Photo by Felicia Graham courtesy of MySpaceTIL WE'RE BLUE OR DESTROY What’s the Deal: One thing that Austin has plenty of is indie bands. There are multitudes of poppy, lo-fi folky or staggering, swaggering rock groups swelling with intrigue and buzzing around the local scene destined to either shoot straight and swift to national cult favorites standing or be just another weekend bar band. However, Til We’re Blue Or Destroy are one of the groups......

FRIDAY [20] benefit/music • Ashera-Blare-A IV with All In the Golden Afternoon, The Heirs, The Minderchucks, and The Otters at Club DeVille beer/party • Black Star Co-op's Craft Beer Celebration with Pong, Opposite Day, The Second Line Social, and fine craft beer from around the country at Fiesta Gardens (8pm-Midnight, $10) comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Room, part of Refraction Arts' Fuse Box Festival at The......

THURSDAY [19] benefit/music • Do512 and Direct Events co-host a benefit for Groundwork Music with Tammany Hall, The Boxing Lesson at La Zona Rosa (RSVP for Free Entry, $5 Cover Otherwise) books • "The Art of Travel and Travel Writing" with Lonely Planet writer Alex Hershey and Stephanie Elizondo Griest at Intellectual Property (5:00pm) books • The Texas Monthly Author Series presents Ian Rankin at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • Movies in the Park: "Talladega......

Whether you think of it as a test run for SXSW, a belated Christmas present to local music fans, or an excuse to drink for seven days straight, Emo's Free Week kicks off today with a schedule of acts that reads like a who's-who of local punk, indie, and rock. As the showcases are all without cover, we'd recommend getting there early. Emo's Free Week January 2-8 603 Red River Tuesday, January 2 Inside:......

The following is a weekly column by guest contributor Laurie Gallardo. Hear her on KUT 90.5FM, Friday nights from 11pm-3am! -- The Editors Far too much going on in the weeks ahead, but technically, staying busy keeps me out of trouble. Right?  Well…it’s a good theory.  Hello again, music peeps! I’m compelled to begin this column with self-promotional frivolousness, but what the heck. Keep in mind that next Friday, I won’t be on the air......

TUESDAY [30] [music] "German with a laptop" Jan Jelinek does a solo show at Flamingo Cantina -- check out what Tiny Mix Tapes has to say! (Thanks, Margaret!) (link) [music] Scion returns to Austin with Tony Touch, DJ Hier, DJ Kwestion and DJ Mel at The Parish Room (Free, RSVP required) (link) [music] Youngmond Grand and Solace Bros at Club DeVille (link) [books] Mark Falkin presents Days of Grace at BookPeople (7pm) (link) [film] Out......

: : FRIDAY : : [music] Early Man, Atomic Bitchwax, Lions and Black Earth @ Emo's [art] "A Pairing:Exhibition of Works by Women of Wine & The Men Who Adore Them," 5:30pm-8:30pm @ Gallery Lombardi [music] St. James, Andy Davis and Matt Wertz @ Stubb's [music] The Ugly Beats and American History Project @ Beerland [music] Beta Valentine CD Release with Super Sonic Soul Squad and DJ Bigface, 8pm @ End of an Ear......

Put down Harry Potter if you haven't finished it yet (we haven't, so don't ruin the ending for us!) and get out this weekend. As always, if there's something you'd like to recommend, drop us a line. FRIDAY [music] BLING Party at Beerland, with Things That Go Pop, Tran Tram, Assacre. [music] We finally have an excuse to party at Gallery Lombardi when Green Potato Ventures presents A Cool Summer Night, the Snowman Media Launch......

The opening track to The Heartless Bastards' Stairs and Elevators hits you with the untamed ferocity of a tropical typhoon, lead singer Erika Wennerstrom's voice the shrieking gale winds set aloft amidst the torrential thunderclap supplied by her band's driving bass line and wild drumming. Stairs is the debut album from Fat Possum Records trio , a blues-tinged garage punk outfit from Ohio. They've the pomp and flourish of a 70s rock band, and......