Argh. Just goes to show where my head's at, lately, with this damn illness thing I can't seem to shake -- just this AM it occurred to me that I never actually posted about last week's new batch of reviews. Apologies for that, folks; a well-oiled machine this e-zine is not, sadly (and yeah, that's pretty much all me...d'oh!).

At any rate, as of last Friday or so we've had a cool pile of new reviews online, with especially good ones for the really-truly-brand-new Cat Power, a somewhat, ah, older Schoolyard Heroes disc, and an overlooked gem from locals Deathbed Repentance.

And cooler still, the latter two bands are playing here in town soon. Deathbed Repentance are playing Fri., February 8th at the Rats in the Attic CD release show; it's at someplace I've never heard of called "Dead Baby Distro", over at 2502 Leeland, and along with DR and Rats in the Attic, they've also got Unlikely Heroes, the failed attempt, & Molotov Compromise on the bill. Get over there and check out Deathbed Repentance if you can, seriously -- while they do tend to wear their Social D/Billy Bragg/Clash influences on their sleeves, Why Do We Even Try? made my jaw drop. It's good shit, honest.

Then there's Schoolyard Heroes, who're a little further down the calendar -- they're playing The Meridian on Tues., February 26th, opening for Aiden (whose latest ain't bad, btw) and The Birthday Massacre (Farewell To Freeway also open). Never seen 'em live, but if you're into the whole horror-emo subgenre that seems to have crept out from the shadows in the past couple of years, this is your show.

Oh, and not to belittle our "headline" review: Cat Power rules. Chan Marshall's amazing; always has been, always will be. Here's the whole pile that's up now:

Reviews: Cat Power; Schoolyard Heroes; Deathbed Repentance; Dimestore Dandelion; John Hoskinson; & Sunspot.

More to come, incl. a Foo Fighters live review, a handful of interviews, and (of course) a metric ton of reviews...

Labels: Reviews, Things To Do

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Well, this little piece of news has definitely brought my week down. sigh. I didn't go for John Edwards in 2004 -- I was a diehard Kucinich fan back then (Kooch!) -- but this time out I liked the guy the best out of the field, having read and heard a lot about him in the intervening time (his book, Four Trials, by the way, is excellent). I respected the heck out of him for stepping down from his Senate seat to run in '04, a courageous and confident step nobody else running was willing to make. Plus, I felt like Edwards was running the most forward-thinking campaign of anybody out there, at least among the front-runners (sorry, Dennis...).

When he came through Houston back in June, stopping at the Armadillo Palace next to Goode Co., the wife & I went, psyched to be able to see a real-live Democratic presidential candidate at something that didn't cost $300 a plate (seriously, DNC folks, we're not all millionaires), and Edwards hit some impressively Kennedy-esque notes in his speech. He talked about fighting poverty, about giving people and not corporations a shot at the American Dream, about healthcare as a right and not something you just can't afford, and about hope in general.

And best of all, he seemed to walk the walk -- he's a lawyer who made his career by fighting Big Evil Corporate Entities and pledged not to take money from PACs or lobbyists, both of which made him a hero in my book right out of the gate. One of my biggest problems with Hillary Clinton is that (according to opensecrets.org, at least) she's received nearly double as much cash from lobbyists as any other candidate running, including Republicans, who're, y'know, supposed to be all about the lobbyists, yo.

Honestly, that scares the crap out of me. I really, truly wish we could head for a political scene where it's the flesh-and-blood constituents and not the business interests that had the power (thank you so much, J.C. Bancroft Davis, you weaselly bastard), and with Edwards, I thought we had a shot of seeing that, at least in the White House. I fear that with Clinton, and maybe even Obama, all we'll see is the same old kowtowing to the people with checkbooks. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...

Anyway, I'm disappointed as hell about this. I can't fault him his decision (I mean, hell, if he can't win in S. Carolina, of all places...), but damn, having a guy like that as President would've been a pretty cool prospect.

Labels: Political Stuff, Random Rambling

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Yep, State of the Union address is tonight, and I have to say that while I wasn't planning on watching, I think this here little tool is darn neato. I like the thought of watching the spectacle while my phone quietly tells me how much of it is bullshit.

Okay, I would like the thought, if the cost of all the texting wouldn't bankrupt me and I didn't know how much the Preznit says is bullshit anyway. (Answer: just about all of it, beyond the part where he calls the rest of us his fellow Americans.)

Labels: Political Stuff, Random Rambling

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This is late, late, late -- eh, I'm still sick, so I'm excused (the flu I've been fighting feels like it's turning into bronchitis or something...shit...). Anyway, it's been a busy few days for yours truly, even still; stood in the freezing fucking cold for a really long time to see Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings last Friday, and yes, it was worth it. Anybody who didn't get tickets this time & missed out: you really, really, really need to get 'em early next time. And then go. Seriously. Jones was incredible.

And then of course, there were these guys, about whom I can only say, "holy fucking crap, that's amazing." Granted, the music was loud enough to partially deafen my wife, but what the hey, tinnitus comes and goes, right? (Uh, right...?) Ivan Milev and Entcho Todorov were mind-blowing, really, so much so that the crowd overcame the initial "what the hell?" pose and started yelling and cheering enthusiastically to each piece they played. For their part, Milev and Todorov were sweetly appreciative, after starting out seemingly shy and standoffish -- maybe they had had a bad reception in The Big Easy?

Anyway, while I'm talking about damn good shows (like that segue?), there's another damn good show that'll be starting shortly -- Bright Men of Learning frontguy Marshall is once more hosting his fabled Happy Hour Invitational tonight at the soon-to-be-a-memory Proletariat (sigh), and it promises to be good. Marshall himself will be playing solo, in his Custom Drinker incarnation, along with John Sears (aka "that Grey Ghost Guy"), AWESOME! (about whom I know zip, sorry), and, uh, maybe other people (apparently The Jonx were slated to play, but the sneaky state of Washington has trapped Trey up in the Great Northwestern Woods).

So, there you go -- gonna be good. Now, unless you, like me, are preparing to drive home, curl up on the couch, and pass out for the second time in a week, get on over to the Montrose. Fun starts at 6PM (dunno about a cover, sorry, but the Proletariat's always cheap, so y'know).

Labels: Pseudo-Reviews, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do

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No time for the "real" Rundown today, sorry -- there are many, many fine shows going on this weekend, but yours truly is totally swamped (and experiencing technical difficulties w/the site, to boot; argh...). I'm bound and determined, though, come hell or high water, to get my ass out of the house to see Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings play up at Walter's. I know, I know -- there are lots of other cool people playing, but dangit, how can it possibly get any better than a funkdafied, down-home, soul-singer lady who sings about how incredibly damn awesome it is to fry up and eat a fish you caught yourself? Answer: it can't.

(My one dilemma, by the way: how the hell do I dress for this? Those who know me know I, uh, only own one suit and wear it very, very rarely, so...)

Sadly, for those of you who aren't already going, well, you're out of luck, 'cause it's sold out. Sorry 'bout that. By way of a consolation prize, though, here's a list of other almost-as-cool things you could do this weekend, should you choose to:

Fri., January 25:
Spain Colored Orange/Heist at Hand/Paris Falls @ The Proletariat

The Ka-Nives/The Dimes/American Sharks @ Crocker House

Grand Opening Polka Party on Polk Street, featuring Poopy Lungstuffing, The Annoysters, Styrofoam Duck, & Muzak John @ Super Happy Fun Land (new location; free!)

Plump (CD release)/The Endangered Sea Lions @ Dan Electro's Guitar Bar

Poor Dumb Bastards/Black Novas/The DollyRockers/Shit City High @ Rudyard's

skyblue72 (2 sets)/Dertybird @ McGonigel's Mucky Duck

Dash Rip Rock/duneTX/Molly and the Ringwalds @ The Continental Club

The Black Dahlia Murder/3 Inches of Blood/Hate Eternal @ The Meridian

Eldridge/Spoken/Floorbound/The Last Starfighter @ Fitzgerald's

While You Were Gone (CD release)/Together In Pieces/Mercy, Embraced/Emulate/The Rocketeer/The Western Civilization @ Fuel Cyber Cafe (Humble)

Sat., January 26:
Texas Oi! Fest 2008, featuring The Templars, Pride Kills, The Booked, Belligerent 86, & Roots of Exile @ Numbers

Sole and the Skyrider Band/Telephone Jim Jesus/Giant Princess @ The Proletariat

Secret Saturday Show, featuring Bright Men of Learning & several other mystery bands & DJs @ The Shady Tavern (1206 W. 20th St.; 12-5PM, free!)

Born Liars/Something Fierce/Canyon of the Skull/The Monocles @ Rudyard's

Ladies' Night Out Tour, featuring Bell Biv Devoe, Toni Tony Tone, Keith Sweat, & Guy @ Reliant Arena

The Devil Bat (CD release)/Triplewide/Abigail und Hansel/ST37/Rotten Piece/Cinema Bomar @ Super Happy Fun Land

Sun., January 27:
The Lonely H @ Rudyard's

Damn, that's a lot of shows. Maybe I need to make some plans for Saturday & Sunday, too...

Labels: Musical Crap, Random Rambling, Things To Do

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There are days when you just have to shrug and figure, "well, at least I got a semi-entertaining story out of it." Like, say, this past Monday. Yours truly was all ready-set-go for the Foo Fighters/Jimmy Eat World/Against Me! gig this week up at Toyota Center (which I'd never been to before; okay, and I guess technically I still haven't...) -- I'd gotten a review of the Foos' CD up on the site, cool PR guy Eliot had kindly offered 2 tickets to the show itself, and I'd coerced an, um, "friend" who happens to love the Foo Fighters to come with, so we were all prepped and everything.

The day of arrives, and I'm not feeling so good. Partway through a 3-hour work meeting, my legs start to ache like hell, making me fidget and stretch so much I feel like people near me are eyeing me and thinking, "ah, that poor guy's probably got some kind of medical condition." Nevertheless, I survive the meeting & head on home, but by the time I reach the house I can tell something's seriously wrong with me. I feel cold even in the well-heated house, my head hurts, and I'm getting a little wobbly. A hot bath helps a little, but I still feel like I'm on the verge of crashing. Oh, shit, this is bad -- I really should just lie down and forget about the Foo Fighters...

Then I marshal my near-indomitable (yeah, right) endurance, say "dammit, The People (and the PR Guy) are counting on me!" And besides, The Rock cured me of a really horrible stomach virus once when I disregarded my health and went to see the Ramones (no, seriously), so maybe the Foo Fighters and/or Jimmy Eat World could do the same? I figure we'd better find out, so we bundle up in sweatshirts & yes-I-know-I'm-old-but-I'm-still-cool-dammit tees (well, I did, anyway; Dwayne, you rule for commenting on it...), get some cash, and run for the door. In downtown, there are swarms of hundreds and hundreds of people -- not all kids, which is nice to see -- converging on Toyota Center, so we join the throng & head for the "Will Call" line. The lady at the ticket window takes my name and searches her list: nope, not on there. She then asks who was holding the tickets for me and goes to talk with her manager.

After 20 minutes or so of back-and-forthing with the amazingly friendly, helpful, polite ticket window lady, somebody miraculously produces an envelope with my name on it. In the meantime, I'm starting to feel worse and worse, and my shivering is only partly due to the cold and rain. But hey, the clouds have parted, and we have our tickets -- on we go. Or maybe not. Walking towards the doors, we open the envelope to find...one odd-looking Foo Fighters sticker with my name on it in marker and the word "Press." Holy crap, it's a fucking press pass. Heck, that's even better (usually)...but wait, there's only one? Oh, no.

We dash back to the ticket window, where the ticket lady says she's got no idea what the sticker thing is -- she says they're not allowed to open the envelopes they get from the performers or promoters. We ask as pathetically as we can if there's any way we can trade the one press pass for two actual tickets, and she says she'll see if any tickets are released that she can give to us. So we step to the side and wait.

My friend now starts telling me to just go in, go for it -- it's a backstage pass, she reasons, and it'd be a shame to waste it. The problems are that A). I drove, and she can't drive my car, which means she'll be marooned in the nothing-to-do wasteland of East Downtown Houston, B). I'm already feeling like shit, and the prospect of feeling like shit alone in a packed arena isn't a good one, and C). most importantly, I'd be the Biggest Schmuck in the Universe if I ditched her like that, especially for a band she'd really like to see herself. No go, I decide; it's both of us or neither.

Another 20 minutes go by, we hear Against Me! start their set, and I'm now shaking like a leaf and hurting bad. Time to go. We tell the ticket lady thanks for all her help, but we need to leave, and she asks us if we still want the press pass. "No, that's cool -- just give it to somebody else," I say, but she pushes it back through the slot. "I can't do that," she says, "but you can."

Ah, crap. Who the heck do I give a one-person press pass to? Everybody walking by either has tickets, is in a pair, or is scalping tickets. I start calling friends, and homeboy Mel recommends calling Dwayne (of Radio Pioneer fame/infamy), so I give it a shot. Sure, he'd love the pass, definitely, so we get his address and make our way back to the car. Over to Montrose, the old 'hood. We do the handoff, and Dwayne is very appreciative, saying with a laugh that it was such weird timing -- right before we'd called, a friend had called to say he'd sold weed to the Foo Fighters' manager.

Anyway. I drive unsteadily home and collapse in the fetal position on the couch, where my wife kindly covers me with blankets and tries to warm me up. After about a half-hour, I crawl to bed and pass out and don't wake up 'til nearly 11AM the next morning.

The next day, I get a call from Dwayne -- did he get in? Well, yes, but not in the way expected. Turns out he took the press pass up to the gate but was turned away because he didn't also have a ticket. Crap. He ran over to the ticket windows, where he somehow ended up getting in the line of the same very kind ticket lady we'd dealt with earlier in the night. She said, "oh, I remember them, they were here earlier; here, I've got two tickets for you!" So then he was the proud owner of one press pass and two tickets.

Some more phone-calling ensued, and eventually Dwayne and Ryan Chavez (of Panic in Detroit/Smoking Popes fame/infamy) headed into the Center to grab their seats. Not together, unfortunately, but both were front-row, so hey, can't beat that. And it turned out the press pass was only good for letting Dwayne get up at the front of the stage at certain times, so we'd have been out-of-luck even if I'd tried to go it alone. Weird, that.

At any rate, I'm still sore but no longer feverish, which is good, and it feels like this thing's in its final stages. Just my freakin' luck that I get the 24-Hour Flu exactly at the start of when I've got free tickets to see one of the biggest/most interesting rock bands on the planet. Oh, but I'm forgetting -- there's that semi-entertaining story I mentioned earlier...

Labels: Musical Crap, Random Rambling

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Dang, two updates in a week; must be on a roll (okay, technically the last update was for stuff that went up last week, but still...). This time out we've got a brand-spankin'-new interview with La Porte's own Buxton, who'll be releasing their 2nd full-length -- as we've mentioned here before -- this coming Saturday, January 19th at Walter's on Washington, with Papermoons, By the End of Tonight, & Ghost Mountain. (That's tomorrow, btw, for those who have yet to update their calendars for the new year.) SCR writer Pedro was able to track the band down & wrangle some answers out of 'em, and reading the article I know that I, at least, feel enlightened as to the sonic possibilities of the mandolin, among other things. It's gonna be a good, good show, seriously.

And speaking of shows, Super-Duper Rock Godz Foo Fighters are coming through town this next Tuesday, January 22nd, over at the Toyota Center mondorena in downtown, playing with the ever-awesome Jimmy Eat World and Against Me!, who I know mostly by reputation. In advance of that, therefore, we've got a just-in-the-nick review of their latest album, released late last year, so read & listen & whatnot. I'm pretty psyched about the show, myself, partly because I will hopefully (cross fingers) be there to report on the goings-on; keep an eye out for that in a week or so, barring any unforeseen complications with tickets and such.

And yes, there's more. A little further off, on Saturday, February 2nd, Deer Park-livin' garage-rockers The Gold Sounds will be playing down at The Forum in La Porte...home, again, of the aforementioned Buxton. And The Forum is apparently run by Sergio of Buxton's parents. How's that for tying-in to the tie-in? Yeesh... Anyway, we've got a review up of Gold Sounds' new EP, too, and it is downright awesome, honest. I could listen to "Blow My Head to the Floor" and "College Radio" over and over again for days on end. (Well, if I weren't also weirdly compelled to keep shuffling between the Foo Fighters & Stadium's Change of plans, we're coming home in my car stereo, that is.)

Oh, but we're not done yet, no. We reviewed Beantown band The Beatings a while back and were fairly impressed, so they sent along the solo CD of the band's singer/songwriter/guitarist guy, Eldridge Rodriguez (I keep wanting to call him "Edilberto Rodriguez," dammit, after an old boss of mine). Check out the review of that one here, along with reviews of stuff by Denelian, Liars, and P.A.F. (the latter of which, incidentally, is connected to a guy up in Chicago named Kyle Bruckmann who I knew somewhat back in college; we're all connected, I tell you...it's a conspiracy...agh, my brain hurts...). Here's the whole pile for this go-round:

Interviews: Buxton.

Reviews: Foo Fighters; The Gold Sounds; Eldridge Rodriguez; Denelian; Liars; & P.A.F..

Keep watching the skies, folks.

Labels: Interviews, Reviews, Things To Do, Things To Hear

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No, really -- I do. Which is sad, 'cause there was once a time when I'd have laid down on a railroad track for that quirky little Web publishing tool. But now? No, no, nooooo. Why? Well, because while you're probably reading this brilliantly witty missive only on the ol' Myspace, you should be reading it, as well, on the actual fucking blog.

Nope, it ain't working -- hasn't been for several days, and it's begun to be a major pain in my ass, let me tell you. Any time I try to publish any blog on the site (there're a bunch), it runs a while, then I get the "Your publish is taking longer than expected. To continue waiting for it to finish, click here." message. I wait and wait and wait and wait and wait, and then usually, I get one or more errors saying "org.apache.commons.net.ftp.FTPConnectionClosedException: Connection closed without indication." Usually I'll try to republish, naturally, and go through the same rigamarole. If I eventually give up (often after an hour+ spent on the damn Status screen, waiting for it to say it's published) and shut down for the night, sometimes it apparently keeps running and gets itself published somewhere in the dark, dark night while I'm not looking. But not always. (Like, say, last night.)

This really, really sucks. Especially since my email to Blogger Support has gotten me nada, zip, zero. Argh.

At any rate, big-big-big apologies to all -- if you've emailed me a show to list, I swear I've got it in there and am trying to publish it. I've already missed a couple of damn shows this week, and that embarrasses me to no end. Double argh. Bear with me, y'all...

Labels: Admin Stuff, Public Service Announcements

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New year, new reviews -- got 'em up late last week... It's a good batch, too; we've got local indie-folkies Papermoons, with a review of their cool debut(?) 7" up here. The band's playing this coming Saturday, January 19th up at Walter's on Washington, with Buxton, By the End of Tonight, & Ghost Mountain, and I'm dearly wishing I could be there for it; got a fancy-shmancy wedding bash to go to, I'm afraid (at La Colombe d'Or, no less).

On top of that, we've got a bunch more reviews, like the new Japanther disc, the debut from, yes, Kenny Loggins' kid, and the nearly-brand-new Saves The Day. Plus, new writeups on good-good-good local folk The Linus Pauling Quartet & Piano Vines. Check 'em out...

Featured Bands: The Linus Pauling Quartet & Piano Vines.

Reviews: Papermoons; Japanther; Crosby Loggins and The Light; Loren Dent; Brandon Adamson; The Brunettes; Phame; & Saves The Day.

More to come...

Labels: Reviews

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Well, after last year's ridiculously good bumper crop of local releases, I'd kind of wondered what 2008 would bring -- I feared it'd be a quiet year, relatively, with everybody touring on past CDs & 7"s & such, and no new stuff out 'til later on. What the hell am I gonna do without new stuff from the billion or so excellent bands making music in this city?

Looks like I needn't have worried. We're only just halfway or so through the first month of '08, and I've already heard & seen evidence of a veritable flood of H-town releases coming our way. Here's a quick glance at the ones I've heard about, at least, for bands I like -- if anybody knows of others, hey, feel free to mention/plug 'em in the Comments. And just so nobody gets their feelings hurt, I want to make clear that these are not in order of preference/coolness/whatever, but just in the order they generally popped into my little head. Here goes:

While You Were Gone, Heavy Lies The Crown:
Been waiting for this one for a while now -- WYWG hit it somewhat big at the Houston Press Awards a year or two back & then mostly dropped off the radar, which is a damn shame, because they're one of the best emo-ish rock bands going in this smoggy city. There're some heavy Christian undertones, for sure (take this lyric from "Sinner," for example: "I am a merchant / and I sell good news"), but with rock this lushly gorgeous and emotive, eh, I'm down with it. Besides, they're so damn earnest I just have to respect it, y'know? I have yet to see 'em play live, but reports compare 'em to Austin's Cruiserweight, which makes some sense, and vocalist/pianist Misty Gray has some of the baddest-ass soft-post-punk vocals out there today (and no, I'm not talking about just within SE Texas).

Anyway, everything I've heard so far off upcoming EP Heavy Lies The Crown is great, great stuff -- esp. "Thief," which is just plain heartbreaking in an almost Eisley-ish way -- so keep an eye out for it. The release date's 1/25, and the band'll be playing their CD release show that night at Fuel Cyber Cafe up in Humble. You can pick up the new EP there and enter a contest to snag 2 tix to see Emery & As Cities Burn in Feb., to boot.

Buxton, A Family Light:
Yep, LaPorte's favorite sons are back with their second full-length, A Family Light, which is a jangly, jaunty-yet-sad, countrified affair that tramps deeper into the backwoods than the previous one, Red Follows Red, ever did. It's good, oddly familiar, old-timey, "warm"-sounding music that brings to mind The Elected, The Mendoza Line, Iron and Wine (the faster bits, at least), or Murder by Death (no, really; check out "Blood On The Streets"). I've heard some of the band's earlier stuff, too, but I think I like the new stuff better, believe it or not -- they sound like they're really coming into their own.

The release show for this one's on 1/19 at Walter's on Washington, with excellent fellow locals By the End of Tonight and Papermoons and a fourth band, Ghost Mountain, about which I know nada. Oh, and if you hit the show you not only get a free copy of the new album, but you also get a copy of Red Follows Red & an EP the band, uh, never got around to actually releasing. Can't beat that, damn...

The American Masquerade, Unveiled:
Haven't yet heard all of Unveiled, but I've been waiting for this disc since first hearing about these guys over on The Skyline Network. Following a name change (or two? can't remember...), the Masquerade released this one, although I can't tell for sure when it was released (dammit, people, this is what those Myspace blogs're for). If there was a release show, I missed it, unfortunately, but I'm happy to see these songs hit the light of day, even still. Unveiled is interesting, entertaining stuff, in the vein of The Killers and Interpol -- and despite what you might think, I don't mean that as a slam. I enjoy both bands, personally, and the Masquerade boys acquit themselves admirably here in the same general camp of retro-'80s, glam-y, dramatic, electronified pop-rock. No clue where you can pick it up, sadly, but I'd bet you can contact the band via Myspace and snag a copy (or hell, just catch a show).

Hearts of Animals, 7":
I wish-wish-wish I knew more about this one, but here's what I do know: HoA will apparently be putting out its third "real" release (counting the two Grey Ghost EPs Ms. Mlee's done to date), a real-live 7", on Dull Knife Recs in early-to-mid February. I dunno what songs'll be on it, but going by her previous work, it's bound to be goooooood. Seriously. There's a release show already planned for Feb. 12th over at Rudyard's, with Hearts of Animals, Nat Baldwin of Dirty Projectors fame, & somebody I've never heard of before called Whiskey Priest. So here's what you need to do, in order (trust me, I'm a technical writer, so I know these things): 1) Go to show. 2) Listen. 3) Pick up jaw. 4) Fumble frantically for cash to buy record. 5) Go home and put new record on stereo. 6) Pick up jaw second time.

On top of that, the last time I saw Hearts of Animals play, Mlee said that there'd be a new "release" coming out this spring, which would seem logically to be the aforementioned record, but when I asked if it'd be an actual CD, she said "yes." So maybe -- hopefully -- this means that there's an honest-to-Jeebus album in the works? Dunno. In the loudness of Rudz, maybe she didn't hear what I asked and just smiled and said "yes" so I'd get lost. But hey, I can hope...

Something Fierce/The Monocles, Modern Girl/The Monocles:
Yep, I've babbled about this a bit about Something Fierce & The Monocles before now, but I've got a little correcting to do, I'm afraid. For some damn reason, I saw "record release" on the note about last Friday's show w/both bands and assumed it was a split record with the two of 'em. Turns out that's not the case -- the two bands are out on tour together, yes, but they're putting out two different records, one for each. Which is badass, obviously; hell, we've already reviewed the dang Monocles disc here. I swear, I've got no clue where I got the idea that there was one record and it was a split w/both bands...weird. Sorry for the confusion, y'all.

At any rate, I can tell you for absolute-freakin'-sure that both records are excellent, and since you're unable to get your old-school pop-punk fix for the duration of the "Teenage Mustache" tour (I think they're somewhere in Georgia as I type this), do yourself a favor and head on over to SoundEx or Vinal Edge and grab two pieces of cool-ass vinyl to tide yourself over. Cool?

Rustler, Shark Week:
Hot damn. Not too long after the release of their great-great-great debut EP threw me into a gleeful spiral of prog-and-not metal worship, apparently the three Big Easy transplants in Rustler are hard at work on their second release, to be entitled Shark Week. Which, weirdly enough, fits pretty much perfectly with the band's jazzy/crazed take on instro-metal -- I mean, seriously, why the hell aren't Rustler scoring Discovery Channel specials? It works for the Dub Trio, right? Anyway. No sign of the new tracks yet, but I'm awaiting the new disc with bated breath nonetheless.

Tody Castillo:
This one's been in a the works for a while now -- sounds like Tody underestimated how long it'd take to put together the followup to his awesome debut CD from a few years back -- he says it'll most likely be out in March/April of '08. I haven't heard it yet, but David from Houston Calling apparently has, and he says it's gonna be good. Keep yr fingers crossed.

Sharks and Sailors:
Dunno the details on this, but per ADR over at Skyline, the new S&S album's all done & ready to go -- it just needs to be mastered. Damn cool.

Balaclavas, Balaclavas/Inferno:
Not really "new" releases, no, but according to Ramon at Free Press Houston, the band's re-releasing its two self-released EPs on vinyl on Phonographic Arts/Compound Recordings. Good to hear...

Mantis, namas te:
Okay, so this one's got me totally confused, but what the hey... I really like what I've heard of these guys, kind of a cool, bluesy, pseudo-classic rock thing, but I'm a little at a loss for details on what looks like an upcoming release, namas te, which their Website says will be both the band's first full-length and nine free tracks for absolute free. I'm guessing they're planning on a strictly digital release, but I can't tell, 'cause that's all the info there is. Gonna have to keep an eye out for that one.

Labels: H-Town News, Public Service Announcements, Things To Get, Things To Hear

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I dunno whether it's some weird alignment of the stars or the writers' strike or what, but H-town shows have just been insane lately. Not that they're not often good, of course, but that in recent weeks they've been stacked three deep each and every weekend night. Crazy... At any rate, tonight (Friday, Jan. 11th, that is), is no exception, 'cause there's some truly good, good shit going down (and sorry, I just can't do the links right now -- trying to get offline -- but check the Venues & Bands if you're looking for more info on a club or band):

Fri., January 11 - Sharks and Sailors/UME/Camp X-Ray @ Rudyard's ($6)
Yes, yes, yes. And yes. Sharks and Sailors rock -- one of the best bands in town, no question, even if they appear to be moving away from The Heaviness just a mite -- and they're paired up not only with H-town expats UME, who also rock in a Heavy-Heavy kinda way, but Austin's Camp X-Ray, which apparently features Mark Twistworthy, whom old-timers might remember from Twistworthy Recs and the Texas Shows List (which was, incidentally, pretty much the inspiration for our own shows list, back in the day).

Fri., January 11 - Something Fierce/The Monocles (7" release)/Hoodlum Circus/This Year's Tiger @ Walter's on Washington
Already blathered a bit about this one, but I'll sum it up again here: it's gonna be badass. Something Fierce really, truly lives up to the name; they blow the damn roof off. And while I haven't yet caught The Monocles live, they rule on the debut 7" they put out a while back. Oh, and tonight's also the release party for the new 7", a split deal with both bands. Badassssssss.

Fri., January 11 - 500 Megatons of Boogie/Wild Moccasins/Missing Files @ The Backroom (The Mink)
Never seen 500 Megatons of Boogie live, but I liked 'em as The Squishees and I hear the new incarnation's excellent. Plus, I've heard good things about Wild Moccasins, too.

Fri., January 11 - Penny Royal/Lazlo/Two Star Symphony/The Feiros @ Warehouse Live
Nice to be seeing more & more local folk at the Warehouse of late... Two Star Symphony, in particular, are excellent, excellent, excellent, and I really like what I've heard so far from Penny Royal, so try to stick around for 'em if you go this route.

Fri., January 11 - Rescue Mission/Death Is Not a Joyride/Audio in the Pregap/Voidmate @ Notsuoh
Ow, this is really starting to hurt... I've been meaning to see Audio in the Pregap for a while now, and while I dunno a thing about Voidmate or Rescue Mission, reputable sources tell me out-of-towners Death Is Not a Joyride are pretty great, too.

Fri., January 11 - The Defenestration Unit @ Avant Garden
Gah. Another? Damn... Yes, the D.U.'s at the Avant Garden tonight -- go see some crazy improv shit.

Fri., January 11 - P.D. Wilder/Translations/J. Andrew Bobbitt @ Bohemeo's
And finally, I'm gonna stick a fork in this thing & call it done -- dunno P.D. Wilder, but I've liked what I've heard of Translations, and J. Andrew Bobbitt's old band Overlight Underdark was freakin' incredible in its day, so I'm guessing this'll be worth a listen, as well.

So, there you go. You've got no excuse, nada -- go out and see a band tonight, dammit. Something for everybody...

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Things To Do

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Yes, tonight, Thurs., January 10th, is officially the last-ever show at the 2610 Ashland St. home of Super Happy Fun Land before they pack it all up (and believe me, there's a lot to pack) and move the whole mess over to 3801 Polk Street -- they're sliding languidly southwest-ward from the Heights and over into what I think qualifies as the East End. So get on out tonight & celebrate the temporary death and glorious pending rebirth of SHFL with P.D. Wilder, Translations, the excellently strange Thomas Ayresol, Malissa, & Swirve, eh?

While you're there, by the by, talk to one of the SHFL folks & offer to help out with the move -- they need as many volunteers as they can get, and will be handing out free Super Happy shirts to those who give selflessly so that others may move. Oh, and some lucky volunteer(s) will get a coupon for a "FREE OOAK CUSTOM SOCK CREATURE." And no, I have no idea what an "OOAK CUSTOM SOCK CREATURE" is, beyond that it's, well, presumably made from a sock and is a creature of some sort. If you can't make it out this evening, of course, you can always call/email the SHFL crew and tell 'em you'd like to lend a hand: 713-880-2100's the number, and their email's "info" at "superhappyfunland dot com".

Lastly, after the noise from the amps has all died out & the moving process truly gets underway, SHFL will be holding an everything-must-go Rummage Sale this Saturday, January 12th, from 9AM to 5PM -- they're apparently trying to seriously downsize, and if you've ever been to the place, you'll get how monumental a task that is. Head on over to Ashland & see what they've got...

Labels: H-Town News, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do

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Yeah, they're both a couple of days old already, but I just wanted to mention that fancy-shmancy new "Featured Band" write-ups are now online for sweet-voiced indie-popsters Piano Vines, who I'm eagerly awaiting to check out on CD (go, U.S. Postal Service, go!), and stoner-rock heroes and all-'round nice guys The Linus Pauling Quartet, who I'd been foolishly willing to dismiss 'til recently (yes, I am an idiot, and I'll admit that freely). More to come, I promise -- look for Rustler, The Riff Tiffs, Program, and a bunch more to magically appear here in weeks/months to come. Got my list, got my list...

Labels: Admin Stuff, Featured Bands

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Awesome, awesome... This coming Friday, January 11th, at Walter's on Washington, local old-school punk kids Something Fierce -- who happen to be one of my absolute-favorite bands in town these days, honest -- are heading out on tour (for the first time? not sure...) with fellow badass rockers The Monocles (whose debut 7" is a fine, fine release), tearing up the country from here to hell & back. They're also doing this show, at least, with Shreveport's The Hoodlum Circus and fellow locals This Year's Tiger; I dunno a thing about the former, but I've heard the latter are pretty good, too...

To make things even better, I hear the show's also a release party of sorts for a brand-new split-7" featuring both bands. I dunno what songs're on there, but if the Fiercies' "demo" of "Where You Going" (check their Myspace) -- which is like a flashback to England in the late '70s, minus the economic depression -- is one of 'em, I've got to get me a copy.

Anyway, come on out if you can. And if you happen to not be here in the Houston area, you can also check out these guys/girl at venues across the country; they'll be blasting their way through Georgia, SCarolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Tennessee, & Louisiana before returning triumphantly to their smoggy, sweaty-in-January home. Oh, and it's the "Teenage Mustache Tour". Yes.

Labels: H-Town News, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Hear

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A little slow, I know, but what the hey -- that's how I roll, generally. Managed to drag my couch-sitting/munchkin-minding self out of the house this past Saturday, mostly because there was just too damn much Rock going on in H-town to ignore. I had a hard time deciding, considering that Thee Armada, Alkari, My Education, The Riff Tiffs, Miss Leslie, Earnie Banks, and Elaine Greer were all playing, among others, but I ended up going with the Hootenanny shindig thrown by The Skyline Network's ADR and the triumphal return of old-school indie-rockers Sad Like Crazy to the Proletariat stage. I kissed the midget & the wife goodnight, grabbed my new digital camera (small enough that I don't feel like a self-conscious shmuck carrying it around in my pocket), and made for the door, ready to troll Houston's seamy musical, um, underbelly...

HOOTENANNY!: Never been to The Mink before, but it seemed like a neat place -- I'm seriously jealous of anybody who lives within walking/train-riding distance of the whole "music block" there, what with The Continental, Sig's Lagoon, Tacos A-Go-Go, & The Mink all crammed together in one teeny little stretch of Main St. That said, I'm afraid I didn't see much of the interior of the place, mostly because it was so goddamn packed inside to move much. Kudos to ADR for promoting the shit out of the show -- dude, I think it's safe to say that it worked. Congrats, man...

At any rate, I managed to get there, park a few blocks away (there's supposedly valet parking, but I couldn't find it), and hike my way down just in time to catch the awesome, awesome, awesome Panic in Detroit playing Jawbox's greatest hits -- I swear, they hit every Jawbox song I love and then some, and they had it down, to a fuckin' T. I wedged myself in over by the bar and bobbed my head like a damn teenage kid, grinning from ear to ear; it made perfect sense, really, given PiD's own music, that they'd be such huge Jawbox fans. From the sound of it, they knew every song by heart; apparently they only practiced three times before the show. Thanks, y'all; you made me want to run home an immediately slap on Jawbox's For Your Own Special Sweetheart, immediately followed by the eponymous Panic in Detroit disc. ('Cause hey, "We Own Everything" is the best damn Jawbox song Jawbox never wrote.)

Afterwards, I headed downstairs to shoot the shit with a few folks -- I saw a lot of faces I recognized, some of whom I hadn't seen out-and-about in a long damn time (like, longer than it's been since I was regularly out-and-about). I was nervously checking my watch, though, because it'd clicked that I really, really, really needed to get over to The Proletariat to catch Sad Like Crazy...after all, just about every scenester who might've given a damn about 'em was at the Mink, enjoying the cover rock. I had a duty, dammit, to represent and give Trey, Mari, & co. an audience of one, at least.

Before I moved on, though, I followed David of Houston Calling as he bravely ventured back into the building's first floor to catch The Jonx playing as NOmeansno. I could only see drummer Danny's head and flailing arms through the crowd (this is what happens when the stage is floor-level, y'all; hell, upstairs I could only see Ryan's head & hair), but it sounded like the Jonxers, much like their compatriots upstairs, were playing music they dearly loved and knew note-for-note. I'm still bummed they didn't do "The Tower," but eh...

Overall, I enjoyed the shindig a heck of a lot more than I thought my old, non-scenester ass might -- there was a friendly, house party-type feel to the whole thing, where everybody there seemed to know everybody else. Lots of smiles, lots of hugs, and lots and lots and lots of ironic T-shirts (yeah, kinda including mine).

(Sorry, by the by, but I didn't get any pics of the Hootenanny-in-progress -- while it sounded great and was a lot of fun, I generally couldn't see a damn thing...)

SAD LIKE CRAZY: Back in the car. Down to Wheeler/Richmond & on over to the soon-to-be-defunct Proletariat, where it turned out to be Customer Appreciation Night. As in, "no cover, free beer." I needn't have worried about the turnout for the Sad Like Crazy gig, because it looked like every free beer-loving denizen of Montrose who wasn't in a band had converged on the place. Of course, this had its downside, as well, like the fact that almost nobody there had a clue who SLC were, much less gave a shit. Fellow two-show-goer Marshall of the stellar Bright Men of Learning peered 'round the room and shook his head, amazed, asking, "Who are these people? I don't know anybody here..."

Even still, though, I couldn't have been happier. It's been too damn long since I last chatted with Trey Pool, Mari Pool, & Thane Matcek (and I got to meet their drummer, too; sorry, dude, but I'm totally blanking on the name...), and it felt like Old Home Week trading stories and reminiscing about the bar's stint as the Blue Iguana (memo to kids too young to remember the Iguana or the pre-renovated Fitzgerald's: you have no idea how sketchy a club in this city can be, believe me; I always thought the porn plastered all over the Iguana bathroom walls was the crowning touch...). Good people, seriously.

And, going by the show they put on, they've barely missed a step since leaving town, what?, five years ago, now? It's hard to believe it's been that long... Watching Trey, in particular, play his guitar I felt yanked back to The Good Ole Days, back before nobody who wasn't themselves in a band gave a shit about Houston music. (Okay, so things haven't changed that much, but hey, at least now there's mainstream coverage of some of the bands, right?) He also reminded me how totally inadequate and lame he always made me feel on guitar -- which isn't a hard thing to do, given my non-skill, but damn, he blew me away then & now, both.

The rest of the band played wonderfully, too; if there were any missteps, I sure didn't hear 'em, and neither did the rest of the crowd. They played stuff off Love Songs to Death that I knew & loved, like "Sweet to Me" and "Nekkid Is OK" (which Marshall declared to be his favorite SLC song ever), and I'm guessing they threw in stuff off Populist Octopus, too, 'cause there were songs in there I didn't recognize at all -- I was finally able to pick up a copy of the album at the show. And through it all, there was the band's signature mid-'90s indie-rock sound, halfway between Pavement slackerness and Grifters countrified weirdness. It was fucking great.

All things considered, the crowd seemed to like the show, too. Nobody booed, nobody heckled, nobody got in a fight, yadda, yadda; people clapped and cheered, and more than a few wandered up to the stage afterwards and picked up their own (free, in the spirit of the evening) copies of the band's two albums. Hell, they probably made a few converts.

Then, of course, things got weird. Almost as soon as Trey & co. left the stage, the DJs rolled out and launched into a dance-y mix of, oddly, songs I mostly seemed to know. And as they did, people spilled out of every nook & cranny in the place and arranged themselves all across the dancefloor, right on up to the stage. Simultaneously, about half the club-goers in the place lit up cigarettes and started puffing away, smoking ban or no. Seriously, it was so strange to see the shift that it almost felt choreographed.

Watching from the sidelines, I decided to take the hint and head on home. Gave Trey a hug and told him the band needed to come back down soon (no plans to move back down from Austin, sadly), then made my way through the dancers and unfamiliar faces, out the door, and off down the road. Yeah, yeah -- it was only midnight, I know, but damn, two shows in a night's plenty for me...

Labels: H-Town News, Live Reviews, Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews

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I mentioned a short while back that a little bird told me H-town punk heroes Latch Key Kids were back together, at least temporarily. And when I came back into town after the holiday madness, I had real-live confirmation awaiting me from LKK singer Tim Guerinot, who had this to say:

Absolutely!!! We're writing some new stuff as we speak. We're confirmed to play with NOFX and No Use For A Name on 2/26/08 @ Wharehouse Live in Houston with more shows TBA.

Very cool. I always liked the band, esp. their '96 release, Anytime, Anyplace, and I'm damn glad to see they're back around. And heck, it's even more reason to check out the NOFX show next month...

Labels: H-Town News, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do

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Well, 2007's done, and a new year's now upon us. And as I sit here and listen to the booming fireworks off in the distance (and the, er, somewhat sharper reports closer to home), it's been a hell of a year, especially in terms of music coming out of our fair city -- to be honest, I'd gotten pretty gloom-and-doomy about H-town's musical prospects of late 'til 2007 rolled around and blew that all away.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I can't think of a year when there've been so many badass fucking local releases -- and believe it, calling them "local releases" is really doing them an injustice, because they've rivaled anything national that's dropped on my desk this year. The Western Civilization, Papermoons, Stadium, Hearts of Animals, Jana Hunter, Fatal Flying Guilloteens, Thee Armada, Paris Falls, Something Fierce, Ryan Scroggins, Motion Turns It On, Arthur Yoria, Blades, Rustler...the list could go on for days (and it did, in fact, over at Skyline). I'd given up hope, folks, and figured the Glory Days of Yore were strictly in the past, but that's now no longer the case. Consider my eyes re-opened.

With the year that was now ended, then, I feel the need to say "thank you" to everybody out there. Thanks to all the folks who've read and supported this site over the has-it-really-been-a-decade we've been doing this, especially those who stuck with us through the dark period where the political stuff took over and SCR, uh, kinda went on hiatus for a while. We love y'all.

Big thanks, as well, to all the kind, generous, talented people who've written for SCR and continue to help out every damn week to keep this thing afloat. Without you, believe me when I say that this little site wouldn't exist. Period. Y'all rock. I especially owe big the remaining old-timers of the crew, particularly Henry Mayer, who's been writing reviews for us for seven very long years now, since 2001. (Speaking of which, dude, I seriously owe you a t-shirt or mug or briefcase of $$$ something, at the very least; don't let me forget, eh?)

A big part of my own personal eye-opening on Houston Music, Circa 2007, of course, came from without. That is, from the H-town scene itself, which is pretty incredible in its breadth, depth, and overall good feeling-ness -- I've heard the gripes, sure, but by and large, Houston bands, mags, Websites, and record labels take care of one another, and that's a very cool thing. In particular, I feel compelled to thank the crazily hardworking people at the Free Press Houston, ADR & crew at The Skyline Network, the erudite writers of NonAlignment Pact, David at Houston Calling, the valiant Sara & Joey of HandStamp, and the too-many-to-name posters on the Hands Up Message Board.

Beyond them, there're all the bands, labels, and booking outfits who've been kind enough to send us their stuff, email us about shows, and just generally be nice to us. We appreciate it all, even if yours truly can never manage to keep up with the damn email. Sorry 'bout that...

Of course, the two people I owe the most are right here at home, just down the hall while I type this. It's really kind of strange to think that eight years ago I was standing outside CSAW watching the fireworks go off overhead while my friend Mike proposed to his then-girlfriend Teresa and homeboy Josh got to know his soon-to-be girlfriend better when I thought, "dammit, I'm gonna ask that girl at work out." I had no clue I'd be standing most of the way up a mountain in West Texas nine months later, asking her to marry me, or that there'd be this crazy little curly-haired midget running around yelling her very own "rock song" (the lyrics to which seem to be mostly, "Oh, yeah / It's a rock song / Hit it!") later on down the road. I love you guys, and I owe you both most of all.

So, to everybody out there reading this: thanks! Happy New Year, from all of us here at Space City Rock...

Labels: Admin Stuff, Musical Crap, Random Rambling

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