PLUS: Vote Now in Best of Austin • Summer Camps

FFFF Live Review: The Golden Boys

The Golden Boys Auditorium Shores, Nov. 3 The Golden Boys are the type of guys more likely to be going to bed at 11:50am than playing a concert. “This looks like Beerland at 10 in the morning,” guitarist Matt Hoopengardner pointed out to the 30 people who arrived early enough to catch the veteran band’s…

by Kevin Curtin

FFFF Live Review: Japandroids

Japandroids Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 “Your beautiful Texas sun is killing our Canadian bodies,” quipped Japandroids guitarist Brian King. Maybe so, but the sunshine didn’t have much effect on the Vancouver duo’s music. More Minneapolis than Detroit or Akron, the ‘droids crank working-class pop/rock chord progressions past 11 and let the rock anthems fly. King…

by Michael Toland

Culture Flash!

Payne Theatre Award winners, new companies at home at the Long Center, and an arts administrator gets more classical work

by Chronicle Staff

Headlines

› City Council meets today (Thursday) with an unusually light agenda, but with a few hot-button items, including whether to authorize yet more taxicab franchise permits over drivers’ opposition, and how to make peace on East Sixth between Cheer Up Charlie’s and its neighbors. See “Council: Call Me 30 More Cabs?” › The state-run Women’s…

by Chronicle Staff

FFFF Live Review: Saul Williams, Wyatt Cenac, David Cross

Saul Williams/Wyatt Cenac/David Cross Auditorium Shores, Nov. 3 David Cross wasn’t one of the biggest headliners at Fun Fun Fun Fest, but because he’s a comedian, he was out and done by 6pm. After him, the Yellow stage reverted to musicians and, no disrespect to Peelander-Z or Nomeansno (or most acts on other stages), but…

by Richard Whittaker

FFFF Live Review: Deerhoof

Deerhoof Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 Hard to imagine one band could wear 18 years as well as Deerhoof does, but that credit goes to the San Francisco quartet’s ever-progressing ability to evolve and stay fresh. This round, it was singer Satomi Matsuzaki – now almost exclusively on bass – and the boys’ decision to open…

by Chase Hoffberger

FFFF Live Review: Kreayshawn

Kreayshawn Auditorium Shores, Nov. 3 Kreayshawn’s like five-foot-one, thin as a pin, and she carried a cardboard box under her arm as she smiled and waved to the crowd on her way out, 15 minutes late. This is the new face of hip-hop? Hardly, but the Oakland, Calif., twerk rapper’s hard to hate when you…

by Chase Hoffberger

FFFF Live Review: Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 The immensity of sound from New Jersey quintet Titus Andronicus was contained under the Yellow stage tent, a bizarre choice for the raucousness of its Civil War-themed punk. Nevertheless, security personnel calmly perched at the sides of the stage and braced for the storm. Within seconds of the first…

by Abby Johnston

FFFF Live Review: Dum Dum Girls

Dum Dum Girls Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 Dum Dum Girls graduated from girl group cliches with last fall’s acclaimed Only In Dreams, but that doesn’t mean that the bicoastal quartet has tacked down its stage presence just yet. All garbed in black, they could have backed up Jack White while zooming through varied points in…

by Abby Johnston

FFFF Live Review: OFF!

OFF! Auditorium Shores, Nov. 3 Punk rock maturity? First generation Black Flag(ger) and OFF! vocal point Keith Morris frowned, rolled his eyes, and then proved the soul of patience as his band’s Fun Fun Fun Fest set got held up for the taco cannon on the stage adjoining his. In fact, the Batmanesque contraption sending…

by Raoul Hernandez

FFFF Live Review: De La Soul

De La Soul Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 “We’ve been doing this for 25 years,” barked De La Soul’s Maseo from behind the decks. “So that gives us the right to do whatever the fuck we want to do.” On this night, it turns out that was bitch about the sound (“The reason hip-hop shows don’t…

by Thomas Fawcett

FFFF Live Review: Napalm Death

Napalm Death Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 Taking the stage after tour mates Municipal Waste, Birmingham, England’s Napalm Death played polar opposite to its Black stage predecessors. While Waste remains boozing and bruising, Death marches as solemn and political as grindcore can get. Frontman Mark “Barney” Greenway offers an onstage stumble that resembles a spastic child…

by Adam Schragin

FFFF Live Review Real Estate

Real Estate Auditorium Shores, Nov. 3 “We’re going to try to play the party songs for you, since it’s Saturday,” claimed Real Estate bassist Alex Bleeker during the band’s Fun Fun Fun Fest set. Given the dreamy nature of Days, the Jersey quintet’s breakthrough LP, whether or not the band’s wispy jangle could hold a…

by Michael Toland

FFFF Live Review: Fucked Up

Fucked Up Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 Damian Abraham’s monotone bark, situated atop Fucked Up’s round, lustrous, hardcore sound, works like using gasoline as the topping on an ice cream sundae: It’s a contrast of extremes. By the end of epic opener “Queen of Hearts,” the bald, burly Canadian vocalist had shed his superfluous clothing and…

by Kevin Curtin

FFFF Live Review: Bob Mould

Bob Mould Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 With his set doubling as the final show to feature Sugar’s Copper Blue start-to-finish, Bob Mould was clearly in a good mood. Whether he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to play his most popular album in its entirety anymore, or excited at the crowd of people ready to…

by Michael Toland

FFFF Live Review: Danny Brown

Danny Brown Auditorium Shores, Nov. 3 A draped black shirt over a skinny silhouette, hair defiantly asymmetrical, gap-toothed, wearing pointy shoes: Almost exactly a year after his breakout debut album XXX, Detroit rapper Danny Brown remains completely flabbergasting. He writes songs about Adderall, cunnilingus, and the combination thereof. A whole crowd of boring white kids…

by Luke Winkie

FFFF Live Review: Turbonegro

Turbonegro Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 Given the number of Turbojugend – Turbonegro’s fan club members – running around Fun Fun Fun Fest in denim jackets, sailor’s caps, and makeup, you’d think the Norwegian self-styled death-punk band was this year’s major attraction. The recently-reactivated group headlined the Black stage on the final night, but it did…

by Michael Toland

FFFF Live Review: Hannibal Buress

Hannibal Buress Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 There’s worse goals for a comedian than being Jerry Seinfeld, and Hannibal Buress walked out onto a beyond-capacity Yellow stage wearing a virtual Next Big Comic medal around his neck. He adds a hipster burnish to “have you ever noticed?” humor, and it’s now official: airport security line jokes…

by Richard Whittaker

FFFF Live Review: Wavves

Wavves Auditorium Shores, Nov. 3 After a shore day with highs in the 90s, surf punk still felt relevant to a Texas November. San Diego band Wavves was just the group to bring on the salty, tongue-in-cheek beach homages. Nathan Williams launched into his sneering – briefly interrupted by an onstage marriage proposal (she said…

by Abby Johnston

The Luv Doc: Mittens and Muscleboy

LuvDoc, My roommate is threatening to move to Canada if Romney is elected. That would be super cool because he is really annoying. He never flushes the toilet, he leaves crumbs on the couch all the time, he eats tacos from Jack in the Box when he gets off work and then leaves the wrappers…

by Chronicle Staff

FFFF Live Review: Astronautalis

Astronautalis Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 Dallas by way of Florida by way of Minneapolis’s Doomtree crew describes Astronautalis’ career arc as good as anything, but honestly, this is it: he’s rap’s Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, and Lou Reed, one size fits all. A hyperintellectual who segues between intricately woven rhymes parsing the Revolutionary War (raucous…

by Marc Savlov

FFFF Live Review: Public Image Ltd.

Public Image Ltd. Auditorium Shores, Nov. 3 Any singer can spew edgy sentiments, but it takes a master to make them stick. In the case of John Lydon’s work with PiL, he doesn’t employ wit or inflammation. His town crier vocals become fully integrated with the music, and simple, repetitive phrases turn into bellicose calls…

by Greg Beets

Brooklyn Castle

Brooklyn Castle 2012, PG, 101 min. Directed by Katie Dellamaggiore, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The chess geeks at most schools might occupy the bottom rung of the social ladder, but at Brooklyn’s I.S. 318 – which holds more national chess titles than any junior high in the country – “the geeks…

by Nora Ankrum

FFFF Live Review: Converge

Converge Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 Jacob Bannon stood tall above his quartet’s amps, crucifix arms eclipsing the sun and acres of dust blanketing the blue sky. An icon, a statue, the destroyer of worlds, he was all. Salem, Mass., hardcore poets Converge enjoy a long and potent career. It’s year 22 and they still look…

by Luke Winkie

FFFF Live Review: A$AP Rocky

A$AP Rocky Auditorium Shores, Nov. 3 Bad things are bound to happen when you’re three songs into your set and you haven’t yet noticed that the backing track’s vocals are louder than anything you’re putting through your microphone. For A$AP Rocky, Harlem’s heralded Houston biter, that messed-up equilibrium pushed his headlining set straight to irrelevancy…

by Chase Hoffberger

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

The first recorded fatal automobile accident took place in 1899 on Central Park West in New York City. A cock linnet was a popular pet bird in Victorian times. “Arf a cock linnet” is cockney rhyming slang for “half a minute.” Besides acting and directing, what do Michael Fassbender, Benicio Del Toro, and Robert Rodriguez…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

FFFF Live Review:Superchunk

Superchunk Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 Superchunk isn’t the best remembered Nineties indie-rock band. In fact, they might not even be in the top three. These days, the Chapel Hill janglers are more concerned with maintaining Merge Records than jamming out high velocity pop. And yet, 2010’s Majesty Shredding turned heads, and rightfully so. Not many…

by Luke Winkie

FFFF Live Review: Refused

Refused Fun Fun Fun Fest, Nov. 3 The three-and-a-half-minute ascending hum that preceded the Refused’s hair-raising Fun Fun Fun headlining set was nothing compared to the 14-year gap between the release of their last album and its subsequent tour. The wait proved well worth it. Kicking off with the title track, the reunited Swedish hardcore…

by Kevin Curtin

Flight

Flight 2012, R, 138 min. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Geraghty, Tamara Tunie, James Badge Dale, Peter Gerety, Melissa Leo. For the first half-hour or so, Flight keeps us rapt with thrilling action and a troubling moral quandary.…

by Marjorie Baumgarten

Meal Times Nov. 1-7

� A Taste of African Heritage Food journalist Toni Tipton-Martin offers a free series of cooking classes based on a traditional healthy African diet. Sign up via email. Thursdays, Nov. 1-Dec. 13, 6pm. Carver Museum, 1165 Angel­i­na. info@thesandeyouthproject.org, www.carvermuseum.org. � Grand Opening Tasting Party Chef Greg Ray invites foodies and gluten-free diners to GoodFellows, his…

by Chronicle Staff

FFFF Live Review: Against Me!

Against Me! Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 “Hello, Fun Fun Fun Fest! This song is called ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues,'” announced Against Me! singer Laura Jane Grace, kicking off the Florida punk band’s first Austin performance since the artist formerly known as Tom Gabel began rocking as a woman. With frank lyricism outlining the group’s folk-punk roots,…

by Kevin Curtin

Wreck-It Ralph

Wreck-It Ralph 2012, PG, 101 min. D: Rich Moore; with the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch. Candyland meets Tron by way of Nintendo’s Donkey Kong, a sweet splash of treacly Disneyana, a dollop of Pixar’s Cars, and a gooey series of sugar-bomb, high-fructose, racing set-pieces that very nearly sideswipe…

by Marc Savlov

FFFF Live Review: Santigold

Santigold Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 Santigold took the stage late, in a flurry of gold pom-poms and a heavily adorned jacket, which she quickly lost as the crowd thickened and pulsed. The oddball Philly pop star blends anachronistic influences into modernized hip-hop, compositions that could easily stand on their own; but Santi White takes them…

by Abby Johnston

FFFF Live Review: Pallbearer

Pallbearer Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 Pallbearer pulls off that very specific feat of making metal that fits a mold without sounding like a warmed-over tribute or any lesser imitation. In this Little Rock, Ark., quartet’s case, its chosen designation might be called “melodic doom,” indisputably heavy music that features clean vocals and songs that are…

by Adam Schragin

Keep the Lights On

Keep the Lights On 2012, NR, 101 min. Directed by Ira Sachs, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth, Julianne Nicholson, Paprika Steen, Souleymane Sy Savane, Sebastian La Cause, Justin Reinsilber. In Keep the Lights On, a spare domestic drama about addiction, filmmaker Ira Sachs makes regular use of a 1986…

by Kimberley Jones

Central Health Prop. 1: Opponents’ Arguments

1) St. David’s HealthCare Argument: St. David’s says the med school proposal misdirects funding that should be aimed directly at indigent care. Response: Central Health says this is the best way to expand indigent care, and St. David’s just objects to the financial terms for participation. 2) Travis County Taxpayers Union Argument: Local property taxes…

by Chronicle Staff

Quote of the Week

“If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me.” – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, responding to a reporter’s question about Mitt Romney visiting his state to tour the areas ravaged by Hurricane Sandy

by Chronicle Staff

FFFF Live Review: X

X Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 “Let’s hear it for the Big Boys!,” exclaimed bassist John Doe as X took the stage Friday night. The invocation of Fun Fun Fun Fest’s musical pedigree proved prescient. With actor/comedian David Cross looking on behind ever-smiling guitarist Billy Zoom, X slammed through all of Los Angeles and a good…

by Greg Beets

FFFF Live Review: Cult of Youth

Cult of Youth Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 An early afternoon slot in unseasonably hot weather wasn’t the optimal setting to witness Cult of Youth. Everything about the Brooklyn-based quartet’s recorded output screams darkness. Then again, there’s nothing like freaky weather to incant a proper end-of-days vibe. Turns out Cult of Youth tastes just fine in…

by Greg Beets

FFFF Live Review: Bun B

Bun B Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 “I came to rep UGK for life, so if you got love for the Pimp, let me hear you make some noise, ATX!” With that tribute to his fallen UnderGround Kingz producer and rhyme partner, Bun B launched into a 45-minute set of throwed Southern rap by taking the…

by Thomas Fawcett

FFFF Live Review: A Place To Bury Strangers

A Place To Bury Strangers Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 Ultimately, there wasn’t any point in the Jesus & Mary Chain reuniting, even for a one-off. A Place To Bury Strangers’ swirl-pop time bomb Sunday on the Orange stage left the Reid brothers’ South by Southwest 2012 Belmont gig a tattered memory. Guitarist/singer Oliver Ackermann pinwheeled…

by Marc Savlov

FFFF Live Review: Run-DMC

Run-DMC Auditorium Shores, Nov. 2 Dang old and decked out in their Kangols, the two surviving members of hip-hop’s pioneering Run-DMC strutted out on stage like they owned the place and everything around it. “Throw your hands in the air,” shouted 47-year-old the Rev. Run, who, in a silky black athletic jumpsuit, looked two steps…

by Chase Hoffberger

FFFF Live Review: Baauer

Baauer Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 NYC’s Baauer is down with the scene. Sporting ball cap, scruff, and a long-sleeved shirt, he might have just woken up. It’s called trap music, but not the Three 6 Mafia kind. A nascent etymology consisting of short, sticky blasts of brain-dead dance music, its producers, usually young and optimistic,…

by Luke Winkie

FFFF Live Review: Giant Giant Sand

Giant Giant Sand Auditorium Shores, Nov. 4 For a man as seemingly relaxed and understated as Howe Gelb, the musician who records under his own name or with the rotating musical combo Giant Sand, he’s a workaholic on paper, releasing music almost without cease since first appearing in the mid-Eighties as Tucson’s answer to the…

by Adam Schragin

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: X

X Fri., 8pm, Black stage Two years ago, X celebrated the 30th anniversary of its debut album, Los Angeles, by touring the West Coast and selected U.S. cities with a package that featured the screening of 1986 documentary X: The Unheard Music, followed by a performance of the LP. Since the Southern Californians didn’t make…

by Jim Caligiuri

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros Here (Vagrant) With 2009 debut Up From Below, Edward Sharpe tapped an uncanny vein of folky sing-a-long and charismatic weirdness. Here settles in perfectly as a follow-up, leading with the downbeat whoop and harmony of “Man on Fire” and cloyingly catchy “That’s What’s Up.” Frontman Alex Ebert shoots more…

by Doug Freeman

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Bob Mould Silver Age (Merge) Bob Mould’s 2011 autobiography, See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody, remains notable for its lack of rage and melody, but apparently he was saving that for Silver Age. Shedding the introspection of recent efforts to unleash his most powerful solo work since Sugar, Mould strikes gold…

by Doug Freeman

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Superchunk

Superchunk Fri., 6:50pm, Orange stage As bassist of Superchunk and co-founder of Merge Records with bandmate Mac McCaughan, Laura Ballance maintains a solid grasp of the indie rock demographic. Nevertheless, some things still surprise her. Take “This Summer,” for example. The North Carolina-bred quartet’s latest single buzzes with seasonal energy, so they released it alongside…

by Greg Beets

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Nite Jewel One Second of Love (Secretly Canadian) Since releasing her first demo under the moniker Nite Jewel in 2008, Ramona Gonzalez’s music has matured from a self-conscious bedroom project into a confident outlet of fully-realized funk and electro indie. A promising up-tempo single from last year, “It Goes Through Your Head” appeared to hint…

by Adam Schragin

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Torche Harmonicraft (Volcom) If Baroness began metaldom as Mastodon Jr., consider Torche its younger bro. While third full-length Harmonicraft doesn’t boast the same master craftsmanship as Baroness’ third disc Yellow & Green, the Miami quartet’s indie rock crossover matches up no less seamlessly. Torche’s 2008 master class, second album Meanderthal, began at prog metal and…

by Raoul Hernandez

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday Reviews

Daughn Gibson All Hell (White Denim) Daughn Gibson’s been a trucker and a heavy metal drummer, and now he writes haunted country songs. The Pennsylvanian’s debut album All Hell whistles both inviting and peculiar in equal measure, a cadaverous reimagining of paved-over Americana. The dusted strut to “Tiffany Lou” feels like a ghost story for…

by Luke Winkie

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Cheap Girls Giant Orange (Rise) Get ready for one more round of Midwestern scruff-rock by beer light. Taking cues from the Replacements, Guided By Voices, and Sugar, Cheap Girls cover familiar insouciance without getting lost in the past. The Lansing, Mich., trio’s third album seethes with warm tube amp crunch, but hints of transistor pop…

by Greg Beets

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Dum Dum Girls End of Daze (Sub Pop) The 2010 debut long-player from N.Y./L.A. rockers Dum Dum Girls rode in on a salvo of summery, vintage, DIY lady rock. While others (Vivian Girls, Best Coast) continued in their roles of bright-eyed beach vixens, this quartet improved with expert girl-group songwriting on sophomore full-length Only in…

by Abby Johnston

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday Reviews

Diamond Rugs (Partisan) Rawkus supergroups drawn together primarily for a good time now include Diamond Rugs. That’s to be expected from the prolific and ornery mind of Deer Tick’s John McCauley, teamed with members of Black Lips, Dead Confederate, Six Finger Satellite, and Steve Berlin from Los Lobos. The surprise isn’t that their eponymous debut…

by Doug Freeman

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Sharon Van Etten

Sharon Van Etten Fri., 3:25pm, Orange stage Touring takes the songs right out of a songwriter. “I feel like I’ve been in a bubble for the past year,” says Brooklyn folk darling Sharon Van Etten, who did not foresee herself ever spending 10 out of 12 months on the road. “It’s been fun, but it’s…

by Chase Hoffberger

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Burning Love Rotten Thing To Say (Southern Lord) Burning Love stakes its claim in the fruitful land between Motor City punk, Northwest stoner rock, and British heavy metal. Produced by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, the Toronto quintet’s second full-length invites multiple moving violations with its screaming, slam-bang dynamic. Eschewing build-and-release, Rotten Thing To Say sprints…

by Greg Beets

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday Reviews

The Head and the Heart (Sub Pop) “Lord, have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways,” Jonathan Russell begs with an unruffled tenor on “Down In the Valley.” That offering from Seattle sixpiece The Head and the Heart, like the rest of its self-titled debut, couldn’t even spell rough and rowdy. Rather, campfire nods assume…

by Abby Johnston

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Rakim

Rakim Sun., 6:10pm, Blue stage 2012 Fun Fun Fun Fest performer Saul Williams once rapped, “Not until you’ve listened to Rakim on a rocky mountaintop have you heard hip-hop.” Fifteen years ago, when I saw the NYC MC perform in Fribourg, Switzerland, at the foot of the Jura Mountains, it was a prophecy fulfilled. “Our…

by Thomas Fawcett

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Minus the Bear Infinity Overhead (Dangerbird) Minus the Bear: emo, indie, prog? Eighties revivalists? As with polymaths, there’s no straight answer from this Seattle quintet. Jake Snider and his gang alchemize angular guitar riffs, Reagan-era synth, nonstandard tempos, arena-ready melodies, and a heart-on-sleeve libretto into a mélange that feels familiar but unique. “Steel and Blood”…

by Michael Toland

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday Reviews

Why? Mumps, Etc. (Anticon) Why? is someone’s favorite band. Over four LPs, Yoni Wolf’s Oakland-based quartet has built up a dedicated congregation for its obtuse blend of indie rock groove and alt-rap naval gazing. Wolf tells stories in mysterious ways, making you giggle, squirm, and philosophize. Mumps, Etc. offers his most unfocused entry yet, but…

by Luke Winkie

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Nomeansno

Nomeansno Sat., 6:45pm , Yellow stage Despite their role as an obligatory name-check in the deep subgenre known as “math rock,” Canadian prog-punk pioneers Nomeansno have no use for the appellation. “I think the term’s fatuous,” states guitarist Tom Holliston. “Listen to some Bulgarian wedding music! Or Bartok! There’s a whole new world outside of…

by Greg Beets

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Municipal Waste The Fatal Feast (Nuclear Blast) Wallowing unabashedly in the blackened gross-out humor endemic to sweaty man-boys who’ve spent too much time cooped up in a van together, Municipal Waste steers its thrash revivalism clear of pastiche. The Richmond, Va., quartet makes all the cuts, but does so in a fundamentally good-natured manner, ignoring…

by Greg Beets

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday Reviews

The Helio Sequence Negotiations (Sub Pop) Melt into the Helio Sequence’s fifth offering. Opening with the chiming sway of “One More Time,” which conjures the Walkmen’s charmingly subdued moments, and the dramatic melodic build of “October,” Negotiations develops spaciously, expanding with every song until it becomes enveloping. Brandon Summer’s warm voice matches the dreamlike swirl…

by Doug Freeman

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Explosions in the Sky

Explosions in the Sky Sun., 7:55pm, Orange stage Four acts that helped fuse ATX’s ascension instrumentalists. Nina Simone “Sometimes I get punch drunk listening to her,” says guitarist Munaf Rayani. “She’s so good at hitting all the right notes. I made a mix of about 15 songs that lasted right about an hour, and we…

by Austin Powell

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Diamond Rings Free Dimensional (Astralwerks) Great story: disheveled post-punker trades in his decrepit brown notes for rinky-dink Eighties hooks and a vast array of leopard-print tights. Two years on, Toronto’s John O’Regan refreshes his Diamond Rings solo project with a sophomore dollop of glam-pop glitz. Free Dimensional is a dance craze on wax. O’Regan’s been…

by Luke Winkie

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Beatbox

10YR (Fri. Blue stage, 11:55am) Local lovechild of D-Madness and L.A.X vox Yadira Brown refurbishes neo-soul. Live Action Battle Rap (Fri. Yellow stage, 1:10pm) ATX comic MC Terp2it hosts a spitfire stand-off sure to hold more one-liners than that scene from 8 Mile. Bun B (Fri., Blue stage, 7:55pm) Texas rap’s uncle and underground king…

by Chase Hoffberger

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Cursive I Am Gemini (Saddle Creek) At the turn of the century, Nebraska indie label Saddle Creek made its name behind Bright Eyes and Cursive, and the evolution of that angst – if not so much maturing – has posed a challenge for both projects. Whereas Conor Oberst has gone into the mystic, Tim Kasher…

by Doug Freeman

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Titus Andronicus Local Business (XL) Titus Andronicus plays it straight. Two years ago, the Jersey folk-punkers released the most epic indie rock album of the new millennium in The Monitor, a 65-minute barn burner utilizing an extended Civil War metaphor to chronicle a sour relationship. There are no horns, skits, or muskets on Local Business,…

by Luke Winkie

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Headbanging & Horns On The Black Stage

Tia Carrera (Fri., 11:55am) Austin’s improv psych-metal power trio burns stages alive. Burning Love (Fri., 12:30pm) Heavy hardcore from Toronto in a Corrosion of Conformity vein. Kvelertak (Fri., 1:40pm) Fresh from the end credits of Trollhunter comes this Norwegian black & roll troop, three axes ablaze. Torche (Fri., 2:15pm) Miami’s finest stoner rock group borders…

by Michael Toland

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Japandroids Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl) Vancouver anthem punks Japandroids got started hollering about French-kissing some French girls. On sophomore effort Celebration Rock, they’re still “yelling like hell to the heavens.” Brian King and David Prowse are old enough for prudence, but they heartily crank those erstwhile years when teenaged bullshit made all the sense in the…

by Luke Winkie

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Austin in the House

Midgetmen (Fri., Yellow stage, 11:50am) Veteran PBR rawkers perform a whole set of Weird Al songs. Not in the Face (Fri., Orange stage, noon) Explosive guitar/drum duo with deep country roots and heartfelt songwriting. Orthy (Fri., Blue stage, 12:30pm) Ian Orth, of DJ duo Learning Secrets, channels a heavenly wave of deep electronic music with…

by Kevin Curtin

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday Reviews

Paul Banks Banks (Matador) Paul Banks has had a rough go of it. Since Interpol’s era-defining debut, 2002’s Turn On the Bright Lights, the NYC luminary’s career slowly disintegrated into unflattering irrelevance. Banks is a defiant title for an embattled songwriter, and he pulls it off. His second solo LP is stormy, jittery, and often…

by Luke Winkie

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Giant Giant Sand Tucson (Fire) Of all the pretentiously unpretentious artistes in indie rock, Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb seems like the least likely to do a concept album. Yet here’s Tucson, a self-styled “country rock opera” credited to Giant Giant Sand to accommodate the addition of guest singers, a string section, and pedal steel ace…

by Michael Toland

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Comedy On The Yellow Stage

Ralph Hardesty (Fri., 1pm) January 26, 2011: Hardesty, long a local arts correspondent online and co-host of The Encyclopedia Show, tried stand-up at Kick Butt Coffee where he opened with “a joke about my cat’s butt.” An inauspicious start, but two years later Hardesty’s opened for Hannibal Buress, Jackie Kashian, and helped inaugurate the San…

by Adam Schragin

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday Reviews

OFF! (Vice) Keith Morris’ ranting vocals sound more berserk on the first full-length offering from OFF! than they did on punk brand Black Flag’s essential 1978 EP Nervous Breakdown. He was 23 then, and now, at 57, his sharp, minutelong flip-outs have only increased in potency. “I want to club you like a baby seal,…

by Kevin Curtin

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Cult of Youth Love Will Prevail (Sacred Bones) The second album from this Brooklyn collective comes from an undeniably dark place. Gothic and industrial overtones commingle with eclectic neo-folk exploding with strategic punk rage. The register of Sean Ragon’s brogue resides somewhere in the vicinity of Nick Cave and Michael Gira, yet underneath the stomping,…

by Greg Beets

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Black Stage Punks

Dwarves (Fri., 3pm) Sure the naked, masked guitarist is gone, but singer Blag Dahlia’s short, witty songwriting assures the California mainstays will play 20 great songs in 25 minutes. Joyce Manor (Sat., 1:20pm) Thumpy, simple, Cali punk, with a focus on great songwriting. The Briefs (Sun., 5:10pm) S.F. quartet that spawned the Cute Lepers returns…

by Kevin Curtin

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday Reviews

Kreayshawn Somethin ‘Bout Kreay (Columbia) Kreayshawn’s debut isn’t just bad. It’s historically awful. Never before in the history of recorded music has a major label debut sold so poorly in its first week on racks. Somethin ‘Bout Kreay did 3,900 units in mid-September, but not even a million on the books could change the fact…

by Chase Hoffberger

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Pallbearer Sorrow and Extinction (Profound Lore) Sorrow and Extinction tills a gorgeously bleak expanse. Ancient, bone-dry guitars and igneous drums greet Brett Campbell’s voice as it swoops in like it’s looking for fresh carrion. This is the clarion call of the wasteland. Little Rock, Ark., quartet Pallbearer is responsible for one of the most engrossing,…

by Luke Winkie

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Electrified On The Blue Stage

Dillon Francis (Fri., 8:45pm) Diplo protégé and Skrillex label signee, Étienne de Crécy (Sun., 8:50pm) Imported from Lyon, wellspring of Nineties French house uprising. STRFKR (Sat., 7:50pm) Now missing the vowels, but none of the pomp. Tanlines (Sat., 4:45pm) Anachronistic Brooklyn synth pop with shameless, toe-tapping hooks. Vockah Redu (Sat., 12:35pm) New Orleans bounce rapper…

by Abby Johnston

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Black Moth Super Rainbow Cobra Juicy (Rad Cult) With increased production value and coherent construction, Cobra Juicy represents a designer drug compared to Black Moth Super Rainbow’s back catalog of LSD-soaked synth pop. A basic structure of live drums, rock bass, and slide guitar comes topped with heaps of push-key counter melodies that sound like…

by Kevin Curtin

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

De La Soul’s Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present: First Serve Why didn’t the world pay more attention to the new De La Soul? Because this isn’t a De La Soul album at all. Released in April, First Serve is the conceptual work of De La Soul rappers Dave Jolicoeur and Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer (no…

by Chase Hoffberger

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Santigold Master of My Make-Believe (Atlantic) Four years and one name change removed from her electric debut Santogold, Santi White returns to push the boundaries of pop music, this time as Santigold. The Philly native and Brooklynite still sells global dance music deeply rooted in big bass and Eighties synth pop, but Master of My…

by Thomas Fawcett

Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview: Twin Sister

Twin Sister Fri., 9pm, Yellow stage Riding two EPs and 2011 long-player In Heaven, Twin Sister distances itself from a mob of contemporary dream pop outfits. Enough so that producer Scoop DeVille sampled the Long Island quintet’s hazy “Meet the Frownies” in breakout Kendrick Lamar’s “The Recipe.” When guitarist Eric Cardona phones from Manhattan, his…

by Abby Johnston

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday Reviews

Deerhoof Breakup Song (Polyvinyl Records) With music as strange as Deerhoof’s – cut-up freak pop made of skittering electronics, over-excited guitars, and unconventional singing – inanity threatens, but on its 11th studio disc, San Francisco’s noisy electro crew finds a sweet spot both weird and inspiring. Sucker punch tempo changes and disorienting stereo panning skew…

by Kevin Curtin

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday Reviews

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis The Heist Flexing the same contextual muscle that helped make Atmosphere’s Slug an MC for the downtrodden, Macklemore utilizes second album The Heist as a vehicle for dissection, pulling back the layers of skin that cover addiction (“Starting Over”), the music industry (“Jimmy Iovine”), materialism (“Thrift Shop”), and homosexuality (“Same Love”).…

by Chase Hoffberger

Recent

See all

Gift this article