Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Sarah Jaffe + Sleeping in the Aviary + Fake Problems + The Examples + Toadies + More

Yeah, yeah — rushed again to get my little list of things-you-should-not-miss up on the site… Seemingly as always, I’ve got to keep this brief, y’all. Which is out-and-out painful, considering how damn much is going on tonight (Friday, April 15th, to be precise).

There’s somewhat of a four-way tie at the top of my personal list, I have to say. I’ve talked before about Sarah Jaffe and how awesomely great she is, and while I won’t go back into it now (look over here for more details on her), I’m psyched to see her back in town this evening at the House of Blues.

At the same time, though, there’s the awesome-sounding show going on over at The Mink, with ridiculously cool, utterly strange indie-math-rock gang Sleeping in the Aviary and a slew of entertaining locals, including {PAPAYA}, a Somosuno “side project” of sorts about which I’ve heard great things, {Clockpole}, whose lead singer Joe Ortiz, um, gave me a “free hug” at Summerfest, and {Art Institute}, whose debut demo I’ve enjoyed the hell out of. (And, erm, whose second demo I can’t find for the life of me after we renovated the office. Argh. Soon, y’all, I swear…)

To make things even more complicated/painful, there’s also the show at Fitz tonight, where Fake Problems are headlining — I’ve been meaning to check ’em out for a while now, based on rave reviews from various folks, but just haven’t had the chance… Plus, they’re playing with the excellent Laura Stevenson and the Cans, the equally cool Now, Now Every Children (who I’ve also seen listed just as “Now, Now,” FYI), and the amazing Pomegranates.

And hey, the kind people in Fake Problems have got a tour “mixtape” for fans & other interested parties; grab it right here for the low, low price of your email address:

(We posted a couple of Laura Stevenson MP3 links back in October, too; see here for those…)

Last in the pile of top picks is the show at The Orchid Club, or Space City Hall, or whatever the hell they’re calling that old Meridian building this week; I dunno headliners A Hospital In TX., sadly, but I like {The Wrong Ones} quite a bit, and I recently got my hands on some demos by {The Examples} which totally blow me away. Swampy, murky, psych-tinged garage-rock, like the Born Liars on acid rather than beer.

Other stuff, other stuff…oh, there’s also the Toadies show at Warehouse Live — ironically, back when the Toadies were big, I was not a fan, but time has somehow mutated my loathing into a warm fondness. (Either that, or radio alt-rock is so much worse now that even things I hate, deep down, have become treasured memories. Could be that.)

And hey, The Examples apparently have a second show tonight — er, maybe? — over at Mango’s, where they’re playing with Parisian rockers General Bye Bye, who definitely deserve some love all by themselves.

Here’s the full list; enjoy something off here, folks:

Sarah Jaffe @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room)
Fake Problems/Laura Stevenson and the Cans/Pomegranates/Now, Now Every Children @ Fitzgerald’s
Sleeping In The Aviary/Clockpole/Moths/PAPAYA/Art Institute @ The Mink
A Hospital In TX./The Wrong Ones/The Examples/Baseline Bums @ The Orchid Club/Space City Hall (1503 Chartres)
Toadies/Descender/The Couch @ Warehouse Live
General Bye Bye/Plus More/The Examples/Only Beast @ Mango’s
Fistful of Soul @ The Mink
duneTX @ The Big Top Lounge (free!)
The Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock Symphony, featuring Houston Symphony, Brent Havens, & Randy Jackson @ Jones Hall
Sideshow Tramps @ Heights Live! (240 W. 18th St.)
Kemah Crawfish Festival, featuring The Scars Heal in Time, Richard Cagle & The Voodoo Choir, Libby Koch, Bon Ton Mickey, & Leblanc @ Kemah Bridge (under the bridge)
David Bazan @ Brandon’s house (sold out!)