Seems like it's been a few weeks since the last music festival, doesn't it? ACL and Fun Fun Fun Fest are still around autumn's corner, but a smaller, burgeoning festival this weekend at Emo's promises two full days of fun for much less hassle and cash than our city's more mainstream music-and-arts extravaganzas. It's called Wild Frontier Fest, and in this, its second year, it lays claim to Emo's for both Saturday and Sunday with an expanded roster of indie-rock and folk bands from near (White Denim) and far (Peelander-Z, who continue their remarkable run of playing every Austin music festival in 2011). more ›

Lines at Emo's entrances stretched down Red River on Tuesday night, with scalpers pacing the street for the hottest ticket in town - joint headliners Best Coast and Wavves. more ›

Bethany Cosentino and Nathan Williams are definitely in the running for consideration as 2010's indie power couple. Both released well-received, high-selling albums (Crazy for You and King of the Beach, respectively) in the middle of last year, with a fuzzed out lo-fi California sound that perfectly embodied the manic summer heat. So it was no surprise that the dating duo decided to start the new year off right with a joint tour, gracing Austin with a stopover on Tuesday night at Emo's. more ›

For a band with a catalog built on the twin pillars of simplicity and boredom, Wavves come with a lot of emotional baggage. There was lead singer Nathan Williams’s onstage meltdown last year in front of thousands in Barcelona; his public beef with the Black Lips’ Jared Swilley which resulted in a drunken brawl; and even his love life has gone under the indie microscope by dating this year’s blog darling, Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast. All of this drama is unnecessary to fully appreciate Wavves’s fuzzed-out pop-punk, but the specter continues to hang over their heads in the live setting. more ›

Wavves, the psychedelic noise pop band from San Diego, might have had a few sour notes in past years, but we’re willing to look past that to focus on the real deal—the music. Combining minimalist experimental punk with a laid-back skateboarding-and-pizza kind of image, Wavves songwriter Nathan Williams presents something that is catchy and charming from the get-go. His first two albums, Wavves in 2008 and Wavvves in 2009, were, as one could easily guess, similar. Each album is a collection of scuzzy recordings about girls and goths, with almost identical cover art. more ›

Every person, on the circuitous, crazed road to adulthood, goes through some shit. Usually, this shit goes down in the privacy of one's home, or with just some good friends around to watch the place go up in flames. For Nathan Williams of Wavves, though, his pretty little hell (also known as 2009) was on display for thousands of fans live, costing him his drummer and a place in the good graces of the ever-talkative blogosphere. Good thing for him, 2009 is over, he's got a new band (Stephen Pope and Billy Hates, formerly of the late Jay Reatard's band), a new album that everybody seems to enjoy, and it's like, as they say, a whole new leaf was turned over. Or something. Anyway, in advance of Wavves' appearance at Fun Fun Fun Fest, we decided to have a talk with Mr. Williams to see what he's up to now, and where he sees himself going down the line. more ›

If you've been paying any attention to excitable music blogs or enjoy browsing new, poorly-recorded music, you've probably caught wind of WAVVES, a.k.a. songwriter Nathan Williams and his drummer of choice. Right now he's on the road with the venerable Zach Hill (Hella, many more) and the duo will be at Emo's on Saturday evening on the outdoor stage. more ›

Some good news for folks looking for free music, beer and good times during SXSW music: Gorilla vs Bear's annual Gorilla vs Booze party has been announced, and the lineup isn't anything to sneeze at. more ›