Michigan's Breathe Owl Breathe knows how to make young parents rather happy. Their latest offering is an imaginative and heartwarming 7-inch/children's book combo, The Listeners/ These Train Tracks. (Personal aside: I'm a father of a 4 year old, and I've put in way too much time singing to Wonder Pets and the Backyardigans, so maybe I appreciate this more than one might normally). The two stories, with songs to accompany, certainly make for ideal parent-child quality time. With a band name such as theirs, it's little wonder one of the stories revolves around a mole and an ostrich.

As fate would have it, the trio, consisting of Micah Middaugh, Trevor Hobbs and Andréa Moreno-Beals, is swinging through town in support of this most unorthodox follow-up to their stellar 2010 release, Magic Central. Since they'll be opening for Laura Gibson tonight at Dan's Silverleaf, we figured we'd see what Breathe Owl Breathe's all-time top five children's books are. As you'll see, the band had a hard time narrowing their choices down.

More >>

​Nashville's The Features may have a couple of marks against them in the eyes of elitist hipsters who don't like to let actual facts get in the way of a too-cool-for-school argument. It's true, the no longer en vogue Kings of Leon, themselves fellow Tennesseans, have lent a helping hand to the quartet that began in Sparta,Tennessee, back in 1994. Their last couple of records, including 2011's urgent, catchy Wilderness, were released on Kings of Leon's own imprint, Serpents and Snakes. Also, the band is featured on the Twilight: Breaking Dawn soundtrack.

Both of those things are pretty cool, regardless of the skinny-jeaned naysayers. An arena-sized band footing the bill to record and distribute your album while landing a spot on what has actually been an impressive collection of soundtracks are both high points for a band that has fought for attention beyond their Southern home.

More >>

​Magnolia, Texas' Folk Family Revival are yet another example of a young band making their mark in the world of Red Dirt by leaning on a rootsier vibe than many of the current regional chart-toppers.The fact that a young band can produce a mature album like last year's Unfolding their first go 'round is an impressive feat, but that isn't to say the tunes take themselves too seriously. Unfolding incorporates traditional themes of spirituality, love and life on the road with a cohesive country sound that is as comfortable as it is unique.

The group -- singer Mason Lankford, brothers Barrett and Lincoln Lankford and Caleb Pace -- has known each other since they were all entering their teenage years, so perhaps the confidence in one another's ability isn't much of a shock. These days, the band is hitting prime stages throughout the state and opening shows for everyone from Little Big Town to Cody Canada and, as of last Friday at Billy Bob's, Willie Nelson.

More >>

It's not inconceivable to figure that curious folks of the next few decades will look into the music and movements that surged just beneath the surface of the glossy mainstream in this millennium's first decade. Those would-be students of music history won't have to dig through too many virtual copies of Paste, Relix or American Songwriter to see that a proliferation of scruffy, punk-minded string bands made a decent amount of unplugged noise before the century grew too old and Skrillex-ed.

The new decade has seen things shuffled a bit in the string-band vanguard, though. Old Crow Medicine Show is in the middle of a lengthy hiatus, the Felice Brothers have grown restless with the sounds they used to busk with and the Avett Brothers have moved into more of a pop-rock terrain that is pleasant enough but hides the band's roots rather well.

One band that seems to still feel very comfortable with continuing on in a porch-stomping, barn-burning manner is California's The Devil Makes Three.

Even though the trio, led by Pete Barnhard, had a couple of well-received studio albums already under their belt, it was 2009's Do Wrong Right that really nailed the group's sound-retro-but-feel-fresh vibe and gained the band greater notice in the blogosphere and out on the road. A wonderful lack of pretense, coupled with a cross-section of early 20th century musical styles (Would you care for some ragtime mixed with your bluegrass?) made for a collection that gave string-band devotees hope that their day wasn't growing darker by the minute.

Fresh off of their first performance at the Newport Folk Festival, the band will be making a rare Dallas stop tonight at the House of Blues celebrating the release of their stellar new live album, Stomp & Smash. We figured we take a moment to check in with the band and see what keeps them occupied in the van while touring around the country. Below, check out The Devil Makes Three's All Time Top Five Favorite Albums.

More >>

Dirty River Boys - "Carnival Lights" from Compound Productions, LLC on Vimeo.

Texas Music is a term so broad it barely means anything outside of basic geographical terms. And Texas Country is almost as uselessly generic, given the wide swath of acts and sounds that fit under the million-gallon hat that is required to fit over the genre.

To paraphrase former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart (R.I.P.): It may be hard to define Texas Country, but when one hears it, they know it. Such is the case for El Paso's The Dirty River Boys. The primarily acoustic sounds that rustically and realistically jump from the young trio's pair of EPs (Long Cold Fall and Train Station), and they possess a wonderful lack of concern for the over-glossed butt-rock sounds that too often are deemed country and emanate from many of this state's dancehalls these days.

Well, speaking of Lone Star dancehall's, we thought we'd take a minute to catch up with the Dirty River Boys before their November 26th show with Oklahoma's Turnpike Troubadours at the Southside Music Hal to talk their favorite Texas-based venues.

More >>

In this week's paper edition of DC9 at Night, Chris Parker effectively details the sonic evolution of Brooklyn's Pterodactyl. In fact, when describing the splendid craziness that is the band's recently released third album, Spills Out, as "still somewhat woolly with subtle spiky slashes of guitar lingering beneath the surface, but the vocals bring melody to the center of the songs, imbuing them with a pretty, hypnotic allure," Parker simply knocks it out of the park.

These days, so much can be tucked under the perhaps too tidy umbrella of art-rock. But the label certainly applies in the case of Pterodactyl, a band, by the way, that boasts a Dallas-area native in vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jesse Hodges.

While art-rock is certainly en vogue these days, Brooklyn-based bands are even more chic. Seeing as how the band is set to take the stage at Hailey's Rubber Gloves tonight in Denton, we thought we'd catch up with them to find out who their favorite Brooklyn-based bands are. Each of the band members participated in this most hip of surveys.

Oneida: This band has always been at the center of our scene. We've known them for over 10 years and they've always been kind, generous and just all-around awesome. Kid Millions, the drummer, also has a band called Man Forever, where he recruits other badass musicians to come play these unique percussion compositions, and it is rad. Matt [Marlin], our drummer, has played in Man Forever, along with Brian from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Allison from Awesome Color.

More >>

Little Black Dress.

​Local dream-pop outfit Little Black Dress has finally followed up on the promise that was displayed with their full-length debut, Snow in June, of a couple of years ago. They're doing so by offering up a pretty sweet-sounding, limited-edition vinyl single, no less.

The new, self-produced seven-inch single, "Don't Worry Baby," is a well-crafted record that proves the time Toby Pipes and Nolan Thies have spent running their studio, Bass Propulsion Laboratories, has paid off. It's unlikely that any offering with crisper production will be found among local releases this year. To top it off, the B-side of the single has an unreleased, original Little Black Dress tune, "Underoverpass," which is as engaging as even the expertly translated Beach Boys cut is.

Be sure to catch Little Black Dress at Dada this Saturday night as they perform with their Idol Records-buddies Calhoun to give the collection its proper coming-out party. And since the title track for the EP is a cover of a beloved Beach Boys tune, we figured that we'd go ahead and walk right on in the musical door they've opened and get Pipes' and Thies' All Time Top Five Favorite beach Boys Songs.

1. "God Only Knows:" It's only one of the best songs ever written

2. "Don't Worry Baby:" It's just a hit from the start.  Absolutely love the structure of these old mixes with the drums so far back.  Great guitar solo too.

3. "Let's Go Away For A While:" Fantastic instrumental.  It sounds like it was expensive. 
 
4. "Hang on to Your Ego:" Brian Wilson definitely had some things figured out around Pet Sounds.  I guess you kind of have to when you're going head-to-head with the Beatles.

5. "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulders):" Whoever is playing the ride cymbal on this has fantastic self control and taste.  It's very much what we're into.

Scott Toepfer

Chuck Ragan.

​Gainesville, Florida's Chuck Ragan is one of those dudes who just can't go wrong. His more-than-a-decade's work with the still-revered punk act Hot Water Music is often cited by younger punk bands as a key motivator for their own punk-ish endeavors. In the more recent past, as well as the present, the rootsier, folk side of Ragan's sonic palette is getting the bulk of his and his many listeners' attention too.

Gold Country (2009) was a rough-hewn gem of an album that impeccably brought out the storyteller in Ragan perhaps more than any of his previous work. That level has been met, if not exceeded, with the release of Ragan's newest LP, Covering Ground. Fire-and-brimstone singing mixed with fiddling that would be suitable for any front porch stompin' session, along with raw acoustic guitar and the occasional harmonica rip, make for an album that dares you to skip a song, not that you'll even consider it over the course of the record's 10 tunes.

Add to Ragan's role as troubadour the position of leader for the now annual Revival Tour. Over the course of the last few years, Ragan and various roots and punk luminaries such as Possessed by Paul James, Gaslight Anthem's Brian Fallon, Tom Gabel of Against Me!, Austin Lucas and Lucero's Ben Nichols have toured the nation in a predominantly acoustic, down-home and familial fashion, preaching the gospel of how great songs are great songs, regardless of whether they're plugged in or not.

Since Ragan has more or less been on the road touring for just shy of 20 years, we thought it would be revealing to see what the Top Five Favorite Artists For The Road are for him and his crew, who will will be play tonight at the Prophet Bar. Check 'em out after the jump.

More >>

Glossary

​On a gorgeous SXSW night in 2010, Glossary was performing an outdoor set during the Ninebullets.net showcase. As the crowded, tree-covered patio's patrons settled in for the set, the band finished a somewhat down-tempo, almost somber tune. While the name of the tune escapes my memory, the words of Glossary frontman Joey Kneiser that followed the song surely haven't. "That was a Big Star song. We just learned that Alex Chilton passed away tonight and that was for him."

The rest of the weekend would see many musical tributes to the influential and revered Big Star lead singer, but it was that first announcement and its absolute feel of sorrow that sticks in my memory.

Such worship of the Memphis legend isn't a surprise, especially given Glossary's home base of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In fact, it's that territorial element that helped foster such pride for Big Star's work in the heart of the band. "For any musician or music fan that grew up in Tennessee, there was no greater or more mythic of a rock band," Kneiser recently told us. "I grew up feeling like the South produced a band as good as The Beatles, and they came from just a couple hours down the road."

Given all of this, logic, art and emotion all make a rare, sensible intersection on the band's latest full-length album, the recently released Long Live All of Us. Boasting a hearty soulfulness that could only come from Stax-style horns and the band's ability to meld those into genuinely American rock, Glossary has seemingly topped their excellent Feral Fire album from last year.

Glossary will be playing the Doublewide on Sunday night, and it was all too easy to come up with a subject for an All Time Top Five in this case. After the jump, Kneiser gives us his All Time Top Five Big Star Songs.

More >>

Paul Collins

​Seems like most indie music fans had no idea that the Balkan's had their own unique brand of folk music before Zach Condon started mining that territory for sonic gold under his Beirut moniker.

Despite being so closely affiliated with the roots music of that region, Beirut has for years now proven itself an enigmatic collective that continuously produces a fresh product -- all while still maintaining a comfortable residence in their chamber-folk-rock wheelhouse.

The group's August-released latest album, The Rip Tide, should again make long-time followers happy: The swelling trumpet work and typically poetic lyrics of Condon complement one another tremendously on this release, and lead single, "Santa Fe" even manages to marry the electro with the brassy. It's a jubilant number that undermines many people's perceptions that Beirut only excels in the quiet, softer side of the indie realm.

A few months ago, Condon brought Beirut to the Southside Music Hall for a performance that our fearless, departing leader Pete Freedman felt would've been better served in a more intimate environment than the large hall. Seems as though his wishes caught the ear of the parties concerned for bringing Beirut back to Dallas: Tonight, the band will perform in the big room at the Prophet Bar.

Given that the band has been on tour for a while now, we reached out to long-time Beirut bassist Paul Collins to see what his most-played LP's of 2011 are.

More >>