Jan 29
DaraCountry, Goth, Rockabilly
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 25
DaraCountry, Rockabilly, Swing
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
Jul 23
DaraAmericana, Rockabilly
the lead singer of this band annoys me to the point that I can’t fairly judge their music, she is so unjustifiably full of herself and blatantly self-aware on the stage, we were semi-positive that we were giving this band a second chance and they got the same rating they got the first time: unsatisfying rockabilly poseurs, perhaps because they’re from Seattle and don’t have the Texas roots as a foundation
Feb 15
DaraHeavy Metal, Punk, Rockabilly
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.
Oct 27
DaraGoth, Lounge, Punk, Rockabilly
the motivation for this outing – this band has twice been the “best show ever” that I missed and Rockboy saw – they definitely knew how to work a crowd though I found the mix of psychobilly and exhortations to chant “Hell Yeah!” disconcerting (it’s the name of their album…but still – I attributed their lack of cultural consistency to being from Denmark) – the lead singer, Patricia Day, has the most gorgeous honey-rich speaking voice I have ever heard and wooed the crowd with winning grins and a tight black dress – she also played a fat upright bass and regularly stuck a fat little tongue out of her mouth at the crowd – she paused midway through the show and yelled at a guy in the crowd, “Can you please stop choking him!?” and proceeded to fully berate him, telling him to cool his hormones, it was very exciting and set the audience to cheering – the other highlight of the band is the guitarist (and husband) and sometime bass guitarist/vocalist as well, Nekroman, who also plays with The Nekromantix – it seemed he must have emerged from the womb playing psychobilly music but I found the tattoos of vegetables on his neck distracting – their sound is great: although the instrumentation tended toward straightforward psychobilly, the songs were distinctively more melodic and gothic-lite than typical – a sound similar to Tiger Army’s but I might think that because they share a label – they also did a ska song that was particularly pleasing to me (they have three, says Patricia) – although they put on a good show (though bringing drunk attention-seeking girls on stage was a mistake) their sound was quite off to the point that her voice was muffled and the overall sound was scratchy – Rockboy felt that they were rushing through songs and had lost that raw passion that new bands have
May 31
DaraAmericana, Garage Rock, Rockabilly
it is unfair to blame my mild disappointment in them on them because I had built them up unreasonably in my head and created a sound for them that didn’t really exist, I had filled in all of the fuzz from the first time I saw them with really bad sound with this fantastic original sound, so they didn’t have on their old ranchero clothes and they are not bizarre creening country but pretty straightforward 60s garage rock, they are very rounded and irresistibly danceable, there is some country in there and maybe old-school rockabilly, the voice remains though and is the key to their originality, very good band
May 16
DaraPunk, Rockabilly
also an 80s British rockabilly classic but more psychobilly than The Rockats, lead singer looked incongruently like a surfer in his board shorts and cropped hair and then they said that they live in California now, energetic and polished, clean cut self-composed guy turned out the be their phenomenal guitarist, very entertained by the most enthusiastic mosh pit I’d seen in a long time, engaging very high-quality band
May 16
DaraRockabilly
old-timey take your grandma to the sockhop rockabilly, 80s British band, rockabilly classic, everybody and their mother (literally) in the crowd was dancing, charming, Lonesome Spurs guitarist was a member, the 40-something pasty British upright bassist ought not have taken off his shirt but seemed a dear anyway with his enthusiasm
May 16
DaraBlues, Rockabilly
the lead singer has more personality in his skinny left leg than a whole lineup of bands, he has a wealth of antics to accompany his Tennessee singing and harmonicasizing, had a more rootsy sound than the Koffin Kats, the close-to-death guitarist was not there but was being filled in for by the guitarist from the Jesus Lizard, the upright bassist and drummer are excellent as well
May 16
DaraPunk, Rockabilly, Thrash
worked very hard to put on a crazy show, psycho psycho-billy, guy on the huge stainless steel upright bass beat himself on the forehead with something mid-show and bled the rest of the show – possibly beat himself with a fake-blood packet – despite his seeming insanity he always concluded songs with a polite “Thank you very much for coming…,” loved the multi-level multi-directional multi-colored mohawked guitarist for some reason, also impassioned and would turn profile to crowd and look up and scrunch his face up when it was time for a cappella punk or oi choruses, their stage interplay made them seem like good friends and very enjoyable show on the whole
Mar 14
DaraBlues, Rock and Roll, Rockabilly
dirtiest rock n rollers I done ever seen: “dirty south” for the white trash set – especially because of the lead singer’s wailing thumping harmonica which was the best part; from Nashville; also had an upright bass, drummer and guitarist; hyped dirty psychobilly on the whole; lead vocalist was too skinny, hyper and silly to even have a chance against the line-faced tatted guitarist for most depraved rocker: spitting, throwing pubic hair and other shock-tactics ensued
Jan 12
DaraPunk, Rockabilly
Irish punk mixed with Texas rockabilly, distinctive because had a banjo and a fiddle, the fiddler was the only bandmember with a mohawk and we joked that his unmanly instrument drove him to it, good band
Aug 01
DaraPunk, Rockabilly, Ska
from Apple Valley! or Hesperia!, and really really good, punk with only a little bit of rockabilly, lead singer was very reminiscent of Gwen Stefani and was an excellent showwoman – confident and full of weird faces, fantastic musicians as well, especially the upright bass player, their name comes from a Simpsons episode
Jul 13
DaraRockabilly, Surf Rock
rockabilly outfit from Santa Cruz, good but so much the same I think the time has come for me and this genre to part ways, did have one good surf guitar song, singer verged between social critique and ignorant obnoxiousness, spit at small crowd and tossed his drumstick at Rockboy but all in good fun you know , covered Stray Cats which confirmed their tired sameness in my book, highlight of the show was a fight between a girl in a polka-dotted dress and a girl with pink hair that matched her pink frothy dress
my disdain for genre/band is less an accurate perception and more a result of personal events that evening, Chop Tops is a good band
Mar 17
DaraRockabilly, Surf Rock
They’re from Phoenix and were in town for South by Southwest. Surf with a Nick Cave voice (at times). Bit rockabilly. Nice measured intensity. Sample lyric: “if you’re young and female you’re likely to get balled” at my shack. A touch misogynistic. They lack finish, especially in the vocals — definitely rooted in punk. Another sample lyric: “kill kill kill for the thrill thrill thrill, thrust thrust thrust for the lust lust lust.”
Mar 15
DaraRockabilly
Old hand at the sound (this was a rockabilly showcase). Didn’t try to win with loudness like the young guys – knew their stuff was good enough to play at regular volume. Bassist used to play with Reverend Horton Heat.
Mar 15
DaraOutlaw Country, Punk, Rockabilly
Very good punk country. Upright bass player who looked the part. Short intense guitar/lead vocalist. Old friends from Tennessee who just moved to Austin. Rockboy compared them to locals, WT Special, though I would say they’re better and harder.
Mar 14
DaraOutlaw Country, Rockabilly
Straight rockabilly. Great look. Extremely glam rockabilly girl bassist. Rockboy describes as hopped up Johnny Cash. Varied from jumpy to slow to hard – I enjoyed the great dark country. All of them were good guitarists. rockboy also describes as Flat Duo Jets and Legendary Shackshakers and Gun Club (he had a bit of a thing for this band). The band livened up as show went on into darlings and even the ice princess smiled.
Oct 20
DaraGospel, Rockabilly, Soul
Did not want to go see some old lady doing early rockabilly but how could I not love her? Tiny spunky 70 year old. Clear that she’d lived but still had the restraint of an older generation. Voice is an awesome blend of raw scratch and melody. Knew how to bring the party. She created an experience. Must mention that she dated Elvis Presley, though he wasn’t the husband helping her off the stage.
Oct 14
DaraRock and Roll, Rockabilly
better than the first band in this showcase, upright bass, Buddy Hollyish per Rockboy, did a Gun Club cover
Oct 14
DaraCountry, Punk, Rockabilly
freaky boys (one was a Truman Capote ringer), gravel voice, playful music, upright bass, dark swing to harder
Aug 12
DaraHard Rock, Rockabilly
OTMAPP = Only the Meteors Are Pure Psychobilly (this is what people chant at their shows), the first psychobilly say they though The Cramps were contemporaneous, they were much more popular in the UK, Rockboy was very excited, they were hard for sure and driving and that’s the end of their goodness, no diversity in the music and no show, they apparently do not throw up blood any longer
Apr 22
DaraGlam, Goth, Rockabilly
such a class act, really respect them this time, Cramps covers and others but more important is the attention paid to whole show what with lighting energy and satan’s cheerleaders
Dec 10
DaraJazz, Rockabilly
fantastic rockabilly loungey female vocalist, Rockboy developed immediate crush and made her his icon
Aug 06
DaraGoth, Punk, Rockabilly
they have an incessant numbers of gigs and after hearing them at the roller derby I’d discounted them as some sort of wedding singer group for the roller derby set but they had a schtick and did it ever stick, 4 Satan’s Cheerleaders, one stump-armed upright bassist, a hard-drinking Irish guitarist, a standing-up female drummer and a charismatic poetic ex-heroin-addict lead male vocalist, lots of Cramps covers and same-old (as far as Austin punk scene) rockabilly stuff but the lighting and the sparks of everybody on the stage made it memorable
May 20
DaraPunk, Rockabilly
they’re obviously good but I have just never liked them past a song or two, his voice grates on me, not unenjoyable
Aug 09
DaraPunk, Rockabilly
near-punk rockabilly, singer had a growly fake-deep voice, most members wore ties, rockabilly is a new scene to me and I realized last night that it is to the “2000s” what glam-rock was to the eighties—lots of visual imagery, rock attitude but sooo little substance—superficial as all hell—and especially annoying because copping off of the fifties—guess interesting mostly because taking something clean and good and making it trashy, so all those little goth/bopper girls are just that, teenybopper rock groupies
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