A short one this week, for the long holiday weekend. But worthwhile.

Outside-the-Loop gig of the weekend: The Mighty Orq at Main Street Crossing in Tomball tonight at 8 p.m.. Ask Orq about the band's European tour last month.

Soulful Space City spokesman Nick Gaitan celebrates the release of his band Umbrella Man's second album, Bridges and Bayous, tonight at the Continental Club with San Antonio special guests Los Nahuatlatos. Little Joe Washington plays the club's free happy hour to boot. Gaitan tacks on a Cactus Music in-store Saturday at 3 p.m.; read more with him in our Q&A in this week's print issue.

More >>

Freelance writing is probably not for you if you're a fan of rejection. But if you're determined to speak your piece, not to mention a little thick-skinned and willing to hear the word "no" a lot, you might even be able to make a living at it.

This morning for our sister blog Art Attack, the Rocks Off freelancer known as Jef With One F broke down the lot of a freelancer into a list of nine very useful points of advice for those who would follow in his pen-prints. We're very proud. We'd like to think we had a hand in his coming up with that list, but we hope we're not the editor who made him cry.

Here's Jef's introduction:

More >>

Photos by Alexa Crenshaw

Ty Segall and band

Ty Segall, White Fence, Useless Eaters, Mikey and the Drags
Walter's
May 24, 2012

This was all just garage/psychedelic/whatever-you-may-call-it rock at its finest. You could say that Ty Segall brought a rowdy crowd that used the larger space at Walter's on Naylor well indeed, to say the least.

Segall, along with all of the opening acts playing, delivered hard-driven stuff, clear with their influences. It was the kind of music where even if it may not be your bag to listen to it on a regular basis, it was hard not to have a good time seeing it live, and/or have the intense urge to get really drunk while seeing it live.

Your humble reporter held back such an urge, and still had a blast.

More >>

Photos by Marc Brubaker

Father John Misty & Har Mar Superstar
Fitzgerald's
May 24, 2012

"I'm going to be the first to combine sad bastard music and men's fitness, and maintain my integrity in each," said Josh Tillman, fronting Father John Misty, or inhabiting the Father John Misty, last night at Fitzgerald's, right before the band started in on another sad bastard song.

Between Misty and opener Har Mar Superstar, Fitz may have reached its allotted amount of male hip-shaking for the year, or at least this month. Misty's mountain pop and Har Mar's naughty dance-rock and R&B came with enough sass, yes sass, to make the weekend start in earnest.

After all, on White Oak, Thursdays are called "Little Friday" anyhow. Or at least they are to me.

More >>

KHJK 103.7, the station known as "Houston's Adult Alternative" and the only place on Houston commercial radio to hear artists such as Mumford & Sons and the Avett Brothers, has been sold to a group of Christian-music radio stations.

According to the Web site radio-info.com, the California-based Educational Media Foundation, which runs the formats "K-Love" (Contemporary Christian) and "Air1" (Christian rock), has signed a letter of intent to buy KHJK.

More >>

Yes, another article about the same band. See a different take on Knights of the Fire Kingdom in Jef With One F's "bus-stop" interview.

Houston has known Jeoaf Johnson as the burly beardo playing drums in Roky Moon & BOLT for the past three years. Yes, him. Now that the band has folded and called it a day, Johnson is striking out on his own with Knights of the Fire Kingdom, a new band with friends Dave Noske, Marcos Echegaray and Chris Wertz.

For Johnson, the vibe in Knights is quite different from his previous roles in BOLT! and O Pioneers. They may be louder and faster, but the focus for Johnson this time is fun. The Knights make their Houston debut tonight at Fitzgerald's with Poor Pilate, We Were Wolves and Co-Pilot.

"It seemed like in the past few bands I'd played in, things tended to get really serious and would lean pretty heavily toward the business side of things," he says. "But along the way, we would kind of lose focus and forget why we started playing in bands in the first place."

More >>

Photos by Jason Wolter

The Tontons

Buxton, the Tontons
Discovery Green
May 24, 2012

I was pretty proud of myself Thursday night: I managed to kill three birds with one stone. I'd never seen local darlings Buxton or the Tontons live before, and I'd never been to a concert at Discovery Green, either. Thanks to UH-Downtown's Thursday Concerts series at the park, I was able to scratch all three at once off of the lengthy to-do list that I've been etching into my steering wheel at red lights.

Conveniently, it couldn't have been a more gorgeous evening for free live music outdoors. There was a strong, persistent breeze howling through downtown that seemed to threaten thunderstorms, but the fast-moving clouds overhead didn't do anything but provide some picturesque matting behind the skyscrapers.

More >>

Each week, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? E-mail their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com.

L-R: Mani Nezami (guitar, bass), Crystal Tolivar (vocals, bass), Chris Bassett (drums, percussion)

Here's what you're about to walk into: A conversation with the quirktastic, surprisingly emotive trio Yello Echo.

That's really the only way to explain it. And really, that's the only way we'd like to explain. Because it's as encompassing and broad and without-borders as their music. (There's music for you, too.)

Just read the interview, you'll see what we mean. Just a sampling of things that make a cameo: Craigslist, Scarface, murder by drowning, the alphabet, Barack Obama, jazz, Barry Gibb, an asshole and the Hindenburg. That's not even everything. And we only asked, like, seven questions. Weirdos.

More >>

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we're trying hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers.

I was sitting in my office about to begin the night's drinking when Roky Moon and BOLT's Aaron Echegaray came in without knocking. He looked fair the devil, all wild-eyed and needing a shave. He took a seat at my desk and whispered just five words to me.

Knights of the Fire Kingdom.

Then he dropped an address written on the back of a lottery ticket into my empty glass and headed back out into the night to do whatever evil things musicians like him do. I knew that a band of such powerful nameology required explanation and hardcore sleuthing.

More >>

Last week I told you about the soundtrack for director Wes Anderson's upcoming feature Moonrise Kingdom, which showcases the work of composers Leonard Bernstein and Alexandre Desplat, Benjamin Britten and strange bedfellow Hank Williams Sr.

Anderson's films are the most anticipated movies of most every year, because they are like catnip for hipsters of all ages and amateur cinéastes alike, and feature completely engrossing soundtracks.

Ever since his first film, the hilariously damaged crime caper Bottle Rocket, Anderson has been choosing great nuggets from acts like The Kinks, The Clash, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and others to sprinkle on top of his work. His soundtracks have also been the catalyst for resurgences of acts like Nico, Bobby Fuller Four and Love.

The help of Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh cannot be understated, either. His quirky instrumental beds are synonymous with Anderson films, most notably Rushmore.

More >>