THIS WEEK’S SPOTLIGHTS-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! Sat., May 31 -Awake / The Mckenzies / The Gold Sounds@ The Mink BackroomThe one time I saw Awake I really dug their dense, slow, and, at times, melodic death dirges so much that – even though it was the last few songs in a set – I was pretty impressed and felt that they were doing something pretty unique. The weird thing about them is if you download their albums, it sounds nothing like it does live. So here, check this live youtube video of the song redshift ( Link ). It’s slow and brutal ... Read More »

Starting tomorrow I will be moving to a Friday to Thursday format for my previews but I didn’t want to overlook this show. Thursday, May 29 The Sword / Torche / Stinking Lizaveta @ Rudyard’s The Sword are Austin’s central rallying point for Metal glory. Much like Houston’s weapon of choice (Golden Axe), The Sword don’t simply peddle in Metal tropes, they take them and eagerly dive head-first into its heady waters and don’t come back up for air. It’s metal that both stupid and smart without winking with irony and thank god for that. The sunshine state’s Torche demand ... Read More »

Yea, for though tired, I marched seven stages and five parasangs to the Alabama Ice House. There verily did I bivouack with my friend from the North Eastern region. The provisions were many – Lone Star and Shiner were plentiful here – and after many discussion regarding bananas, Amsterdam, the largeness of Buckees 52Oz drinks, and other such pressing matters the soothsayers did infact suggest that the time had now long past for me to arrive at my destination at the allotted time. Nevertheless, after sacrificing one last Lone Star to the gods I proceeded to march four stages and ... Read More »

THIS WEEKS SPOTLIGHTSATURDAY! THREE SHOWS!ONE NIGHT!OH CRAP!SATURDAY, MAY 24 Free Press HoustonFood Drive Featuring:American Sharks / The McKenzies / The Wild Moccasins / News On The March / Audio In The Pregap / Cave Reverend@ Numbers(8PM, $8.00, bring canned & non-perishable food) I’d like to give a pat on the back to Omar and the rest of that those helped organize this. It’s a great idea that helps out folks and it’s so painless to help out. I mean look at the line up. American Sharks is a band with a Walker twin. I mean what the fuck? Do I ... Read More »

OK, sorry folks we’re running a day behind here on our preview. There is a lot going on tonight but what I do takes some time as I search for the bands, listen to a few tracks, and then either scratch ‘em off the list or write some attempt at a pithy summary. Simply put, I got slammed this week but check in tomorrow and we’ll have a nice proper music preview – I promise. If you’re looking to do something tonight that is music related check out Space City Rock which is always my jumping-off point for this calendar ... Read More »

A friendly reminder… TONIGHT Indian Jewelry’s “Free Gold!” Album Release Party at Sound Exchange! It’s a free BYOB All Ages affair that gets going at 8PM. ..and a show I forgot to mention TOMORROW I got this transmission from John Muzak. Tomorrow, 5/21 at the White Swan Bart’s birthday party! with cool music from no.2 pencil thou shall not kill…except [Adam of bully pulpit] muzak the annoysters how i quit crack the delta block the krinkles hope ypou can make it? its free &fun;!!!!& theryll be cake too! john Read More »

Houston has a new message board HoustonPunk.com (Link) To get your attention they are offering Something Fierce’s Modern Girl EP as a Free Download! Now get to downloading and, dig it, here is the video for the title track: Read More »

Lets face it, even if Hendrix were to rise from the dead and play a set before 10:30PM the odds of me seeing him would be dodgy at best. I think I’m just locked into that whole Rudyard’s time zone – doors at 9 and bands start at 10:30(ish!!!) – sorry. Friday was no different as even the lure of The Wild Moccasins (who put on great lively shows that are matched by some great tunes) wasn’t enough to forgo a pre-show round of booze and baseball with some friends over at Griffs*. That is no dis to the Moccasins ... Read More »

Fabled International Artists engineer Frank Davis (13th Floor Elevators, Golden Dawn, Lost & Found, etc.) and Bronwyn Lauder (Star Project, Dead Roses, et al.) are working with the Anthony Foundation to select 5 artists on which to bestow free studio time. Pretty awesome, huh? Entires are due by May 31st so jump onto www.anthonyfoundation.org and get cracking! Read More »

THIS WEEK’S SPOTLIGHTBRIGHT PAPER MOCCASINS Friday, May 16 – Papermoons / Bright Men of Learning / Ninja Gun / The Wild Moccasins@ The MinkFirst off, congrats to BMOL’s Marshall and his lovely bride Jordan on tying the knot last week. Woohoo! As if to celebrate their nuptials this week, we have an enviable local line-up tonight. Papermoons (who we will feature in July) put out a great 7″ last year and by the sounds of it, they will likely be ready blow everyone away with their upcoming full length. Add to that a rare BMOL performances (making this a must) ... Read More »