The Rundown (4/17-4/26)

Yeah, yeah — late, late, late, I know. Sorry; it ended up being one of those weekends that make me actually like living in this slowly-sinking swamp of a city, so I couldn’t bear to spend it indoors on the laptop (although I do now have wireless, so…hmm). I spent part of the weekend with my father-in-law, fixing up the dilapidated shed in the back yard into a much-handier workshop/lawnmower storage shed, part of it wandering around on the roof of the house cleaning out gutters and looking down on the neighbors, and then hung out in the backyard yesterday under blue-blue-blue skies, cleaning the pool and singing Bob Marley songs to my little girl. Don’t believe the people who turn their noses up at home ownership — yeah, it’s a lot of work, but sometimes the domestic house-owning life’s pretty good. Uh, except when it means you leave people hanging, of course…here we go:

Tues., April 17:
De La Soul/Rhythm Roots All-Stars/DJ Hier @ Warehouse Live
De La really shouldn’t need any introduction. I’ll admit that back in high school most of my friends thought my De La Soul-listening friend Pat was a weirdo to be rockin’ 3 Feet High and Rising when the rest of us were blasting Public Enemy or N.W.A., but damn if he wasn’t ahead of his time, and so were these guys. De La pretty much paved the way for the whole “positive hip-hop” movement to follow, including The Roots, Mos Def, The Pharcyde, & Del tha Funkee Homosapien. Come to think of it, Pat was also the first person I ever met who was into Social Distortion; hmm…

Anyway, this will be freakin’ awesome. And the best part? It’s free-free-free. No, seriously — sponsored by those odd Scion people. Go here to RSVP (and possibly sign your soul away, but we don’t know anything about that, nuh-uh, no way). You’ve got ’til 5PM tomorrow to throw your name in the pile, and even then, be warned, ’cause the site explicitly says “Entry is NOT guaranteed.” Get there early, folks.

Wed., April 18:
ADULT./Parts & Labor/Dan Deacon @ The Mink
A good one, guaranteed. ADULT. are very, very strange, but intriguingly unique, a pair of electronicists who mash together Throbbing Gristle noise and kinda-danceable beats, and Parts & Labor are holy-fucking-crap amazing, dour NY rockers who’ve grabbed the Hüsker Dü songbook and dragged it kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Anthemic noise rock; their new album, Mapmaker, absolutely rules. Review to come soon.

Fri., April 20:
The Marked Men/Something Fierce/The Points/Born Liars @ Rudyard’s
The Appleseed Cast/The Life and Times/Sharks and Sailors @ Walter’s on Washington
Los Straitjackets/Big Sandy/Clouseaux @ The Continental Club
Oh, man…this one’s gonna be rough. Not only do these shows have some darn good out-of-towners (The Appleseed Cast & Los Straitjackets, in particular; gotta love surf-rockers in luchador masks…), but there’re three of my absolute-favorite local bands all playing on the same damn night. Something Fierce do pop-smart garage-rock like you wouldn’t believe, Sharks and Sailors make it look like Houston’s moody indie-rock scene has a hope for making it out of the city, and Clouseaux’s just in time for the start (hopefully) of the warm summer weather, with their tiki-lounge stylings. This is one of those times when I really wish all our clubs were situated closer together…

Another Run/Brown vs. Board @ Notsuoh
Another couple of good local bands, both of whom I’d been meaning to check out for a while now; heck, I thought Brown vs. Board was dead & gone, actually. Glad to see that’s not the case…

Sat., April 21:
Lucero/Catfish Haven/American Princes/Chin Up, Chin Up @ Walter’s on Washington
Hot damn. I checked out Lucero a while back on the recommendation of Houston Calling’s David Cobb, and he was right on the money. Dirty, dusty, somewhat country rock that sounds like what the Replacements might’ve sounded like if they’d grown up in Austin rather than Minneapolis, downing Pearl and Lone Star rather than Pabst and Schlitz (or whatever the heck those Minnesotans drink).

Secret Sideshow/Jenny Westbury/listen listen (CD release) @ Notsuoh
I’m not super-familiar with most of these folks, but I’ve caught a few of listen listen’s tracks on their (er, his) MySpace page, and they’re very, very cool indie-folk oddness. Worth a listen.

Houston International Festival 2007, featuring George Clinton, Ruthie Foster, C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band, John Evans Band, Kevin So, Soul Fruit, Baby Jay, Maggini Orchestra, Southern Backtones, Papa Mali, Jimmy Lafave, Richardo Lemvo & Makino Loca, Ba Cissoko, Matt Andersen, The Lee Boys, The Medicine Show, Changlu Wu School of Music, Brother 2 Brother, Mike Reed, New Birth Brass Band, & more @ Downtown Houston
George Clinton! George Freakin’ Clinton! Lots of other good bands, yes (John Evans, Southern Backtones, The Medicine Show, etc.), but still: George Clinton! Don’t get my funk stepped on…

The Nautical Mile/Meryll/Arms and Sleepers/Great Unwashed Luminaries @ Super Happy Fun Land
Locals The Nautical Mile are cool, from the scattered tracks I’ve heard; check ’em out now, though, because I seem to recall hearing that they were breaking up soon.

Spring Metal Fest, featuring Dead Trip, Lao Tzu, Lay To Waste, Blood Void, Sovereign, Sever the Silence, Lycophile, & C.O.Y.A. @ Fitzgerald’s
Do I know any of these bands? Nope. Does it matter? Nope. What better way to celebrate spring than to demolish your eardrums and headbang for an hour or two?

Sun., April 22:
Peekaboo Theory/The Western Civilization @ The Proletariat
Ah, yeah. Dunno Peekaboo Theory, but The Western Civilization’s Letters of Resignation knocks me down every time I put it on. Sweet-yet-bitter, rocking-yet-lush, and just an all-’round good band. Catch ’em while you can.

The Kimonos/Stnng/Blades @ The Backroom (The Mink)
Another good local deal — The Kimonos rock, and while I haven’t yet been able to catch ’em live yet, the songs on Blades’ MySpace page are pretty great.

Houston International Festival 2007, featuring Angelique Kidjo, Grupo Fantasma, Savoy Doucet Cajun Band, Hamilton Loomis, Cookie Joe, Amazones Women Master Drummers of Guinea, The Mark May Band, The Lee Boys, Norma Zenteno, Ba Cissoko, Sister Sister Y Los Misters, Feufollet, The Mighty Orq, Matt Leddy, Brian Jack & the Zydeco Gamblers, Los Pekadorez, & more @ Downtown Houston
Beyond the fact that I love the band name “Sister Sister Y Los Misters” (ah, Texas…), Angelique Kidjo is amazing. And being that she’s from Africa, she doesn’t get to H-town real often.

Tapes n’ Tapes/Harlem Snakes/The Dimes @ Numbers
Okay, I give. I’m still scratching my head as to how Tapes n’ Tapes have become so celebrated, but what the fuck — The Dimes rule. Go for the locals, stay for the bigshots.

Wed., April 25:
The Church of Philadelphia @ The Continental Club
This one’s partly a note for me, ’cause I really need to see this band. I’ve heard amazing, wonderful things…

Thurs., April 26:
Fishbone/The Expendables/Supervillains/Ryan Scroggins & The Trenchtown Texans @ Fitzgerald’s
What can I say? It’s Fishbone. I grew up listening to Truth and Soul and The Reality of My Surroundings, nearly drowned in a mud pit while watching ’em at Lollapalooza (during “Swim,” naturally), and I still love those guys. Shame about the weird cult shit, yeah, but heck, at least some of the original members are still around. Plus, Ryan Scroggins & The Trenchtown Texans are one of the coolest local ska/reggae bands to come out lately; well worth going early to check ’em out.