Subject: The Black Keys

• MySpaced Out: Fortress Europe

  January 18, 2008

• SXSW: Health, The Cribs, The Black Keys, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead

  March 14, 2008

• MP3: Black Keys Play Captain Beefheart at SXSW

  March 14, 2008

• SXSW: Stomping my feet to British Sea Power

  March 14, 2008

• SXSW Ephemera, Part Deux: More Random Notes from the Field

  March 15, 2008

• Boogie Chillun

  April 18, 2008

• XM Nation: Catching Up and Moving On

  September 8, 2008

• Spiritualized at ACL Fest

  September 27, 2008

• Mail Call: Post-Ike/ACL Edition

  September 30, 2008

• Aftermath: The Black Keys at Meridian

  October 1, 2008

• Were These Really the Best Songs of 2008?

  The Gutter Twins Maybe Rocks Off spent a lot of 2008 with his head in the archives, but he was paying attention to new stuff too. Occasionally. It's as easy as satellite radio, channel 47's (Ethel/Alt Nation) weekly new-music hour Submission/Transmission. Monday night, S/T happened to be playing its picks for the past year. One thing is immediately apparent: the '90s are back, big time. The Black Keys' "Strange Times" is total Soundgarden, the Kills' "Tape Song" almost out-Breeders Kim Deal

  December 30, 2008

• RIP Ron Asheton

  The Stooges, "No Fun" Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, whose MC5-inspired gutter blues effectively laid the foundation for punk rock guitar, was found dead this morning in his Ann Arbor, Michigan, home, the Ann Arbor News reported. Asheton's personal assistant contacted Ann Arbor police after not hearing from him for several days, and police found him on his couch shortly after midnight. Detective Bill Stanford told the News Asheton had likely been dead for several days; foul play was not suspec

  January 6, 2009

• This Week in SXSW: Katy Perry Kisses the "Lake of Fire"

  There's now less than a month to go until we here at Rocks Off throw sobriety and sane living to the wind at this year's SXSW festival. This past week we learned of a boatload of new stuff about the weeklong liver-damaging voyage in March, so here goes... The list of bands keeps growing and growing, but we have noticed that some of the events are not as extravagant as years past. Many festivals, including the Vans Warped Tour, have scaled down their theatrics for the sake of saving cash. Th

  February 11, 2009

• Aftermath: Derek Trucks Band at House of Blues

  Photos by Craig HlavatyAt its best, music has a deeply spiritual quality, an ability to create some connection on a higher level between performer and audience that even someone with a bust of Madalyn Murray O'Hair on their mantle can get on board with. Thursday night at House of Blues, Derek Trucks was able to coax more transcendence and purity out of one run on his slide guitar that a phalanx of pulpit pontificators could do with a month of Sundays. According to audience member James Pe

  March 6, 2009

• SXSW Day One: Absinthe to Auerbach

  Photos by Craig HlavatyIt's official: This author loves absinthe. Or whatever it was that they were serving at the Music Gym off 6th Street that they were calling absinthe. Who the hell cares? It was free and it opened our SXSW 2009 with a strange and weird sensation in the facial area. Plus, it made spotting Joseph Gordon-Levitt from Angels In The Outfield (left) all the more shocking. Our night began in earnest at Mohawk, where we saw Houston's own resident soul spinner DJ Brett Kosh

  March 19, 2009

• Tonight: The Magpies at the Continental Club

  [A review from the Magpies' January Continental show is here.] Chris GrayMy son, a guitar plunker raised on huge doses of Rockpile and Joe Ely, tipped me to the Magpies. He saw them at Hayes Carll's Stingaree Festival about a year ago and pronounced them the hardest-rocking band of the whole soiree. Tooling over to MySpace, it only took a brief introduction to the band's work to convince me that he might be onto something. Not only does the band rock, it has smart lyrics and, with keybo

  April 14, 2009

• Playing Favorites

  April 2, 2009

• Annuals, Jessica Lea Mayfield

  February 12, 2009

• The Magpies

  January 1, 2009

• The Greatest Texas Rock Album of All Time

  October 9, 2008

• The Black Keys Doggy-Paddle from Akron to Stardom

  Rubber City Roots

  September 25, 2008

• Who Stole the Roll?

  August 28, 2008

• Juneteenth Revisited

  Two arts organizations attempt a new spin on an old event

  June 12, 2008

• Dax Riggs

  June 5, 2008

• Grand Theft Auto X: The Screwston Chronicles

  May 15, 2008

• Bob Schneider

  Bob Schneider performs Friday, May 11, at Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, 713-225-5483. Skyblue72 and Stillife also perform.

  May 10, 2007

• Heartless Bastards

  The Heartless Bastards perform Wednesday, January 17, at the Continental Club, 3700 Main, 713-529-9899.

  January 11, 2007

• The Black Keys

  The Black Keys perform Sunday, December 10, at Numbers, 300 Westheimer, 713-629-3700. Dr. Dog also performs.

  December 7, 2006

• Leaving the Wolfe Pack

  It's Johnny Falstaff's time to "Shine"

  October 12, 2006

• Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!

  A scientific study of the two-piece indie-rock boom

  May 11, 2006

• Various Artists

  Uptight Tonight! The Ultimate '60s Garage Collection

  October 27, 2005

• Psst, Didya Hear?

  Get the dirt on the Gossip

  October 6, 2005

• Our top DVD picks for the week of October 4

  October 6, 2005

• Moggs

  Wednesday August 24, at the Proletariat, 903 Richmond, 713-523-1199.

  August 18, 2005

• Heartless Bastards

  Thursday, June 30, at Rudyard's, 2010 Waugh Drive, 713-521-0521.

  June 30, 2005

• Various Artists

  Bonnaroo 2004

  June 16, 2005

• Playin' Possum

  An elderly gang of seedy Mississippi bluesmen anchors Fat Possum Records and the label's documentary

  June 2, 2005

• Rust Belt Blues

  The Black Keys bounce their Rubber Factory out of Akron, Ohio

  April 28, 2005

• Deep in The Throes

  Tired of guitar-and-drums blues duos? You haven't heard Two Gallants yet.

  February 10, 2005

• MOFRO

  June 24, 2004

• Roll Over, Eric Clapton. And Tell Stevie Ray the News.

  The blues is back -- rawer and louder (and punker) than ever

  October 23, 2003

• Tres Hombres

  July 16, 2009

• Five Unfairly Underappreciated Beatles Songs

  Between the early bubblegum pop of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and the epic sentimental balladry of "Hey Jude," the Beatles were always about much more than just the songs you hear on the radio. Even the biggest band there ever was has a few high-quality little gems that the masses aren't aware of and the radio ignores. To somewhat counteract the tough but fair shellacking the Fab Four received from Pete Von Der Haar Tuesday, and while we recuperate from Wednesday night's Beatles: Rock Band smac

  September 10, 2009

• Songs By ACL Artists That Should Be Covered By Other ACL Artists

  Isn't it fun to imagine all your favorite bands are best friends? And that when they spend time together, as so many of them are doing right this second at the Austin City Limits festival, they would inevitably learn each others' songs? Here are some songs by ACL bands which we'd like to see covered by other ACL bands. We think they've got time to make it happen. Song: Sleepyhead Original Artist: Passion Pit Who Should Cover It: The Dirty Projectors "Sleepyhead" is the weirdest song that Roc

  October 2, 2009

• ACL Aftermath, Part 2: Now That That "Dillo Dirt" Unpleasantness Is Out of the Way, How About Some Music?

  Mark C. AustinSeems like we recognize this guy from somewhere...​ More and more, Aftermath uses ACL more than SXSW to see which recent buzz bands are worth their salt, and of course to check on how some old favorites are doing. This year, tops on our new-to-us list were Blitzen Trapper, who managed to condense most of the late '60s and early '70s - Dylan, the Dead, CSNY and a lot more besides - into their hour-long set Friday, and MuteMath, neighbors from New Orleans whose echoing guitar, prop

  October 5, 2009

• Million-Dollar Mud

  October 8, 2009

• Listology: Before They Split Town, GTRS Pick Their Favorite Make-Out Songs

  ​Houston loses another band after this weekend, as Pavementesque indie-shoegazers GTRS relocates to the more touring-friendly enviorns of Asheville, N.C., where they plan to open a recording studio. Sigh. We're sure they'll come back to visit, and on tour, so let's just say so long and not goodbye. Besides, you've got one more chance to see GTRS as Houstonians, Saturday night at Big Star Bar with A.P. Dugas & the Religion, Sew What and DJ No Fun. In between packing their stuff, the members

  October 23, 2009

• Aftermath: Justin Townes Earle, Gaining on His Dad and Lightnin' Hopkins at House of Blues

  Photos by Craig Hlavaty​ It seems every time Aftermath encounters Justin Townes Earle live, the guy has peeled another layer off himself revealing another astounding bit of his promise. Barely three years into his career, Earle is seemingly moving at an accelerated rate, even if the casual listener or viewer can't quite discern what it is that's shaping up. Opening for the Pogues Thursday night at the House Of Blues, Earle came out flying solo. His sideman Cory Younts left a few weeks back to

  October 30, 2009