Wisecracking aside, lots of really excellent things have come out of Jersey.* Things like Bruce Springsteen and Zach Braff and the Wrens. This weekend, the Wrens will be wrapping up what has been a four-year, weekends-only tour of the country, supporting their album the Meadowlands. But, the boys in the band will be taking a breather only after playing Emo's this Friday night. The four-year tour might seem a bit excessive, but it came at......

Tapes 'n Tapes are quite possibly the best thing to come out Minneapolis' music scene since Prince and Hüsker Dü. Since forming in 2003, the band has trekked across vast and distant lands with a who's who of indie rock luminaries such as The Shins, Joanna Newsom, The Wrens and Spoon. After a few adjustments in the lineup, the band recorded its debut album, The Loon, in summer 2005 to glowing reviews and a......

Last-minute logistical considerations have forced us to move our private afterparty to a different space. Things are going as planned, but unfortunately we're not able to accomodate nearly as many people as we initially anticipated -- as such, we'll be sending out final announcements today and tomorrow to those who RSVPed. But don't lose hope if you're not on the final list! We'll have a very small set of extra spots saved for the first......

: : FRIDAY : : [music] Nic Armstrong and the Thieves & Ian Moore @ The Parish, 9:30pm [in-store] Happy Families @ End of an Ear, 6pm [comedy] The Sinus Show's "Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park" @ Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, 7pm & 9:45 also Saturday [theatre] The Vortex Repertory presents "La Femme: The BareBones New Works Festival," 8pm [comedy] The Austin Improv Co-op presents "The Womb of the Pagan" and "Hoover's Blanket"......

We’ve all heard heartbreaking stories about bands not getting the breaks they deserve, but we think The Wrens’ story wins the prize. If you want the long story you can read all the gory details here. In short: The Wrens have been making music together for over 15 years and have had record label nightmares and little commercial success up until the release of 2003’s The Meadowlands which catapulted them to instant indie-stardom…sort of.......