Tom Waits

Pro-Gay Marriage Willie Nelson Returns With A New Album April 16

As Willie Nelson inches towards 80 years of age on April 29, his schedule doesn't seem to winding down one bit. He tours at an astounding clip, and it seems like he was in the Houston-area at least four times in the past year. In fact, we reviewed his latest Arena Theatre gig here on Rocks Off earli ... More >>

Christmas Past: Happy Gothmas! Top 10 Goth Christmas Songs

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared December 23, 2011. "Dude, religious Christmas is pretty macabre. All kinds of scandal, sex with a ... More >>

That's a Big Twinkie: A Soundtrack to the Apocalypse

The last shipment of Hostess Twinkies was supposedly delivered last Tuesday, as Hostess indeed filed for bankruptcy. Twinkies were also linked to great destructive forces in the movie Ghostbusters. This all falls very close to December 21, which marks the end of the Mayan Mesoamerican Long Count C ... More >>

No, This Is How It's Done

Seven Psychopaths is a great, nasty time at the movies.

The Coolest and Uncoolest Songs About America's Coolest City (Us)

Above is Dean Martin doing "Houston" on his television show. Epic fail, but nice outfit. As you may have read, Forbes magazine recently determined that, by their measurement criteria, Houston is now America's coolest/hippest city. Of course, while the rest of the world has looked down its nose for ... More >>

Last Night: Aerosmith & Cheap Trick at Toyota Center

Aerosmith, Cheap Trick Toyota Center July 30, 2012 It always happens. I go into an Aerosmith show full of hate and distrust of laser-lips Steven Tyler and the Aero Posse and end up half-enjoying myself despite all the reservations that the rest of the world pumps into my head. It's like when you a ... More >>

Friday Night: Murder by Death at Fitzgerald's

Murder by Death, Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons Fitzgerald's July 27, 2012 When I discovered that Murder by Death was set up to play the smaller downstairs room at Fitzgerald's Friday night, I was a little surprised. The Indiana-based y'allternative act may hail from a small town, but they've got ... More >>

How Far Can We Get From the Velvet Underground?

Since Rocks Off bought a smartphone this past January, we have downloaded almost 400 songs from iTunes. We know, we need help. But we have become fascinated with the damn thing. One of the features we like the best is "Listeners Also Bought" at the bottom of each album's page, which we assume ranks ... 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 >>

Rest Of The Best: Houston's Top 8 Jukeboxes

Along with pickled pig's feet and a steady supply of Slim Jims, a good jukebox is a prime element for any great bar. But, like dinosaurs, jukeboxes are a vanishing breed. Unlike digital jukes, iPods or DJs, jukeboxes require love, care and maintenance, as well as -- among the truly great ones -- som ... More >>

Unscripted: Top 10 Actor/Musician Collaborations

Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson have been hanging out a lot lately. The actor joined the antichrist onstage a couple of weeks ago at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards show in L.A., and played guitar on "Sweet Dreams" and "Beautiful People." Depp also collaborated with Manson on a cover of Carly Simon' ... More >>

#1 Crushes: Our Favorite '90s Rock Vixens

Tonight House of Blues welcomes Garbage back to Houston after a seven-year hiatus. The group, lead by fearsome Scottish redhead Shirley Manson, has been sorely missed from the music scene. They are currently touring behind their upcoming album Not Your Kind of People, which hits stores May 14. Rock ... More >>

Happy Gothmas! Top 10 Goth Christmas Songs

​"Dude, religious Christmas is pretty macabre. All kinds of scandal, sex with a ghost, strangers bringing mystical gifts, and everyone predicting this young couple's baby's death like its glorious wonderful thing. Oh and a decree to slaughter all male babies the next day... what could be more ... More >>

Father Figures: 100 Famous Musicians' Paternal Professions

If you're a Texan of a certain age, this week you've probably spent some time mourning the death of Jerry Haynes, the children's TV host better known as Mr. Peppermint. Haynes' show on WFAA-TV in Dallas, Peppermint Place, ran from the '60s to the '90s and was widely syndicated across the state, incl ... More >>

Happy International Youth Day: 6 Songs For The Young

Kenneth Freeman​Rocks Off has become obsessed lately with finding playlists to celebrated some of the more obscure holidays on the calendar, and thankfully the United Nations is just great at providing those. Today is International Youth Day, a holiday that started in 2000 and is designed to b ... 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 >>

Half a Paycheck

Dave Alvin is an inveterate troubadour and staunch advocate for Houston's blues history.

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 >>

A Musical History Of The Color Green

​It's St. Patrick's Day, and as many of you have discovered, it is the only day out of the year when our normally free and enlightened society requires you to wear a certain color lest sudden and shocking violence be inflicted upon you. Every year on March 17, pinch-related emergency room visi ... More >>

Promoter Mike Kelley: "Numbers Is Houston's CBGB"

Marco TorresWu-Tang Clan's GZA and Ghostface Killah at Numbers, December 2010​Numbers' credentials as a concert venue are undeniable - everyone from Siouxsie and the Banshees to Green Day to Type O Negative has played there. It's hard to argue, though, that the past decade hasn't been a rough ... More >>

Rocks Off's Favorite Non-2010 Music Of 2010

Editor's Pick: It was probably Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne, same as last year. So how about Nirvana's In Utero, which I dragged out of mothballs when we did our article about Nevermind's anniversary in September. In Utero fried my hair all over again, and then got me thinking about the band's cover of ... More >>

The Nutcracker, Now With Karen O And Conor Oberst

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Have you ever seen The Nutcracker? It's pretty weird. We can't think of another story in which the main plot gets resolved in the first half and the second half is just one big-ass party. Seriously, the conflict is resolved so thoroughly by the end of t ... More >>

Still Fun Fun Fun, Festival Is On The Cusp Of Change

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Miss the bands in Austin this weekend? See as many as we could squeeze into our handy slideshow. Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin is on the cusp of change. A renovation to its home base, Waterloo Park, is due within the next year, so come next November the festival more than ... More >>

FAIL: Morrissey, Scott Weiland, Whitesnake, Conspiracy Theorists

​Morrissey Loves Animals So Much It Makes Him Racist: Morrissey has been one of the biggest ambiguously snarky pussies in all of rock music for some years now, popular among 15-year-old bisexuals of all races and creeds. Sometimes, however, the former Smiths frontman likes to make a straightf ... More >>

He Said She Said: Our Christmas Musical Wishlists, Part 2 - LPs Nobody Can Buy

​When He Said was four years old, all he wanted for Christmas was big brown tape recorder that Play Skool put out so he could record his own imaginary radio shows and crazed ramblings about He-Man. Santa Claus brought it that year, and He Said wore that thing out over the next few months. For Chri ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Good Trouble for Hayes Carll in 2008

We freely admit we are homers, as big a fans of Hayes Carll as Milo Hamilton is of the Astros, but the Press isn't the only media outlet in the country impressed by Carll's first Lost Highway album, Trouble in Mind. The album, which featured the Americana Music Association's song of the year, "She L ... More >>

Artist of the Week: Andrew Karnavas

High Gas Prices Still Hurting Touring Bands

Notes toward a post-cheap-gas touring economy

Warfare on Washington

In which a routine noise complaint morphs into a small riot

Sparklehorse, with Danny & the Nightmares

Wednesday, September 13, at The Proletariat, 903 Richmond, 713-523-1199

2006 Houston Press Music Awards Supplement

Knockoff

A German new waver resorts to tired old tricks

Lord of the Cover Bands

Lonnie Posey rules the retread roost

Told You So

Racket gets his gloat on

'Bout Time

Give it up for soul survivor Bettye LaVette

Barbez

Friday, September 16, at Rudyard's, 2010 Waugh Drive, 713-521-0521.

The Real Tuesday Weld

I, Lucifer (Six Degrees)

Modest Mouse

Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Epic)

Higher Ground

The Blind Boys of Alabama can bring church to the people if not the people to church

Norah Jones

Feels Like Home (Blue Note)

Thea Gilmore

Avalanche (Compass Records)

Infernal Bridegroom Productions

Songs from the Meat/BAR (Infernal Bridegroom Productions)

Elvis Costello

When I Was Cruel (Island Def Jam)

Minibill

Rube Waddell

Playbill

California Guitar Trio with Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto

Mysteriously Musical

Kinky Friedman is still up to no good

Glamour of Glaw

The leader of the Vulgarians makes a fashion statement

So Be Good

In Shockheaded Peter, bad boys and girls get what they deserve -- and then some

Ray Stevens Lives!!!

Todd Snider's novelty tunes will tickle your jaded fancy

Rotation