BY JACK DANIEL BETZ Given the crowded lineup of big names playing this weekend, Jandek was probably not the first one on most people’s minds — unless you’re me. I rarely see repeat performances of any one band, mostly because set-lists tend to be repetitive and, for the many artists, if you’ve seen one show, you’ve seen them all. But Jandek is different, which should come as no surprise to anyone. There is no such thing as a central corpus of “greatest hits” for the man from Corwood, first of all, because Jandek has never produced anything even close to ... Read More »

BY JACK DANIEL BETZ During their time together, Female Demand rode high on a wave of growing appreciation for power-duo bands like Lightning Bolt (who have seemingly reached the apex of their mainstream popularity with their inclusion on the star-studded Flaming Lips’ album Heady Fwends). Bradley Muñoz and Jonathan Perez took the drum and bass thrasher concept to its limits, beyond its minimalist noise roots, to an acid-drenched, space-rock climax, on their only full-length album, “Outside the Universe.” They turned heads with their intensity, in life, but broke up rather quietly, with Bradley’s Facebook status about selling his bass as ... Read More »

Jason Hill’s Louis XIV is a band that never got a fair shake. Some of the material was immature and AMateurish, but there was definitely some sex-drenched rock genius sprinkled into the band’s first three records. And, again, sure, they sold some albums and got a little bit of attention but mostly, they were under-appreciated. Pitchfork gave their debut full-length (2005′s “The Best Little Secrets Are Kept”) a 1.2. As far as online music journalism goes, this is not only really really bad – it’s fucking LEGENDARY. While Pitchfork is notoriously rough, as far as ratings go, they normally relegate ... Read More »

By Jack Daniel Betz Houston has been very lucky, over the past few years, to be a frequent tour stop for ex-Bauhaus front-man, Peter Murphy. He played Numbers in 2011, HoB in 2012 and will be returning to Numbers again on the 26th.  This is a special tour though, for a couple reasons, not the least of which is that fact that it almost did not happen. Murphy vs. Smokey In late March, Murphy got hauled in by the LAPD for allegedly driving under the influence and having a baggy of meth in his possession. No – let me be ... Read More »

By Jack Daniel Betz Second Lovers self-describes as “folk-rock/indie” but given the current state of “indie” (fawning, overwrought, forced) they ought to withdraw their alliance. “Wishers” is a beautifully crafted album that has the real potential of remaining timeless, far more than anything that gets the label “indie”, nowadays. To enter the tranquil, Americana-laden beauty of Second Lover’s debut I’d have to direct listeners to song “By the River”. Nic Morales croons eloquently, with just a dash of Kurt Cobain gravel in his voice,  about some past regret that he doesn’t fully reveal. You know it’s something heartrending, something really ... Read More »

By Jack Daniel Betz The very busy and very actively touring Jamie Stewart was kind enough to grant me a short interview in the midst of loading in before playing in Washington last Friday. The poor guy sounded like he was directing air traffic but despite all the bustle I got the opportunity to ask him a few questions. Xiu Xiu and legendary no-wave band Swans will be playing Fitzgerald’s on Saturday night. Believe it or not, even though I’ve listened to plenty of music I would consider kindred to Xiu Xiu’s sound the most recent album was actually my ... Read More »

By Jack Daniel Betz “When I saw Gobble Gobble open for Baths last year I thought they were going places. Home-made  electronic percussion, day-glo synth-pop, and intensely interactive shows, how could you not draw positive attention even in this age of increasingly histrionic musicians? Well, I’ve heard little from Gobble Gobble since then but two of its members are making music headlines with their gothic trip-hop side-project: Purity Ring. I’d heard about their music from friends who’d seen them open for Neon Indian but after being unable to find any of their songs online I just kind of forgot about ... Read More »

By Jack Daniel Betz Before MoB released Unsound last month, I had no idea that they’d done any studio albums since they reunited in 02. I just figured we had the classic “Signals, Calls, and Marches” and “Vs.” and that was it. Roger Miller’s hearing has been in tatters since the mid 80s so I figured it was safe to just continue on with the assumption. Well, apparently this is their 4th full-length since coming back together and it is heavy. To get a feel for the post-reunion albums I compared Unsound to 2009′s “The Sound, The Speed, The Light” ... Read More »

By Jack Daniel Betz It surprised the hell out of me the other day, when I was working my shift in the Barnes and Noble music section, to discover a newly released Public Image Ltd. album in one of the boxes I was unpacking. The artwork was garishly bright and seemed like an odd choice but as soon as I got off work I looked it up on Rhapsody and discovered that despite having some strangely incongruous album art, PiL had some good new material. Now, my favorite PiL album is “Metal Box” and this is no metal box but ... Read More »

By Jack Daniel Betz Black Bananas were outrageous, Magic Markers noisy and brash, but the whole of last night I was anticipating the arrival of the very last act, the elusive Duane Warr. Writing under the name Dwarr, Duane has played solo since the 80s but never toured until his first gig in Austin, Saturday night. After Bananas finished, Duane could be seen pacing around, sporting a big smile, clad in a pair of intensely elevated black leather boots. He had no roadies to help him so I assisted him in hoisting his giant Marshall cab onto the Walter’s stage. ... Read More »