[UPDATE: Well, I've just heard that the other two "mystery promoters" behind this year's Noise & Smoke are none other than Ditch Water creator & local photo-taker Rosa Guerrero & original Hands Up! Houston booking crew member Anna Garza; definitely not trying to avoid giving these two ladies their due, I swear, I just didn't know who the other two members of the triumvirate were...

Also, per Rosa, the show's now a buck more, up to $9 from SoundEx, and out-of-towners who want to attend can Myspace message the organizers and reserve themselves some tix, too. Oh, and I think I had the lineup somewhat backwards -- Teenage Kicks starts things off at Dean's, followed by B L A C K I E "vs." Cop Warmth, The Takes, Patsy, Vincent Trails, Mydolls, El Desmadre, Balaclavas, Homopolice, & Born Liars, who close out the night at Notsuoh. phew. The rest of the below, of course, still applies...]

Another year, another Noise & Smoke? Last year's festival was such a ridiculously huge success that people seemed to be clamoring for a repeat nearly immediately; with co-organizers Liz and Joey both leaving H-town after the show last year, though, so local music junkies sank, depressed, back onto their couches/barstools and figured all was lost.

Thankfully, it wasn't so. Now, as many out there probably already know, the N&S crew have responded and are bringing the festival back to life -- this coming November 15th, the reborn Noise & Smoke 2008 shindig will indeed take place at both Notsuoh and Dean's Credit Clothing next door.

Things are a teeny bit different this time out, of course; for one thing, it's been squished down to one night, instead of two, but more importantly, of the original two co-organizers, only Liz is back this time, working with two other kind ladies (I don't yet know the names, sorry!). Kudos to those three for pulling all this together, against all odds.

Obviously, the festival wouldn't matter if the music wasn't good, but that's not gonna be a problem here. The show's being billed somewhat as a reunion show for old-school local punks Mydolls, which is cool in and of itself -- read ADR's stellar review of the band's recently-released retrospective, A World of Her Own, here -- but honestly, that's not the draw for me (no offense, y'all). Yes, it's some of the down-ballot (er, poster) bands that have me drooling:

Born Liars:

I've liked what I've heard so far from Born Liars, and have it on good authority that they rule. This band is currently Reason #1 for me to sit down some night when the wife goes to bed early in front of the turntable, so I can crack open those 7"s of theirs I seem to keep buying up at SoundEx.

Balaclavas:

This trio totally blew me away the one & only time I've ever managed to see 'em live. To my mind, they're Houston's one and only real answer to all those British post-punk bands like Wire & Gang of Four. They're also Reason #2 to sit down in front of the turntable: Inferno on vinyl.

B L A C K I E:

Yes, B L A C K I E. Whether his music destroys your eardrums or not, he makes plain-old H-town rap about syrup & bling look utterly played-out (which, yes, it is).

Homopolice:

Um. Hardcore noise-punks gone gaycore? Hey, it's bound to be entertaining...

Cop Warmth:

I've been meaning to catch these guys for a while now, on the basis of the rave/non-rave reviews I've read -- the band seems to be almost as much about the fuck-y'all attitude as they are about the music, & I can get behind that. (Trivia time: these guys are apparently the only "repeat" N&S band of the bunch; I think the organizers went for a whole new slate of bands, otherwise.)

Teenage Kicks:

Damn, I love, love, love this band. They can do no wrong, seriously. I utterly worship the way they've tackled updating classic, Brit-style power-pop (i.e., The Jam, The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, The Boys, etc.), and they seem to get better & better with every new song they toss out.

As for the rest -- El Desmadre, San Antonians Vincent Trails & Patsy, & The Takes -- I'm afraid I don't know much about 'em, sorry. (Although I seem to recall somebody recommending The Takes to me a while ago...)

The show'll be split between the two venues, although I dunno who's playing where when -- I'm told each band'll get 20-30 minutes, and that the sets'll be offset so you won't have to forego seeing one band just to see another (sweet!). And the cover'll be $8. Which is cheap as shit for a lineup like this, seriously.

There were tickets at Sound Exchange as of a week or two ago, although I dunno how many are left at this point. And if you love the cool poster art, heck, you may be able to get your very own -- Liz is/was selling them for $10 apiece. Email her at "liz dot molina" at "gmail dottity-dot com" if you're interested; hopefully she hasn't sold out of 'em yet.

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

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