As the early bands battled it out for immediate attention during the hectic opening hours of the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival, local four piece The Strange Boys calmly transported us to decades past with a flurry of garage-pop ditties. Bringing back memories aplenty of bands we've witnessed via the historical catalog of footage from The Ed Sullivan Show, the band's demeanor, attitude, and style all tied in perfectly with their sugary sweet melodies....

If there's a vibe running through Friday's Austin Venture stage roster, it's simply that there is no vibe. Like ACL Fest, the stage is sporting everything from twee boy/girl indie-pop to grizzled country and sleaze rock. If you'd like some variety, this is the place....

Los Angeles, for all its immensity, is one of the few American cities which can truly be said to have its own, isolated identity. And we'll be able to get a nice taste of that tonight, as The City of Angels attacks Austin with a couple of the best bands that freakishly large city has to offer. Headlining is No Age, whose recently released sophomore LP, Nouns, has been lauded far and wide as one of the year's top albums. No Age is the brainchild of dynamic duo Randy Randall and Dean Allen Spunt, who use their exceptional names to craft churning lo-fidelity punk music that inspires critical analysis rather than mere dancefloor spasmosis—consider this the thinking person's punk rock....

Straight up punk rock may be all the rage at Beerland on most nights but pop melodies are in vogue this Saturday when The Strange Boys and Shapes Have Fangs headline with sugary sweet potions that will keep your heads bobbing in unison throughout. The sound of the '60s is unavoidable in both bands’ lo-fi garage-rock and we decided to catch up with each of them for a quick rundown on the state of affairs in their respective circles....

Monochrome is having a big night this Saturday, with the rebellious flower-punk of Atlanta’s Black Lips coming together with our own freewheelin’ sons of garage rock, White Denim....

Free Week hits its stride on Saturday with three separate shows at Emo’s Lounge, Emo’s inside stage, and the outside stage as well. ...

Image from Scion's websiteSo you’re all set for an afternoon with the family and/or friends, tons of food on the horizon, be it Turkey or Tofurkey. Still, you need to scratch that live music itch before heading home. Well, fear not oh lovely residents of Austin, the city has a solid night of gigs on the 21st in store for the common layperson. If you’re not already planning on hitting up the Benko and The......

The Black Lips impressed us immensely during their various SxSW performances this year. Their fusion of garage, punk, blues, and pyschedelia packaged in an extremely energetic live show was one of the more memorable moments of the festival. The Atlanta based act returns to Austin this Friday for multiple performances yet again. The Black Lips released their fifth album (and their first studio full-length for Vice Records), Good Bad Not Evil in 2007. The......

Emo's is packing in approximately half of the bands in Austin this evening for a Bacchanalian orgy of rock and roll, Lone Star, and - with all due respect - poorly conceptualized tattoos. Silly tats aside, tonight is guaranteed to be a blowout, and whether you're looking to get familiar with some of the best indie that this town has to offer, or a long-time fan, you'll be sonically satiated come this evening. Here's......

*The views expressed in The Laurie Show are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole.* -ed. note Friday the 13th is good for you, kids. Don't let folks tell you differently! Hope your Friday is going fabulously for you, peeps! I'm preparing quite a feast for the ears for tonight's Laurie Show on KUT 90.5. Special thanks are in order for Kevin Adickes of Moth!Fight! and Nic Saldana of......

FRIDAY [27] music • While You Were Out, presented by Bueno Music Bureau, with The Unbearables, She Sir, The Scripts, Friday After Dark at Club de Ville ($5) books • Anita Gonzalez, Ph.D., presents Dancing Between Myth and Reality at CAAAS (UT - Jester A232) (3:00pm) comedy • Tig Notaro and Steve Burr at Cap City Comedy Club comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Fetish and Other......

MONDAY [23] books • David Sedaris at The Paramount Theatre books • Bill Bradley presents The New American Story at BookPeople (7:30pm) art • Artistic License: WorkSpace Artist Jedediah Caesar at the Blanton Museum of Art at The Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress (Included with Museum Admission, 6-7pm) comedy • "Funniest Person in Austin" Contest, Hosted By Mario DiGiorgio (Winner 1999)" at Cap City Comedy Club dance • The Whirling Dervishes at......

FRIDAY [2] theatre • Improv rap group Aww Shit (Chris Trew, Cody Dearing, Eric Seufert) compose freestyle rap songs and improvise scenes based off of them at this week's Cage Match at Coldtowne Theater (11:30pm) art • Opening Reception for The Llamerret Show at Darkroom Gallery (7pm) art • Texas Biennial Opening Reception at Okay Mountain & Site 1808 (7-10pm, 301 Chicon Unit E at Third and Chicon) art • B Scene: A Night......

THURSDAY [1] party • Learning Secrets hosts Optimo's JD Twitch (Glasgow, UK) at Whisky Bar (10pm-2am, $5) art • Public Tour: The Geometry of Hope: Montevideo in the 1930s at The Blanton (7:00 - 8:00 PM) art • Curator's Tour: The Geometry of Hope at The Blanton (12:30-1pm) art • Texas Biennial Opening Reception at Dougherty Arts Center (7-10pm) art • Art Fix: Enjoy an introduction to Latin American wines with Seth Pollard, Central......

MONDAY [26] film • Squeegee Your Third Eye: Remembering Bill Hicks at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown books • New and Noteworthy Book Club discusses Snow by Orhan Pamuk at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • Wonderwall at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown meeting • Austin Music Foundation's Music Industry Boot Camp at Gibson Guitar Showroom (3601 South Congress G400) music • Aloha, Pompeii, The Politics, Low Line Caller at Emo's Lounge music • Shoot for the Stars, iKiLLcaRs, Bones......

WEDNESDAY [14] music • White Ghost Shivers Valetine's Day Party at Scoot Inn music • Bigwood, Street Light Suzie, Sedium, The Ivory Class at Emo's Lounge music • The Stags, Future Clouds and Radar, Radar Radar, The Strange Boys at Emo's music • Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Valentine's Day Party at Stubb's music • Anti-Valentines Day Second Halloween Party at Beerland music • Jimmie Dale Gilmore at Cactus Café (8:30pm) music • People Skills,......

MONDAY [12] benefit • Everychild House Party 2007 at Stubb's ($25/$10 Adults/Children) books • Quincy Troupe presents The Architecture of Language at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • Texas Music Museum presents "JAZZ," a six-part film/discussion series with Dr James Polk at Austin Public Library, Carver Branch (7pm) film • Darkon: The Movie at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown film • Half-Cocked at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown food • Central Market Cooking Class with Chef Vance Ely: Gentlemen Entertain:......

After taking last week off because we were sure SXSW would release their master plan, we now return as there seems to be no end in sight to the band list embargo. Many indie labels and some marquee acts have simply announced their appearances, as bands attempt to book routing shows in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, or elsewhere to make their long drives worthwhile. The lack of info has started to get the press......

The only downside of Emo's Free Week is that you have to decide which shows to attend. Some ambitious folks will move between the three venues and check out bits of several shows, but that requires, well, moving, and we're not into that. We'd rather grab five drinks from the bar, stake out a spot in front of the stage and spend all our available energy hollering "raaawwwkkk and roollllll" until we either pass out......

FRIDAY [5] film • Sinus Show: Die Hard at Alamo Downtown (7pm & 10pm, $12.50) music • Amplified Heat, Lions, Full Stride, The Flood at Emo's (Inside) music • Grand Champeen, Quien Es Boom, The Fall Collection, The Alice Rose at Emo's (Lounge) music • Lemurs, The Lord Henry, Clap!Clap!, Lomita at Emo's (Outside) music • The Black & White Years, AUX, The Paper South, Aster Years at Stubb's music • Summer of Blood,......

Whether you think of it as a test run for SXSW, a belated Christmas present to local music fans, or an excuse to drink for seven days straight, Emo's Free Week kicks off today with a schedule of acts that reads like a who's-who of local punk, indie, and rock. As the showcases are all without cover, we'd recommend getting there early. Emo's Free Week January 2-8 603 Red River Tuesday, January 2 Inside:......

FRIDAY [11] [music] Sage Francis, Buddy Wakefield, Jared Paul, Grand Buffet, DJ Jester the Filipino Fist (outside), Those Peabodys, Horse+Donkey, The Carrots (inside) at Emo's [art/party] As Naked As You Wanna Be: Art Show and Celebration with Celesta Danger and Tamara Hoover at Pedernales Lofts Suite 2028 ($10 Suggested Donation, 6-11pm) ® [art/party] After-party for As Naked As You Wanna Be at The Peacock (11pm-2am) ® [film] The Sinus Show: Point Break at Alamo Downtown......

MONDAY [7] [film] Anthony Kaun Hai - Special Bollywood Screenings at Tinseltown South (6:30pm & 9:45pm) [film] Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia at Alamo Downtown (7pm) ® [film] Magnolia at Austin Java (8pm, Free) ® [film] V for Vendetta at Café Mundi (8:30pm, Free) [film] Urgh! - A Music War at Alamo Downtown (9:45pm, $2) [film] War of the Words at Alamo South (10:10pm) TUESDAY [8] [film] By the People at Dobie (5pm)......

AngryRobot was kind enough to point out that the SXSW Music roster has now grown to over 1,200 bands. We're no longer able to keep track of who's new and who's already been listed, but festival organizers will have notified all qualifying bands by sometime tomorrow. Check out our list after the expandotron, or for much prettier versions we invite you to surf over to AngryRobot's: SXSW 2006 Band List, Parsed v4.0 Meanwhile, stay......

South By Southwest released another round of additions to the roster of bands scheduled to perform at this year's music festival (March 15th-19th), bringing the current total to nearly 1150. Notable bands recently added as of January 29th include Morrissey, Camera Obscura, Captain, Boy Hits Car, Billy Bragg, Bedtime for Toys, Division of Laura Lee, and SF's Hudson Bell. The full roster appears after the jump, or you check out much prettier versions at......