Sub Pop Ltd.

9 Rock Stars & Their Favorite Books

Musicians like to read as much as the next person and being a creative lot they tend to draw inspiration from their favorite books. Which pieces of literature have struck a chord in the hearts of our favorite rock stars? 9. Billie Joe Armstrong, Catcher in the Rye: This probably isn't a surprise si ... More >>

50 Rad Things Now on the Sig's Lagoon Walls

Within the past month, the walls of Sig's Lagoon have been transformed into a sprawling pop-culture collage of posters, photos, newspaper clippings, magazine covers, picture discs and cardboard cutouts courtesy of former Sundance Records owner Bobby Barnard. Since the longtime San Marcos music stor ... More >>

The Jesus & Mary Chain

Niki & The Dove Chase "The Fox" In New Video

Niki & the Dove is a new Swedish band on Sub Pop that is clearly into, as Mok once said, mind-altering experiences. Their music has the air of Bjork, the poetry of Kate Bush, and a touch of avant-garde theatre performance. The last is appropriate as Malin Dahlström and Gustaf Karlöf have backgroun ... More >>

Drain You: The 10 Most Expensive Nirvana Items On eBay

​Today officially marks 20 years, yes two decades, since Nirvana's Nevermind hit stores and started a whole new movement in music, er, well at least brought one further above ground. The past month the music world has been awash in articles and blogs about Nevermind, with the three living arch ... More >>

No Swag: Paul Wall's Rumored Young Money Deal, Falling Stages

Despite what you may have heard, swag isn't dead yet; at least not in Houston. Have any swagged-out projects or general ideas? E-mail alliswagoner@gmail.com. images.blastro.comRemember this?​Paul Wall Signs to Young Money? People have been saying that The People's Champ has decided to sign wi ... More >>

Ian Moore: When Good Record Deals Go Bad

The Ian Moore Band today (L-R): Ian Moore, Chris White, Bukka Allen, Michael Villegas​Ian Moore had both the good fortune and misfortune to be a young, good-looking Austin guitar hero who came to prominence shortly after Stevie Ray Vaughan's death created an opening for the position. Joe Ely d ... More >>

Rev. Horton Heat, Nashville Pussy

Twilight Singers

Save Ferris: Pop-Culture Origins Of 16 Famous Band Names

Groovehouse​This one's for the pop-culture junkies. For those who, like us, are tickled by all forms of pop media, whether it be literature, film or music... this list encompasses them all. A surprisingly high quantity of bands have named themselves after books, songs, and films; some are obvi ... More >>

Everything in Between

No Age makes punk palatable.

CocoRosie's Strange Sisterly Journey To Creating Grey Oceans

Sub Pop Records​Sisters Bianca and Sierra Cassady collide in the celestial, moody musical collective known as CocoRosie, which stops in Houston tonight at the newly revamped Fitzgerald's. A combination of pop, blues, electronica, hip-hop, and even straight-up classical opera, CocoRosie creates ... More >>

ACL Fest Releases Schedule; Adds Black Lips, Silversun Pickups

black-lips.com via FlickrBrand-new ACL 2010 adds The Black Lips​The Austin City Limits Music Festival released the schedule grid for this year's gathering in Zilker Park Oct. 7-9. The festival also added several bands, including Atlanta garage-punks (and recovering exhibitionists) the Black Li ... More >>

Silver Soul

Beach House layers emotional exorcism into new album Teen Dream.

Live from ACL: Blitzen Trapper, Hopelessly (and Happily) Stuck In the '70s

Photo by Mark C. Austin​ACL was barely three hours old, and we already have a winner in the "New(ish) Band That Totally Sounds Like 1972" contest. It's our new Portland friends Blitzen Trapper, whose heavy folk-rock harmonies, atmospheric Led Zep slow blues (we half expected John Paul Jones to joi ... More >>

The Shredder Returns

One show, one sentence

The Night a Well-Aimed Shoe Ended Smashing Pumpkins' Houston Goodwill

Today Rocks Off is starting a recurring series of local music urban legends; not so much 'urban legends' in the sense of oft-repeated stories that turn out to be false - though those are fine too - but actual legends: events and incidents that get talked about so much they become a part of local lor ... More >>

Aftermath: White Rhino at Boondocks

Photos by Chris Gray "They're 'classic heavy rock,' or so they tell me," Aftermath texted a friend shortly before Austin's White Rhino went onstage at Boondocks Monday night. "Heavy metal, or just heavy?" came the reply. White Rhino had just gone on, with some menacing guitar spray and a kinetic ba ... More >>

Playbill: The Helio Sequence, Dri Tonight at Rudyard's

With songs bathed in lush synths and sleepy vocals, the Helio Sequence could be the thinking man's Killers, albeit with less pop theatrics and corporate glitter. Keep Your Eyes Ahead, last year's release on indie magnet Sub Pop was the duos first since 2004's mournful Love And Distance. Helio dishes ... More >>

Friday Night Noise: Caldera Lakes, Wolf Eyes, Cop Warmth

Wolf EyesWelcome to the inaugural edition of Friday Night Noise, a weekly Rocks Off column in which I'll take you by the hand and lead you through the often unpredictable, harsh, and (perhaps surprisingly) varied netherworlds of noise music. Noise-rock. Noise-pop. Noise-core. Droning noise. System-s ... More >>

Mail Call: Diagonals, Fountains of Wayne, Jason Isbell, Chess Records, Sally Crewe and More

After a hot minute, Mail Call returns in a slightly revamped format... Pick of the Litter Diagonals (Austin), Valley of the Cyclops (Monofonus Press) They Say: "A sweet-and-sour dark-pop soundtrack for the dawn of the post-Bush era." Rocks Off Says: Loose-fitting, lo-fi melodic garage ... More >>

Top Ten Indie Rock Albums of 2008

In 2008, independent rock returned to the underground, where it belongs. Given the grand catastrophe that is today's record industry, most major-label executives don't have the time or energy to convince music fans they might like something a little out of the ordinary. They're too busy recycling ... More >>

Jeremy Enigk

CSS: Donkey

Yesterday Afternoon: Westheimer Block Party at Numbers, Mango's and Avant Garden

Music, Art Collide in Montrose, Shepherd Plaza

Vinyl Heads

They're turning to needles, looking for purity

Best Albums of the Year, 2006 Part II

Independence Day

What's indie rock? Who cares? Here's ten great CDs that will blow you away, no matter your definition

Damien Jurado

And Now That I'm In Your Shadow

Wolf Eyes, with Prurient and Rusted Shut

Thursday, October 6, at the Proletariat, 903 Richmond, 713-523-1199.

Rock and Roll Bestiary

You already know all about this year's crop of wolf bands. We examine the tiger, bear, shark and lion bands, and offer up a rock zodiac.

Playbill

Right Hear

Joe Pernice is one of the best songwriters around. Start paying attention.

Computer Error

When it comes to local facts, don't rely on Allmusic.com

Mr. One-Man Show

David Cross is funny as hell. So why isn't he laughing?

Rotation

New Releases Reviewed

Original Punks

Whiggin' Out

Avant-rock takes shape in the Afghan Whigs and its wild front man

Rotation

Rotation

Sad-Eyed Sibs

Nails in the Coffin

Five decades of Chess Records lead to a blues stalemate

Devilish Boys

Are people warming up to the Supersuckers' nasty ways?

Doin' the Blood Thing

Unsane's gore aesthetic is oh-so-extreme

Rotation

Debonair Whigs

Dumbass Deluxe

End Game

This is the way the year ends, this is the way the year ends, this is the way the year ends, not with a bang but a ... year-end roundup

The Pop Moment

Astral Dejection The Shonen Knife/Breeders/Nirvana tour blows through Houston's hall of shame