Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: The Sword + Omotai + The Adolescents + Born Liars + Townes Wake + Mammoth Grinder + Binarium + More

Argh. It’s late, I know — this is what happens when the midgets don’t want to go to sleep on time… sigh. But even with the lateness, I couldn’t let the rest of the weekend slip past, right? Still quite a bit going on, both tonight and tomorrow night. Here’s what I think sounds cool:

Sat., January 1:
The Sword/Venomous Maximus/Black Congress/Omotai/Tornahdo/Eagle Claw/Fresh Millions/Zorch/Burn The Boats @ Fitzgerald’s
Okay, so this one wins hands-down out of the crop of shows going on tonight. I mean, first there’re the headliners Austin-dwelling swords-and-sorcerers metalheads The Sword pretty damn badass (I hear you, naysayers, but I ain’t havin’ it), and their latest album, Warp Riders has been living in my car’s CD player for a little while now, and almost-headlining local boys {Venomous Maximus}, who roam a similar wasteland to their show-mates (and whom I seriously owe a review of their debut 7″; sorry for the slowness, y’all…); both of those bands would be worth the cover charge on their own.

But then there’s also awesome {Sharks and Sailors} {Omotai}, who basically stomped in out of nowhere this year with a massively crushing sound that’s equal parts Mastodon and Isis, and {Black Congress}, whose scraping, face-punching brand of post-punked metal will probably make the show sound like the Headbanger’s Ball being crashed by The Jesus Lizard. Which sounds pretty damn cool, to me.

The Adolescents/Lower Class Brats/Born Liars/The American Heist @ Walter’s
Old-old-old-school punk night at Walter’s, looks like. I fervently dig H-town’s own raw, bluesy garage-punks {Born Liars} (new album Fast Songs Is All We Know is pretty great), and I like what I’ve heard of {The American Heist}, too (although I’ll admit that I kind of liked the solo-guitar acoustic demos better than the “real” songs), but hell, how can you pass up The Adolescents, seriously?

I’m biased, I’ll admit, because I’m a huge Agent Orange fan (coming through town next Sunday, actually), so any band with Steve Soto in it is cool by me, and that’s not even touching on the whole Social Distortion connection. These guys are real-live pioneers of Cali-style punk. Doors are already open as I type this, and the show’s all-ages; $13 to get in…

The 14th Annual Townes Van Zandt Wake @ Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe (Galveston)
Alright, you’ve got me. I’d honestly never heard of this before this year, but apparently it’s a 14-year tradition down in Galveston at The Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe, once a favorite haunt of Townes Van Zandt back, um, before I was born. Not sure who’ll be playing, but the show’s about paying tribute to Van Zandt & his legacy, and it’ll reportedly be only his songs being played, all night long.

Ladytron (DJ set)/The Black & White Years/The Live Lights/Invisible Friends @ Groundhall
Peloton/Us and Truckers/Cavernous/Donner Afterparty/Odessa @ The Mink
Carolyn Wonderland/Eric Demmer & The Sax Dogs @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Annual Hangover Party, featuring The Backpockets, The Abyss, & Black Kennedy @ Super Happy Fun Land

Sun., January 2:
Mammoth Grinder/Hatred Surge/The Burden/Landfill @ The Mink
And tonight, The Metal moves to The Mink, where the afore-listed bands proceed to demolish the place (well, hopefully not completely, but y’know). I’m sadly woefully ignorant about Mammoth Grinder, but people whose musical tastes I trust quite a bit rave about ’em, and I’ve heard similarly good things about both {Hatred Surge} & {The Burden}, so take that for what it’s worth. Either way, this is the only grindcore/metal show going on this Sunday, so fans of the heavy stuff had better make plans to be in Midtown, eh? (Doors at 8PM; $8 for the of-age, $10 for the young’uns.)

Binarium Sound Series, featuring Robert Boston/Kyle Hendricks & Thomas Helton with Dug Falk, Damon Smith, & Dave Dove @ The Mekong Underground (8-10PM)
Of course, if you feel like getting your skull blown out rather than caved in, there’s always the {Binarium Sound Series} shows… Sunday’s features the duo of Robert Boston & Kyle Hendricks, about whom I don’t know much, but it also features a sweet assemblage of local experimental icons, including {Thomas Helton}, {Dug Falk}, & Dave Dove. It’ll be a sight to see/hear, I promise.