Scarface is a guy that often gets left out of the conversation when we talk about long-term greatness. Coming up in the south-side of Houston - a location he mentions in basically every verse he’s ever laid to tape - he’s always rapped earnestly and directly about not selling out, his former poverty-stricken peers, and, of course, transcending it all. The Geto Boys haven’t existed in proper form since the late ‘90s, but he’s delivered a string of solo records - all steadfastly successful and critically tasteful. Given his personality he probably likes being southern rap’s cool, independent uncle - rarely does a pop career exist for upwards of three decades and categorically refuse to cater to anyone but its own muse. more ›

Chicago four piece CAVE specialize in the kind of heavy and rhythm-centric psychedelic jams that sound comfortably familiar. The band, which formed in 2006 in Columbia, Missouri, have garnered them a loyal following and critical acclaim for their records, particularly this year's Neverendless. more ›

In between repeated spins of Pavement, Guided By Voices, and many, many one-and-done local bands (the Titanic Alices of the world), Archers of Loaf occupied plenty of minutes on your college radio dial. But following their breakup in 1998, frontman Eric Bachmann wasn’t about to bask in his semi-notoriety. Since 2000, he’s led Crooked Fingers, a band that adds a stellar second act to the songwriter’s sterling career. more ›

Future Islands are the pure embodiment of the road warrior ethos. The band has been touring non-stop since the beginning of November, and will have taken only four days off by the month’s end. That they are able to perform night after night on such little rest is an achievement unto itself. But the fact that they deliver such high quality and heartfelt performances puts them in some truly elite company. In front of a sold out crowd, the Baltimore trio made their return to the Mohawk with a triumphant set that highlighted the undeniable talents of synth player Gerrit J. Welmers and bassist William Cashion, and showcased why front man Samuel T. Herring is one of the most electrifying performers out there. more ›

JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound bring their pitch perfect, full-throated soul to the Mohawk. Check out their David Byrne by way of James Brown cover of Wilco's "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" to get some idea of just how tight, seamless and self-assured their sound is. Supporting their Bloodshot Records debut, Want More, rhythm guitarist Billy Bungeroth, drummer Kevin Marks, bassist Ben Taylor and singer JC Brooks bring aggression and raw power to skillfully wrought classic grooves. more ›

Phantogram had the luck of the scene setting the stage, with a nearly full moon and a slight arctic influx perfectly synced to the band’s snowy shoe-gaze guitars and remote, beautiful beatscapes. Austinites duly overreacted to the temperature dip by busting out the exotic Russian hats, equal parts Philip Treacy and dead thing. Packed to capacity in Mohawk’s homey outdoor half shell, the anticipation had a cozy campfire intimacy. more ›

Minneapolis artist Astronautalis, a.k.a. Charles Andrew Bothwell, has rightfully garnered comparisons to Beck for his ability to blend together elements of hip-hop, indie rock, and electronic music. more ›

Michael Ian Black brought the funny to the Mohawk on Friday evening, and Brandon Beasley was there to take photos. See our review of Black's latest album Very Famous and our pre-show interview. more ›

Over the past five years, Brooklyn’s Woods have crafted an immense musical world to dive into. Each year has seen multiple releases spread across full-length albums, tapes, 7”-singles, and collaborations with other acts, all released on the band’s thriving record label Woodsist. The music itself is analog-recorded psychedelic folk, full of tape hiss, sound collages, guitar freak-outs, and Jeremy Earl’s distinctive falsetto warble. Despite the recorded-in-a-broom-closet sound, the group tours relentlessly. On the heels of the third annual Woodsist festival held in Big Sur, California, Woods rolled into the Mohawk on Friday night. more ›

Coming this Saturday evening: a free show curated by The Black Angels and put on by the bad boys and girls at Vice (and the not-so-bad people at Vitamin Water). more ›

Perhaps the most exciting show on Sunday involves a tried and true pop-punk band and one of hardcore music's most exciting and consistently quality acts. Dillinger Four and Fucked Up will headline the Mohawk, with the show ending early enough for you to go home and sleep off your Chaos in Tejas wounds before you go to work on Monday. Of course, you will also have the chance to catch Baroness at Emo's - who don't play until two hours after Dillinger Four are scheduled to finish - and continue thrashing long into the night. It's a win-win situation for everyone! more ›

The Midgetmen don’t have high hopes, and they don’t have unrealistic dreams. They just like to play, and are mighty pleased to be rewarded in drink tickets - not that they don’t like to be compensated monetarily as well - but these guys derive much of their musical mojo from a cheap-but-hearty frothy brew. Hell, their kickoff track on The Midgetmen’s new album, Loud Enough, is even titled “Beer’s Gone,” a snappy, unrefined rock tune not too far from '90s indie that has the quartet singing, “when the beer’s gone, we’re gone.” more ›

The admirable nonprofit Austin Bat Cave, which is responsible both for awesome readings in town as well as for hosting amazing youth writing workshops, needs your help. more ›

Bill Callahan will embark on a long tour following the release of his latest slow-burning and meditative folk album, Apocalypse. For the inaugural show kicking off a set of dates that stretch into the beginning of August (Dublin will be his next stop after Austin), Callahan will play the Mohawk here in his adopted hometown. more ›

Since the 1992 release of Compulsive Gamblers' "Joker" EP, guitarist and frontman Greg Cartwright has been an iconic figure in the Memphis garage-rock scene, carrying forth the legacy of that city's unique mixture of greasy punk, rhythm & blues, and power-pop hooks in such bands as the Gamblers, The Oblivians and the Tip Tops. His current band, The Reigning Sound, will play the Mohawk tonight as part of the Scion A/V Garage Tour, and admission is free with an RSVP. more ›

A weird scheduling snafu preceded British Sea Power's show at the Mohawk last night. The Brighton band was originally supposed to play at 11:30 on the outside stage, like most headlining bands do on any given night. However, just hours before the show they were reassigned to play inside at 9:15. When it was clear that the six members and their instruments could not fit onstage, the show was moved back outside with the same accelerated time slot. For a band used to playing sell out shows in England, playing before 10:00 in a non-festival setting can be a real humbling feeling. However, there was no signs of disappointment from any of the group's members, and their set managed to capture all of their stadium sized ambitions into the smaller confines of the Mohawk patio with plenty of smiles and enthusiasm to go around. more ›

We’ve had numerous nights of epic sing-a-longs, brilliantly choreographed performances, and surprisingly talented novices over the years and it’s time do it again. Austinist Indieroke returns to The Mohawk this Saturday at 9 p.m. more ›

One might argue that Wire is not a household name. But that depends on in which house you live. For a growing legion, the first-wave British postpunk band is one of the most influential artists of all time. Wire has been cited as an inspiration for or covered by R.E.M., Guided By Voices, the Cure, Mission of Burma, Minor Threat, Henry Rollins, Manic Street Preachers, Elastica (who were so inspired they got sued for plagiarism), the Feelies, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, the Minutemen and even My Bloody Valentine. more ›

Where does one start when discussing The Residents? The art collective cum band offers no answers, remaining consistently slippery over four decades of avant-garde hijinks. There isn't even a consensus about who is in the band: all of their management dealings and public relations are filtered through a nebulous entity called The Cryptic Corporation, whose members may or may not be The Residents but are definitely at least as interested in misinforming as they are informing. And then, of course, there is the band's iconic on-stage costume of a tuxedo, top hat and eyeball, like something out of a Maya Deren film, recognizable if only because you hallucinated it once upon a time. All of this theatricality has not prevented the Residents from pouring out album after album of high-concept kitchen-sink compositions - over sixty in all, with one or two dozen multimedia projects on tape, CD-ROM, Laserdisc, DVD and the Internet thrown in for good measure. more ›

Pioneering American punk band X was a force of nature in its prime, and that was in large part due to the presence of singer Exene Cervenka. Her caterwauling vocals and uncommon lyrics (she’s a published poet) helped guide X to explosive performances, a beloved catalog and legendary status. more ›

If you were there, you know our party on Wednesday at the Mohawk was a smashing success with lots of music and schmoozing and drinking. Our man Chad Wadsworth captured some of the best of the revelers and performers doing their thing, and you can visit his flickr page for the complete set. more ›

On March 16th we'll be hosting our sixth annual day party during SXSW, featuring two stages full of excellent acts at that most excellent of venues, The Mohawk. This year we're collaborating with our friends at The Windish Agency, the Laneway Festival, Eat Your Own Ears and sponsors at Scion, Zazzle, Feiyue, and Corona to bring you the best party in our already notorious run. The event is all ages, and totally free. We go from noon to 6pm, and suggest you show up early. Check out our Facebook invite for the event, and listen to tracks from our artists at our Soundcloud page. Meanwhile, let's take a closer look at some of the bands we have playing, shall we? more ›

Send a top-notch local act off in style when Follow That Bird! kicks off their West Coast tour at the Mohawk tomorrow night. more ›

Coming the first of January, Transmission-booked establishments The Mohawk and Red 7 will open their doors, sans entry fee, for what is now referred to with reference and loud exclamation as "Free Week." The list of (mostly) local bands taking part in free week is very inclusive and features all of your favorites. If we had to pick a few to spotlight, they'd be: Ume, A Giant Dog, Lean Hounds, One Hundred Flowers, Mistress Stephanie and her Melodic Cat, Riders Against the Storm, The Gary, and yeah, lots of good bands will be performing. more ›

Before you shove off elsewhere for Thanksgiving or alternately just shove delicious turkey or fauxrkey into your gullet, take a chance to see some live music before all secular music is replaced by variations of this song. Tonight the Mohawk is hosting a performance by Fabulous Diamonds, who are visiting us from Australia. A noisy duo consisting of Jarrod Zlatic and Nisa Venerosa, the band released their sophomore album Fabulous Diamonds II on the Slitbreeze label this year. The group's curious blend of atmospherics and heavy rhythms make their music somewhat sweet and agitated all at once. more ›

It took 11, or maybe 12, years for Junip to release their debut full-length - it's been so long that the band doesn't really remember when they came together. What's utterly verifiable is that Fields is the first piece of music from the Swedish three piece since 2005's Black Refuge EP, a five-year hiatus largely explained by the skyrocketing solo career of their frontman, José González. more ›

Before you hurl yourself headfirst into the magical weekend that awaits you at Waterloo Park, we’d like to remind you that the revelry actually commences tonight at The Mohawk with our semi-annual Local Music Is Sexy party. more ›

In advance of what is to be another mind-blowing installment of Local Music Is Sexy at the Mohawk, we tracked down a few of the artists playing and asked them to write a letter to Austin, Texas at large. First up is Jordan Lee, who records under the name Mutual Benefit. Enjoy! more ›

Now that the ACL Fest fervor has subsided and The Eagles have come and gone, all eyes (and ears) turn to next month’s Fun Fun Fun Fest at Waterloo Park. Devo, Bad Religion, Slick Rick, MGMT, and Mastodon are just a few of the many, many esteemed acts you’ll be able to catch at the fifth installment of this burgeoning gathering. Check out the complete schedule on the Fun Fest site and learn more about mouth-watering lineup via our artist profiles. more ›