Good Things for the Weekend (and Beyond)

Yep, another busy-busy weekend here in Hell City, USA… Beyond the Westheimer Street Festival, er, Block Party tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, 3/23, that is), there’s plenty of other shows/bands worth checking out in the next few days:

Fri., March 23:
Northern State/Nasty Nation/Mr. Pink Eyes/Shoo @ Jet Lounge (1515 Pease)
Not sure about Nasty Nation & co., but Northern State are sassy-smart NY rapper chicks who make a dorky hip-hop handle like “Hesta Prynn” seem cool.

The Dead Science/Parenthetical Girls/Graustark/Something Really Dirty @ Super Happy Fun Land
Good show; The Dead Science do some fine, good, old-fashioned indie-rock the way I used to love to hear it.

The Kimonos/The Charms/Les Thargic @ Rudyard’s
There was a time I wasn’t super-keen on The Kimonos, I have to say; with that said, though, their newer songs are damn cool.

listenlisten/Church of Philadelphia/Comrade @ Notsuoh
Heard good things about Church of Philadelphia, and what I’ve actually heard of listenlisten (or Listen, Listen, or ListenListen, or however it’s spelled; I’ve never been real sure) has been cool — somewhat freaky folk-pop stuff that’s a little fragile and interesting.

Southern Culture On The Skids @ The Continental Club
Yeah, yeah. It’s SCOTS; just go have fun, no heavy thinking involved.

Sat., March 24:
Clipd Beaks/Balaclavas/Church of the Snake/Wicked Poseur @ Notsuoh
Okay, so I haven’t heard a thing by any of these folks, but the idea of Matt Brownlie doing a side project that’s weirder than his full-time band, Bring Back The Guns, just cracks me up.

The Western Civilization (CD release)/Buxton @ Walter’s on Washington
If you haven’t already committed to some pretty major other event tonight (like yours truly has; gotta do what you gotta do), be here. Seriously. Buxton are good, and The Western Civilization blows me away. Awesomely great, gentle-yet-bitter indie-rock that sounds like it came straight outta Omaha. More later on this one…

8th Annual WorldFolk Battle of the Bands, featuring Drout Boyz, The Persuaders, Slivered, Breanne Fye, jEEt, Skepticynic, Three Crooked Hearts, & Larry Sepulvado and Sin City @ Papa’s Ice House (Spring)
Not a clue on any band but Slivered — who are good, and their guitarist used to be in old-timers Hayflick Limit — but I love a good battle of the bands.

Vanilla Ice/IH5/Jumping Monks @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
Vanilla Ice. In a rock bar a half-mile from NASA. Whee.

Sun., March 25:
Anberlin/Bayside @ The Meridian
Dunno Anberlin, sorry, but I’ve heard the new Bayside, and it’s surprisingly good…

Mon., March 26:
missFlag/skyblue72/Tody Castillo @ The Meridian
Go early for this one; Tody’s honestly one of the best songwriters currently operating in this city. His self-titled album makes me want to take a magnet to all my old 4-track recordings.

Tues., March 27:
Smoke or Fire/O Pioneers!!!/This Year’s Tiger/Charger Fits @ Walter’s on Washington
Richmond-dwelling headliners Smoke or Fire play solid, catchy, Avail-style punkish rock; O Pioneers!!! are some very strange-yet-compelling locals; and This Year’s Tiger sound pretty interesting, too. (Sorry, don’t know Charger Fits.)

Carolyn Wonderland/Jodi Adair @ Last Concert Cafe
Gotta give props to Carolyn Wonderland — my wife loves her, and I have to say, she’s good at what she does.

Ambulette/The New Trust/Satin Hooks @ Walter’s on Washington
Another show-up-early deal; dunno The New Trust, and Ambulette are just kind of “eh” for me, but every time I catch Satin Hooks, I like ’em more.

Testament/Helstar/Dirt/Vozz @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
Oh, hell yeah. This makes me wish my old Anthrax t-shirt hadn’t dissolved into grimy dust a few years back. Decent old-school mëtäl from Testament and Houston’s own (er, I think…) onetime heavy metal heroes Helstar. Who the fuck books this club?

Thurs., March 29:
Ragged Hearts/Prodigal Sons @ The Continental Club
Picked up the Ragged Hearts CD not long ago, and it’s surprisingly tuneful and un-streetpunk, despite the photos on the cover. That’s a good thing.

Damn. And here I thought the Southby Collateral Flood was over…