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This is music you won’t hear on terrestrial radio, from local bands to national touring acts. We’ll be putting up our hand-picked playlists (which you can hear on our player in the sidebar), and posting all the info for upcoming shows. There will be videos. There will be ramblings. There will be music.

Better Than Jail is run in 24 hour shifts, 7 days a week by robots working from a basement bunker deep under the legendary Hi Tone Cafe.

Background Photos: Don “Bullyrook” Perry

One comment on “Info”

Karra Snider on October 9, 2011 at 1:01 PM said:

I am old friend of Chris Davidson. I have on-line gamed with him since 2001. Just found out this past week of the horrible accident, I hadn’t seen him ingame for a few months and googled his name and saw what had happened. I saw there were tee shirts made about him. Are there any left? If so, please email me with how I may obtain a few please.

Thank you.

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The Locals: An Explanation

Hosoi Bros - Super heavy, thrashing guitar rock!

The Oblivians – Eric (Goner Records, TSOT), Jack (Tearjerkers), Greg (The Reigning Sound) combined to form one of Memphis’ most successful and great rock bands.

Jack O & The Tennessee Tearjerkers – Jack (Oblivians) teamed with some of Memphis’ finest rock musicians to make a perfect Memphis sounding rock band.

The Sheiks – Low Down Rock N Roll / Mind Expansion / Party.

Harlan T Bobo - Maybe dead, maybe not- Harlan makes unique rock ranging from the symphonic to the satiric.

Adios Gringos - One of, if not the, best Metal bands to come out of this burg, Adios Gringos (Paul, Robert & Todd Gringo) combine forms of sludge, hardcore and experimental metal into one blurred and frenzied axe-filled take on Metal. Simply put, they are the masters of this genre.

Richard James & The Special Riders - A NYC wildman/Nashville exile backed by revolving cast of local misfits and sometime-legends! Richard and his Special Riders have been known to create some of the craziest live shows in the city.

Dirty Streets - Hard hitting 3 piece with a head crushing live sound that has been known to leave the audience pounding on the stage for more. Songs full of killer riffs, howling vocals, and a spot-on rhythm section.

Tiger High – Fuzzed-out psychedelic garage pop with experimental tendencies.

John Paul Keith & The 145s - Blistering guitars, studied vocals, and a familiar sound with a wink and a nod. Blending influences from Chuck Berry to Merle Haggard, JPK and his band have crafted two albums worth of instantly classic American music.

The Memphis Dawls - Holly Cole, Krista Wroten, and Jana Misener craft a unique sound with guitar, violin, and cello. They play a “haunting blend of lyrical and romantic folk.”

The Warble – The Warble’s sound is best described by The Warble themselves: “Power Pop Haunted Country Zydeco Flavored Memphis Folk Weirdo Music”

MouseRocket – A true Memphis supergroup! The band features Alicja Trout (River City Tanlines), Robby Grant (Vending Machine), Jonathan Kirkscey (Hi Electric, Rob Junklas Trio), Robert Barnett (Big Ass Truck) and bassist Hemant Gupta.

Glorie – Fronted by Jason Paxton (The Satyrs) and his vibraphone, Glorie creates a dark, brooding sound with help from Jonathan Kirkscey (MouseRocket) on cello, Jeff Hulett (Snowglobe, Jeffrey James & The Haul) on bass, Robert Brimhall on guitar, and drummer Andrew Saunders.

Manatees - Abe White’s melancholy trip through his walking nightmares. Songs about Abe’s cat: 2. Songs about puppies: 1. Songs about killing dudes and leaving their bodies in Wolf River: 1.

The Vignettes – “…Cranked up, dirty, ass-punching, two-piece rock-n-roll.” Not to mention a strong stance against littering!

Sharp Balloons – Described by guitarist Zach Ives (Goner Records) as “amateurish, and sometimes entertaining,” Sharp Ballons play pop-garage.

TSOT – We’ll let the band do the talking: “If Einsturzende Neubauten is the sound of buildings collapsing, we’re like the sound of the clamor at the town meeting between the local politicians and the concerned citizens arguing over having the derelict buildings torn down. On drugs.”

River City Tanlines – A 1970′s punk inspired, rock n roll free-for-all fronted by Alicja Trout (MouseRocket, Lost Sounds). Total Shred-fest.

Unbeheld – Chest-brusing, southern sludge metal!

These Wolves Are Robots – Formed in May 2009 by John “Effingham” Adams (Thin King, Jocephus & The George Jonestown Massacre, This Fucking Train), Dan Garber (Lewds, Handsome Jimmy Valium), and Jody R. Smith (Lewds, The Sonsabitches). They play badass, hard rock with big, monster riffs.

Galaxicon - Colossally heavy synth metal!

Cremains – Full-on sonic assault from machine-gun like guitars and jack-hammer drums. “Death Metal at it’s finest.”

The Powers That Be – A hard metal version of psych rock featuring former members of Joint Cheifs and Filthy Diablo.

Process of Suffocation – Columbian death metal! Bullets, machetes, and pork!

The New Mary Jane – A wild druggy trip through the heads of Dave Shouse and Scott Taylor (both formerly of The Grifters), featuring drummer Jon Argroves (the 145s, The Glass) and bassist James Godwin (Tearjerkers).

Jeffrey James & The Haul - Good time, laid back jams from a charming group of well-known locals. Featuring always-grinning frontman Jeff Hulett (Snowglobe) backed by Luke White (Color Revolt), Daniel Farris (Coach & Four), Nashon Benford (Snowglobe, Lucero), and bassist Dave Schulter.

Amy Lavere – From our friends at NPR: “Born in the Deep South and raised in Detroit, she once led a punk band but now lives in Memphis — a town that complements her blend of classic country, jazz and gypsy blues.”

Jeremy Stanfill – A hard-working singer/songwriter that puts a personal twist on his brand of American country and rock.

Star & Micey – They describe themselves as a “swirled out Memphis based soulful folk pop band.” Their positive, eclectic sound is augmented by guitars, drums, tambourines, banjos, accordians, and all kinds of harmonies.

Cities Aviv – One of Memphis’s newest and finest hip-hop innovators combines classic hip-hop influence with a hyper-modern soundscape.

Lucero – Memphis’ hardest working band! Not much else needs to be said.

The Limes – Noisy, loose rock n roll dreamed up by head-Lime Shawn Cripps (Shindig, Viva L’American Death Ray Music).

The Fuzz – Does that singer look familiar? Harlan T Bobo fronts his newest project with a name that says it all. Loud, angry fuzzed-out rock n roll!

Angel Sluts – According to razorcake.org, “amped-up, dirty, blazing garage punk is what this band plays.” We fully agree.

Modern Convenience – Wild, new-wave punk insanity from from the mind of Mike Bibbs, formerly of Antique Curtains.

The Magic Kids – Brian who? Fronted by Bennett Foster (The Barbaras, ), the Magic Kids have an orchestral, Beach Boys-y summer sunshine vibe with hooks so sweet your teeth will hurt.

The Perfect Vessels - This band creates guitar-driven indie rock with an emphasis on vocal harmonies, experimental arrangements, and ambient atmosphere, yielding a psychedelic pop with punk rock force.

Tanks - Tanks has a solid foundation in rock and roll and a true respect for experimental and progressive punk. Throw in some booze, Thin Lizzy-esque guitar harmonies, general dissonance, and outer space and you get the idea. They have been likened to Mastodon meets Fugazi.

Toxie – Alexandra, Ben, Madison, and Will list their influences as Suburban Lawns, Chris Knox, and Wire. Their interests include robot dogs, scrambled dogs, warped time, and porch time.

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