not rickets

I went to see Tim's new band, The Bad Rackets, last Thursday. They're pretty good, what with their accessible post-punk power pop-ish vibe. I'd like to hear them in a venue with better sound, as the vocals were pretty much non-existant in the mix. Maybe if them damn kids didn't play their twangy gee-tars so loud I could hears 'em sing. Then again, maybe that's the point.

I hadn't been to Room 710 for awhile. In addition to having explicit paintings of a co-worker plastered all over the place, it's an excellent dive music club in the spirit of The Black Cat, Electric Lounge, and several other low-rent venues that have since disappeared in favor of more gentrified establishments. When I first moved to Austin in '92, only exceptionally popular local bands or roadshows could charge $10 covers, which now seems to be the minimum for the smallest of shows at most clubs. Thank God for places like the 710, where you can still listen to some raw live music and suck down Lone Stars at a buck a pop.

Cover: $4
Beer: $3
Appreciating the remnants of Austin's low-rent music scene: Priceless