If it feels like a glut of local-ish bands are storming the clubs this Halloween weekend, that's because they are. A cross-section of sorta spooky to downright cuddly groups are playing, giving your recess from the working week more than its share of rock options. more ›

Floor inhabited a tenuous existence from 1992 to 2003, undergoing various lineup changes and touring only sporadically. This was before bands could Twitter themselves into the collective subconscious. more ›

Nothing is more human or more cosmic than an electric guitar in the right hands. if you’re craving some soul-warming power to balance out this cool December air, the Eric Tessmer Band’s got you covered. When Tessmer strums, the blazing frequencies resonate with the whole body, pulsing through the soles of the audience’s feet. While skeptic heads may cock at comparisons to Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, they’ll thank themselves for taking the challenge: Tessmer’s the real deal. more ›

Who doesn't like Scotland? The small and perpetually rainy land of just 5 million has brought us great things that are twee (Belle and Sebastian, Travis), tough (whiskey and Irvine Welsh), and even strange (haggis, kilts, and the Loch Ness monster.) We won't even get started on Belhaven and Sean Connery. The latest indie rock sounds from Scotland seem to be of the emotional, anthemic, and up-tempo variety, as evidenced by the triple bill from Brighton's FatCat Records playing The Mohawk on Thursday evening. These songs deserve to be at Erwin Center, but you can see them - cheaply - on Red River, up close. Here's the bill:

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As we all know, girls freaking rock. And girls who strap on a guitar—perhaps decked out in blue hair and studded arm bracelets—and perform on stage, rock even more. Girls Rock Camp of Austin is dedicated to empowering girls and women of all backgrounds and abilities through music education and performance. The organization hosts week-long camps throughout the year where girls aged 10 to 17 learn how to write songs, work together and eventually perform a live showcase in front of 400 people in an Austin venue. Campers also explore the history of women in rock and meet professionals in journalism, public relations, talent management and audio engineering. The current camp session ends this weekend, with the fun culminating in a showcase Saturday afternoon at The Parish Room. The feeling of accomplishment and empowerment is sure to color the air. more ›

Still lurking under the radar, Post Honeymoon are a Chicago-bred band with a sweet, but melodramatic pop sound. The love sparked between drummer Nick Kraska and keyboardist Rachel Shindelmansummer on a summer night in 2001 during a show at the Empty Bottle in Chicago. Both are former members of Bang! Bang!, New Black, but it took them three years to start playing together and three more before their shared nuptials, went on their first vacation together and started a solo project. Aptly named, their songs dictate that life after the honeymoon isn't almost so sweet. more ›

We know, we know. It's been a rough week and Friday just can't come soon enough. And tonight, it's time to sip some drank and just "loosen up." Well, why not discover some tasty new music in the process? Too lazy to find something original on your own? Don't worry, we've managed to find a band you may not have heard of but should definitely lend your ears to. Fatback Circus is a four-piece menagerie of rock, jazz, funk and spunk birthed from the sleepy town of Stillwater, Oklahoma. more ›

Besides all the artsy-fartsy stuff, these lovable Canucks are quite possibly the most fun live band performing in the modern era. more ›

Golden Boys MySpace more ›

JT’s boyish, tuneful vocal style, floating atop perma-fuzzed guitars and cavernous lo-fi production, gives Cosmic Lightning the uncanny aura of a lost Sex Pistols collaboration with David Cassidy. more ›

Swedish psych-folk-grunge-pop-prog-(breath)-retro-rockers Dungen have staked out a tidy claim within the international rock scene, writing and singing their lyrics entirely in their native language and cramming their albums with enough acid-fried guitar leads and otherworldly instrumental touches to fill an entire section at Waterloo. more ›

As evidenced by their now-classic Live at Royal Albert Hall double album, Spiritualized are adept at translating their dense, orchestral rock into a live setting. more ›

Monday night found a horde of the long-haired, black-shirted, beer-bellied metal faithful packing the Emo’s courtyard to fire-hazard capacity for the Austin edition of he winkingly named Exhumed To Consume tour. more ›

It's not supposed to be 65 on a September night in Austin, but then again a Monday night shouldn't rock so hard and require so much manic dancing, like a Shaker rock revival only without the sensible furniture. more ›

The brothers Kadane raised a lot of indie-rock capital in the '90s with the slow-core powerhouse Bedhead, and the talents that drove them into the hearts and minds of thousands of dewy-eyed college kids show no signs of waning with the Kadanes’ post-Bedhead venture, The New Year. more ›

This year's Nude With Boots is every bit as sludgy and massive as classics like Bullhead or Houdini, and lots of people liked it--even people under 30. more ›

Of all the platinum-level rock acts that rose to prominence in the early '90s, Nine Inch Nails are in many ways the last band standing. Breaking up was never an issue, as Trent Reznor has been the sole director of NIN since its inception, but neither have they become a greatest-hits dinosaur act, an Axl Rose-esque caricature, or one of the many drug casualties littering the last twenty years of rock history. more ›

Two bands with funny names that start with T, both playing at venues booked by Transmission Entertainment? Who else smells a conspiracy here? At Mohawk, the up-and-coming quintet of New Jersey hellions in Titus Andronicus bring their much-heralded set of raucous anthems to the indoor stage. Titus have drawn comparisons to both the Velvet Underground and the E Street Band, so expect art-school angst and blue-collar catharsis in generous supply. Beforehand, local heroes The Midgetmen stir up punk, indie, and psychedelia into their own slurry brand of "slop-rock." more ›

This quintet of old-school Austin reprobates have been churning out grungy skronk for three years now. Given the trashy, just-on-the-cusp-of-disintegrating volatility of their recorded output, they deserve credit just for staying together for as long as they have, but like any quality band these boys have some good chemistry and a great name, and they apparently love to drink. 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 ›

Ladytron, touring behind their latest album Velocifero, brought a slightly new lineup to Stubb's on Friday night. The backing band may have changed a bit but they delivered the solid electronica-infused rock that has made them a critical darling. Datarock opened with a sweaty set of friendly Norwegian dance rock. more ›

Jarboe is one of my favorites. She is really neat, and old, and kind of hot. more ›

Initiated in 1996 by guitarist Makoto Kawabata, the Japanese psych-rock collective Acid Mothers Temple is a loose collective composed of four core members and a revolving door of like-minded musicians and vocalists. Both remarkably prolific (they have released over a dozen records/singles/live recordings since 2007 alone) and esoteric (they have occasionally been mistaken for a religious cult), A.M.T. traffic in a brand of hard psychedelia as indebted to their acid-fried countrymen Boredoms as to Cream or Pink Floyd and are widely considered to be the international psych-rock group. Swirling outer-space noises and oceanic reverb will factor heavily, so plan on having your third eye squeegee-ed. more ›

Polls are open from 7am to 7pm. more ›

Since 2001, the Rock 'n' Roll camp for girls based in Portland has instructed young women on the finer points of learning to play instruments and rocking out, while also helping to give their students a positive self-image and can-do attitude. more ›

Because we love you so very much, we've gone ahead and put together a special mini-site dedicated to this year's SXSW Festival. more ›

Your dream of being invited to a private, invite-only Playboy party might just be realized tonight: head over to Austinist's brand new SXSW site to enter the Rock the Rabbit contest. The winner will receive a pair of tickets to the Annual Late Night Party in Austin on Thursday, March 13 (11 p.m. at the 301) as well as a t-shirt from The Heavy. more ›

Brian Thompson seeking an injunction against Dawnna Dukes; her campaign ads say he's never voted. New KXAN statewide poll of Democratic voters has Obama with 50%, Clinton with 47% and 3% undecided. McCain will hold a town hall meeting with Dell employees tomorrow in Round Rock. New City Manager Ott made two appointments today. Someone at Liberty Hill ISD hasn't heard of a shredder. more ›

Dean and Britta have that certain je ne sais quoi, do they not? They're good looking, look and dress like Europeans, and dig artists like Joy Division and Nancy Sinatra. Hell, they even did The Squid and The Whale's soundtrack for Noah Baumbach. Their music is similarly themed: it's minimalist, beautiful, effortless, and full of an icy cool. (If one wishes to puncture the image, it's amusing to know that Britta Phillips was the voice of 80's cartoon icons Jem and the Holograms.) Dean Wareham, of course, has legions of fans from his work with Galaxie 500 and Luna, and this certainly isn't a huge departure from his signature sound. Expect dreamy and reflective tales with some irony and beautiful melody lines sprinkled throughout. The duo are touring behind 2007's Back Numbers, which combines some D&B originals with like-minded covers of The Troggs and Lee Hazlewood. Simply put, if you enjoyed Luna, you'll have a good time here. And for Wareham's more ardent fans, he has recently written a memoir about his life in music titled Black Postcards which will be published in March by Penguin. D&B arrive tomorrow at the Cactus Cafe for a pair of shows at 7 and 10pm. more ›

Brighton's indie rock quartet have come a long way since 2003's The Decline of British Sea Power. The band's eccentric catalog has evolved through familiar Britpop idiosyncrasies on their debut, eased into more global pop hooks on the follow-up, Open Season, and now enters the great big world of stadium rockin' indie with this year's Do You Like Rock Music? more ›