Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Roky Moon & The Kiss Goodnight + Jonathan Toubin + Lisa’s Sons + The Fox Derby + Resistance Is Fertile + More

It’s now Saturday, January 12th, y’all, and as (almost) always, there’s a slew of good, good shows happening tonight in our fair city & the surrounding environs. Here we go:

Roky Moon & The Kiss Goodnight/Young Girls/A Giant Dog/Psychic Palms @ Fitzgerald’s
Oh, wow. I’d wondered if Mike Hardin was planning to ever bring back Roky Moon after the sad, sad demise of the much-beloved Roky Moon & BOLT!, and I’m damn glad to see he has, putting together a new(?) band, Roky Moon & The Kiss Goodnight. Haven’t heard ’em yet, unfortunately, but I’m told the sound’s a little like BOLT!’s, albeit grittier and heavier.

Whatever they sound like, though, it’s very cool to see Roky & company back. And hey, as an added bonus, they’re coming through with excellent surf-psych gang {Young Girls}, whom I like quite a lot, and trippy oddballs {Psychic Palms}, who I keep hearing neat, neat stuff about. All together, a damn good lineup.

New York Night Train Soul Clap & Dance-Off, featuring DJ Jonathan Toubin & Psychedelic Sex Panther @ Fitzgerald’s
Oh, man — this one does my soul good, honestly. In case you didn’t hear about it already, DJ Jonathan Toubin, the man behind the New York Night Train shows here & elsewhere, was struck down in early December of 2011 in a bizarre accident where a Portland taxi crashed through the wall of his hotel room and landed on top of him.

Obviously, Toubin’s injuries were extremely severe. Apparently he now has to wear hearing aids in both ears (which I’d guess is one of the hardest things for a professional DJ to have to deal with) and he suffered a fractured skull, pelvis, collarbones, ribs, and sternum, as well as damage to his lungs and a punctured liver. The guy’s lucky to be alive, and I’m happy as hell to see that he is — and not only that, but he’s out touring again, barely a year after the accident. High-five from over here, sir; I’m glad you’re back.

Deseret/Poor Pilate/Ashley Franklin/Lisa’s Sons @ The Continental Club
Okay, now this is a neat setup — granted, the excellent {Poor Pilate} fit The Continental Club very nicely, with their murky, melancholy indie-folk-ish roots-rock sound, but opening duo Lisa’s Sons, one of my favorite bands from this here city, is a bit different, all sweet, boyish-but-sarcastic melodies and synths…unless they’ve changed their sound pretty drastically lately, that is. Not quite the normal sound for The Continental.

But hey, so what? I’m all for sticking unlike sounds together, and it’s always cool to see “different” lineups over at The Continental, especially when it’s as good as this one. I dunno a thing about Deseret, unfortunately, or Ashley Franklin, but even still, this show promises to be pretty good…

Silk Knives/The Fox Derby/Action Frank/Jimmy & Jake @ Dean’s ($5)
I hate to say it, but I’ve forgotten about {The Fox Derby} a couple of times recently; first before they released their most recent full-length, Life Apart, this past spring, and then after that, too, since they seemed to go back into hiding after.

It wasn’t ’til I started looking through my best-of lists for 2012 that I realized I’d completely forgotten about these guys again. Which is a shame, because the band’s better than they’ve ever been, honing their Britpop-hazy brand of rock to a sharp, sharp edge. Don’t make the same mistake I did — pay attention to these guys, right freaking now.

Resistance is Fertile II: Benefiting the Last Organic Outpost, featuring Cozy Blankets, “Downer,” EndIsNow, & P.L.X.T.X @ Rudyard’s
I’ve been meaning to check out The Last Organic Outpost for a while now, particularly for their urban farming classes; it sounds like a truly, truly neat, one-of-a-kind place, the kind of thing Houston needs more of. This show’s a benefit for the place, and there’re some neat folks playing, like {Cozy Blankets} & P.L.X.T.X, in particular, which makes it even better. Go & help out the place.

Runners-Up:
Gnar World Order/ComeXClean/Mt. Cruiser/Black Coffee @ Notsuoh ($3)
Poor Pilate @ Cactus Music (3PM)
Ambassadors of Soul/Say Yes!/Modsesitto @ East Side Social Center (4202 Canal)
Meta The Man/Disfrutalo!/Zoofeelia @ Bohemeo’s