Twitter
Facebook
RSSMartyrhead – July 23, 2010 – Hole in the Wall, Austin TX
Jul 23
Hard Rock, Heavy Metal No Comments
an energetic Motorhead cover band from San Antonio – could be just what you’re looking for if you’re looking for that sort of thing
Warpaint – February 24, 2010 – The Parish, Austin TX
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
Throwdown – December 9, 2009 – Emo’s, Austin TX
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.
Blackguard – November 14, 2009 – Emo’s, Austin TX
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
Lazarus AD – November 14, 2009 – Emo’s, Austin TX
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
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine – October 28, 2009 – Red 7, Austin TX
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
The Cult – September 5, 2009 – Stubb’s, Austin TX
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
Honky – July 21, 2009 – Scoot Inn, Austin TX
Jul 21
Heavy Metal, Southern Rock No Comments
was prepared to hate this band because of previous experience with their ignorant insensitive lyrics – the ZZ Top biker look is consistent across the band members with their ratty long goatees –some mix of speed metal, sludge metal, and Southern rock – had some slow dirges and ended with a blues number – their hyped up stuff was my favorite – vocals were annoying and they lacked creativity but I can’t say I hated them –they’re excellent musicians – believe one of the band members is the sound guy at The Continental Club
Triple Cobra – June 29, 2009 – Waterloo Records, Austin TX
Jun 29
Glam, Heavy Metal, Rock and Roll Comments Off
A Waterloo in-store was just what I needed – such happy early evening events with all of Austin’s finest gathered: semi-homeless guys there for the free beer, old hippies still glazed from too much acid, random music fans, and nonchalant Waterloo employees. This was not your typical in-store though: instead of the usual 3-song set, they played 5 or more; if they really weren’t plugged in, they sounded plugged in; and in contrast to the generally mellow vibe, this was a real rock show with dancing girls and stage-diving guitarists… into the rack of CDs. They’re from San Francisco, they’re glam rock revivalists, and although they border on cheesy with alarming frequency, I think they might make it. They’re just so much fun. The musicians were proper rock stars with teased mullet-esque dos, tight black clothes and sunglasses indoors. The girls looked like burners in be-glittered and be-feathered finery, but their sexy-surly burlesque reminded me of The Flametrick Subs’ Satan’s Cheerleaders – I overheard them tell a fan after the show that they’re “really inspired by Vegas.” The lead singer has a genuinely great powerful voice, often singing in falsetto – he was also seemingly genetically blessed with the saran wrap lips that long-time-drug-using rockers get although he otherwise looked young. When he climbed on top of the railings surrounding the tiny stage and jumped off, an old guy next to me told his buddy, “Yeah, you can do that when you weigh 110 pounds.” Their sound was heavy-riffed glam rock – I kept hearing death disco but I probably imagined that because they’re from San Francisco, home to all my favorite death disco bands. While they had some catchy one-liners: “live fast and die beautiful” and “it’s not too late, we can still die young, it’s all the same…” the songs themselves, and especially the lyrics, were trite and repetitive. They could do better. They had bubbles too.
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth – May 30, 2009 – Emo’s, Austin TX
May 30
Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash Comments Off
this was a band that was on our radar during SXSW – we never ended up seeing them though which wasn’t a big deal since they’re local – this too was more of a chance sighting than anything else but I was still disappointed – I expected more psych metal and less screamo – the music was heavy and complicated (good) but the vocals were grating and annoying: too discordant to even be screamo –the lead singer was fascinating though with his spawn-from-the-river-like writhing – noise-rock meets no wave – possibly, possibly it was my own bad attitude and the fact that I should have been in bed…
April 22, 2009 – Speeding Ticket – Headhunters, Austin TX
Apr 22
Hard Rock, Heavy Metal No Comments
like most bands I see at Headhunters, this group was carrying the torch for some decades-old sound without even a touch of irony – I guess this is acceptable for certain sounds – this band was for all intents and purposes a Judas Priest cover band, i.e., not acceptable – the lead singer wore gray jeans with knee-high boots and a flame shirt and was moved by himself
Next of Sin – March 31, 2009 – Texas Roller Derby, Austin Convention Center, Austin TX
Mar 31
Heavy Metal, Thrash No Comments
head-banging long-curly-haired thrash metal and very serious about it – classic lead singer posturing: he regularly held his microphone out to an imaginary crowd for them to finish his lyrics or at least scream – as always, I quickly tired of the screaming vocalizing – don’t these boys worry about their vocal chords? Not to mention their necks…
Thrones – March 30, 2009 – Emo’s, Austin TX
Mar 30
suddenly I missed When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth – a lone tower of a man playing sludge metal… all by his lonesome – Why? Why would you be a one-man-metal-band?
The Emeralds – March 21, 2009 – Elysium, Austin TX (SXSW)
Mar 21
Dance, Heavy Metal, Punk No Comments
so tight and hard, they almost approached math metal – in addition to this, they were distinguished by their ‘fun’ take on the whole serious rock/metal thing: they started with a “dance party” that really made you want to dance and had audience participation which is atypical for this sort of music – eventually played songs that approximated rockabilly/metal if there’s such a thing – would call them dancepunk if hard-pressed – I keep wondering why there was so many Japanese bands at SXSW? Or was this just a Dara experience? – this was one of my favorite shows at SXSW and I was moved DESPITE extreme weariness
Belmez – March 21, 2009 – The Bayou Lounge, Austin TX (SXSW)
Mar 21
Heavy Metal, Thrash No Comments
hell, screamo metal
Sun Gods in Exile – March 20, 2009 – Room 710, Austin TX (SXSW)
Mar 20
Heavy Metal, Southern Rock No Comments
people in the bar were excited for this band – I categorized them as some crazy mix of Southern rock and metal – they also had a distinctively 80s metal sound to me, i.e., they were technically good but not my style – they even threw in a bit of old-school screamo – their conversations with the audience were entirely cuss words – maybe Motorhead?
MAdM – March 20, 2009 – Red Eyed Fly, Austin TX (SXSW)
Mar 20
Heavy Metal, Prog Rock No Comments
this band was gripping and totally up my alley but WomanInCharge insisted on moving on – Sabbath-riffing stoner metal… blah blah blah… but with a Renaissance looking girl with wild long red curls as lead vocalist – from Canada – will look into further
Black Math Horseman – March 19, 2009 – Room 710, Austin TX (SXSW)
Mar 19
Heavy Metal, Prog Rock, Psychedelic No Comments
I had just stopped in for a place to sit and gather myself but when the nice man from Amsterdam showed me the showcase label’s CD sampler and the influential bands listed all tended toward the stoner psych droning metal I love, I knew fate had stepped in and decided to stay – Amsterdam man told me his story while we waited – he was in America for a month traveling from New York to Austin to Phoenix (?) to San Francisco – he had a badge although he is no longer in the music industry – his job in the music industry was acting as the national music librarian for Holland, i.e., he kept track of all the Dutch bands – we agreed that there is no parallel position in the US – his former job makes me giggle for some reason – the band was fantastic but I’m an easy sell for music like this – woman with long black hair whaled on the bass and wailed the lead vocals – two guitarists and a drummer – had elements of Godspeed You in some of the noodling but a lot more metal – hardest of the hard with a big rich sound and just a little discordancy
Los Bones – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX
Feb 15
Heavy Metal, Punk, Rockabilly No Comments
They’re a motley crue but it comes together beautifully: the drummer who’s so bad-ass (literally) he doesn’t care if his shirt has a hole in the armpit; the proud, dark, classic, and pretty guitarist; the happy mop-head bassist; and the cute emotive showman of a lead vocalist. In addition to coming together as a group of ‘misfits,’ their music manages to tap into a multitude of sounds while still retaining a personality all their own. They often overlay punk vocalizing with rockabilly/psychobilly melodies, but their true appeal lies in the diversity of their songcraft and the quality of the musicianship all the way through. Touch of metal there too.
By Any Means Necessary – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX
Feb 14
Heavy Metal, Thrash No Comments
Death metal. Death metal. Death metal. Their flying math-metal fingers were lovely but I can’t help worrying about their poor little vocal chords after all the screaming and their poor little necks after all the thrashing.
Capricorn USA – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX
Feb 14
A verbatim Motorhead band and very good at it. The robust every-girl’s-best-friend-looking lead singer in a black Dia De Los Muertos looking shirt and with a waist-lace of bullets alternated between lyrics like “Religion – sadistic – sadist – whore” to call-outs to the audience like “Let me hear you, Austin!!” They were exactly the metal I was looking for tonight.
Thunderosa – February 14, 2009 – Headhunters, Austin TX
Feb 14
Blues, Heavy Metal, Southern Rock 2 Comments
I haven’t stopped giggling at this band yet. They fit (almost) every caricature of an 80s ‘heavy’ metal band. CAUTIONARY: This may be more a reflection of my age and personal bias than the actual quality of this band. Drummer with a red bandana singing in a quasi-screamo but totally 80s metal growl. They’re basically a hard rock, driving hard, metal-hard, with touches of Lynyrd Skynyrd and some real blues grooves. While the guitarist in the camouflage baseball cap was incongruous and cute, the bassist member was Will-Ferrell-as-a-metal-head incarnate, with the grandiose swagger and smirks and an upswung arm in some pagan salute at the end of each song, plus a cheesy haircut and goatee to boot. They were old (mid-40s) and the crowd was too. The girls, sorry women, were embarrassing me and should have been embarrassing themselves with their obvious efforts at behaving like metal groupies… at the age of 47… Oh! And there were some devil horns thrown too!
Monotonix – February 6, 2009 – Red 7, Austin TX
Feb 06
Blues, Garage Rock, Heavy Metal, Punk No Comments
so silly I couldn’t stop the smirk and I don’t mean that politely, the crowd was peeing all over themselves, apparently this band’s hype precedes its arrival – some sort of political repression legend based on their Israelian origins and the fact that a few places haven’t allowed them to perform (though they’ve managed to rack up some 300 shows of late despite this), there is nothing political in their message, in fact their lack of message was complemented by a lack of music, there was some sort of something going on with sounds though the only band member you could pick out (what with the 40 drooling boys swaying ON the stage) was the lead singer in his jockey shorts hanging from a tree near the stage – I think the drummer was up there for a while too, this is a band for people who have a need to belong to something… to get caught up in the fervor and collectivity of… something, anything
Red X Red M – September 19, 2008 – Emo’s, Austin TX
Sep 19
Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash No Comments
had pigeonholed this band as brainless hardcore but both the bass and guitar players are superb: fingers flying throughout the entirety of the songs in complicated arrangements, math rock, the bass player had a Munsters look to him that was a nice juxtaposition with the shorter brainiac-metalhead-looking guitar player, there was a drummer too who of course nobody noticed
May 8, 2008: Superposition, Headhunters, Austin TX
May 08
hard-hitting straightforward rock-metal, nothing distinctive
March 15, 2008: Jay Reatard, Beerland, Austin TX
Mar 15
Garage Rock, Heavy Metal, Punk No Comments
my beloved lead singer of Lost Sounds, his look fit his irreputable reputation: face never breaking free from the cover of his shaggy hair, he was younger than I would have imagined, he was also a lot more intense and together than I would have imagined, he knows his music up and down and left and right, this reincarnation sounded little like Lost Sounds (no synth, less dark and less intense) but was some amalgam of hair metal, punk and garage– veering from head-banging joy to darker undertone, always fast and ferocious but light-hearted and sincere, his voice also altered dramatically even within one song to the point that I suspect he may be the male and female lead I hear in Lost Sounds, may be schizophrenic but a music genius I think, Jay and the guitarist’s (also mop top curls) dedicated head-banging was very amusing for some reason
February 7, 2008: Falcon Buddies, Carousel Lounge, Austin TX
Feb 07
Heavy Metal, Indie Rock, Jam Band, Prog Rock No Comments
proggy with a tinge of metal and Calexico, went from White Rabbits to Trail of Dead, little boys trying to mute their excitement: obviously from Colorado (…were actually from San Marcos and the excitement was because it was their first show in Austin), the happiest the bass player wore no shoes
February 2, 2008: Blunt Force Trauma, Room 710, Austin TX
Feb 02
Heavy Metal, Thrash No Comments
intense bald lead vocalist, hardcore, more amusing was the sorry little mosh pit: there was a preppy guy and the squattest short man you’ve ever seen strutting around but the hippy was the only one who could dance
February 2, 2008: Blood of Patriots, Room 710, Austin TX
Feb 02
Heavy Metal, Thrash No Comments
straightforward speed metal, distinguished only by their wildly angular guitar, enjoyed the blurring hand of the guitarist
January 4, 2008: Lions, Emo’s, Austin TX
Jan 04
Hard Rock, Heavy Metal No Comments
pretty exciting, hard rock, darling little moustachioed long haired guitarist straight out of the 70s rock scene, metal with brains
October 5, 2007: Tia Carrera, Room 710, Austin TX
Oct 05
Classic Rock, Heavy Metal, Prog Rock, Psychedelic, Thrash No Comments
like rain, they are my religion — 30 minutes, 2 songs – the heaviest never-ending climax
August 18, 2007: Bangladesh, Emo’s, Austin TX
Aug 18
Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash No Comments
this was the indoors show and what a difference it was: death-metal / screamo with some rap nuances and I couldn’t stop giggling at them, they took themselves way too seriously, so full of their own testosterone had to take the shirts off, eyes rolling back in the head, jesus poses, and all the 18 year olds in the crowd throwing devil horns, very very intense and I suppose they’re good at what they do, dreadlocked 45 year old (possibly 25 and just wracked by drugs) suddenly turned to me and pointed to his eye… his heart… and then me… I stood out in my skirt and heels, the merchandise metalhead gave me a stack of stuff for free because I asked the name of the band
