Feb 26
tremendous – tremendous musicians and tremendous sound – I don’t know enough about the genre except to say it was salsa-dancing music and the still-hipped people partook – they’re described as a Cuban band that plays a variety of Latin music – crowd so happy it made me wish I’d been born in Cuba
Feb 24
Americana, Psychedelic, Southern Rock, Thrash No Comments
so here’s the story – I came to love one song (“Good Bye Mary Lou”), a punkish bluegrass song, by this no-name band called Angels of Light and propagated it through all mixes therewith – I had a vague notion of Akron/Family but didn’t know they’d been the backing band for Angels of Light until I read their show bio – the show bio also mentioned Michael Gira as the lead singer of Angels of Light which got Rockboy excited because he knew him as the lead singer of the Swans – anyway, we went to this show because of a string of distant associations – I was mostly pleased and the anti-anything-remotely-psychedelic Rockboy was not – they are in essence a jam band, tapping such a wide variety of sounds that I characterize them officially as a schizophrenic band – they literally have no distinguishing characteristic which, even if I am a girl who loves variety, may not be a good thing for a band looking to make a name for themselves – they began with a song that made me love them: a more psychedelic Songs: Ohia (melancholy folk) – suddenly it was thrash which firstly is a signature move of this generation (to intersperse loveliness with hardness) and secondly seemed an misguided attempt to prove they’re not soft or that they’re hip to all aspects of our culture – but in sum, it didn’t sound good and it didn’t sound organic – they then proceeded into the other tagsound of this generation of music, Afro pop, which they did very well, reminding me of Paul Simon – in the end, I believe that they will return, if they want to endure, to the sounds that are their strength: very pretty and sophisticated pop – if it matters, they dress like 70s road hippies with t-shirts and bandanas which seemed to me a lame attempt to suggest campfire jams
Feb 24
Goth, Heavy Metal, Jam Band 2 Comments
equal parts stoner metal, 80s goth, shoegaze, and jam band (at least during some of the drum solos) – you’re probably picturing a bunch of guys on stage right now… you big sexist – but no, an all-girl band, and girls of about 23 at that – breaking through all the barriers, this generation of girls are – and hotties, every last one of them, with the sort of style that redeems it – the shy one with bangs covering her face and a flannel shirt a la the 1990s on lead electric guitar with the voice of a sweet demon – the main vocalist also on electric guitar with Robert Smith’s hair in white and a longish tailored black jacket – pretty-pretty girl on bass in dead-center who ought not to have chewed gum through the whole show – and then the drummer…. oh the drummer… when they were setting up, I thought, ‘there’s one bitter glum girl’ but by the time she got going she was helplessly ecstatic, hands and grins a-flying – some people were born to be drummers and this girl is one of them – she is the driving force behind the band, leading her friends and the audience from slow melancholy wailing to driving thrash to genuine dance rock beats – they used echo effect on all of the vocals which is kind of cheating but definitely created an effect, reminded me of Siouxsie in spirit to some extent but of a much harder Mazzy Star most definitely – general aura reminiscent of The Cure with one song in particular completely replicating the dark ringing undertones – especially skilled at mixing tempos without seeming false about it and then drawing you into a lovely mindless repetitive loop of drone – their most memorable song, although maybe not their best song, was ‘Billie Holiday’: it began with one of them harmonizing original lyrics to the others spelling out B-I-L-L-I-E-H-O-L-I-D-A-Y – it sounds cheesy but it wasn’t – the song then progressed into a dark cover of “My Guy” – can’t figure these girls out in general… I would speculate they’re clean upper class girls with solid music training and burner leanings but that would just be speculation – it is not speculation to say that I like them quite a lot – 3 other best things about the show: 1) crowd was distinctively hipster-folk (consciously but casually dressed: shabby chic pants, camouflage hats, belly button length beards, etc.) but probably because Akron/Family followed, 2) their email list asked your gender, and 3) a guy in the crowd raised his hands up in the shape of a heart and kept flicking it at pretty-pretty but she didn’t (or refused to) notice
Jan 30
Adult Contemporary, Singer/Songwriter No Comments
it’s still surprising to hear beautiful noises come out of a person you’ve only heard speak so far – but I wasn’t surprised that Karen sings with the heartfelt passion that I always suspect is under her cool calm collected non-singing demeanor – I liked that the passion seemed more genuine than showmanship, as if her songs were about things she had actually experienced – her voice is rich and even, with a cool elegance that is soothing – interesting and smart lyrics and well-crafted songs – she plays with her voice at times and she used some sort of beat-recorder to add rhythm to one song – I especially liked that she’s brave enough to pause and give the song room to breathe – and she managed to play guitar well with half-frozen fingers!
Jan 29
Country, Goth, Rockabilly No Comments
formerly in Flat Duo Jets – night and day, fantastic guitar player and great singer, gothic rockabilly?, this raucous acoustic set was accompanied only by his junkie sister on a weird box-drum that she tapped and thumped very well – made me think of Italian operas (dark emotion in his voice), David Lynch (had a song that quoted Blue Velvet), Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus (gothic country), Jonathan Richman (mixed trinkling melodies with odd singing),…
Jan 29
sang in X, The Knitters, and The Original Sinners – I know her distinctive voice but walked out of her set at SXSW because it was so dull, I was able to figure out why at this show, the woman writes two-chord trite love songs with unimaginative lyrics and melodies, she frankly doesn’t have a lot of talent or skill but there is still something about the tinge-of-crazy wail in her voice and her fierce wacky persona (even at 50+)
Jan 25
Country, Rockabilly, Swing 1 Comment
a fine boss-girl of a lead singer in her red dress with zig-zagging fringes and scattered arm tattoos – in addition to her solid version of low-toned female rockabilly vocalizing, she handled DJ responsibilities in between sets – the band was completed by an upright bass guitarist, drummer, and lead guitarist – some covers, old country, rockabilly, swing; and then a song where the vocalist left and the musicianship was turned up and it was very exciting psychosurf; and then our personal finale was a song that started like the Flipper song with “HA HA HA HA HO HO HO…” lyrics, was dedicated as “The Laughing Song” to the upright guitarist’s “partner,” and has been determined by the wonderous Google to be a The Residents song of the same name that is described as sounding like The Flipper song – it must be noted that the venue was satisfyingly swanky rock club and the environment on their ‘Swing Night’ was earnest, clean dance devotion with a crowd of youngsters, hipsters, oldsters alike
Jan 18
Bluegrass, Country No Comments
A new band formed from members of The Maybelles and Jenny and the Corn Ponies with a regular Monday evening gig at the Hole in the Wall for the foreseeable future. Despite newness and fluctuating membership, they have a sound – pop-bluegrass/country – and they have a shtick of sorts. There’s Mama on the fiddle, Sister on the guitar, Daddy on the upright bass (Ani DiFranco looking female), and a sometimes lap steel guitarist whose baby-face serves well as the little brother figure. Sister’s voice is pleasant but is at its best when being harmonized with by Mama’s deeper voice. Daddy’s my favorite, though, with her genuinely twanging voice, fierce stage energy, and her own songs that blend light lesbian politics with traditional bluegrass sounds.
Jan 15
Blues, Country, Indie Rock, Soul No Comments
Although it was the first time in some ten years that both primary contributors to Concert Central were actually at a concert together, we only saw a couple of songs. But the band still managed to make their goodness clear. A rootsy indie sound and fronted by a very lovely young girl with a great voice. Originally from Alabama but now in Austin
Dec 09
Garage Rock, Hard Rock, Punk, Thrash Comments Off
There really is no other musician who has mattered more than Jay Reatard in the last couple of years. I realize I may say this more often than I should, but for Jay Reatard, it’s the truth. He reins in diverse aspects of rock into a sound that is all his own, a sound that encapsulates the fury and angst of frustrated youth. I envision him as a troubled prodigy who can’t start enough bands to keep himself sated. His Lost Sounds material is what changed my world, but this night he played his solo material which is similar but less synthy and gothic. A barrage of raw garage punk. Unceasingly intense. Which could have been a boring annoying wall of sound, except that his material is also finely crafted and well executed. The sound was not what you would call crisp or tight, but it didn’t displease me. The show ended with two audience members jumping on stage and attacking him. Rather than an amusing band antic, it was disturbing and upsetting. Rockboy maintains it was staged, but I maintain that PMS and Jay Reatard being attacked do not go well together.
Dec 09
Another fantastic local band. Jangle-pop garage punk with all three male members harmonizing sweet vocals. Reminded me of The Strange Boys. Seemed like they achieved a nice consensus of sound from a diverse range of influences from the band members. Extremely danceable. Some of that stop-start groove guitar like the Gang of Four. I had lots more to say about this band that escapes me now. You should see them. Great live show.
Dec 09
Heavy Metal, Thrash No Comments
The inside show we were not there for. Literally overflowing with metalheads of the shaved head, scary sort – militaristic. Young guys would explode out of the crowd, back from being in the mosh pit, sweaty and barely containing their raging mindless testosteronic energy. Meanwhile, their girlfriends were texting. Despite all that, and the lead singer’s screamo antics, the band was really good. They were from California and played a tight set of driving metal-hardcore, incorporating both staccato riffs and heavy grooves. The audience was young and knew the words to their songs; we were obviously the only people in the room not in the know. They were also explicitly political.
Nov 14
A cappella, Indie Rock, Orchestra No Comments
Gorgeous. Not the transvestite stage spectacle and loud queer politicizing I expected, but rather a focus on the music, which is more beautiful and orchestral than I realized from their studio recordings. I finally understand why they’re described as chamber pop. Young cute Canadians – maybe not cute – they were each a little dorky and odd in their own way. The lead singer pleased me with his tall lankiness and dark eyes, and his distinctive prettily quirky voice that warms me like the sound of a well-liked familiar friend. There were two fiddlers, a keyboardist, an occasional trumpeter, a drummer – maybe 7 or 8 people on stage total? Their songs are complicated but hooky, like The Shins but more comfortable. They toy with sounds and their voices and the instrumentation in a sophisticated and sonically pleasing way. They’re often billed as “gay church folk music,” and part of what attracted me to them in the first place was their blaspheming of religious imagery by jumbling it up with explicit homosexual lyrics. While there is something majestic and holy in their sound, the term “folk” doesn’t do credit to their sound. This band and I were meant for each other.
Nov 14
Heavy Metal, Prog Rock No Comments
I might enjoy a little speed metal every now and then, but never ever never drama-metal – theatre geeks gone thrash – ech… soaring vocals and undertones… – what did fascinate me about this band was their synchronized head-banging… the long hair of all 4 guys incessantly swirling in simultaneous circles – it’s got to affect their musicianship – and I kept wondering what an uninitiated person would think of the whole scene – it’s pretty strange what sorts of behaviors we come to accept as normal
Nov 14
Indie Rock, Modern Rock, Singer/Songwriter No Comments
a former member of The Hidden Cameras and a golden frosted fairy of a man – he’s near albino – his voice was both good and interesting, but his singer-songwriter style grew old very quickly – towards the end of the set, the band moved into indie rock material that was more exciting
Nov 14
made me realize how infrequently I see metal and my lack of understanding of the metal scene that was the crowd at the outside stage… in their black cotton wear and tall boots and chains and jewelry – the band was good even if it all starts to sound the same to me in the end – fingers-flying speed metal
Oct 30
Alt-Country, Bluegrass, Rock and Roll No Comments
Those Darlins aren’t so darling anymore – they done went and grew up into proper rock stars and will probably continue on to implode like real rock stars – these three girls and a drummer sing deceptively simple and fun sing-along songs about being slightly trashy and Southern – their music’s actually not so simple though… it’s rooted in authentic country, honky tonk, Southern rock and even some blues but performed (especially tonight) with rock ‘n roll and even garage rock swagger and snarl – they confessed midway through their set that they’d performed and drank beers earlier in the evening at another Austin venue and it was pretty clear that they were still feeling the effects – the blonde one with long curls was slit-eyed and repeating herself – her performance was most affected – the resident ‘bad girl’ with the husky sexy voice eventually spewed beer on the crowd and bit pumpkin meat from a jack o lantern on the stage and spewed that too – the smallest one with the short curly black hair and the Janis Joplin maleish voice had changed the most in appearance (more bold) but was the best behaved – they opened with an instrumental surf rock song – they sing about getting drunk and eating a whole chicken, being a “snaggle-toothed mama” in a trailer far away, and warning her boy that he knew she was wild one all along – they made me nostalgic for my 20s, when being a wild one was only fun, but then they made me remember that I’m happy to be in my 30s – I still really like this band but, as their senior, I am worried for them 
Oct 30
for some reason, I remembered this band as sounding like The Slits but they don’t and they didn’t so I can get over that disappointment – they’re pop punk at best and 90s pop alt-rock at their worst – they’re from Australia – they’re not bad but get tiresome, especially with the lead singer’s need to constantly promote her personal image of a life-embracing free-spirit hippie-punk – although I did enjoy her description of having to clench her vagina to hold on while sitting on the shoulders of one of the audience members – is Australia more sexually liberal than the US? – she rode the shoulders of this white Mr. T in order to swirl her ribbon in the middle of the crowd in burner fashion – the awkward Mr. T was forthwith smitten and the most engaged member of the audience and the first to the merch table after the show – otherwise she was all pretty smiles and engaging friendly banter – of the same school as all of the bands that have ‘clap’ in their titles and the joyous-thrash neo-new-wave bands – her jumpy performance made it clear why they opened for The Go! Team the first time I saw them – the more moderately happy guitarist did an impressive and thorough job with the soundcheck, I thought – there was a bearded keyboardist – my favorite though is the drummer: she’s a little awkward curly haired school girl with round eyes and when she gets going on the drums, her eyes glaze over and she smiles vaguely at nothing like a bobblehead
Oct 28
totally chanced upon this show and were surprised it wasn’t more hyped and more crowded – I had a clear vision of the lead singer of the Dead Kennedys since I was a girl and Jello was not that man – he is a middle-aged tubby slightly flamboyant (although straight per google) loud opinionated man – this is his new band and I don’t know how extensively they tour or if they even put out CDs – they were great – I heard punk-metal but Rockboy insists just hardcore punk – although he leapt around the stage like an angry fairy, he was backed by two scary-and-mean-looking metalhead-type guitarists, 1 stoner boy guitarist, and a drummer – the songs were prefaced and followed by political ranting from Jello – most of the songs were also explicit references to political issues close to Jello’s heart or residence, such as working in the dot.com industry in northern California – I don’t like songs that deal with such specific political issues, not timeless and kind of cheesy for some reason – Jello came out in a weird pinkish sack of a jacket but removed it to reveal a shirt made from an upside-down American flag and removed that to reveal a black t-shirt and removed that to reveal his 50-year-old belly – he’s an astonishing performer – in addition to bounding around the stage and singing ferociously in his unmistakable theatrical voice, his face was constantly contorting to further get his message across and he was a remarkably good mime – I wasn’t always sure what he was acting out but it was precise – a unique performance – when they finally played “California Uber Alles” and “Holiday in Cambodia,” it was very very exciting
Oct 28
Bluegrass, Folk, Punk, World Music No Comments
I loved this show and so did the crowd –I think this band is basically the foundation for slam-grass and the gypsy punk movement – impossible not to dance to a rowdy accordion – and then the old Irish ballads communicate a sense of warmth and companionship – although not always the vocalist, Shane McGowan was the center of the show – the band wouldn’t be half as interesting without his slurred snarling vocals – having just watched the movie biography of his life (Should I Fall From Grace), I was firstly amazed that they were charging so much to see a man who was such a high liability for not showing up or not being able to perform and secondly felt a kinship with him like I kind of knew him – I figured he must have sobered up if they were touring like this – not a bit – his spoken words were so unintelligible (partly because of his accent but mostly because of intoxication) that a band member would translate what he was saying for the audience – funny and horrifying all at the same time – like the irresistible draw of looking at a car wreck – he frequently left the stage between songs and progressively relied more on the microphone to hold him up – despite all of that, his singing was mostly on target–it was disturbing or touching that his band members accommodate him as he is so that he can perform and that his fans almost celebrate his self-destruction – part of his mystique – oh and he’d gotten his first set of false teeth recently but didn’t wear them to perform…. someone said the movie about his life should be shown to kids to terrify them into sobriety – “hghgthzzz” as Shawn would say
Oct 26
A cappella, Art Rock, New Wave, Prog Rock, Thrash No Comments
complex and sophisticated music that was possibly based in Afro-pop or new wave but verged into prog rock – absolutely inventive – lead vocalist/guitarist communicated musical genius to me and I fancy he wrote the songs and what with his crazy guitar skills he couldn’t help but throw a little prog into the music – his voice was also very good… something between Antony and the Johnsons and Elvis Costello and Paul Simon – he was usually accompanied by three female backing vocalists who created a fabric of sweet noises that went from an ethereal drone to a’cappella to screaming – sometimes they would juxtapose their harmonizing almost in a beat boxing fashion so that it created a synthy sound which was amazing – departures from the general sound included the beginning of the set in which the lead guy used an electric guitar in a singer/songwriter style, when he accompanied the black-haired female vocalist in a very pretty jazz vocal, when the entire band would bend over at the waist and incongruously thrash to finish a song (just made me giggle), when the bass guitarist brought out an upright bass which added a jazz feel again to the music, and when the blonde female vocalist took over the stage in a liltingly funky M.I.A.-like song – in other amusing sidenotes, the band generally engaged in anti-cool posturing with the lead guy wearing two massive cardigans, the bass guitarist in an old-school sweatshirt that had some witty saying on it that I forget now, the black-haired vocalist in a plain black t-shirt with a little necklace, etc. etc. – there was also a drummer whom I’m sorry to say I could not see at all
Oct 26
Art Rock, Funk, Hard Rock No Comments
WomanInCharge, true to form, didn’t invite me to this show (Dirty Projectors) but told me I was going… this band was darling darling darling – smiles washed over the crowd – had the stage presence of Matt & Kim: happy clean jumping dancepunk – the little girl with the long hair in a barrette and the green eyelashes painted under her right eye was fierce and inflamed with a voice that reminded me of Grand Ole Party and maybe CocoRosie – her compatriot guitarist with the 70s fluffed hair matched her energy – lots of drums, a keyboard, a whaw pedal, occasional trumpet, sometimes a saxophone – a synthy disco rock inferno – maintained hyped up stage presence until it was certain that the audience had been saved – they almost outshone the headiners
Oct 24
one of the first bands I ever saw in Austin and I never forget them, they played a cheesy club downtown and made it more interesting than it actually was with their eerie and romantic Middle Eastern wailing, they set the crowd to dancing this time
Oct 16
we were dubbed number one fans without our consent – they were supposed to go on at 9pm, at least in my head – they were supposed to go on at 10:30 or 11pm, at least in their head – they didn’t go on until 11:30pm but in the meantime they were a little too excited that we were the only non-band-members there at 9pm and the few of about 10 non-band-members by the time they went on – most every band member shook our hand and we were given t-shirts – and it turned out the recommendation I’d seen for them at Waterloo was posted by a buddy who works there – this all made me suspicious but they were kind of excellent – the first song was so terrible I almost left immediately but the 2nd was a dramatic turn-around into funky short guitar riffs and stiff drum beats a la Gang of Four – I remain most suspect of the lead singer’s unimpressive quiet complaint of a voice but the sound system was among the worst ever so it’s hard to say
Oct 16
Garage Rock, Hard Rock, Punk No Comments
a motley crue for sure and Austin no-names but I thought they were great – a happy-dad keyboardist, a stringy haired lurching ex-hippie lead singer, a punk kid on bass guitar and a slick-guy drummer (smelled like a ‘session drummer’ to Rockboy) – their music reflected these disparate influences – some blend of a garagey, punky, post-punky rock – lots of energy too
Oct 16
Indie Rock, Modern Rock No Comments
everybody wanted to see them at SXSW and nobody saw them – they were three very young girls from Brooklyn harmonizing in a pleasantly monotonous almost atonal fashion – not what I expected but it was an acoustic set so can’t really judge – maybe a little pretentious in the Yo La Tengo way with their disregard for hitting the right note – the flatline melodies were intentional and while the FrustratedPhilosopher found it to be obnoxious hipster posturing, I found it comforting – created a pleasant drone – they were described as surfer girls which made me like their sound more – they were also described as having opened for Jay Reatard (awwww) and Sonic Youth which did not at all fit their sweetie sweet vibe
Sep 09
Americana, Bluegrass, Country, Jazz, Swing No Comments
the more that I understand the sound of Texas swing, the more I appreciate this band – they elaborate on the sound and play intelligently and creatively – always based in country but sometimes leaning more toward the bluegrass then toward a solid swing song and then a waltz and then almost jazzy – they’re very good musicians and make the song their own while maintaining its integrity – Jeremy, the lead singer’s, voice might not be remarkable but what is remarkable is his deft management of the band and dedication to the music he loves
Sep 05
Arena Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal No Comments
this is a band that I have never liked – his dramatic voice grates on me – I particularly hate their hit and the song I am most familiar with: “She Sells Sanctuary” – the ticket to this show was bought for me and I underwent two evening sessions of training in the catalogue of The Cult by a long-time devotee of the band, Rockboy – I enjoyed my training – I am now qualified to tell you that while I respect the band-integrity (pre-Rick-Rubin producing) of the earliest albums of The Cult, such as Dreamtime and Love, it is exactly the music that I don’t like from them: wishy-washy romantic dramatic unrock rock – the albums that followed were a surprise to me (such as Electric and Sonic Temple) as I had no idea that The Cult had such music – while I see the transformation intro crunchy AC/DC metal as Rubin-homogenizing-evil and as The Cult becoming very un-Cult, I cannot deny that I quite enjoy those albums more than the early frilly-shirt soaring-sob albums – and so the concert went – they did the Love album in entirety and it was perfect – it was as if we were in the studio but for the dirt under our feet, the sweat and heat, and the most annoying drunk mish-mash packed-in crowd I have ever been in (I was nearly knocked down twice by 2 near-fights between the same 2 ignorant middle-aged obliterated-drunk men) – and then the second set was a selection of hits from their proper metal albums and the crowd went even more wild although it didn’t seem it was possible – Ian Astbury’s voice is undeniably distinctive and high-quality – in the end, the show was tremendous, this band is still not for me, and I felt inexplicably drawn to Ian Astbury – he was round and shaggy-haired and wearing a hoodie with little white insignias on it – he looked all cuddly and accessible – he banged his tambourine and shimmied forward and backward like’s he done this… as long as he’s done this – I liked his aura of knowingness and the sort of self-confidence that underlies not having to dress to impress
Sep 05
a caricature of a rock band, tight black jeans, shaggy hair, wan faces, slapping the microphone in the palm of the hand, they had the energy and the skill and even the diversity but whatever happened to originality?
Aug 15
old curmudgeon of a lead singer yelled at the crowd halfway through the first song, something about tossing stuff on stage – crowd wasn’t deterred and continued to mosh properly – mix of 70s punk that I really like (“I Love Livin’ in the City”) and frat-punk that I really dislike (“More Beer”) – the heat was ridiculous and I was in inappropriate shoes: lost the energy to analyze and remember but, as far as I remember, they were good
Aug 15
relatively clean cut older guys – looked and sounded so California that I was awash in homesickness – reminded me very much of Offspring though maybe more skatepunk – made the huge mistake of never playing the song I love by them, “Gutters of Paradise,” the lyrics of which express the punk ethic that I most appreciate
new fiction by Andrew Marx
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