The best-laid plans, damn...every time I put off posting about this stuff, it bites me on the ay-uss. We got some new stuff up last week -- brand-new show reviews! -- and earlier this week -- brand-new reviews! -- but I procrastinated, figuring I'd post about it sometime this afternoon. I had a quickie medical foot thing to get taken care of around 3PM, and then I could go home & just chill at the laptop.

But alas, 'twas not to be. Here I am, three hours later, with an aching foot, a limp, and a head full of Hydrocodone, and I'm only now able to post about the new stuff we've got up and some of the cool stuff that's going on in the next few days.

First off, tonight, Thurs., July 24th, the ever-astounding Mathletes will be playing at Rudyard's, along with Lazy Horse (who I've heard are really good) and The Misfires (who I'd never heard of before). I'll shamefacedly cop to never having seen an actual Mathletes show, but Joe Mathlete was kind enough to send a copy of his latest full-length, #$@% You and Your Cool to us here at SCR. And it's fucking beautiful, seriously. It makes me think of a ton of things (all good), but for some reason right now I keep thinking of soft-yet-snarky indie-popsters Eggs, with whom the Mathletes share a talent for quirky, tongue-in-cheek, smart, but still wonderfully-written pop songs. Check the review here.

They're good, y'all, and reports I've received from other folks say that live they're in a whole other galaxy. Sadly, I'm gonna miss it yet again, seeing as I'm sitting here feeling fuzzy around the edges and in no shape to rock out. Thankfully, a new ep of Burn Notice is on tonight, so the night's not a total loss.

And lucky for me, we're not done yet w/the good stuff. As anybody in this town who likes music undoubtedly knows by now, this Sunday, July 27th, is the 2008 Houston Press Music Awards showcase scattered all 'cross downtown and featuring probably 85% of the really, truly talented bands in this city (no Something Fierce? no Western Civ? no Stadium? damn...). Including The Tontons, who we've got a long-overdue review up for, for 2007's Sea and Stars EP. They're playing at Venue, which I don't think I've ever been to, and seeing as they don't play in H-town a whole lot these days (lead singer Asli is apparently currently studying at the Savannah College of Art & Design -- "SCAD," for short -- waaaay over in Georgia). The music's pretty incredible -- jazzy and jam-y but not just boring noodling, bluesy and raspy in the best way, and psychedelic like people've forgotten how to be these days.

Of course, this being H-town, there's always Plan B. And in this case, that'd be the show that same night with Tucson's Mostly Bears at Rudyard's with good local folk Over Sea, Under Stone. Check out Brandon H.'s fine, fine review here, where he sings the praises of the band, comparing 'em (favorably) to The Arcade Fire & Radiohead. And -- sad but true -- this show's even more of a big deal because it's (dum-da-de-dum) OSUS's last gig. Dang. Go see 'em now, while you can. If the HPMAs wear you down, take the Plan B route and just head on over to Rudz, pull up a chair (believe me, after an hour or two at the showcase, you will desperately yearn for a chair), and rock out with a smile on your face.

So, there's the future, at least w/regard to SCR reviewage. There's plenty of other stuff, too, like reviews of the new and old Mudhoney discs -- the Superfuzz Bigmuff reissue and the band's latest, The Lucky Ones -- Mission Giant, The Drawing Board, Spanish Prisoners, & others. Check 'em here.

And hey, can't forget the live stuff. Contributing writer Jef did a very cool writeup of the latest Underworld show at Numbers, featuring local heroes Ex-Voto & strip -- ahem -- burlesque performers Cardinal Cyn & Ruby Rocket. Plus, there's Brigitte's glowing review of the Manchester Orchestra show from back in April...oh, and uh, Say Anything, Biffy Clyro, & Weatherbox played the show, too, to a not-so-glowing reaction.

That's it for now; here's the list:

Live Reviews: The Dark Knight -- Ex-Voto, Cardinal Cyn, & Ruby Rocket; Manchester Orchestra (with Say Anything, Biffy Clyro, & Weatherbox)

Reviews: Cardinal Trait; The Drawing Board; The Kindness Kind; Marqui Adora; The Mathletes; Mission Giant; Mostly Bears; Mudhoney; Spanish Prisoners; & The Tontons.

More on the way, y'all...

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

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