Results tagged “rockband”

Every week, Le Diamant Brut shuffles through our inbox, unearthing musical MySpace gems for you -- here at home and beyond. Enjoy.

The iconic Grant Hart, of well-earned Hüsker Dü fame, headlines for Grand Champeen and The Service Industry tonight inside the Mohawk. Hüsker Dü, for those of you who don't remember, or are merely too young to have been a part of their revolution, were one of the most influential hardcore punk bands in history. Not only were they one of the first underground successes to sign to a major label, but they were the first group to truly weave melody into the greater punkrock mentality. Basically, without their influence, we wouldn't have had bands like the Pixies, Green Day, and some little garage outfit called Nirvana. And Grant Hart, my friends, was Hüsker Dü's drummer and part-time songwriter.

Here’s the scene: It’s late in the evening on a Saturday night, and there’s a line full of 16-to-30-year-olds wrapped around the block extending away from the large black door of the New Brookland Tavern in Columbia, South Carolina. Tonight, local, epic, electronic rock band Baumer is playing, and it’s going to be a packed house. A sizable portion of those dance party hungry hipsters clad in t-shirts both black and neon waiting in queue will not even make the capacity cut-off point. But, many of them will stand outside for a good portion of the set, listening from the street. Inside, as Baumer heats up, the cramped crowd bounces and sweats to New Order-inspired electronics, indie rock guitars and a bold voice not unlike that of Muse singer Matthew Bellamy. This isn’t a rarety for the band; it’s every time they play a show in their hometown.

Image from MySpace Trans Am, My Education @ MohawkThursday, Nov. 15The Mohawk (912 Red River)9 PM, All ages, $8[info] | [tickets]It's unfriggingbelievable that these guys are on tour with Tool right now. Seriously, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago, standing in crowded bar somewhere, listening to a song called "Ballbados", feeling like there must not be that many people in the world that want to hear instrumental, testosterone-driven synth-rock performed by some...

Image courtesy of The Pinker Tones’ MySpace The Pinker TonesTuesday, November 13Beauty Bar (7th St. at Red River)$5, 11 p.m.[info] The Pinker Tones had to cancel their show at the Mohawk in July but the Barcelona based duo of Mister Furia (Salvador Ray) and Professor Manso (Alex Llovet) return to Austin this Tuesday, fresh on the heels of a new remix record titled More Colours!. The Pinker Tones have two prior full-lengths, and compositions for...

Formed from the ashes of Split Enz, Crowded House may well have been the best pure pop-rock group of their era. Twenty-two years after their beginnings in Melbourne, Australia, Neil Finn and Nick Seymour have brought back Crowded House's classic songwriting and effortless melodies via a new album and tour. The group disbanded in 1996 and has weathered the shocking suicide of founding member Paul Hester, the disconnect of distance (Finn lives in Auckland,...

There's always been something undeniable about a quality West Coast power-pop record. From the mainstream success of Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever to the more obscure gems of The Posies and Jellyfish, the records in this oeuvre feel instantly memorable, lighter than air, and modestly perfect. Such sounds are likely what inspires The Broken West, a Los Angeles-based band that channels these sounds and those of Big Star and early Wilco on their debut...

Once in a while, we like to take some time to introduce you to bands -- both local otherwise -- that we think you'd enjoy. Le Diamont Brut aims to showcase those MySpace gems we hope to see shine. Recommend your local suggestions by emailing music@austinist.com. THE UNFORTUNATE HEADS What’s the Deal: The Austin indie folk fivesome has just released their sophomore disc, Come Be Light. Featuring multi-instrumentation by the likes of banjo, keyboards, upright...

Welcome to the latest edition of Band Slam!, wherein I navigate the murky waters of Austin's club listings for the best and worst band names playing this week. The only rule: I can't know anything about the actual band, thus limiting my critique strictly to the band's chosen moniker. Let's get it on! MVSCLZ - Mohawk, 8/02 Not many people turning "V"s in "U"s these days--I guess it was more of a Roman thing....

Since their inception in 2001, Portland's The Decemberists have channeled a unique and wide-ranging set of influences (be it R.E.M., Irish folkfore, or Russian literature) into classic indie-pop that has found a large and fervent fanbase. The group's 2006 major label debut The Crane Wife both amazed and shocked music critics, who loved the material but could hardly believe the band's audacity, as two 11-plus minute epics were featured on the disc. The bold...

Everyone knows that Thursday night is the beginning of the weekend, a night to be spent with a hearty dose of fresh energy stored up from a week of working just hard enough to not get fired. This fresh energy should, as always, be spent dancing. Tonight is just your Thursday night for dancing, in fact, since The Black and White Years and DJs KidIndie and Eric will be at Beauty Bar. KidIndie, as...

There are quite a few mentionables this week, including Dappled Cities' Granddance, produced by Jim Fairchild (of Grandaddy) and Peter Walker, and mixed by Jaquire King (Modest Mouse). Dappled Cities are an Australian indie rock band that we've grown rather fond of as of late, mostly because of "Fire, Fire Fire". Also of note this week is the latest from Ladybug Transistor and the latest Eccentric Soul compilation, The Prix Label. As usual, do...

Please take a moment and enjoy Austinst's first installment of staff writer Matthew DeWitt's column, Hots On For Nowhere, which will appear each Thursday, concentrating on one album (maybe a new release, maybe a dollar bin discovery, or perhaps an over-looked classic) in depth. DeWitt is a longtime Austinist contributor and freelance writer splitting his time between here and Skyscraper Magazine. -Paige Maguire, Music Editor Tuesday saw the release of New Moon, a collection of...

Tonight, Alamo Music Mondays presents the US Premiere of We Were Never Here, a film about the German avant-rock band Mutter. Though the band has been around since the 80s, we have to admit that we don't know much about them—and though the Google-translated version of their Wikipedia page is hilarious, it isn't entirely informative. (Representative sentence: "Then with in the same year the published album main thing music disappointed the most incalculable all Diskurspop...

In addition to the wrap up of Fuse Box all over town, this weekend marks the first annual Ladies Are Funny Festival (LAFF) at the Hideout. Produced by local comedic powerhouses Girls, Girls, Girls, LAFF will bring together comic talent from Texas and beyond including performers from ensembles such as Massive (Houston), SuperOvum (Tulsa, OK) and Parallelogramophonograph (Austin). Opening night festivities include an afterparty featuring local glam band the Platforms. LAFF Schedule All shows...

The Glass Family is a talented indie-rock band from Austin that caters to fans of melodious, riff-friendly pop soundscapes. Although possibly a little under-rated as compared with (the hype associated with) other local outfits, their solid debut effort on i eat records, Sleep Inside This Wheel is chock full of multi-instrumental, well orchestrated pop-rock that does us just fine. Michael Winningham shared his thoughts with us recently. Share a story about a visit to...

San Antonio trio Girl In A Coma is comprised of siblings Nina and Phanie Diaz, and complemented by childhood friend Jenn Alva on bass. The band’s energetic pop/rock has been seen on tour with the likes of Frank Black, The Epoxies, and The Eyeliners, with an upcoming gig opening for the Pogues announced this month. Also secured recently is a record deal with Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records, with their debut album expected sometime this...

Sometimes Austin musicians move on and get signed. Yes, it really happens. Tonight is your chance to see one of these rare creatures in their native habitat! Formerly of Austin’s premier emo-core outfit, Recover, Dan Keyes now fronts the electronic dance-rock band Young Love, appearing tonight at The Parish. Released January 30th, Young Love's Too Young To Fight It (Island) has been generating lots of excitement, most of which is coming from the "mainstream". Some...

Bellingham, WA's The Trucks carry on the loud-and-proud post-riot grrl tradition of acts like Peaches, Le Tigre, and The Gossip, playing guitarless, keyboard-driven pop-punk that'd be perfect for your little sister's sleepover if their hit single wasn't called "Titties." Maybe it is anyway. Depends on your sister. Anyhow we got to chat with singer/visual artist Marissa Moore, who also doesn't get why the SXSW schedule isn't up yet. Share a story about a visit...

Welcome back kiddos, the year is kicking off with a shotgun bang. Head over to Waterloo or End of an Ear and ask for these albums: as far as we can tell, it's hard to go wrong this week. The Shins Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop) Well, they're definitely stretching, and they're definitely getting more and more familiar with the studio, as "Phantom Limb" demonstrates: James Mercer is still having trouble falling asleep,...

Ask any mop-haired kid roaming the UT campus with clingy jeans and just a hint of bong water breath, and said youth will tell you By The End Of Tonight is the hottest thing since Malibu real estate. Lucky for him, and you, they're playing a post-extended-hiatus set at Emo's tonight. The Alvin, TX quartet render layers of messy, metallic instrumental post-rock into songs that meander towards catharsis like a lost baby deer wandering into...

15. Mogwai - Mr. Beast (Matador) As ever, Mogwai manage to blend unadulterated post-rock weight to their shoegazer tendencies with tracks like "Glasgow Mega Snake" and "Folk Death 95," showcasing their ability to create anthems with no words. This is where Mr. Beast really shines, in between blistering chord progressions and gradual swings into corybantic climaxes. In some ways a throwback to earlier (and heavier) Mogwai material, Mr. Beast isn't merely a rock album....

Death From Above 1979 Heads Up This reissue of the late, great dance-metal duo's first EP represents what little "rare" material there is to be had in the wake of the band's abrupt break-up earlier this year. Everything that made the 2004 triumph You're A Woman, I'm A Machine so massive is here: squalid distorted bass, caveman drumming, soulful shouted vocals, and just a touch of vocoder for old time's sake. DFA79 had the...

Land, ho! Peter and the Wolf, that great ghost ship of a band both ephemeral and ceaselessly transient, is coming ashore tonight at the Mohawk. There has been much chatter in the musical grapevine regarding lead singer Red Hunter's penchant for choosing odd locales where he can present his music; luckily, for those of you afraid of cemeteries and canoe-less, a show at the Mohawk presents a chance to catch our most prominent bard...

Okay, kids, here’s the scoop. There once was a rock band from England. They had a drummer who liked to dress up as a Nazi for kicks, an under-appreciated bassist who was the silent backbone of the band, a lead singer who fancied himself an actor – and wasn’t bad, so long as his character was deaf, dumb and blind – and a hyperactive guitarist who was once a suspected of involvement in a child porn ring. They liked to play songs a lot heavier and louder than their contemporaries, and particularly favored childish themes, trashing instruments, and singing like girls. They were known as The Who, and back in the day your parents and your grandparents used to rock out to their tunes.

Remember conventional wisdom? Once upon a time, it declared that releasing two records in the space of a single year was inadvisable. It might have also suggesed that lyrics with a historical or literary bent have no place in popular music, or that a group of highly-educated nerds from Chicago will never make it in a rock band. Fortunately for us, popular music, rock bands, and specifically Bound Stems seem to have little interest...

Los Angeles indie pop/rock band Goldspot just announced a last-minute show at Maggie Mae's this Thursday Wednesday evening. Packed with bubbly melodies and near-skittish guitar hooks, their full-length debut, Tally Of The Yes Men, effuses the sort of buoyant charm that seems to come naturally to those dwelling oceanside. KCRW's Nic Harcourt (Morning Becomes Eclectic) called them his "favorite discovery of 2005." [Myspace] [Homepage] Goldspot Thursday, October 5th Wednesday, October 4th Maggie Mae's 9pm...

We'll get the bad news out of the way first: Junior Boys, Hot Chip, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have all slighted Austin on their fall tour schedules. So if you were hoping for one of these shows, start saving for a JetBlue flight. Thankfully, almost every other indie-Pitchfork-college rock band known to man will touch down in our town between now and Thanksgiving. There were a flurry of new show announcements over...

The Mercers, behind the leadership of frontman Peter Wagner, formed at the beginning of 2006. Wagner and bass player Bryan Ray had previously played in local band Choking Ahogo, but they wanted to change the direction of their sound and lyrical content. Enter keyboardist Will Cornforth, guitarists Erik Ray and Nate De Lacretaz, and the most recent addition, drummer Ethan Herr. The group produces a sound reminiscent of the Doves, Psychedelic Furs and early R.E.M....

Danish indie rock band Figurines have garnered quite a bit of press in the past few months since their second full-length, Skeleton, came out. Often compared to the likes of Modest Mouse and Built to Spill — lead singer Christian Hjelm could pass for Coco Rosie's brother, if you ask us — the foursome are currently touring North America with Tapes 'n Tapes (whom we interviewed yesterday) . Check out their video for "I...