affair, stretching well over two hours and mixing performances ... More >>

Washington Avenue, One Year Later: Not As "Wild"

Marc BrubakerPrivilege: Late to the Party?​Today the Rocks Off team unveils our newest cover feature, "Getting Past The Bouncer" (or, in print, "Bar Codes"), in which we investigate more in-depth December's "Hydeout at Hudson" controversy, and examined the door policies at some of the other ni ... More >>

Rocks Off's Favorite Songs Of 2010

​Editor's Picks: Jamey Johnson, "Lonely at the Top": Ouch. Merle Haggard, "I've Seen It": Double ouch. Patty Griffin, "Move On Up": Help me, Jesus. Please.

Music's Biggest Surprises Of 2010

Faith Silva​Editor's Pick: The renewed, and continuing, interest of local indie-rockers and hipsters (and people who are a long way from neither) in traditional honky-tonk as played by Robert Ellis & the Boys and as documented by a certain Lonesome Onry and Mean and myself this summer. Encoura ... More >>

Things We Never, Ever Want To Hear Again

​Editor's Pick: Vampire Weekend's "Holiday." Everything I hate about indie rock (cloying, fey, highly irritating) and car commercials (they're car commercials) in about 15 seconds.. Repeated seven or eight times a fucking hour. Marc Brubaker: "Check us out on Twitter!" or anything else Twitt ... More >>

The Top WTF Moments Of The Year

Editor's Pick: WTF doesn't have to mean "bad," you know. About a week ago - a week exactly, as a matter of fact - En Vogue's "Free Your Mind" came on the PA at Fitzgerald's. I have been in a musical fog for a few months, where nothing was really connecting, but this song snapped me right out of it ... More >>

R.I.P.: Notable Passings Of 2010

​Editor's Pick: Dio, man. Neph Basedow: 2010 commenced on a sad note with the passing of Memphis garage rocker Jay Reatard (aka Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr.). I'd seen him play a tiny show at Chicago's Empty Bottle in 2008 and still consider it one of the best shows I've ever seen. It was definitive ... More >>

"DOPENESS": Much Love For Kyle Hubbard

Rocks Off is following our sister Houston Press blogs into the choppy waters of "Comment of the Day," choosing a comment or a handful of comments from the previous day we find especially enlightening, infuriating or just plain hilarious. We're glad our readers have opinions, whatever they are, about ... More >>

Does "Indie Rock" Mean Anything At All Anymore?

​Our colleague Shea Serrano has been doing brisk business with his Rap Round Table blogs, corralling local hip-hoppers into talking about events in their scene and in the world at large. No topics are off limits, and everyone is willing to talk. So Rocks Off decided it was time for Houston's ... More >>

Rap's Top 10 Heroes Of 2010 So Far, Part 2

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. thepaparazzionline.com (if you ... More >>

Trae vs. The Box Feud Now Has Its Own Web Site

​Things have been quiet on the Trae vs. 97.9 The Box front for the past week or so. Rocks Off assumes that's because the rapper is looking for another site willing to host his annual Trae Day (still scheduled for later this month), and the radio station is trying to find some DJs who won't sli ... More >>

Behind The Cover: Trae Stars In His Own Old School

​Today's Trae cover story was nearly a year in the making. As noted, the whole Trae vs. The Box thing can be traced back to the 2009 Trae Day shooting. Rocks Off was actually at that event and happened to be none too far from where the bullets were fired. We wrote up a little piece about it, did ... More >>

Live with Me

The best Houston concerts of 2009: U2, George Strait, Kid Cudi, Jandek, Peaches and even T-Pain.

Uprising

2009 wasn't a great year for albums, but songs were a different story.

High-Fiving T-Pain, Wondering Why We Can't Quit Plies' "Plenty Money"

[Note: Thursday night T-Pain, Wale and DJ MOS performed a private concert at downtown nightclub Venue. Our man Shea Serrano was on the red carpet and inside.] Photos by Larami Culbertson"Is it true what they say about the size of a man's chain?"​ 9:17 p.m.: Yo, the PR camp from Heineken, that comp ... More >>

Aftermath: Asher Roth and Kid Cudi (and Bun B) at House of Blues

Photos by Shea Serrano​ 8:18 p.m.: Walking in, Pac Div, a serviceable hip-hop trio from L.A., is just finishing up their set. They're cool. They make fun of some guy for wearing a Fubu jersey. We automatically like them for it. 8:21 p.m.: There are two hipster-rap fans in here, one close to 13, th ... More >>

HPMA Aftermath: Ozeal & the Eulypians, Nosaprise, Benjamin Wesley, Tha Fucking Transmissions, Kristine Mills, Peekaboo Theory, Versecity and Spain Colored Orange

Chris Gray​Five hours is not a long time. It is if you're driving from Houston to Texarkana or Uvalde, maybe. But when hopscotching all over downtown trying to take in as much of the Houston Press Music Awards showcase as you can until your feet and your ears cry uncle, those 300 minutes go by in ... More >>

It's Trae Day... and Everybody's Celebratin'

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the City of Houston's proclamation of "Trae Day," the chairman and CEO of Houston's Assholes by Nature is throwing a giant block party from 3-9 p.m. in the parking lot of TSU Stadium at Cleburne and Tierwester in the Third Ward (or, appropriately enough, t ... More >>

How to Get In Touch With DJ Zin

It always warms the cockles of Rocks Off's heart when something we write pays off for the artist, especially one as deserving as longtime Houston DJ, rapper and community activist Zin. This morning, Zin texted the Press' Shea Serrano, who wrote this week's music feature, "Balance," and said he's be ... More >>

KRS-One

Artist of the Week: Small Sounds

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. It seems contradictory, ... More >>

Five Spot: Greeting 2009 Z-Ro Style

Welcome back to The Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Just because you probably missed it, we'd like to take a second to bring to your attention that 2008 is over ... More >>

Five Spot: Prince Drives Us to Distraction

Welcome back to The Five Spot, another new Rocks Off recurrent. Every Friday (but sometimes Monday), we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. So we were all pumped about the songs that the enig ... More >>

Turning the Screw: G.R.I.T. Boys, Scarface, Lil Wayne, The Kanye, Jay-Z, Shawty Lo, Superhead, Serius Jones and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: G.R.I.T. Boys, "One Night Stand" Wire To Wire Scarface's latest - and, apparently, last - album ... More >>

Turning the Screw: DZA, Trae, Al Sharpton, Common, Beyonce, Akon, Mos Def, Vanilla Ice and a Whole Lotta Obama

Turning the Screw: H.I.S.D., Trae, Lupe Fiasco, Prodigy, Soulja Boy, Roy Jones Jr., Ice Cube and More

Turning the Screw: Lil Wayne, Hip-Hop and the Election, Wu-Tang Clan, Danity Kane, The Kanye

Turning the Screw: D. Rose, Rap City, Beastie Boys, Marilyn Manson, Paris, Lil Kim, Ice Cube and More

Turning the Screw: Chamillionaire, Z-Ro, Suge Knight, KRS-One, Snoop, Lil’ Kim, Yung Berg and More

The Kids are Alright: Seventh Graders Review Usher and Coldplay

Musical lowlights of 2007

Shaken, Not Stirred