The Jesus and Mary Chain

Retro Active: 1987, Here We Come

Drenched In Blog: Scarlett Johansson Teams Up with Dave Sitek, Is Totally Hot

SXSW Day 1: Tricks of the Trade

Tonight: The Sian Alice Group, Also at Walter's on Washington

Venue Shuffle: Rise Against, Tek9 Cancel; Alkaline Trio, Thrice Moved to House of Blues

Election Eve With Fred

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 ... More >>

Live Shots

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 ... More >>

Critic's Choice

Wheel of Dysfunction

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 gro ... More >>

Aftermath: Gene Loves Jezebel at Meridian

Photos by Daniel Kramer/ click here for a slideshowEvery so often, a show that might otherwise be just OK becomes something much cooler when there's hardly anybody there to see it. Aftermath isn't talking about some fresh-out-of-the-box band playing its first show in front of friends and fami ... More >>

Static

Photos by Daniel Kramer/ click here for a slideshowEvery so often, a show that might otherwise be just OK becomes something much cooler when there's hardly anybody there to see it. Aftermath isn't talking about some fresh-out-of-the-box band playing its first show in front of friends and fami ... More >>

Playing Favorites

Photos by Daniel Kramer/ click here for a slideshowEvery so often, a show that might otherwise be just OK becomes something much cooler when there's hardly anybody there to see it. Aftermath isn't talking about some fresh-out-of-the-box band playing its first show in front of friends and fami ... More >>

Aftermath: SXSW

Photos by Daniel Kramer/ click here for a slideshowEvery so often, a show that might otherwise be just OK becomes something much cooler when there's hardly anybody there to see it. Aftermath isn't talking about some fresh-out-of-the-box band playing its first show in front of friends and fami ... More >>

Glasvegas: Glasvegas

Photos by Daniel Kramer/ click here for a slideshowEvery so often, a show that might otherwise be just OK becomes something much cooler when there's hardly anybody there to see it. Aftermath isn't talking about some fresh-out-of-the-box band playing its first show in front of friends and fami ... More >>

Dreamfest

Saturday, April 24

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Wednesday, December 5

The Brit Box: UK Indie, Shoegaze and Brit-Pop Gems of the Last Millennium

Rhino resurrects the days of Britpop and shoegaze

Psychedelic Horseshit

Columbus threesome offers up dancey, non-crappy, shoegazer rock

Hearts of Animals

One-woman band mixes up for shoegazers

A Witch of a Show

One-woman band mixes up for shoegazers

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Monday, March 6, Meridian, 1503 Chartres, 713-629-3700

The Raveonettes

Pretty in Black

Playbill

Pretty in Black

The Fall, with Low Flying Owls

Sunday, May 2

The Rapture and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Sunday, April 18

Singapore Sling

Sunday, November 9

The Deathray Davies

Midnight at the Black Nail Polish Factory (Glurp)

The Kants, with Groceries and Drillbox Ignition

Saturday, December 14

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 >>

MP3 of the Day: Morgue City, Not Metal But Still Plenty Dark

​Rocks Off was sure that Houston's Morgue City was a metal band - it's a perfect metal name, that's for sure. Not quite. The Houston duo, descended from bondage-loving former HPMA Best Industrial winners Bozo Porno Circus, plays a brand of "noiz" not far off from KMFDM or My Life With the Thrill K ... More >>

Ghosts of Washington Avenue

Noise goes whistling through the scenester artery's music venue graveyard.

The Horrors

Noise goes whistling through the scenester artery's music venue graveyard.

Aftermath: U2 at Reliant Stadium - One Love, We Get to Share It

Photos by Groovehouse/ Click here for a slideshow​A day or two before U2 (and love) came to town, a friend emailed us a joke. At least we think it's a joke. It really doesn't have anything to do with U2, except that it has everything to do with U2. "I was so depressed last night thinking about the ... More >>

"MMMBro": Hanson And Other Rock And Roll Bands Of Brothers

Back in the summer of1997, one couldn't walk out of their house without hearing someone humming, blaring, or damning to Hell that juicy nugget of pop rock that was Hanson's "MMMBop". Depending on your age and gender, you either understood the hooky genius of the song or you were just in love with t ... More >>

Aftermath: An Exuberant Pre-Halloween Show With The Factory Party, Ringo Deathstarr and Springfield Riots at the Mink

Photos by Adam P. NewtonThe Factory Party​In Aftermath's opinion, there are few things more enjoyable than spending an evening together with friends at the beloved haunt that is the Mink. We're able to toss back a drink or four, catch up on each other's lives, and hopefully hear some really great ... More >>

Werewolves Got Fingered: The 5 Worst Movies (Besides Twilight: New Moon) With the Best Soundtracks

​Good news, all you fans of condensed screen versions of self-indulgent Mormon vampire pseudo-erotic clit-tease fantasies: Twilight: New Moon is being released in only eight days. Rocks Off, accustomed to scorn from literary snobs for his steadfast support of the Harry Potter series, actually pick ... More >>

Westheimer Block Party Listology: Flowers to Hide Chooses the Saddest Songs In the World

All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday's Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola's Music Listography book we're so fond of. Next up, Jesus and Mary Chain-y alt-rockers Flowers to Hide tell us the saddest songs in the world. claudiabelle†... More >>

UK Web Site Shines "Unsigned Spotlight" on Houston's Watermarks

myspace.com/thewatermarksThe Watermarks at Warehouse Live, September 2009​ ​When Rocks Off wrote about Houston electro-rockers the Watermarks' Thoughts Like Bombs back in May, we said a song or two off the quintet's five-song EP - still available as a free download on the band's Web site - remin ... More >>

Summer Tours We'd Like To See: Bring Back Texxas Jam!

Reminder: Tickets for Lady Gaga's Toyota Center show next year go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m.​ Summer concert season doesn't last as long as hurricane season, and leaves somewhat less damage in its aftermath, but at least it gives us something to look forward to during those long, hot months. This ... More >>

Top 10 Recent TV-Show Soundtracks

​A few choice adjectives come to mind when musing on bawdy Eastbound & Down character Kenny Powers. "Inspiring" is not one of them. However, as Rocks Off watched this week's season finale of the side-splitting HBO series, we were pleasantly surprised as we heard indie troubadour Kurt Vile's a ... More >>

Ghosts of SXSWs Past: Justice, Glasvegas, Monotonix...

Craig Hlavaty​This year marks the fourth year Craig's Hlist has covered SXSW in Austin for the Houston Press, from the days when we had to shoot all of our own shows, had neither Facebook nor Twitter, and slogged through the day mostly drunk. It's a far cry from now, when we are glued to our p ... More >>

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Craig Hlavaty​This year marks the fourth year Craig's Hlist has covered SXSW in Austin for the Houston Press, from the days when we had to shoot all of our own shows, had neither Facebook nor Twitter, and slogged through the day mostly drunk. It's a far cry from now, when we are glued to our p ... More >>

Rock & Roll's Top 10 Brawlin' Brothers

Note: Not real brothers. We just liked the picture.​Brothers share a link that is unique and special. Same DNA, same familial backgrounds, quirks, talents, and sometimes musical taste. They can also argue, get physical, try to overpower one another, and hold grudges over years that are hard to ... More >>

Turn It On, Leave It On: MTV's 10 Best Music Series

"Henry Rollins asks Kevin Shields how much he can bench on the next 120 Minutes..."​This week marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of MTV, that loud, hyper-colored behemoth that changed pop culture and the music industry forever, endlessly providing viewers with visual and mental stimul ... More >>

2 Become 1: Musical Match-Ups We'd Like To See

​Kanye "Hitler" West and Jay-Z released their (overused music writer word alert) epic Watch the Throne album this week, to mostly great reviews. This fall the first fruits from the recently announced Lou Reed/Metallica collaboration should be on the store shelves, which still sorta weirds us o ... More >>

Grave Babies

​Kanye "Hitler" West and Jay-Z released their (overused music writer word alert) epic Watch the Throne album this week, to mostly great reviews. This fall the first fruits from the recently announced Lou Reed/Metallica collaboration should be on the store shelves, which still sorta weirds us o ... More >>

Five ACL '11 Bands That Could Headline In 2012

Jim BrickerSmith Westerns at Fitz in February​This Thursday night, Rocks Off leaves for the 2011 Austin City Limits Music Festival at Austin's Zilker Park. This year promises to be a hot one, from the killer temperatures, the constant wildfires just miles from the venue, and the mouth of Frida ... More >>

10 Things You May Not Know About G N' R's Use Your Illusion Albums

​For the past few weeks, the music world has been firmly entrenched in Nirvana nostalgia. Hell, even Rocks Off took a crack at it, looking up all the expensive memorabilia on eBay related to the band. But in September 1991, another album hit the store shelves that had a lot of impact too, for ... More >>

The Jesus And Mary Chain Hitting Houston On March 13 During SXSW Swing

​Known best for their 1985 album, Psychocandy, the Jesus And Mary Chain have been called one of the most influential British bands of the '80s. With the wall of crushing reverb, drenched in pop hookiness, their sound foretold bands like the beloved My Bloody Valentine, the cultish Black Rebel ... More >>