Bastard of middle age Eventually Paul Westerberg Reprise Records The Monkees are headed out again this summer looking to rake in the cheap dollars of middle-age nostalgia, bloated in the knowledge there are plenty of suckers out there willing to pay for the thrill of revisiting memories better left forgotten…
Michelle Shocked doesn’t get back to Dallas much anymore. She lives in New Orleans now, and though she lives in a state bordering Texas, she resides just far enough from her old home that she doesn’t much think about Texas anymore–except, maybe, when she writes a song. But even then…
Trio of one Three Women Domestic Science Club Crystal Clear Sound Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt did it first in 1987, donning their Sunday best for the stirring Trio and attending services at the Church of the Holy Tradition; it was ’80s country by way of ’50s pop,…
Los Lobos has existed for 23 years now. Its members were, for the most part, childhood friends who grew up in the same East Los Angeles neighborhood. They were raised on the same blocks, attended the same schools, listened to the same music, played in the same bands. They were…
On a windy and colder-than-usual Sunday night in April, more than 3,000 people showed up in Deep Ellum to do nothing more than hear local bands. There were no street fairs, no free food, no mimes, no apartment open houses. No, these people piled into Blue Cat Blues when Josh…
Beat surrender Nobody likes a rock-and-roll star, but everybody loves one. Rock-and-roll stars–the singers and guitarists who look bigger than life even when they’re half a mile away on an arena stage–are the ultimate figments of the imagination. They only exist when they’re performing, hollering, screaming at an audience they…
At first, Kim Deal ignores the constant interruptions caused when someone keeps trying to click in on her call waiting; she says to forget it, that it’s probably not important. But soon she can’t get a word out without getting cut off. “Hang on for a second,” she groans, and…
A pain in the ass Shot The Jesus Lizard Capitol Records The Butthole Surfers’ new Electric Larryland is their first “rock” record, the psychedelic shtick contained and the avant jerking off restrained until you realize they’re not screwing around anymore; Gibby and the boys are playing it as straight as…
To hell with tradition. Instead of dedicating the annual Dallas Observer Music Awards issue to just the winners, this year we decided to feature all the bands nominated before the ballots are counted. The Music Awards are, after all, voted up by the readers, your chance to prove the critics…
Album Producer North Texas appears to be the latest Happy Hour of Talent luring thirsty A&R reps from major labels all over America. But for every CD or demo that drew the attention of some A&R schlub, there had to be a producer behind the scenes to get the sound…
Giving up the funk On his last album, George Clinton asked you to smell his finger, truly spoken like a man who’s had his thumb up his ass for a while now. It has been a long time since Clinton was the Funkmaster General: His heyday stretches from 1970 (with…
They got the beat The Fugees’ set at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin last month was one of the more anticipated gigs of the weekend–with good reason, too, not just the result of undeserved hype that follows every band into Austin in March like bad body odor…
Rhymes with “Brit” Hampden-Sydney Circus Bad Haskells Carpe Diem Records Apparently, the Good Haskells weren’t available, so Carpe Diem Records–the local label usually known for quality, home to Cafe Noir and Little Jack Melody until they got locked in the basement–rounded up this band instead. Not that you can begrudge…
“After Show Only” backstage passes are concert promoters’ version of a good news-bad news joke. The good news is that you can go backstage. The bad news is that you are often segregated from the real action and rarely get to meet the band. If there is going to be…
Catch a fire The Toughest Peter Tosh Heartbeat A sideman who stepped out front only to have his enormous myth disguise the fact his music was often mediocre, Peter Tosh’s ’60s output surpassed most of his later work; without the Wailers behind him, Tosh always seemed like a second-rate Bob…
Nick Cave has a hard time describing his music, and as he speaks over the phone from New York City, he does so slowly. He forms his words with calculated enunciation, and though he is never evasive, he answers questions carefully and thoughtfully, like a man pondering his own existence…
It’s a wonder the Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. doesn’t sue Elvis Costello. Or National Public Radio commentator Elvis Mitchell. Or every single Elvis Presley impersonator stalking the streets of Las Vegas. Priscilla and Lisa Marie don’t’ take too kindly to anyone using the King’s name in vain: Try eating a…
“I have to admit, there’s a guaranteed future in dirty dishes, which there ain’t in blues,” Keith Ferguson concedes. “I seem to be the only one who regards himself as a professional musician. Our lead singer’s a dishwasher in the back of some restaurant. If he put half the energy…
The joke’s on you Thank God I’m Livin’ in the U.S.A.! Pump’n Ethyl DSR Records There’s nothing Turner Van Blarcum isn’t pissed off about. He’s getting hammered by minimum wage (“it’s the latest crime wave”), the IRS is out to take what little money he does pocket (“they’re after you/they’re…
In its rush to modernize and colonize, this city destroys more of its musical past every day. The nearly completed Jefferson at Gaston Yards apartments now stand on the old railyards where Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leadbelly once disembarked the trains that led to Deep Ellum. Historic old clubs and…
She had to sin to be saved Signed to a major label before she was even voting age, Maria McKee was always doomed to take a fall. No one wants to hear your voice crack in public. McKee’s had a big, beautiful voice since the age of 20: Lone Justice’s…
Mas means less Colossal Head Los Lobos Warner Bros. The premier roots band of the ’80s has been mutating into the premier avant-rock band of the ’90s–first with Kiko, then as Latin Playboys, now this step in the evolution from bar-band traditionalists into studio creations. This isn’t Los Lobos anymore,…
