The Cure (Band)

Five Covers of the Cure That Don't Suck

For this latest edition of "things that don't suck," we decided to look at one of the most talked-about and anticipated headliners of this year's Austin City Limits Festival: the Cure. The Cure's legacy in pop-culture history is inestimable. A generation of teenage goths owes their ethos to front ma ... More >>

The 5 Most Disappointing Goth Albums: Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth

All this week we're going to look back over albums from undeniable goth icons and talk about their failures. In 1999, Trent Reznor released The Fragile, which if not his greatest album... nah, you know what? It is his greatest album. Just huge and dark and there like the death waiting for us all. ... More >>

The Five Most Disappointing Goth Albums: Bauhaus, Go Away White

All this week we're going to look back over albums from undeniable goth icons and talk about their failures. Thus far I've been focusing on endings, what with Siouxsie and the Banshees' last album and another that made Robert Smith seriously consider ending The Cure. Now I'd like to bring up somet ... More >>

The Five Most Disappointing Goth Albums: The Cure, Wild Mood Swings

All this week we're looking back over albums by undeniable goth icons and talk about their failures. As we proved in Monday's entry in the series, the mid-'90s wasn't an easy time for the pioneers of the goth genre. On the one hand they were reasonably secure as established and proven acts, but on ... More >>

UPDATED: Is ACL Festival Ignoring Houston? Does It Even Matter?

UPDATED (Thursday, 2:50 p.m.) to reflect the Houston-area roots of a few ACL performers this year, as pointed out by reader comments. We stand by our original point, though. As most of our readers no doubt know by now, the Austin City Limits Music Festival announced its 2013 lineup at the stroke of ... More >>

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 >>

Street Knowledge

The Geto Boys MC is also Rocks Off's brand-new advice columnist.

Top 10 Bands Your Girlfriend Cannot Stand

A shared taste in music can be a critical part of any couple's relationship, from going to a concert on their first date to narrowing down that one special song for their first wedding dance. But what if that's not the case? Just from a bit of casual Googling, it's not difficult to find divorce atto ... More >>

The Rocks Off 100: Sean Ozz, Wizard of The Abyss

Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Sean Ozz fronts what might be Houston' ... More >>

The 5 Most Important Years In Goth Music: 1994

Over the course of the week Rocks Off will be looking at the biggest years for goth music and exactly what they meant for the genre. 1994 was a good year for a new kind of goth. Previously, for the most part the men had been sensitive artists, and even the ones who could be pretty brutal -- such as ... More >>

The 5 Most Important Years In Goth Music: 1983

All this week, Rocks Off will be looking at the biggest years for goth music and exactly what they meant for the genre. Just as Bauhaus was breaking up, a place in England opened up whose gothic importance cannot be overstated. Beginning in 1982, the Batcave intended to bring about a revival of the ... More >>

What Was Your Favorite Concert at The Summit?

It must be music-venue day today. Rocks Off would like to thank Jon Harvey of Houston (@oompahead) for alerting us via Twitter to the fact that on this day in 1975, when I was a few weeks away from turning one year old, the sports and entertainment arena then known as the Summit opened in Greenway P ... More >>

Study: Free Press Summer Fest Brought Houston $14 Million

The 20 Greatest Goth Albums: The Complete List

BY JEF WITH ONE F AND CHRIS GRAY 20. Marilyn Manson Antichrist Superstar (Interscope, 1996) So squalid and deeply unpleasant it's mesmerizing, Antichrist Superstar is such an intricate dissection of how to become a "rock star" it could have come from a biology lab. Then 24 or 25, Manson gets so fa ... More >>

The Top 20 Greatest Goth Albums of All Time, Nos. 10-1

BY CHRIS GRAY AND JEF WITH ONE F Rewind: The Top 20 Greatest Goth Albums of All Time, Nos. 20-11 10. Rosetta Stone The Tyranny of Inaction (Cleopatra, 1995) In 1995, Porl Young used a nice-sized record advance to purchase a multitrack digital recorder that changed Rosetta Stone's sound considera ... More >>

"Pontoon": Most Insidious Song of the Summer, or the Best

I had a bit of medical trouble late last year, so I spent the entire first six or seven months of 2012 immersed in '80s alternative rock. I suppose it was a sort of cocoon of some kind. I was in a rotten mood most of the time, so anything by the Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen or the Smiths was perfect. M ... More >>

Friday Night: El-P & Killer Mike at Warehouse Live

El-P, Killer Mike Warehouse Live June 22, 2012 A small but lively crowd packed into the studio at Warehouse Live on Friday night for performances by two polarly opposite yet complementary artists, who together have created two of the most adventurous and innovative rap productions to be released th ... More >>

The Saxophone: 8 Songs That Show Off Rock's Underappreciated Horn

Bruce Springsteen is currently in the middle of a world tour with E Street Band, their first without saxophonist Clarence Clemons. "The Big Man" passed away one year ago today from complications resulting from an earlier stroke. His death was sad for many reasons, but the reasons most relevant to ... More >>

Alternate Tracks

iFest: Top 5 Argentine-American Musicians

The Houston International Festival enters its second weekend tomorrow, with featured musical acts WAR, Joe Louis Walker, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Texas Tornados, Del Castillo, Steel Pulse and lots more. Although iFest's performers come from all over the world, all around the main stages will be the sig ... More >>

Gothic Council Sings Your Kids to Sleep

We hate you, Peter Murphy. Well, OK. Not really. Murphy is a good guy who is a joy to interview and who still puts out amazing music. That being said, we are getting thoroughly sick of his trademark voice. Our two-year-old daughter requests his song "The Line Between the Devil's Teeth (And That Wh ... More >>

Dear Obama: You'd Make A Great Goth Musician

Dear President Barack H. Obama, I want you to know that I am very impressed by your recent musical endeavors. While it's clear that you could use some practice and professional vocal coaching, it's equally clear that you possess more than enough raw talent to excel as a musician. I know right now, ... More >>

Gothic Council: I See A Symphony And I Want To Paint it Black

VNV Nation is coming, and even though we'll have to endure endless bitching about how VNV Nation isn't goth every single goth we know will be there. Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson put on fantastic shows, release brilliant albums, and just all-around enlighten and amaze audiences wherever they go. K ... More >>

Gothic Council Praises Lyrics, Bowie's Penis

Really there are two kinds of music fans. Those who are there for the music as a whole and those who are there to hear the words. Make no mistake, we're not saying that one side is better than the other, but we are definitely in the latter category. Being a melodramatic lot, most goths are. So we t ... More >>

Tori, Tool, TLC And The Other Musical Debuts Of 1992

1992 was a pretty heady year for music in general, with the masses gobbling up all the gangsta rap, grunge, and pop-country they could. That year would see the release of not only R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People, Peter Gabriel's Us, Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power, but also what is arguably The ... More >>

Your Biggest Fan: When Rockers Get Stalkers

cinemafestival/shutterstock.com​This past week a statement by pop institution Madonna helped put away one of her newest stalkers, Polish citizen Grzegorz Matlok, who broke into Madge's London home and the residence of her ex-hubby Guy Ritchie. Madonna submitted the statement to Southwark Crown ... More >>

Gimme Some Truth: What Happens When Rabid Fans & Bands Meet

​We have all been there. You may have had a few drinks, you are at your favorite band's show, and you come to find yourself in the vicinity of one of your heroes. Word vomit. Torrential word vomit. But you mean well. "I really think youse guys is great and your albums really means a lots to ... More >>

The End is Nigh: 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Edition

Mason Lankford said, "There will come a day when we forget the Rapture ever even happened," but Rocks Off is keeping an eye out for signs of our impending Armageddon. We were wrong last time, but we're totally right this time! Once again the time has come to select the most excellent musicians in o ... More >>

G N' R, The Cure & Chili Peppers Could Be Hall Of Famers Next Year

Oh, this will be a fun induction ceremony...​This morning, The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland announced the list of nominees for its Class of 2012: The Small Faces & The Faces, Freddie King, The Cure, Guns 'N Roses, Heart, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Spinners, War, Joan Jett and the Bl ... More >>

The Eagle Flies Away With "Houston's Alternative Hits"

All that's left of The Zone's Web site.​Cox Communications has shuttered its fledgling "alternative hits" concept, 106.9 The Zone, and begun simulcasting The Eagle, The Zone's "classic hits" next-door neighbor, on that frequency as of 5:30 a.m. this morning. "The Eagle's Classic Hits forma ... More >>

Pop Rocks: For This Comic Book Summer, Five Superheroes Who Won't Be Getting Their Own Movies

Dream on, fish boy.​We're well into summer blockbuster season, and even if you couldn't tell by the sweltering temperatures outside, you'd only need to look at the number of superhero movies -- both in theaters and about to be released -- to realize it. Thor started us off in May, and X-Men: ... More >>

Happy Birthday Siouxsie Sioux: Eight Of Her Best Songs

Siouxsie on Facebook​Today Siouxsie Sioux, born Susan Janet Ballion, turns 54 years old. Sioux is one of the undisputed originators of the post-punk and goth genres. Whether you're talking about her work with the Banshees or the strange, dark world music that defined the Creatures, you can be ... More >>

Gothic Council Debates Most Definitive Goth Album... Ever

​Gothtopia has a new, longer drive to the sheet-music mines every day, the upside of which is that we get to listen to a lot more music in the car. Since much of our dedicated listening time is taken up with official assignments, drive time is one of the few opportunities we have to really sit ... More >>

The Gothic Council is Taking "Friday" Back

​Gothtopia moved this week, and even though we've been reduced to shelling out cash for professional movers rather than proving our manhood by hauling furniture by ourselves until 3 a.m., there was still a fair amount of backing and forthing to do between the old place and the new place. With ... More >>

Deliciously Macabre Desserts at the Gothic Beauty Pageant

​It became apparent as soon as I took my place in the line outside the venue that - in jeans, a green sweater, and ankle boots - I was not properly outfitted for the occasion. In line ahead of me: a woman costumed in top hat and braids a la Boy George (oh, the irony), two guys in spike-laden ... More >>

The Seven Ages Of Goth

​This is not meant as a complete history of goth, as that would be a huge book. Instead, we're aiming to give a simple overview of the musicians, songs and albums that have most defined the genre. Many deserving artists have been left out, and some that we're sure some people feel are not wor ... More >>

106.9 FM Gets In The Zone, Misses The Point?

​Another Houston radio station has changed formats, or "flipped," although early reaction from some listeners is that the change is so slight it's hardly a change at all. Cox Communications has rechristened its property at 106.9 FM from "The Point" to "The Zone." It's not a sports station, al ... More >>

Passion Pit Moves Bodies, Emotions at Warehouse Live

Photos by Groovehouse/Check out a slideshowPassion Pit played to a sold out crowd at Warehouse Live​Aftermath remembers the first book that ever made us cry. It was Katherine Paterson's controversial but also much-loved young adult novel Bridge to Terebithia. In all likelihood it was also the ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day One: The Knux Rock Our Sox

Craig Hlavaty​Waking us up out of our Sixth Street-induced coma were The Knux from Los Angeles, by way of Nawlins on the Xbox 360 stage. The hip-hop trio were decked out in leather and spat out grimy Wu-Tang style rhymes with intermittent old-school Cure riffs thrown in for sick measure. Our favor ... More >>

Ten Cover Songs So Bad They'll Shrivel Your Soul

Two nights ago, while carelessly patrolling the back alleys of the internet, Rocks Off stumbled across Hilary Duff's execrable cover of The Who's "My Generation". Well, what did you think, YouTube commenters? ​ You sure you're not being too harsh? ​ Yeah... ours too. Someday, when we ... More >>

Slide Show: Albums That Went Darker

​ For most rock acts, the traditional way to deal with success is to rework their lyrics, image and sound to become palatable to a larger audience. Usually this means brightening the subject matter, cleaning up the bad words, softening the sharp edges on those power chords and getting haircuts tha ... More >>

MP3 of the Day: Flowers to Hide

Here's a nice little Friday-afternoon rocker for all you clockwatchers out there. It's "503," a snappy account of touring life by Houston's Flowers to Hide, the opener of the quartet's 2008 EP Down the Stairs. The lickety-split pacing and brazen guitars reminds Rocks Off of beloved '80s nightwatchme ... More >>

Aftermath: Michael Jackson Tribute at Numbers

Chris Gray Well, Numbers' Michael Jackson tribute turned out to be three songs and a few arch comments from the DJ, before a typical Classic Numbers crowd that was more interested in the Cure than the King of Pop. The real action was across the street at Mango's, where the Tontons enhanced their rep ... More >>

Numbers' 30th Anniversary

Peeking Inside the Shadowy Crypt of Houston's Goth Community

A compendium of Cure-related information

The Only One

Tiger Army

Psychobilly punks are nearing radio-friendly territory

Press Picks

Long Lasting Treatment

The ingredients may change, but the Cure endures

Hendrix: Dead, Live and Unearthed

A spate of tributes and reissues that hit and miss