The Kills play rock with the sustained tension of a chain smoker in the long moment just after a drag and before exhalation. This duo of Alison “VV” Mosshart and Jamie “Hotel” Hince strip British indie down to its indispensables—those being his and hers guitars, a drum machine (get over it), and rebellious disaffection involving the occasional Dostoyevsky reference. more ›

Our Indieroke night returns this Tuesday to The Mohawk. What started out as a one-off fling with rock stardom has turned into a monthly gathering of like-minded folks craving that fleeting moment of exhilaration. If you haven’t made it to one yet, we strongly recommend getting there in a timely fashion to get your name and song on the list early…and often. (You know who you are!) We will have multiple song list books going forward to ease that pain. more ›

St. Vincent is Annie Clark, who has recorded with the Polyphonic Spree and been part of Sufjan Stevens's touring act. In July, the 24-year-old struck out on her own with an album, Marry Me, of slightly spooky pop songs full of oddball instrumental layers. Don't let the deer-in-headlights photo on her album cover fool you — Clark is engaged and thoroughly charming. She's the sort of person who, mid-interview, starts asking about you —... more ›

California's Cold War Kids have been the object of both adulation and derision since their inception in 2004. The band's songs traffic in third-person tales of downhearted and desperate characters, and their music frames the stories rather than overpowering them. After playing SXSW in March, Cold War Kids return to town for both a spot on the ACL Festival bill this Saturday and an aftershow at Stubb's on Sunday evening. Austinist traded emails with... more ›

UPDATE: NME is also reporting that Muse will play at Stubb's on Sunday night, we'll have details as they emerge. A lot of this might be old news for ticket holders who have been scurrying around trying to figure out how they're going to be compensated for their White Stripes @ Stubb's tickets, but it's true: Muse's performance has been moved up, and they will now occupy the White Stripes' slot, while the rest... more ›

For updates, go to today's post The Statesman's 360 blog is reporting that the White Stripes have pulled out of the ACL Festival. The band was scheduled to play on Saturday night in the headlining position opposite Arcade Fire, as well as an after party @ Stubb's on Sunday. The word on the streets is that someone is ill, we'll be sure to keep you posted as details emerge. Photo courtesy Autumn De Wilde... more ›

Every fall, Austin looks forward to ACL Fest, and each year, there's always a point where two of your favorite bands are playing on different sides of the park at the exact same time. ACL Band Clash is a weekly series in which Austinist scribes Paige Maguire and Tom Thornton examine the worst ACL scheduling clashes, and try to provide good advice on finding a resolution. Well, good advice might be a stretch, but... more ›

Every fall, Austin looks forward to ACL Fest, and each year, there's always a point where two of your favorite bands are playing on different sides of the park at the exact same time. ACL Band Clash is a new, theoretically weekly series in which Austinist scribes Paige Maguire and Tom Thornton examine the worst ACL scheduling clashes, and try to provide good advice on finding a resolution. Well, good advice might be a... more ›

1990s Cookies (Rough Trade/World's Fair) The 1990s "play music like a blond gets out of a car." This, we assume based on listening, means something like, "Our sound is snotty, a little fucked up on we-don't-remember-what, and always f-u-n." While John McKeown (Yummy Fur) won't make any news showing his knickers to paparazzi during a limo exit, he will succeed in promoting the display of everyone else's underthings on the dance floor, as Cookies... more ›

Let's get to it: ACL Fest organizers dropped the aftershow schedule yesterday, and it's fairly extensive. Stubb's, La Zona Rosa, The Parish, and Antone's will all host aftershows over the Thursday to Sunday that everyone is in town for the big event. Highlights include an intimate show from The White Stripes and Cold War Kids at Stubb's, an extra gig from Argentina's loungerific Gotan Project (also at Stubb's), appearances by Spoon, Common, and Queens... more ›

It's tough to believe that Spoon have been playing in Austin for almost thirteen years. Few who saw them gig during their early, Pixies-inspired days would've predicted that in 2007, Spoon would have one of the most bulletproof catalogs in indie rock. Their entire tenure with Merge Records has been stellar, showcasing a band who found confidence in independence and the concept of a slow but deliberate artistic and commercial build. Britt Daniel hasn't... more ›

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally completed, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist watches... more ›

Gangsters retire and move to Miami; rock stars never retire, but some do move to Nashville, have kids, and start making records by the numbers. Who wouldn’t? It’s not like you’d need to impress anybody anymore. Exhibit A: Icky Thump, the 6th LP from the Artists Formerly From Detroit, the White Stripes. Icky Thump follows a similar template as last year’s under-appreciated Get Behind Me Satan—open with an iconoclastic berserker of a single and spend... more ›

This morning marks the release of the ACL 2007 schedule grid. This is probably the most stressful day of the year for the avid ACL festivalgoer, as hopes of seeing every act one likes are dashed when seeing how many of your favorite bands are playing at the exact same time. It's impossible to program such a big festival without a couple of conflicts, but three stand out to us this year as particularly... more ›

It takes a special artist to bridge the gap between The White Stripes, My Morning Jacket, and Norah Jones, and apparently M. Ward is that man. Ward has opened for all of these acts in the past two years, and has somehow managed to appeal to all of their audiences. His wonderful album Post-War met with universal acclaim upon release, ending up on best of '06 lists from The Onion, Paste, The Guardian, and... more ›

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried... more ›

After a month of guesswork, the ACL Fest lineup is here. And it's quite a good one. While the wild speculation of headliners like Neil Young and Stevie Wonder once again proved false, the key items one sees this year are depth and balance. Having spent yesterday looking over the roster, we have the following observations on the 2007 edition of ACL. The Good: A Great Top 10. Had you told us that we'd... more ›

The 2007 ACL Fest lineup came into focus a bit earlier than expected this afternoon. Much like last year's online scavenger hunt, the folks at Charles Attal have decided to whet appetites with an ACL Crossword puzzle in this Thursday's Chronicle. The two big names revealed today: The White Stripes and Björk. Well played, ACL. The crossword reveal: The White Stripes, Björk, The Decemberists, Peter, Bjorn, and John, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Robert Earl Keen,... more ›

Since unleashing the Peter Gabriel-like "Staring At The Sun" in 2003, TV On The Radio has done just about everything an indie band can hope for. They've released two lauded albums, made the major label jump, opened for the Pixies, recorded with David Bowie, and won the Shortlist Prize. And while The Arcade Fire may be the most blogged about band of the last two years, one could argue that TVOTR may be the... more ›

Ohio's The Black Keys have been practicing their minimalist-blues ethos for over five years now, and have carved their own niche in indie rock. The band combines the two-man band approach of The White Stripes, riffage worthy of Jimmy Page, and blues stomps patterned after Howlin' Wolf and vintage Chess artists. The trick here is that it comes off in a way that somehow appeals to fans of both Pavement and Stevie Ray Vaughan,... more ›

The Rapture have made a decent career out of pretending to defy expectations while giving its audience just what they wanted all along. In 2002 they were just another gritty post-punk group laying snarly guitar lines on top of hyperreal dance beats, but the release of 2003’s Echoes, and its attendant club smash "House Of Jealous Lovers", propelled them to the forefront of the scene everyone was expecting to save rock and roll. The scene... more ›

Before I launch into this week's batch of ACL previews, a bit of bad news - Feist has unfortunately dropped out of the lineup. Her replacement hasn't been named yet, so hopefully I'll have an update for you by next week, but in the meantime, you too can stalk the schedule. Remember, you can check out all the previews that have been posted over on my ACL Artist Previews Page. This is what's new... more ›

Lots of random music news today. Let's get to it before ACL Fest's lineup gets announced on Thursday and we forget about this stuff: more ›

-Chaos continues to reign supreme in Paris, where over 3,000 vehicles and dozens of businesses have been destroyed. All of this is over the accidental death of two teenage boys, who had been hiding from the police. -Harry Potter has the "potential to frighten some children" -They caught that death-row inmate who'd escaped from Houston outside a liquor store in Louisiana - trashed. -Cheney wants desperately to retain the power to torture terror suspects... more ›

Here are our picks for the week... Annie – Anniemal “Kylie Minogue for hipsters.” The Aquabats – Charge!! The first release in nearly six years finds the Aquabats recharged with more of their quality playful pop-punk. Coldplay – X&Y Old fans should continue to love their sound, but don’t expect any variations from that typical Colplday format. Kraftwerk – Minimum-Maximum A 2-disc recording of their 2004 European tour live show that sounds just as... more ›

Waterloo Records is having a special midnight sale tonight for those of you who are too impatient to wait until tomorrow to pick up new albums by the White Stripes, Coldplay, the Secret Machines and more. more ›

Apart from its satisfying lead-off single, "Blue Orchid," we're not really feeling "Get Behind Me Satan," the new album from Detroit's White Stripes. While the songs are catchy enough, they are undone by deliberate idiosyncracies, such as a distinct overreliance on the common household xylophone and an odd Appalachian fetish. Take "The Doorbell," for example. This has an appealing, schoolyard kind of a beat, and might be a good theme song for a sitcom... more ›