Subject: The Jesus Lizard

• Retro Active: 1987, Here We Come

  August 2, 2007

• SXSW: Fourteen Bands in Eight Hours

  March 16, 2008

• The Wayback Machine: 15, 10, and five years ago in Houston music

  May 27, 2008

• SXSW 09 Imminent Already? Aaaarrrgh!

  St. Vincent, "Jesus Saves, I Spend" The 2009 South By Southwest Music Festival is still nearly four months away (March 18-22), but the first performers are already being announced. When Rocks Off saw this list on Friday, after we had been gorged senseless the day before, we shuddered. "Too soon!" we cried as we wrung our hands, thinking about the four-day boozin'-and-schmoozin' music marathon. We had just begun to clear the dust from our lungs after the Austin City Limits Music Festi

  December 1, 2008

• Ray Stevens Lives!!!

  November 24, 1994

• Tight, Shiny and Abrasive

  December 15, 1994

• The Lame and the Great

  December 22, 1994

• Short and Punky

  August 17, 1995

• SXSW Update: Watch Out for Devo; Peter, Bjorn & John; Justin Townes Earle; Hungry Villagers and More

  Devo on the BBC's Top of the Pops 2 With the big bad final band announcement coming next week, all is quiet on the SXSW front. For now. This past week was slow, with the biggest names confirmed being Devo, Cursive, Peter, Bjorn & John, and Justin Townes Earle. Devo will be closing out the BMI showcase March 20 at the Austin Music Hall, with (fingers crossed) one or two other shows yet to be announced. More than likely we see those guys playing at the huge annual Vice maga

  January 22, 2009

• Dilution of Evil

  April 25, 1996

• Rotation

  May 16, 1996

• Local Rotation: Muhammad Ali & Black Congress' Split Cassette (That's Right, Cassette)

  Yesterday afternoon, Rocks Off bought his first new cassette tape since 1996. The last tape we bought was the Schoolhouse Rocks soundtrack that came out the year before. It was a collection of 90's indie rockers like Pavement and Daniel Johnston doing covers of tunes from the classic Saturday morning children's educational series. It got us into a whole mess of music we didn't know about before and introduced us to the genius that is Lou Barlow, alienating us in junior high completely. Thi

  February 4, 2009

• Tonight: Th' Legendary Shack Shakers at Walter's on Washington

  Joshua Black WilkinsTh' Legendary Shack Shakers are not typical Southern-fried fare, no insipid Nashville muzak served up safe and soft. Think demented Dixieland instead. Imagine vaudevillians, carnies, punks and Tom Waits producing whisky-drizzled psychobilly. The sizzling Shakers are such a mongrel. Bursting with weird flourishes, they trample and resurrect genres with mad glee. While straightforward songs like "No Such Thing" debunk myths ("A free dollar bill in the street?/ A&nbs

  February 5, 2009

• Press Picks

  January 15, 1998

• Rotation

  May 28, 1998

• SXSW: Austin Music Awards at Austin Music Hall

  Photos by Mark C. AustinAustin is full of ghosts, and not just at the Driskill Hotel. (Say hi to LBJ's mistress for us, though, those of you staying there.) Some of the ghosts aren't even dead. Take the Dicks (above), Austin's early-'80s hardcore trail-blazers who reconvened to play Wednesday night's Austin Music Awards and be inducted into the AMAs' Texas Music Hall of Fame - by X's Exene Cervenka, no less.Recognized today as one of the primary cornerstones of Texas punk, the Dicks' five-song s

  March 19, 2009

• Tonight: Muhammad Ali at White Swan

  With a helluva live show and already garnering a devoted following, Muhammad Ali is knocking 'em dead left and right. (OK, we had to get the boxing reference out of the way, because as much as we tried to sidestep it, we couldn't resist.) Since releasing a split cassette with party boys Black Congress in early February, MA has been jumping on bills all over town at house parties and clubs. When the tape hit the streets, we instantly heard in influences as heady as The Jesus Lizard, Helmet a

  April 15, 2009

• Totimoshi: Milagrosa

  August 7, 2008

• Qui

  October 18, 2007

• 2007 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

  July 26, 2007

• RIP, Syd. And RIP, 'Cid.

  A psychedelic pioneer and the drug that helped do him in are both sorely missed

  July 20, 2006

• This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

  June 9, 2005

• The Mars Volta

  De-Loused in the Comatorium (Gold Standard Labs/Strummer Recordings/ Universal )

  July 17, 2003

• Rock No More

  Mike Patton chops through traditional song forms with a mighty Tomahawk

  May 29, 2003

• Touring with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

  Get on the bus, it's a family affair.

  April 30, 2009

• Muhammadali Checks In from Tour

  Photos courtesy MuhammadaliSee what happened to those towels a little later on here (NSFW). Since January, Rocks Off has been a fan of Muhammadali. From the first house shows and split tape with Black Congress, we have been hooked to their Melvins and Jesus Lizard stomp. A few weeks ago at ali's final Houston show before leaving for a quasi-national tour, we asked them to give us a glimpse into the touring lives of one of our town's hardest-working bands. The first dispatch appeared in our inbox

  July 1, 2009

• Friday Night Noise: Satin Hooks and Newagehillbilly

  ​Satin Hooks "Trinity School Road": Houston's Satin Hooks are a noise-punk band in the same sense that Liar-era Jesus Lizard and Incesticide/Bleach-era Nirvana once were: torture-slurred, aggrevied vocals, gunk-gummed stop-and-start guitars that wanna beat you bloody while sneaking an earworm melody in under all the crunchy grit. The whole thing's over in just under three minutes, but leaves a lasting impression, from David Gomez's laser-focused, yet somehow imprecise,m drum fills to Lucas Gor

  July 31, 2009

• Aftermath: Th' Legendary Shack Shakers at Rudyard's

  Photos by Chris Gray​ Th' Legendary Shack Shakers are a sort of Blue Ridge Parkway answer to Los Skarnales, mining Anglo-American roots music and all things Memphis - Sun Records, Beale Street and the Oblivians - to create a turbo-charged, gypsy-flavored, punk-speed rockabilly dynamo with a metric ton of harmonica and a freight-train backbeat that refuses to quit. When they say they're about to slow things down for a ballad ("Ichabod"), that means they're actually about to speed up.​Burning

  August 5, 2009

• Aftermath: More Free Press Summer Fest at Eleanor Tinsley Park

  Photos (except where indicated) by Craig HlavatyB L A C K I E and friends​ "How is this Houston?" "How the hell is this Houston?" Aftermath couldn't stop saying that phrase over and over again to whoever we found ourselves walking with the past two days all over Eleanor Tinsley Park at the inaugural Free Press Summer Fest. Attendance figures of up to 30,000 (total) abounded by this morning, though a final number may not be ready for a few days. The two-day concert reminded us of a fun-size Aus

  August 10, 2009

• Start the Guessing Now: Which Fun Fun Fun Fest Artists Will Also Play the Next Block Party?

  ​ Fun Fun Fun Fest, the scuzzier, noisier cousin to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, announced its lineup this afternoon. Held November 7 and 8 in Austin's Waterloo Park, FFFF is up to 91 artists this year, everyone from rappers the GZA, the Pharcyde and the Cool Kids to electronic/dance acts Broadcast, Ratatat and Yeasayer, power-pop (Destroyer) to hardcore (Fucked Up, Gorilla Biscuits), garage rock (Strange Boys, King Khan and BBQ), comedians (Brian Posehn) and lots of bands us thirtys

  August 25, 2009

• Ghosts of Washington Avenue

  September 10, 2009

• Piss Up a Rope: Songs R. Kelly Probably Won't Sing In Concert Friday, but Should

  ​Get out your towels: R. Kelly is coming to town. The singer would be best known as "that guy who sang that song in the Michael Jordan/Bugs Bunny movie" if not for the allegations in 2002 that he engaged in sex with an underage girl. Kelly was found not guilty of child porn charges last year, but thanks to file-sharing sites and Dave Chappelle, he's now forever destined to be remembered as "that guy who [allegedly] pissed on a 14-year-old." Kelly's "Ladies Make Some Noise!" tour, with special

  October 27, 2009

• Also on Your Mayoral Ballot Today: Former Pik N' Pak Owner Ralph Ullrich

  Last Friday, Rocks Off was hanging out with some friends at the West Alabama Ice House and ran into Ralph Ullrich, otherwise known as Ralph the Plumber, also otherwise known as one of Tuesday's mayoral candidates a little further down the ballot than the three (and a half) examined at length in the Press' recent cover story. We didn't realize it at first, but eventually it came up that Ralph is also the former owner of Pik N' Pak, the beloved Montrose icehouse that used to be across Waugh from

  November 3, 2009

• Rocks Off's Picks for This Weekend's Fun Fun Fun Festival

  You can think of this weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin as the indie, metal, and hip-hop little brother of the more staid Austin City Limits Music Festival. The fourth edition of the two-day event held in Waterloo Park in Austin starts tomorrow afternoon. Per our stated life path, Rocks Off will be there covering all the bands, fans and assorted debauchery that all that comes with. This year's line-up is rife with musical pioneers, unsung heroes, along with the usual "It" bands that you will

  November 6, 2009

• Video from Fun Fun Fun Fest In Austin: Metallagher, Death, Jesus Lizard and More

  Marc Brubaker​ This weekend Rocks Off also brought along our littlest member, our Flip camera, to Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. It proved to be indispensable in tight places where a regular still camera may not be as useful. Here's a smattering of what we captured through it's tiny lense. We are sure you will be seeing ol' girl at this weekends Westheimer Block Party as well. Enjoy the videos after the jump, with much more Fun Fun Fun coverage to come.

  November 9, 2009

• Aftermath: Fun Fun Fun Fest In Austin Day 1 - Death, Young Widows, Melt Banana, The Sword, Jesus Lizard

  Photos by Marc Brubaker/ Click here for a slideshowDeath, reborn​This year's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin was the exact thing Aftermath needed in the midst of his fall concert schedule, even though the last day was marred by mud and constant rain. But after last month's dillo-dirtied Austin City Limits Festival, a little slop on the boots is nothing to cry over anymore. At least this time around we only dealt with one day of grit and wet, rather than two days of comic pratfalls and soaked clothe

  November 9, 2009

• Aftermath: Our Ten Favorite Performances at Fun Fun Fun Fest

  Photos by Marc Brubaker/ Click here for slideshows from Day 1 and Day 2Times New Viking​ If there's anything that Aftermath truly loves about music (outside of watching talented people create outstanding art), it's the innate propensity the medium possesses to bring people together. There is something so idealistically communal about watching a show with five, twenty, one hundred, or five hundred of your friends (some new, some old) and knowing that you're sharing a very special experience. Th

  November 9, 2009