A mere handful of hours after yours truly blearily slapped up a post on how local indie-folks The Western Civilization (about whom you can read more here) won themselves a spot on the Warped Tour and are playing H-town next week, I logged back in to the email to find, lo and behold, a message from Reggie of the Western Civ.

Here's the gist of what he said: in spite of the "$5 over $10 under" noise on the show flyer, apparently the band is keen to get you, me, and everybody (of age, at least) we know out to Club XO/XO Bar & Lounge for the show, all for free, thus making the flyer more accurately read, "$0 over $10 under." Seems the band's been handed an unlimited guest list for the 21+ crowd, and hey, they'll gladly put you on it so you can come on out. (Sorry, 18-and-uppers; age discrimination sucks, but there you go...)

Just send a message to the band at "westerncivbooking" at "gmail dot com" or via their Myspace if you're interested (and yes, trust me, you are) with your name and the name of anybody you want to bring with. Heck, you can even just put in your name and the number of fellow beings you'd like to drag along with you. Then just show up, rock (gently) out, and enjoy.

Reggie also says Via Audio, with whom they're playing is very, very cool -- and he's spot-on, going by what they've got up on their Myspace. The music's kinda Palomar-esque, sweet and smart and insistent all at the same time. Oh, and the video for "Presents" that's up on their Website disturbs me in a way I really can't describe. Tourmates Jukebox The Ghost aren't bad, either, a little Death Cab for Cutie-ish to my ears.

So there you go -- you get to see one of the best bands in town, plus two respectable out-of-towners, all for zero dollars. Can't beat that w/a stick...

Labels: Free Stuff, Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do

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Got this one courtesy of the good people at Nasty Little Man, and I find myself liking the song & wanting to hear it repeatedly, so I figured it was only just to post it to this here site. Sounds to me like "Chemtrails" is Beck finally making the full transformation from alt-rock hero into '60s psych-rock icon -- if this sounds like anything recent, it's Spiritualized, albeit with more jazzy drums. I love the wild, live-wire-sounding guitars after the false fadeout, in particular; they come off like some long-lost gem from the vault of sadly-departed Robert Quine. Stuff like this almost makes me forget Beck's a Scientologist. Enjoy...

Labels: Entertainobabble, Free Stuff, Musical Crap, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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Behind the curve, as always...damn you, New House/Day Job! I'd like to vow that if I ever win the lottery this here blog will be so kickass and up-to-the-millisecond current that it'll fry your hair just to look at it. Except that I know I'm inherently too lazy for that, and so -- hey, I bet they're re-running No Reservations on The Travel Channel right now...

Anyway, today is A Good Day, because you, I, and everybody else in the vicinity have the opportunity to partake in some genuinely good, honest-to-Bubba free stuff. Here's what you can grab hold of for exactly zero dollars:

Something Fierce's new, as-yet-unreleased EP, free!: Well, due to some bad luck on their label's part (nothing intentional, I'm told), the long-awaited Modern Girl 7"/EP by our very own Something Fierce still has yet to materialize. They'd put the title track up on their Myspace for all to hear & admire, but no vinyl has yet reached the shelves.

So, seeing that all us SF fans have been desperately longing for more full-on rawk in our lives, the SF crew decided to take matters into their own hands and self-release the whole EP in digital form on the brand-new (and also very cool) HoustonPunk.com site, all for free-free-free.

Now for the bad news: for some reason (which is possibly on my end, I should note), I can't yet download any of the damn EP tracks in their entirety. I get between 1/8th and halfway each time, then it craps out & leaves me with half a song on my hard drive. Argh. I only hope that this problem is because so many rabid Something Fierce fans are flooding the site that the server just handle all the requests or whatnot. Got my fingers crossed on that one, y'all.

Anyway, if you have problems like I have, keep at it -- thanks to Stephen Fierce, I've got a couple of the tracks (the title track and "Hey Houston") on CDR right here in front of me, and, to put it bluntly, they're bad-fucking-ass. "Modern Girl" still can't supplant "Teenage Ruins" as my all-time favorite SF song, but I'll be damned if it's not a close second.

Plus, while you're frantically downloading and MP3ing, be sure to check out the HoustonPunk.com site itself -- it was started up recently by Teenage Kicks guys John, Stewart, & Kirke, and so far it's looking nice. It's about damn time, really, that somebody did this; I'm no authority on punk stuff in this city, myself, and it seems like just about every other musical niche is well-represented on the World Wide Whatever. I can recall a handful of "Houston Punk" sites from back in the day, but they were all scrappy & scratchy & died early deaths. This one, I would wager, has staying power. Seriously, check it out.

Indian Jewelry @ SoundEx, gratis!: Yep, you might've noticed it on the calendar for a little while now -- local agitnoise experimenters (c'mon, how would you describe these folks in a couple of words?) Indian Jewelry are back in H-town tonight, finishing out their recent tour for new album Free Gold, playing for the sheer hell of it (and the hope that they might sell some records, understandably) over at Sound Exchange at 8PM.

While I haven't yet heard the album (apparently I'm not the only one, at least), I am fully in awe of every ear-destroying/crazily beautiful thing these people do, and you can have no doubt that whatever the heck happens at SoundEx tonight is going to be pretty cool.

Plus, shows up at SoundEx are always fun, in a cramped, hipster-ish kind of way. I think your Scenester Coolness Quotient is raised 34 points just by entering the building, actually... And hey: free. What more do you want?

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, for...free?: Alright, so this one's a bit strange. From David over at Houston Calling, apparently Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are playing an RSVP-only private show tonight at Warehouse Live. I don't know the details, really, beyond what's in David's post, but he says it looks legit. Dunno if they still have openings, but hey, you won't know 'til you try, right?

Labels: Free Stuff, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Download

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Late notice, I know, but I only found out around lunchtime, & the day slipped away from me since then (darn day job...). Anyway, we here at SCR heard the news that Eisley, that quintet of elfin-looking post-emo popsters from Tyler, will be playing this evening up at the resurrected Cactus Music (now located at 2110 Portsmouth, about a half-block from Amy's), reportedly at 6PM or so, and for free, free, free.

The band seems to be kind of a love-'em-or-hate-'em thing, but after much prodding from SCR old salt (and now pro rock crit) Marc Hirsh, I have to admit that I've come around to their strange, otherworldly, almost Neil Gaiman-influenced brand of pop-rock. Lyrics about lovelorn robots and alien invasions actually seem to make a freaky kind of sense when sung by Sherri & Stacy DuPree, and the bulk of 2003 EP Laughing City has been stuck in my head since, well, 2005 or so.

(And no, I haven't yet listened to last year's Combinations, despite Marc kindheartedly forcing it upon me. Sorry, man, but the iPod gets full so damn fast these days...)

Anyway, this evening's show will be of the unplugged/acoustic variety, according to the Cactus folks -- if you're more into the electrified version, the band's playing at full volume tomorrow (April 1st) over at The Meridian, along with The Envy Corps (who I've heard are good), The Myriad, and Vedera (the latter two of which I know zero about). Pick your poison.

Plus, tonight the Merid's also got Tokyo Police Club (with Eagle Seagull) -- we've been somewhat lukewarm on 'em in the past (search the site for the review), but I've liked what I've heard lately, so I've got higher hopes.

If you're not up for that particular side of downtown, you can also head to Notsuoh for the Nick Jaina/Run On Sentence/Wild Moccasins show, which promises to be very, very cool as well. Too many dang choices...

Labels: Free Stuff, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do

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UPDATE: And...poof, the tickets are gone. Damn, that didn't take long at all. Congrats to winner JD!

Yep, slam poet/rapper/artiste extraordinaire Saul Williams will be in town this next Tuesday, April 1st over at Warehouse Live -- with the utterly awesome Dragons of Zynth, I've heard, although they weren't on the venue's Website the last time I checked -- and all signs point to it being utterly badass. I'll grant that some of his stuff gets a little long-winded & navel-gazer-y, but 95% of the time, I'm impressed as hell with what the guy does. At the very least, he's unique in a musical realm where how many times you've gotten your stupid ass shot apparently matters more to the music-purchasing public than how good you actually are.

Lucky for you, SCR has in its possession (well, virtually) two free tickets/guestlist spots to give away to the first person who emails us. Just send a quick note to "gaijin" at "spacecityrock dot com" with the Subject line "Give me the tickets, and nobody gets hurt!", and you'll be on the list over at the Warehouse the night of the show. The email I get first wins. Then you just show up & enjoy the free-flowing, beat-heavy poetry/hip-hop/rock/whatever. Capisce?

In case you're uncertain, here's the video for Williams' version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (yep, that one), off his latest, the Trent Reznor-produced The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust (which is, btw, one of the best album titles ever, hands down). Enjoy...

And since I'm in a Youtubing mood, here's the video for my favorite Williams track ever, his "Coded Language" collab with DJ Krust -- it's long, but Krust's beats are fucking awesome and it gets nicely intense when Williams starts spitting out names:

Labels: Free Stuff, Musical Crap, Things To Do, Things To Hear, Things To See

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Dang. Y'know how sometimes you keep meaning to mention something, but something else always comes up, so you forget that first thing over and over and over again? I sure as hell do (come to think of it, that pretty much describes my life; what the hell was I talking about, here...?).

Like with this: Georgia rock-n-rollers Black Lips are coming to The Engine Room on Sat., October 6th, to rock the town back and to the left, and when they hit our fair city, they will be taking some lucky soul down to Buffalo Exchange on Westheimer to buy shit, hang out, and just generally do cool things.

Which could be pretty damn entertaining, if you're a fan of the band -- what I've heard off their new album, Good Bad Not Evil, is pretty good, and it'd be, uh, a little weird if you entered just for the clothes and won an afternoon with a band you don't actually like. Can you say "awkward"? (Just sayin', in case it crosses anybody's mind...) Oh, and according to their site, Buffalo Exchange are also giving out Black Lips samplers "with minimum purchase," however much that might be. (No, I have no idea how much $$$ the kids play for clothes these days; my metrosexual coworker blew $200 on a t-shirt a while back, and the ridiculous waste of it made me want to just sit in my chair & weep, I swear...)

Anyway, now for the "mea culpa" bit. If I'd actually posted this back when I meant to post it (like, say, 9/19 or so), you'd have had oodles & oodles of time in which to meander down to the Big W to enter the raffle. But sadly, the deadline to enter the raffle for the shopping spree is this Saturday, Sept. 29th, which only leaves you two measly freakin' days to get your near-urb-anite ass back to the 'hood you used to live in before the yuppies took over. Sorry 'bout that. If you want to snag some hipster clothes and/or meet the band, get on down & sign up quick-fast.

Labels: Free Stuff, Musical Crap, Things To Do, Things To Get

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Some of more astute/observant out there may know by now that Space City Rock writer & co-publisher guy Mel House is not only a darn good writer and musician, but that his first real love is making horror movies -- the gorier and freakier, the better.

Despite me being a big horror flick wuss (I still have nightmares about Hellraiser, seriously), I've seen and liked some of his stuff in the past, and have eagerly looked forward to seeing what could happen once he got a little cash and a good story to work with. And going by the trailers for his soon-to-be-released latest film, Closet Space, it's gonna be worth the wait. Gory, yes, with some creepy-ass tentacles and all that, but I also dig what I know of the story -- I won't go into it here, except to say that mysterious doors to other dimensions are always cool. Check the MySpace for further details, but trust me, it's gonna be good.

Now, the reason I'm mentioning the flick now (finally; been meaning to for a while) is because, hey, it's premiering in one short, short week. On Thursday, August 23rd, at 9PM, you can check out Closet Space on the big screen up at the Studio Movie Grill at 8580 Highway 6 North & West Road. Oh, and it's freakin' free. Yes, that means "zero dollars," zip, nada. The only money you have to shell out is for the gas, and unless you're driving in from San Antonio or Nacogdoches or something, that's still cheaper than it'd be to go see a movie at the Splendifilm Googolplex nearest to your 'hood.

And yeah, okay, I've got a teeny bit of vested interest in the screening, because in addition to the main movie, Mel will also be showing the "zombie video" he just did with indie-rock hero Jonah Matranga. Which, as longtime readers (are there any?) may know, yours truly happened to be in. (Well, I was filmed for it, at least, which I know isn't a guarantee...) If I make the cut, you get to laugh at my stupid ass as I pretend lamely to be a zombie (although I'm sure it'll look good while I do it, obviously).

The song's a new one, "Not About A Girl Or A Place", and if you find me in person I can probably sing it for you, I heard it so many damn times over those two nights I was involved in the filming. (Happily, it's a good song; if you want to hear what Jonah's like in a more tuneful fashion than I can muster, check out his MySpace.) If you want to see heartfelt emo-rock set to shambling zombies, mind you, get there early, 'cause I think it's before the movie...

As if that all wasn't enough, on the next night, Friday, August 24th, Mel & co. are throwing the official wrap party for Closet Space at The Proletariat (903 Richmond at Montrose) in the best way to possibly throw such a party: by rocking the fuck out. Jenny Westbury (who I've heard really good things about but sadly keep missing) opens at 7PM sharp, followed by Mel's own band, ex-Cedar of Lebanon/Tie That Binds/etc. guys Radio Pioneer at 8PM or so, and then by Jonah, at about 8:45 PM. The show isn't free, but it's a "sliding scale" deal in typical Jonah fashion, where you pay what you feel like you can afford between $7 and $10.

That's the deal. It's gonna be awesome, I swear. Good indie horror filmmaking + silly/gory zombie rock video + full-on rock heroics = badassness.

Labels: Free Stuff, Moo-vies, Things To Do, Things To See

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Weird; June's already shaping up to be Giveaway Month here at SCR HQ (and this one's somewhat bigger one than the last, to boot...).

We've got a pair of tickets to the Fall Out Boy show a week from today, Monday, 6/18, up at The Woodlands' Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion; also on the bill are The Academy Is, Cobra Starship, +44, and H-town's own Paul Wall (who, really, seems like the best reason to go, at least to us).

Now, I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with some kind of creative contest to use to pick a winner, but dang it, I'm coming up empty. So we're going to do it the old-fashioned, Russian-roulette, completely random way: if you want the tickets, send an email to "gaijin" at "spacecityrock dot com" with the "Subject" line "I CAN HAS TICKETZ?" and your real-world address. The winner will be randomly selected from the pile, along with a runner-up, who'll win a Fall Out Boy prize pack, which includes copy of the Fall Out Boy "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" 7-inch and a bunch of FOB pins.

(If you happen to write for or otherwise contribute to SCR, by the way, you can still enter. All are equal in our eyes.)

Anyway, if you want 'em, let us know...good luck!

Labels: Free Stuff, Things To Get

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 2 comments