Where Is My Mind?

     The Smashing Pumpkins have reunited and dropped a comeback album, except it’s not exactly a full reunion and it’s not quite the comeback we expected to hear. With ¾ of the original Pumpkins back in action (front man Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin being the only remnants of the band we all loved in the nineties) 18 years after they delivered their last original work together (2000’s Machina/The Machines of God is a hugely underrated album), their new deliverance, Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol.1/LP: No Past. No Future . No Sun. is an all too brief affair that has no direction and false promises. Clocking in at just 32 minutes, the eight tracks that make up Shiny and Oh So Bright offer almost nothing to be excited about, and while tracks like “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)”, “Solara” and “Marching On” are reminiscent of Pumpkins’ earlier grace and fiery angst and pretty much the album’s only true saviors, it all feels too vacant and lifeless. Album op

     Stephen Patrick Morrissey is good at many things, from the negatively notorious like canceling shows or entire tours without notice or spewing cringeworthy political and social commentary, and to the positive like giving us timeless music (solo or with The Smiths) that fill our personal soundtracks to releasing a damn good cover. Last Friday, the mercurial front man announced a vinyl reissue of 2017’s underperforming Low in High School , due December 7th, which will include a version of The Pretenders’s ageless classic “Back on the Chain Gang”, four unreleased original tracks, five live covers of some of his favorite artists, a limited-edition lithograph photo, and a portrait of the singer as a student. Optionally, the song will be released as a single on November 23rd and will feature Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “I Didn’t Know What to Do” on the flip side. Quite a cool deal for an otherwise sleeper of an album.      “Back on the Chain Gang” was famously interpreted by the late

     When The Black Queen (Greg Puciato/The Dillinger Escape Plan, Josh Eustis/Telefon Tel Aviv, and Steven Young/Nine Inch Nails tech) emerged onto the scene in 2015 with their first single, the moody, dreamscape-esque "The End Where We Start", they were instantly on everyone's radar. The debut album that followed, Fever Daydream, propelled the Los Angeles-based synth-wave band to higher ground. They instantly sold out tickets to all their shows, released more than a handful of videos, and despite serious setbacks (discussed soon), they survived the first album "supergroup" curse and went on to triumphantly release their sophomore album, Infinite Games , last week to great acclaim. Their success, unsurprisingly, has grown even more. Tickets to their upcoming Australian tour with fellow gloom wavers Drab Majesty have all been snagged up by fervent fans and all recent stateside shows turned up the same results.      Blindsided by professional and personal uph

      The Bay Area’s euphoric dream pop duo Them Are Us Too began in 2012 with schoolmates Kennedy Ashlyn and Cash Askew playing well balanced eighties inspired synth-pop shoegaze. In 2015, they released their debut album, Remain , a gloomy tour de force to incredible acclaim. They built up a dedicated cult following, and that success hyped the anticipation for the follow-up to their big debut. Tragically in 2016, a warehouse fire claimed Askew’s life at 22 years old, putting the band’s career in uncertainty. However, through the ashes of tragedy arose a new album, Amends , the band’s second and final as TAUT (as fans call them) and it is a beautifully haunting piece of work filled with ethereal elegance and atmospherics.      Amends , as Ashlyn describes, is “a collection of songs that would have been the second Them Are Us Too record, an amendment to our catalog cut short, a final gift to family, friends, and fans.” Amends is a celebration of the magic and art that Ashlyn and

     (Ed's note: I'm a huge Nine Inch Nails fan, so my biases will be rather amplified in all Nails related posts. Thank you for understanding.)      Nine Inch Nails return with Bad Witch, the third in a trilogy of releases that began with 2016’s Not the Actual Events and continued in 2017 with Add Violence. A terse, dizzying, jarring and frenetic work, Bad Witch is partly inspired by Trump-era politics and social climates (band leader Trent Reznor has been openly vocal about his disgust toward The Don as he was with George W. Bush.) Clocking in at just 30 minutes, the six songs that make up the album (originally an EP but for practical marketing and artistic reasons is an LP) show signs of impending cultural collapse that began with 2007’s heavily electronic Year Zero, which was very much a commentary on Bush’s policies taking the country into a dystopian state if things continued as they did. In keeping with angsty political charge, Bad Witch mixes discordant aggro-pu

     Depeche Mode brought their music to the masses and gave us a black celebration (whatever, sue me.) On the road promoting their 14 th studio album, Spirit , the iconic British electronic band presented their mega successful Global Spirit Tour May 27 one last time to American audiences with a sold-out appearance at the AT&T Center, flawlessly banging out their biggest hits and album-oriented material to an enthusiastic crowd of 15,000. The band, comprised of vocalist Dave Gahan, guitarist Martin Gore, keyboardists Andy Fletcher and Peter Gordeno and drummer Christian Eigner impeccably delivered song after song as they cataloged their entire career into an energetic two-hour set, proving why four decades after their debut they remain a vital presence. With deep running roots in San Antonio’s music scene, audiences excitedly sang and danced through the night. If their show and fan response was any strong indicator, they surely have another album and one final world tour left unde

     Industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails have released a new single: the eerie, saxophone heavy, electro-jazz charged “God Break Down the Door”. This comes ahead of their newly announced Cold and Black and Infinite Tour, in which 80’s alternative icons The Jesus and Mary Chain serve as special guests and in advance of Nails’ ninth studio album, Bad Witch, due out June 22 on Trent Reznor’s The Null Corporation label.      “God Break Down the Door” plays like a lost David Bowie track off his concept album Outside , and with Nine Inch Nails’ musical growth (2013’s Hesitation Marks had moments of delicious funk and groove), it’s clear that Trent Reznor has long established his legacy and takes his music in any direction he pleases. Vocally, there is an uncanny resemblance to Bowie at times throughout the four-minute tune, which adds an otherworldly feel to things. Whether the vicarious delivery is in fact an homage to Bowie or mere coincidence, there’s no denying he’s an influence

     Wes Borland, Limp Bizkit’s eccentric guitarist, returns with a new solo effort, the excellent Matadors and Daughters EP. Ahead of his Astral Hand full length, due out later this year, the 20-minute, two-song EP (or single, depending on how you slice it) offers a sampling of what to expect from Astral, which will surely be an entirely soundtrack-esque offering full of experimentation.      Borland, known for his onstage flamboyance and unconventional musicianship, has long shed Limp Bizkit’s douchebaggery and continues to explore his dynamic methods beautifully, having ventured into solo and collaborative territory with Black Light Burns, Big Dumb Face, The Damning Well, and was previously offered positions in Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle. Aside from the obvious pocket-filling to fund his other work, Borland mysteriously remains in Bizkit, a 90’s nu-metal frat-bro machine whose fans are forever adolescents with backwards Yankees ballcaps and pants midway down their a

     The sixth annual Bud Light River City Rockfest returns to San Antonio’s AT&T Center grounds September 22 with a largely dull lineup, save for Nine Inch Nails and few select others. One of the most important and influential industrial bands of the late 80’s to now, Nine Inch Nails is set to headline the awfully named festival alongside bores Stone Temple Pilots and Bush, two acts well past the “beat a dead horse to life” phase who should have bowed out gracefully at the peaks of their career, or at least when key members were still alive (Pilots).   The only other acts that can possibly save this massive disappointment are Suicidal Tendencies, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, and Primus.          This lineup is upsetting for many reasons, mainly because Nine Inch Nails will likely play to a number of crickets. See, these types of festivals are meant to showcase an eclectic variety for many to enjoy, but when paired up with Hellyeah, Drowning Pool and Yelawolf, it’s a huge

     On the road in support of their ninth studio album Concrete and Gold, Foo Fighters brought their massively successful Concrete and Gold Tour to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, sans interactive success and with much head scratching. Playing a bloated, near three-hour set list of excessive jams, mid-show covers and onstage banter, even bandleader Dave Grohl’s personable humor and storytelling could not save the sinking ship, which was largely in trouble four songs in, save for some key moments. The incredibly talented band, rounded out by guitarists Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear, keyboardist Rami Jaffee, bassist Nate Mendel and drummer Taylor Hawkins delivered plenty of recognizable hits along with some deep cuts, but the only shining moments were when they connected with the sold-out crowd of about 12,000 during actual song pieces that weren’t superfluous jams eating into the clock, causing the title track "Saint Cecilia" from the EP of the same name to be excluded from

     Brooklyn noise misfits A Place To Bury Strangers recently released their fifth album, Pinned , and the result is a stripped back, goth-colored, industrialized punk piece. The band, known for turning up the audio excess (insert Spinal Tap’s famous “These go to eleven” line all throughout), disassembled their sound and stayed within the bounds of 10. The outcome is a growth from the experimentation done on 2015’s Transfixiation, a quirky yet excellent effort. While listeners are still treated to short, aggressive clamor, the subtlety of Pinned ’s noise rock is compelling and fantastic. New drummer Lia Simone Braswell (formerly of Le Butcherettes) works the kit with exceptional prowess and occasionally adds rich vocal accompaniment to Oliver Ackermann’s distinct baritone and fuzzed out, swirly guitar work, lending a chilling essence to the music. Dion Lunadon’s heavily distorted melodic bass lines remain solid and drives the band’s sound into greater sonic territory with a Peter Hook

     San Antonio dark country/psychobilly band The Grim Folks have been taking the San Antonio music scene by storm, albeit in their own way. Not one to mix in with the rest, The Grim Folks deliver a fresh and exciting sound in a city obsessed with metal and Mexican regional music. It’s not to say they don’t fit the bill; simply, they aren’t the typical band you would expect to come across. That, however, is a damn good thing. At home with the punk and goth crowds, The Grim Folks play macabre songs inspired from “roots” Americana full of dark humor and superstitious folklore with an undisguised energy. They aren’t exclusive to particular crowds; they have a loose and inviting vibe anyone can enjoy.      “When it comes to writing lyrics, my influence is inspired by horror movies I watched as a kid or stories of the supernatural, “said Nathan Quintanilla, the band’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist. “That enticing feeling I get when seeing or hearing these things is what I try to shape i

With spring already here and summer fast approaching, the concert market will be packed with a multitude of shows for all audiences. Here is a small, immediate, and personal guide to what I think are the hot tickets before summer comes through.   Taco Fest (April 14, La Villita Historic Arts Village) The Maverick Music Festival is dead this year and its replacement is the Taco Fest, which will occupy the grounds of the vibrant La Villita. The day will be alive with over 30 taco vendors and multiple stages featuring over 20 national, regional, and local acts with hard-hitting favorites such as Pinata Protest, Girl In A Coma, and Femina-X. San Antonio loves its music and tacos, so why not partake in both at once?   The Soft Moon (April 21, Paper Tiger) Oakland darkwave band The Soft Moon brings their industrial post-punk to the small room of the Paper Tiger in support of their excellent fourth album, Criminal, and that is just the perfect intimacy needed for a band lik

     San Antonio Tex-Mex punk band Piñata Protest returned to KIVA Lounge in downtown San Marcos this past Saturday night after a near seven month absence, and the crowd's enthusiasm showed. Known for their high energy performances, the band comprised of vocalist/accordionist Alvaro Del Norte, guitarist Regino Lopez, bassist Richie Brown, and drummer Chris-ruptive, blazed through a blistering hour-long set of exito after exito . working up the crowd of devoted "protestors" and never letting down. On the eve of releasing a new album entitled Necio Nights (out April 6) and embarking on a tour on Flogging Molly's Salty Dog Cruise, which will take them through the Caribbean, it is a pure treat seeing the band in smaller settings as you can be more involved in their special brand of norteno punk. Complimented by the ferocity of openers Destroy Orbison, Percocet, The Grim Folks and Sketchy Trench, the package was a non-stop party with a mix of all the punk one could handl

     "If you act like a rock star, you will be treated like one," wrote Marilyn Manson in his 1998 autobiography, The Long Hard Road Out of Hell . Since the start of his career, it is a philosophy he has accordingly upheld. In a time where rock music seems too safe, Manson (born Brian Hugh Warner) is the last of his generation (second to Alice Cooper) to live up to the excesses of rock star life and perhaps the last for future generations to come. No other figure in rock music today even remotely scratches the surface. A glimpse of that grandiosity is evident in his third album, Mechanical Animals , albeit in a glam/glitter rock sense. Considered his more adventurous (and self-righteous) work to date, the album explores his fictional David Bowie-inspired Omega and the Mechanical Animals band. Manson adapts the role of Omega, a substance addicted, gender ambiguous, “alien messiah” glam rocker who fell to earth, is apprehended, and placed with a band called The Mechanical Anim