Where Is My Mind?

     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 Mechan...

     Since my formative years, Nine Inch Nails has been a band I fervently follow. My first real journey into the music came at age 18, a handful of years after I had first seen them live on 1999’s MTV Video Music Awards and the raunch fest that is the “Closer” video played on late night rotations. Fast forward to late 2004 when the band’s fourth full length album With Teeth began circulating music media outlets, and my interest was instantly re-generated. I searched the internet for recommended playlists in anticipation of the album’s release. What immediately drew me to the music in these playlists were the endless waves of jarring guitars, pulsating beats, and synthesizers galore that backed the aggression of leader and sole member Trent Reznor’s vocals. Depending on the tune, you either want to punch a motherfucker in the face or wallow in desolate despair when the composition is just right. (“Hurt” is probably all of industrial rock’s most bleakly depressing s...

     Local band Hiawatha plays a mix of dark gothic rock and post-punk akin to their influence, Crow People. Despite similarities, they have a distinct sound of their own. Employing swirls of flange and chorus laden guitars, heavy tribal drumming and raw, powerful vocals, the music easily transports you back to late 70’s era England, where the goth movement was birthed thanks to vampy post-punk icons Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Joy Division.      The band, comprised of vocalist/lyricist Joe Salinas, guitarist Jacob Gonzales, bassist Sherwood Mcglown, and drummer Levon Pruitt, came together in January of 2017 through mutual friends. Together, they released a self-recorded demo tape months after their formation. While they don’t have a regimented formula for songwriting, they usually come together, work on a jam, and those sessions eventually turn into songs. The same can be said for show preparation. They rehearse and “do what ...

Poptone: A Tone Full of Pop. The Mohawk, Austin, 12.7.17 Originally named Bauhaus, then Tones on Tail, then Love and Rockets, Poptone is the latest incarnation of the iconic English goth rock outfit, sans key members Peter Murphy (vocals) and David J (bass). Despite playing the outdoor stage of The Mohawk in below freezing temperatures with sleet and snow, the trio and crowd of about 350 or so never let up. The collective powered through a commanding and nostalgic set that relied heavily on Tones on Tail material, songs that many were listening to for the first time live in decades and others listening to for the first time ever, turning black clad attendees into excited and frenzied bats. Drummer Kevin Haskins and guitarist/vocalist Daniel Ash delivered strong and solid performances akin to their younger selves while bassist Diva Dompé (Haskins’s daughter) impeccably executed thick and groovy basslines very much in tune with David J’s style, bringing exciting life to her father...