It's always great catching a band at their CD Release show, because you know they're going to be fired up and ready to bring it. And such is the state of this Thursday at The Parish Room, where Austin-proud The Boxing Lesson will be dropping their new disc, Wild Streaks & Windy Days, an unabashedly Pink Floyd-esque collection of psychedelic rock. With songs like "Muerta" and "Back from the Dead," they establish an eerily sinister tone that's ably coupled with songs nodding to their forebears, such as "Dark Side of the Moog."...

The best klezmer-punk band you’ve never heard, Golem are a six-piece from New York who blend old-world Jewish music with a witty repertoire of modern influences. Debuting in 2001, the band really hit their stride in 2006 with Fresh Off Boat, a whirling collection of originals and traditional numbers (including their own version of the Hora, of course) sung in five languages. ...

Rogue Wave released their third full-length Asleep At Heaven’s Gate last year, leaving behind the safe haven of Sub Pop to find a new home at Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records. The album itself found the band conjuring up a textured mosaic of pop harmonies and poignant lyrics with the aid of sufficient guitars and keys. “Own Your Own Home” and “Like I Needed” were two of our favorite sleeper tracks of the past year, while single “Lake Michigan” was a lush pop hit never to be heard on everyday FM radio. (Watch the video on YouTube.)...

Robert Harrison’s forte has always been melodious pop music and his current outfit Future Clouds and Radar is no anomaly. The act’s stellar self-titled album (out now on Star Apple Kingdom) contains boundless hooks and plenty of Beatles-esque psychedelia, and has garnered rave reviews from a plethora of publications such as HARP, Paste, Pop Culture Press, and No Depression. Check out the video for “Dr. No.” here....

Navdo is a record label that also promotes and books artists, and this Thursday they’re hosting their first “Hangin’ with Navdo” in Austin at The Parish, featuring Peel, The Boxing Lesson, and AM Syndicate. AM Syndicate will be celebrating the release of their second album, Liberation, recorded by Erik Wofford at Cacophony Records. This will be the first release put out by fledgling label Novastar Records....

Image via Big Hassle PR The Straylight Run w/ The Color FredMonday, December 3The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$15, Doors at 7pm[info] | [tickets]Formed from the ashes of Taking Back Sunday, the Long Island group Straylight Run plays a blend of indie rock and chamber pop. Formed in 2003 by ex-TBS members Shaun Cooper and John Nolan, the duo left behind most of their emo influences when switching groups and recruited both Will Noon......

Photo from MySpace Jose Gonzalez w/ Cass McCombsThursday, November 29The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$20 presale, doors at 8, all ages show[info] | [tickets]If left to your own Texan devices, it would be easy to assume that world-famous guitarist/heartthrob José González came from somewhere south of the Rio Grande, or perhaps even from Austin's own bustling music scene. But, luckily, you don't have to rely on your own devices. And that means that when......

Image courtesy Kill From The Heart fanpageAnyone who read the Meat Puppets cover story in the Austin Chronicle this summer knows that the brothers Kirkwood have had some serious ups and down in their 20-odd years together. From their belated arrival as grunge superstars in the mid-90s and appearing for a four-song stretch on Nirvana's Unplugged album to a heroin-fueled spiral into depression and bankruptcy, the Puppets have lived the kind of life most people......

Image from Sondre Lerche’s MySpace Sondre Lerche & Dan WilsonFriday, November 16The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$15 Advance; Doors 8 p.m.[info] | [tickets] Sondre Lerche (pronounced lair-kay) is hailed as a something of a wonderkid in his native Norway. The child prodigy started receiving guitar lessons at the age of eight, and his keen ear for melody along with his songwriting ability led to couple of EP’s early in his career for Virgin Norway.......

photo courtesy of Brazil’s abril.com Jens Lekman w/ Kristi RaeNovember 14, 2007The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$10 presale, Doors at 8[info]With boyish charm and a silken voice, Swedish sensation Jens Lekman will play some songs tonight at The Parish Room. Plenty of those songs are sure to come from Night Falls Over Kortedala, a critically-praised (Pitchfork gave it a 9.0, for God's sake) collection of ornate and catchy-in-that-old-timey-way pop. And, for good measure, we......

Image from the Pipettes MySpace. the Pipettes with Nicole Atkins and the SeaWednesday, November 7The Parish Room (214 East Sixth Street)$12 in advance, All Ages, Door at 8 p.m.[info] | [tickets]Get your 1960s retro fix with the Pipettes, headlining tonight at the Parish Room. The self-aware manufactured 1960s girl group vibe is somehow much more fun than it sounds, and the Pipettes won our hearts when they put out that deadpan Beyond the Valley of......

Dr. Dog has pawing at indie-stardom for quite some time now, although you may not have noticed. You've definitely heard them popping up on friends' badass mix cds, playing wistfully in the groggy mornings after one night stands, and blaring at house parties. Nonetheless, they have somehow escaped popularity on a larger scale which, in our opinion, is long overdue. Need your memory jogged? Think of a supergroup of reincarnated Flower-Power badasses effortlessly combining......

Stockholm's Shout Out Louds released their sophomore album Our Ill Wills in September. The band channels sounds familiar to all fans of 80's college rock, throwing together a contrast of bright, melodic indie-pop music and sad, direct lyrical imagery. This juxtaposition of the upfront drums and chime-filled guitar lines with tales of lost love and sadness isn't miles away from the poppier material of The Smiths and The Cure, and makes for hugely enjoyable......

According to their MySpace page, buxom AC/DC impersonators The Donnas "are for real and are here to stay", just in case you were wondering. Suffice it to say, they've paid their dues over the course of seven albums with their brand of unabashedly referential rock 'n' roll and still soldier on, recently starting their own label for a new release. Ours is not to judge their swaggering shred, however, just to inform you that......

Austin's own geographically misleading rockers What Made Milwaukee Famous will be debuting their new album at The Parish Room over two nights this Thursday and Friday. Both bills feature diverse acts with personality to spare: Thursday, they'll be supported by local contenders White Denim and the one and only Pink Nasty; Friday's show features pseudo-metallic slashers Ume, The Black And White Years, and a few of the friendly folks in Zykos. Tickets are on sale......

Z-Trip is one of the foremost live DJs on the planet at the moment. Many would say he pioneered the art of the mash-up before it got ruined by gimmicks and Girl Talk, his independent debut Uneasy Listening is a classic, and he's a festival-headlining rock star in Europe and Australia. Combining the dark atmospherics of DJ Shadow (a close friend) with party-starting club bangers, his sets are perfectly paced with drama to spare.......

Rasputina is one of those bands that sounded like a gimmick but turned out to have the skills to carry the concept far enough to make it interesting. We, like many children of the '80s first became aware of Rasputina when they were one of Marilyn Manson's favorite projects and all the goth kids at our high school were totally, totally into them because they were covering pop songs on cellos and that was......

It's not often that an indie blues-rock combo from Northwest England go from garage band to a Mercury Music Prize, but that's exactly what happened to Gomez nearly a decade ago. Formed for fun in late 1996, the band's demos ignited a bidding war in the post-Britpop era and produced a classic debut album, Bring It On (hear two singles by clicking on the YouTube links below.) Since then, the band has produced four......

Thursday, June 21 comedy Christian Finnegan at Cap City Comedy Club music Emo’s 15th Anniversary Week with De La Soul, Word Association, Just Born, DJ Notion at Emo’s music Buddy Guy, The Greyhounds at Stubb’s music US Air Guitar Championships at The Parish Room music The Score at Beerland music Discovery School Fundraiser w/Gary Clark Jr., Johnny Moeller, Mike Barfield, Ephraim Owens & more at Continental Club music Doc Watson, Jack Lawrence, Richard Watson......

MONDAY [11] film • Patton Oswalt live with "Ratatouille" sneak preview at Alamo Downtown film • Music Monday: "Harry Nilsson's Birthday Party" at Alamo Downtown food • Central Market Cooking School Class: Sushi 101 with Chef Timothy Thomas at Central Market Cooking School, 4001 N Lamar ($70, 6:30-9:30pm) music • Maserati, My Education, Lazar Wolf at Emo's music • Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Cheer Accident, Oh, Beast at Emo's music • Manu Chao at Stubb's......

FRIDAY [8] music • DJ Krames (Cobra Kai), Prince Klassen at Beauty Bar (Free) books • Dominic Smith presents The Beautiful Miscellaneous at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) film • "The Secret Mirror" at The Paramount film • Master Pancake Theatre: "The Breakfast Club" at Alamo Downtown film • "Severance" at Dobie Theatre food • Central Market Cooking Class: Manicotti Workshop with Foodie Barbara Sampson at......

(FIRST) THURSDAY [7] party • Official Space Launch Celebration at Salvage Vanguard Theater (9:30pm) music • Go Motion! at Beauty Bar music • The Dollyrots, Alright Tonight, The Sweethearts, Abby Birds at Emo's music • Vietnam and Greg Ashley, The Strange Attractors, The Golden Boys at Emo's music • Scott Miller, The Commonwealth, The Gougers at Stubb's music • An Evening with Old Crow Medicine Show at The Parish Room music • Locals @ La......

WEDNESDAY [6] film • "Gunga Din" at The Paramount film • "The Man Who Would Be King" at The Paramount film • "5-25-77" at Alamo Downtown film • "Welcome Home, Brother Charles" with Jamaa Fanaka at Alamo Downtown film • Weird Wednesday: "Penitentiary" at Alamo Downtown film • Austin Film Festival screens "I'm Reed Fish" at Regal Arbor music • Ozma, Eastern Conference Champs, The Actual, The Laughing at The Parish Room music • Chris......

FRIDAY [1] party • Rare Magazine Summer Issue Launch Party at Mean Eyed Cat (5:30pm) bikes • Republic of Texas Biker Rally at All Over Austin dance/benefit • Project Transitions Hosts 12th Annual Texas Swing at Saengerrunde Hall and Scholz’s Beer Garten ($40, 8-Midnight) art • Opening Reception: Cantanker/us, the Cantanker Magazine staff show at Else Madsen Gallery, 411 Brazos, Suite 99 (7-11pm) art • The B Scene at The Blanton Museum of Art,......

Albert Hammond Jr., that mop-topped guitar-wielding cuddlebear from the late, lamented NYC band The Strokes--wait, nevermind they're still around. But Al Hammond is still one of the only players to come out of the New York scene who evinces any prowess at his instrument, let alone cuts loose with razor-honed licks if and whenever he pleases. His three-piece band will play songs from his new Yours To Keep album Sunday at The Parish Room......

THURSDAY [31] music • Scion Live Metro presents GZA, Fyre Department at The Parish Room (FREE, RSVP before 5pm!) art • Opening Reception: George Krause: The Elizabeth Portraits & Other Works at d berman gallery, 1701 Guadalupe St (6-8pm) books • Douglas Brinkley presents The Reagan Diaries at BookPeople (7:00pm) comedy • Russ Nagel, "America's Funniest Biker," with Trey Galyon at Cap City Comedy Club film • "Notorious" at The Paramount Theatre film •......

FRIDAY [4] party/bikes • Yellow Bike Project's Second Annual Bike Art Show with music by DJ Orion, DJ Katherine at Gallery 1906 (Free, 7pm-Midnight) art • Opening Reception: memoria/memoir: Carol Flax at Volitant Gallery, 320 Congress Ave., Ste 100 (6-9pm) art • B Scene at the Blanton Museum of Art 1st Anniversary Celebration at Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress ($5 members, $10 non-members, 6-11pm) art • Opening Reception: Tunnel Vision: Parading Down the......