Photo via themarsvolta.com

A fresh lineup for a fresh sound.

​El Paso natives Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta have long been known for their bombast and progressive-rock self-indulgence. Ever since they departed the seminal post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, they've spent their time making what can only be described as "epics."

At the end of the day, you either like their blend of psychedelic progressive Latino jazz-fusion punk rock as heard on albums such as 2005's Frances the Mute or you don't.

Many don't, considering the kinds of critical reviews they've received, but they've managed to carve out a dedicated fan base, a Grammy win and some impressive chart showings for a band as outsider as themselves.

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Photo via MTV.com

Ex-emo Skrillex takes home his first Grammy Awards in a completely different genre.

​Emo. The word conjures so many images. For your average American, it will make them think of black eyeliner, wrist-cutting, and essentially hair metal for the '00s. For hardcore kids, they'll think of Jawbreaker.

But either way you slice it, emo has had its ups and downs as a genre and has changed in many ways over the years, leaving it ill-defined and currently not particularly popular. So what's an emo to do but jump to a different genre and start a new career in a new town?

It's a fairly common tactic: Ditch the makeup and trendy clothes for something vintage and start anew. It's what the hair-metal kids did when that went out and they got into grunge. It's what the deathcore kids did when that went out and they became hipsters.

It's what hipsters did when that got too mainstream and they got into dubstep. In any case, here's my picks for the ones that have made the most successful transitions into a new world.

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Photo by Dawn Jones-Garcia

The Raconteurs at the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival

​It goes without saying that Jack White is, and has been, one of the most prolific artists in contemporary popular music. From The White Stripes' self-titled album to his WTF collaboration with hardcore hip-hop dup Insane Clown Posse last year, the guy has released or produced an album every year without fail since 1999.

Given his rap sheet, it came to no surprise when the Detroit native announced a few weeks ago he's set to release his debut solo effort, Blunderbuss, through his own label Third Man Records in April, advanced by the single "Love Interruption." According to White, the record was written, produced and recorded by himself alone, and "had nothing to do with anyone or anything else."

Rocks Off has been waiting quite a while for White to have to his time to shine all by his lonesome, and in honor of the singer's forthcoming album, we rated his various other projects to hold you over.

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www.facebook.com/coachella

​So, Coachella tickets sold out a few weeks ago. Evidently, the lineup is killer, accommodating to most tastes. Last year, the festival sold out in a week. This year, even with two weekends available, tickets sold out within a couple of hours.

Don't have tickets to the show? Don't fret! What if there were not only two weekends of Coachella happening this year, but many more with plenty of tickets still available? Okay. There aren't, but here are a few imagined alternate Coachella festivals.

FYI, information on these festivals can't be found anywhere else. This stuff is totally exclusive.

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The album that basically made the genre.

​While it may not often be recognized by "mainstream listening audiences," post-hardcore is not a dead genre. Though its popularity has often waxed and waned throughout the years since its inception in the mid '80s, there are always great upstart bands keeping it alive. As of late, the genre has seen something of a big revival in the wake of two of its most important bands reuniting for Coachella performances, those bands being At the Drive-In and Refused.

One of the fundamental genetic make-ups of the genre is that one does not have to be the most technically proficient shredder in the world to be a great guitarist. Sometimes all it takes to influence an entire genre is a little charisma, a few power chords, some hammer-ons and pull-offs, and genuine emotion pouring through each note one plays. In other words, no matter how many notes he can play a second, Yngwie's got nothing on these guys. Because the genre is so vast and covers so many styles, it may be impossible to make a definitive list, but here are the post-hardcore guitarists I feel shaped their contemporaries and the future of the genre for years to come.

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Delicate Cutters

​We received the new Delicate Cutters 2011 album Some Creatures on the same day that we received the new Dead Fingers album from one of our favorite labels, Big Legal Mess, the offshoot successor to Fat Possum. Too bad for Dead Fingers.

The oeuvre of both bands is a mix of folksy indie rock from much the same musical realm as local favorites Literary Greats. But where Dead Fingers sounds contrived, over-thought and lyrically trite (and their vocals made us want to buy stock in companies that manufacture ear plugs), Some Creatures is quite listenable and interesting.

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The current volume of local music is staggering. New Houston bands are born daily, and all too often pass away just as quickly. Rocks Off wants to help you (and ourselves) keep up.

Marc Brubaker

Mantis

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It's a new year, one sure to be loaded with new Houston music, bursting at the seams like our jeans after all these holiday meals. Whether you just need a moment to kick those feet up, unbutton and relax or are jonesing for some tunes to fuel those workouts (like us, hopefully), there's a solution to be found in our local music scene. Dig This is back with another selection for perusing, so scroll down and dig in.

Mantis: Full disclosure: when we went to photograph the New Year's Day Bonanzarama this past weekend, we had no idea who or what Mantis was. On name alone, we surmised that it would be a heavy rock band, but lo and behold, we were blown away by this six-piece soul-funk outfit and its brass section. Fronted by the dynamic, fiery-haired, nimble-fingered Nicholas Greer, this group delivers bombastic soul fueled by Greer's adeptness at the keys and his lightning-quick vocal delivery.

Other Sites: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

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I'll readily be the first to admit it: I'm pessimistic about the Texans chances of winning in the playoffs this weekend. Besides losing three straight games, T.J. Yates, also known as "The Savior" was hurt against the Titans on Sunday, Gary Kubiak has finally come back down to Earth as a coach and Wade Phillips is a man and he doesn't cry.

But what in the hell was playing in Bryan Braman's (#50 in the video above) head when he decided to go head-to-helmet -- yes, HEAD-TO-HELMET -- against a Titans player on a punt return. Braman is an undrafted, free agent special teams player meaning that could have been his last game as a Texan yesterday.

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The current volume of local music is staggering. New Houston bands are born daily, and all too often pass away just as quickly. Rocks Off wants to help you (and ourselves) keep up.

Houston may have gotten colder, but that's just an excuse to hunker down with those headphones, discover some local music, and find out how good we have it here in this city. That's why we dig through the internet each week, highlighting more Houston acts on the roll - because like a six year-old's Christmas list, it just keeps growing, until one day they've circled everything in the LEGO catalog and half of the Toys 'R' Us tome as well. Okay, maybe we're the guilty party in the case of the LEGO's. Either way, dig in to another round of bonafide local music, find something to love, and then grab that coat, because everyone on our list plays within the next week.

Courtesy of dUNETX

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dUNETX: This is one of Houston's longer-lived groups, clocking in as fifteen year veterans. Producing psychedelic power pop and garage rock, the trio has three albums and several EPs under their belts. Concertgoers might have seen them opening for the Meat Puppets at Fitzgerald's, but if you missed it then head over to Bandcamp and listen to a live recording of Keep Your Eyes On The Weeds for an idea of what the group brings to a show. After that, make sure to pencil in their 13th Annual dUNETXmas show at Big Top Lounge on that calendar. The band goes on at 10 and plays until they run out of songs, and it won't even cost you a dime at the door.

Other Sites: Bandcamp, Facebook, Reverbnation, Twitter, YouTube

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Lead Belly

​It's the last week of classes for most of us who are still in school, which means that next week is finals time. We here at Rocks Off feel your pain -- it's hard trying to cram for five finals on only 60 milligrams of Adderall. Hell, we have two projects due tonight by 7 p.m. and we haven't even started.

Every person is different when it comes to the music they listen to while they're studying. Some feel the most comfortable while listening to N.W.A. while others stimulate their mind with Mozart. We don't really buy into the Mozart Effect, though.

When stress gets the best of us, we tend to listen to folk music. We've arranged a few contemporary and classic folk songs to relax you and get you in the right state of mind. We need your young, generative brains for technological advancement and eventually for harvesting.

Keep in mind that this list is also applicable to relatives and friends of the students who may be feeling a bit of your brain strain.

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