Former Avail frontman Tim Barry is not just the latest punk-rock dude to turn folk

Like pretty much everyone else, Tim Barry doesn’t quite know what “folk-punk” means—and when he tries to explain it, he winds up laughing.
“I don’t know what the hell y’all are talking about,” Barry says. “You guys came up with that [...]

The beauty of David Bazan’s music isn’t just the music (though it is amazing) or his vocals (though they are haunting), but in the conflict of a believer-turned-non-believer faced with the task of examining his faith. Lucky for the listener, he puts that search into his songs and creates an uneasy journey on which we [...]

Mathews for Congress benefit concert

PHOTO by DAVID M. THORNTON
Dietra Kruschev, 60 Watt Kid and Gestapo Khazi
Alex’s Bar
Feb. 25
“I’m not a politician,” said the candidate Peter Mathews, addressing his fellow Americans in a break between 60 Watt Kid’s echo-drenched set and Gestapo Khazi’s cochlear assassination, which was both refreshing (given that I’m not sure I want [...]

Black Apples “Where The Wild Things Go”

Colorado transplants Black Apples must have followed the same trail Spindrift did—chase the sun west until you hit the water, and write songs along the way. Tracks from the band’s recent Enjoy! borrow from the best psychedelic gunslingers—giant leads like Davie Allan, chopped-up guitar chords like the 13th Floor [...]

Peter Mathews runs for Congress like I get runs in my tights—which is to say incessantly—and the perennial candidate (and his colorful campaign bus)—profiled by Dave Wielenga last summer in these pages—is at it again, this time with a legion of local indie bands supporting him. Tonight’s bill (benefiting Mathews’ campaign) features 60 Watt Kid, [...]

The Stitches: Punk or perish

No matter if it’s the politically-charged radical, the runaway or the kid who never fit in at school, there is always the same thread that draws people to punk rock: angst. The music that got its start as the nation was suffering from a Nixon hangover—a time where there was an [...]

Over the weekend, the now-legendary Alex’s Bar turned 10 years old, bringing out everyone from unofficial house band the Riverboat Gamblers to Mike Watt.
PHOTOS BY JOHN GILHOOLEY

Alex’s Bar turns 10 with Throw Rag and Mike Watt

PHOTO by JOHN GILHOOLEY
Alex Hernandez remembers being flat broke the day his bar opened. Tucked away in the heart of a once-crime-ridden neighborhood in Long Beach, he was determined to make it his pride and joy—probably the reason he was so easily convinced by his family [...]

If there is one holiday ritual I’ve stuck to all these years—as opposed to the ones that have fallen by the wayside, like writing Christmas cards and not waiting until the last minute to shop—it’s to say so long to the family after Christmas dinner and head over to Alex’s Bar, where once a year [...]

On Oct. 17, Riverboat Gamblers guitarist Ian MacDougall was struck by a car while riding his bike to his Austin home. Injuries sustained included a broken hip and wrist and hemorrhaging under the skull. Fortunately, MacDougall is recovering; unfortunately, like many of us, he’s uninsured. Sunday’s benefit concert will feature Youth Brigade, Channel 3, the [...]