Every person, on the circuitous, crazed road to adulthood, goes through some shit. Usually, this shit goes down in the privacy of one's home, or with just some good friends around to watch the place go up in flames. For Nathan Williams of Wavves, though, his pretty little hell (also known as 2009) was on display for thousands of fans live, costing him his drummer and a place in the good graces of the ever-talkative blogosphere. Good thing for him, 2009 is over, he's got a new band (Stephen Pope and Billy Hates, formerly of the late Jay Reatard's band), a new album that everybody seems to enjoy, and it's like, as they say, a whole new leaf was turned over. Or something. Anyway, in advance of Wavves' appearance at Fun Fun Fun Fest, we decided to have a talk with Mr. Williams to see what he's up to now, and where he sees himself going down the line. more ›

Last night, in his sleep, garage rocker Jay Reatard died. more ›

According to Pitchfork, Jay Reatard was attacked by two fans after last night's show at Emo's. Reatard "fought back with his mic stand." more ›

Putting on good rock shows is something this town does really well and something Austinites shouldn’t take for granted, but rather take advantage of. That being said, it’s a relative certainty that the show Wednesday at Emo’s with Jay Reatard (aka Jay Lindsey), Harlem and Shanghai River will be a packed one nearing sell out capacity, if not meeting it. Reatard has spent his musical career playing in garage and synth punk bands in Memphis and had built up quite a rep through his days in The Reatards, Lost Sounds and The Final Solutions, to name a few, that by the time he released Blood Visions, his debut solo disc, he grabbed the ears of your atypical garage rock fans as well as a label or two. His second studio album, Watch Me Fall, was released this year on Matador Records and widened his audience even more, while hopefully minimizing the loss of those puritan fans who might make a remark like, “Well, I liked his older stuff.” more ›

For anyone who’s followed Jay Reatard (aka Jay Lindsey) throughout even a portion of his ten-year music history beginning with his time spent in The Reatards, the musical shift between his debut solo record, Blood Visions, and his latest, Watch Me Fall, should come as little surprise. Throughout his half-dozen or so different bands or side projects he’s asserted himself as a somewhat versatile and quite talented musician capable of pulling forth from his brain great fetes of musical strength. Blood Visions was ferocious and fun, and it was the perfect release for introducing new fans to Reatard’s way of crafting choruses you’ll want to scream along to for the entire 2 minutes. On Watch Me Fall, he takes his foot off the gas a little, maybe just enough for some, too much for others. The record blends punk rock with power pop in a way that’s going to win over a new crowd from the previous record and hopefully not lose too many tried-and-true Jay Reatard fans in the process. more ›

As we mentioned last week, Jay Lindsey's performances are always top notch. This one was no different. Photos courtesy Austinist contributing photographer, Nash Cook. more ›

Why one of the world's greatest living songwriters--not punk songwriters, I mean out of all of them--continues to use a goofy stage name he came up with when he was 15 is a mystery for the ages. Then there's the mushy English accent, the infatuation with cock-rockin' Flying V guitars... But the man his mother knows as Jay Lindsey has spent over a decade recording symphonic lo-fi pop punk almost entirely by himself--his discography on Wikipedia runs about three pages--so we can assume there's some kind of method at work. more ›

Another day, another long list of long list of web-darling music acts and their attendant corporate sponsors. more ›

Image courtesy of Nacional RecordsThe first annual Ground Zero Texas fest kicks off their weekend schedule of events on Thursday, with the opening ceremony at Sound On Sound Records at 6 p.m. (featuring a performance by the official GZT mascot NOBUNNY), followed by opening night action at Beerland with music from The Spits, The Wax Museums, and The Hibachi Stranglers. Denton’s The Reds will also re-unite and rock this special evening. The plethora of local... more ›