Update time, and somewhat of an urgent one, to boot -- in the spirit of Just-In-Time Reviewing (which is all the trend these days, don'tcha know), we've got a brand-new review up of Papermoons inaugural full-length, New Tales, and holy crap, they just happen to be playing tonight. Imagine that...

Anyway, the band's playing up at Boondocks (which I've never been to, but which sounds interesting), accompanied by fellow local hero Benjamin Davis Murphy (Bright Men of Learning/ex-Lucky Motors/ex-We've Got Airplanes/ex-Pop Deflation/ex-Panic in Detroit/ex-a billion other bands). It's going to be a frickin' great show, especially as the Papermoons men are bidding farewell to our sweaty hellhole of a city, moving on to bigger, better things, um, somewhere else. No, I've got no clue where they're headed, just that it's "away" somewhere. Damn. I can't say I blame 'em, things in my beloved/behated city being what they are, but it still makes me sad.

Heck, I never even really got to know the guys in the band (which, btw, seems to be the kiss of death for a band; I finally meet you in person, then you break up/move to Poughkeepsie/get in a car wreck -- I hide myself away to protect you, Houston Band People!), having only been introduced super-briefly to one of the 'moons recently. I console myself by quietly murmuring: "They'll be back...they always come back. Hey, look at Indian Jewelry..."

But take heart, because we've got other stuff for you, too, beyond things to make you sad. Writer extraordinaire Brandon H. was so perturbed by Frightened Rabbit's recent no-show here in Houston that he methodically tracked them eastward, following their spoor like Chingachgook 'til he finally cornered them in a dimly-lit bar in far-off Washington, DC., and skewered them with questions. The guy's tenacious, I tell you -- how many writers do you know who, when a band they're due to interview stands 'em up, follows 'em halfway across the fucking country so he can talk to 'em? For free? (Sorry, dude. I'll, um, reimburse you?) The guy's got stones. And hey, it's a great interview besides, so go check it out.

Oh, and skipping back over to here, we've also got a review of the brand-new Sharks and Sailors full-length, probably the most anticipated local disc of the year (when other bands start using your band's release as a deadline for when they'd better release theirs by...). And luckily, it lives up to the hype -- check the review here. The band will perform it all live this coming Friday, August 1st up at Walter's, along with excellent half-expats UME & The Jonx, somebody named This Man Is Art, & DJ Under Warranty (aka ADR from Skyline). It's gonna rule. I'm gonna attempt to be there. If you didn't see them at the HPMAs, you seriously missed out; "Fix Your Radar" and "Builds Brand New" rip walls down live.

Plus, we've got a long-awaited review of Paul Weller's latest disc, 22 Dreams -- writer Damon M. blew off my sad admissions that I just couldn't get a hold of the damn thing for SCR, found it himself, and proceeded to wax poetic over it in spite of everything. Review here, along with reviews of This Holiday Life, Autovein, & a bunch more. Here's the full list:

Interviews: How Heads Roll Off: An Interview with Frightened Rabbit

Reviews: Sharks and Sailors; Papermoons; Paul Weller; Autovein; This Holiday Life; The Delta Block; Aaron English; Los Doggies; Melba Toast; & The Willowz.

See you in August, folks...

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

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