One of the nice things about being a music fan in New York City is that you rarely have to wait very long to see a band you're recently missed. The Black Lips famously played about 6,000 shows at SXSW this year, yet despite our interest in checking them out, we managed to catch them exactly zero times (with our final chance being cut short by that whole collapsing balcony thing.) So we were stoked to discover they were going to play last Monday back home at Bowery Ballroom. The show lived up to our ever inflated expectations and managed to bring the house down with their drunken-fried punk. While their "wild boyz" antics may seem a bit forced at this stage in their careers, the music more than holds up on its own. It's not easy to play such sloppy rock and roll so precisely. (Pic via Sandwich!) more ›

READINGS: Brooklyn-based writer and publicist Jennifer Gilmore reads tonight at Coliseum from her buzzy debut novel, , which follows the intersecting lives of three Jewish American families from the 1920s through the 1960s. - Krissa Corbett Cavouras more ›

Wolfmother more ›

There are a ton of shows we want to catch this week, most of them fall on Tuesday night - so we'll be consulting the magic 8 ball and various street psychics on what show to go to. Let's get to it, shall we? more ›

We hope you like change, because there's sure a lot of it when it comes to who's writing the music picks. Now, on to the picks...while we'll be down in Austin for SXSW this week, we aren't taking every band with us. There will be plenty to rock out to in the city, and as an added bonus, it's St. Patrick's Day this weekend...so your rock will be mixed with green beer. more ›