1. Good Records Good Mornings with DJ Cee Pee (Cavern)
guess all he has to do now is walk about 30 yards to get to this gig. Indie hits, etc. are played.

2. Deftones/ Thrice (Nokia Theater Grand Prarie)
Ha ha, gotcha!

Saturday night's Supergrass show was, well, adequate. I got to hear some of the hits that I knew and loved, was forced to hear new stuff that I didn't like, and was left pondering whether or not the whole experience was worth fifteen dollars, especially considering the mind numbing cold that I faced walking down Commerce St. to get there. The first half of the show absolutely bored me to tears, mostly due to the fact that the band stuck to playing songs off their new album Road To Ruen, which some have called their "mature" record but I consider to be quite bland compared to their earlier releases. Besides, who wants maturity from goddamn Supergrass anyway? Aren't they supposed to be brats?

Things picked during the second half of the show when they started to play some of their earlier favorites, but even that was little more than merely satisfying. Although the band played many of the songs a little slow and was sloppy in spots, it wasn't really their fault. The whole experience actually reminded me of the Pitchfork article about the new Lollapalooza, or what they termed the "Alternative Rock Hall of Fame." I felt like I was there for the same reasons that my parents might go to an Eagles or Rolling Stones concert, even if Supergrass is still putting out decent music while the other two bands haven't not been horrible in decades. I was there to hear songs that I used to like a lot, songs that while still good just aren't part of my current rock n' roll experiences. I was there, at least in part, to relive the past. If you went, I'm guessing that you had at least a somewhat similar motivation. If Supergrass released In it for the Money this year, I doubt I would give it much of a listen and I wonder if many of you would either, since its really not anything new or exciting. Hearing that album at the tail end of the mid 90's Britpop thing and being 16 or 17 at the time both played a part in my love for that album, and my attitudes and experiences in 2006 would surely play the same kind of roll, even if they would in fact lead to a different result. I still like listening to the old Supergrass stuff, but I can't help but suspect that nostalgia plays a large part in that experience. Not that its really a bad thing per se, but its just strange to realize that I am probably old enough to want to attend what essentially seemed to be a "Greatest Hits" tour by a band that initially became popular at a time when I was old enough to like them. Supergrass probably isn't the best example of this considering that they put out one of their best records only four years ago, but I suppose I'm just really dreading the inevitable moment when I hear my friends talking about their Luxury Box tickets for the new Soundgarden reunion tour. Face it, it already happened with the Pixies, and theres no reason not to assume that Frank Black's belly is only the beginning...

You aren't cool enough to not listen to this show (from Myspace post)

"TONIGHT,We'll be spotlighting the Texas Cropdusting Tour with Record Hop, Woozy Helmet, Sharks and Sailors & Tame...Tame and Quiet. Cory from Record Hop will be in the studio to talk about this special Texas tour.

Also NEW Belle & Sebastian, Black Tie Dynasty, Smile Smile & Celebrity!As well as songs from Wilco, The Blow, Talking Heads, Mathstorm, Carissa's Weird, Jon Brion, Marshmallow Coast, Sufjan Stevens, Lali Puna, Devo, The Tah Dahs, Eniac, John Dufilho, Cordelane, Meyercord, The Black Heart Procession, Pavement AND SO MUCH MORE!!!
10:00 (11:00/10:00 c) p.m. on KNTU 88.1FM in the D/FW metroplex
OR LIVE ON-LINE at KNTU.FMjust click the Listen Live link

don't forget to post your comments during the show at the "unoffical" Frequency Down Message Board:Frequency Down Message BoardIf you feel like calling during the show, please do so!The number is 940-988-0045"

Some non-local things we've been listening to lately:

The Vaselines- The Way of the Vaselines
Broadcast- The Noise made By People
Boris- Pink
Gang Gang Dance- God's Money
Dinosaur Jr- You're Living All Over Me
Ariel Pink- House Arrest
The Birtday Party- Hits
Can- Future Days
Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker- Diz N' Bird at Carnegie Hall
Chapterhouse- Whirlpool
Fleetwood Mac- Rumors
Hot Chip- Coming on Strong
Bob Dylan- Basement Tapes
Lansing-Dreiden- A Sectioned Beam
Islaja- Palaa Aurinkoon

The Undoing of David Wright is playing a show at Club Clearview tonight, and they really are a must see live band. However, if you decide to go out and see them tonight you might want to make it a quick in and out and avoid subjecting yourself to 45 Grave and Shadow Reichenstein. 45 Grave appears to be some sort of 80's metal band that has reunited, and we really have no idea why they've been allowed to do so. Shadown Reichenstein is a local goth metal band that may or may not be a joke, even though its clear from listening to some of their songs that the joke is on you.

More posts are coming later this evening.

Sorry, we're running late, so you're getting a short version of the list tonight. Tough. But at least we've got Myspace links....

1. Supergrass | Pilotdrift (Gypsy Tea Room Ballroom)

2. Fra Pandolf | Shiny Around the Edges | STeers/ You are the Universe (Hailey's-Denton)

3. Tah Dahs (Barley House)

4. Bosque Brown | The Angelus (Doublewide)

We're gonna be all over the damn place tonight, but our main source of entertainment will likely be:

1. Voxtrot/ Happy Bullets (Cavern)
So we really don't have to tell you about the Happy Bullets, but we will say that they are a good live band, that happens to be playing with Voxtrot, an Austin band that we've been listening to a lot lately. They play pretty straight forward indie rock, but they're really goddamn good at it, and have a pretty unique sound. Listen to some stuff on their Myspace page and see for yourself.

2. Strange Boys/ Eat Avery's Bones/ Chief Death Rage (Yellow House-Denton)
If you've never been to the Yellow House before you should really go, especially on a night like this. Its at 1120 Mulberry St. in Denton, just off of Fry St., and its known for having what some people have called "kick ass shows." Its free, its BYOB, its actually someone's house, and its all ages. The best part about the place is the crowds: usually really nice kids that are actually into the music being played. Its a small, cramped space stuffed with UNT students, but that really becomes part of the fun once you're there. Tonight two bands we always talk about, Strange Boys and Eat Avery's Bones are playing, as well as a band called Chief Death Rage, which appears to play a sort of punky sludge metal... if that means anything. Starts at 10pm, should be a hell of a time.

3. Paper Chase at Rubber Gloves (Denton)

4. Rogue Wave (Gypsy Tea Room)
Get there early for Rogue Wave, because you probably won't want to stick around for Nada Surf unless you like being bored.





* UPDATE: Metrognome Collective will be doing a show with the Record Hop tonight in Fort Worth at their space- 1518 E. Lancaster. Its five bucks, BYOB, and a really great place to hang out.

Or so you would think if you only got your local music info from Texasgigs.com. The people at Texas Gigs always seem to have a nice word to say about everyone, and they use a lot of exclamation points, which can be frustrating when they're talking about the many Dallas bands that obviously suck! We don't know why they do this, but they do! I'm going to stop using exclamation points now!

We're not saying that they should write articles about how much they hate so and so, or really that they should do anything considering that they have a successful website and we have, well, a blogspot. The problem isn't really with them at all, since the site can in fact be a good resource for local music news, audio files, and other things that fans want (we check it every day). And of course its good that they want to help local bands get some attention. The problem is much bigger, and it stems mostly from local bands themselves. This is of course the "support your local scene, dude" attitude that so many people carry around with them. Until we started this blogspot, we really could have given two shits about local Dallas rock for the most part, even though we probably spent a lot more time than the average person thinking about, talking about, and listening to music. That is really the main reason we started this thing in the first place: to learn more about what was actually out there. And what inspired this particular bitch fest is a conversation we overheard last night in which someone expressed their belief that Dallas music sucks because no one cares about local bands.

Its too bad they didn't ask themselves why no one cares, because if they did they might have come to the conclusion that the product we're supposed to be supporting typically isn't that good. Of course we've blogged about this topic before, so you can stop reading if you're bored. Its just that people who want us to support their "scene" should ask themselves what happens when people go to shows that they really don't like, or listen to bands that aren't that great simply because they are local. What happens is that people go out and have fake fun. You know the feeling, don't you? You're supposed to go see your roommate's brother's emo band at some bar, and you go out and listen to the music and tap your feet and drink a couple beers and remark to whoever "hey these guys are pretty decent" and then you go home, wondering why you ever left the house in the first place. A lot of other people at the show probably did the same thing, creating an atmosphere that is lacking any real, well, fun. And then all these people start to get a bad taste in their mouths about local music, and they stop wanting to go see it, even when there might actually be something decent going on. Of course this isn't a phenomenon that is specific to Dallas... it probably goes on in every town of a certain size. Its just that going to see local music shouldn't be a chore. It should be something we want to do because its fun, not something we have to do because of some sense of duty to support the scene. And we also realize that local bands are often young or new bands, and that young new bands typically don't have their shit together quite yet. Thats all well and good, but we think we can tell the difference between a show that isn't good because the band sucks and one that isn't good because the band, while talented, just doesn't have a lot of experience. We bet you can too.

So what we're saying is "Support the local scene, bro.... whenever the local scene earns it." Which it does from time to time, as we have happily learned over the past month and a half. And when it does happen, no one needs to tell us to go see local music. We'll go because we want to, and we might even have real fun, which will make us want to go out the next time something is going on. But telling us to go see a boring band because they're local is like telling us to vote for George W. Bush because its patriotic. And we shouldn't have to use exclamation points to tell you that!

Yes, we've been kinda busy lately and haven't had time to post too much the past few days. We're getting on that though, trust us, and we'll have some pretty big news for you in the next couple of days most likely (top secret!). By the way, if you're into listening to shitty music at crappy bars, Dallas is the place to be tonight! Just check out the Observer online listings for tonight if you don't believe us. For those that want to take a break from all lametastic fun, here is some stuff you might want to try:

1. Dj G @ Haileys (denton)
They really need to stop calling this an 80's night. Yes, some music from the decade is played, including a few of the hits that you would expect from an 80's night, but every time we've seen this guy he's played something much better: a mix of old school acid house, afrobeat, Italo disco, and obscure new wave, not to mention the occasional cool Depeche Mode song. 18 and ups

2. Mile End with Dj Laureen (Fallout)
new wave, brit pop, shoegaze... mostly just a mix of good music for hip kids.

* And by the way, Rhett from the Happy Bullets will be Djing on Meat Radio tonight, 102.5 FM from 8-10. We will be doing a piece on it later, but for now you should know that you can really only hear it in the Lakewood/downtown/ lower Greenville area.

And there is also a decent garage rock band called Tiger!Tiger! playing the opening slot at Double Wide tonight, but we strongly suggest that you go early and leave early, allowing you to stay as far away as possible from the other two bands: Swedish Teens and Lust. Truly annoying pop punk meets cock rock. Maybe this is why you can never be sure about a Doublewide show.

1. The Party w/ DJ Nature (Rubber Gloves)

2. Callithump Productions Showcase: Eagle Seagull/ Blackheart Society/Ashburne Glen (The Cavern- $6)
We hadn't ever heard Eagle Seagull before, but a quick trip to their website revealed that they are a pretty solid band, and the three tracks we listened to reminded us of a more poppy Arcade Fire with a little bit of Wolf Parade and a heavy dose of Britpop, particularly Pulp. Blackheart Society is a relatively new band with some promise, and Ashburne Glen does some very nice Shinsy pop, and is worth showing up early for.

3. Wild in the Streets (Hailey's Denton)

The folks at Undeniable Records have informed us that the Happy Bullets have just been added to the SXSW bill this year. Of course, no time or date has been posted yet be we'll let you know when we find out more. And by the way, we haven't forgotten about our SXSW Local Band previews, we just decided to do it later, closer to when SXSW actually starts. Because why do today what you can put off till tomorrow? Anyway, the Happy Bullets invite probably has something to do with the buzz they've been getting on some of the hipster Mp3 blogs over the past few months, proving that Dallas bands might actually be able to succeed on a national level without moving to New York or wearing stupid robes.

Yeah, Happy Valentines Day and blah blah blah (sorry). Anyway, onwards and upwards:

1. Lost Generation with Dj Mwanza (the Cavern upstairs)
Spinning bands such as My Bloody Valentine, M83, Sonic Youth, Ladytron, Jesus Lizard, Gang of Four, Black Sabbath, MF DOOM & Dangermouse, Boards of Canada, David Bowie, New Order, Annie, Silver Apples, Stereolab, Can and more (from the Cavern website). Do we really have to add anything to that?

2. The Hold Steady with Plastic Constellations (Hailey's Denton)
We're not crazy about the Hold Steady. I know that Pitchfork thinks they're bad ass and shit, but we see them more or less as a fairly boring frat rock band that just happens to have a decent record collection. However, we know that there is room to disagree on a band like this, so we put it up anyway. Also we do like Plastic Constellations, the opener, so get there early if you wanna be like us. And you know you do.

We've recently been talking with a relatively new band out of Norman, OK called the Evangelicals, and we decided to write a little something about them even though they're not a local band because 1) they're pretty damn good; 2) they've just signed with Austin's Misra records, which means that they'll be in Texas quite a bit, which means that they'll have to drive through Denton/Dallas on their way down south, which means that 4) they'll probably be playing a lot around here in the near future. Oh yeah, and 5) because I do what I want!

The Evangelicals were formed right around the time that vocalist and guitar player Josh Jones (formerly a guitar tech for the Mooney Suzuki) was apparently arrested for burglary and decided to be in a band instead of being a roadie and like, stealing stuff. Jones, along with bassist/keys player Kyle Davis and drummer Austin Stephens self-recorded their debut LP So Gone several months back, and Misra will officially release it in June.

Although the band lists Leonard Cohen and T. Rex as a couple of their influences, we hear Belle and Sebastian, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Spacemen 3, as well as some early Flaming Lips and maybe even a little Jesus and Mary Chain, if only because of the distinct 60's bubblegum sounds buzzing just beneath the manic fuzz and tempo changes (check the first verse in "Another Day" if you don't believe us). Their songs are catchy as shit and completely loose in structure and composition without ever wandering too far away from their pop core. We can tell you that there aren't any other bands in the greater north Texas/Oklahoma area that sound very much like them, and we're going to be sure to see the Evangelicals the next time they come to town, even if it means missing a totally sweet Deathray Davies show or something.

Some Mp3s if you please:

"Another Day" Link

"Hello Jen, I'm a Mess" Link

Even though its not really our function to write much about national music news since you can usually find better coverage elsewhere, we just wanted to link to this Pitchfork rundown of some of the more noteworthy tracks that J Dilla produced over the years. He was one of our favorite hip hop beat makers of all time, and his 2003 album with Madlib was one that we listened to pretty regularly for months after its release. Although he didn't get a lot of recognition in his day, you can expect a flood of postmortem commentary about how great he was in the next few weeks (sort of like the one you're reading right now). Its just a shame that people were too busy with goddamn Puff Diddy to show him much love while he was actually, you know, alive and everything.

1. Good Records Good Morning with Dj Cee Pee (Cavern 10pm)
Manager of good records plays all the latest indie releases and various other goings on. We'll try to post a typical set list soon if we can get our hands on one.