Your Weekend: Papermoons + Small Sounds + Born Liars + White Lies + Juneteenth + More

Another weekend, more badass music to hear/see. I’ll skip the blather this time out & get right to it; here’s what I think sounds cool, complete with insane amounts of flyeration:

Fri., June 19:
Papermoons/ Buxton/ Airon Paul Dugas & The Religion @ The Mink
Yep, those gentle-voiced folk-pop boys in Papermoons are indeed back in town, albeit briefly, and while they’re here, it’s the perfect time to enjoy some of those quiet (-ish), gorgeous, swaying songs they do so well. Awesome stuff, as is the music played both by country/pop LaPorte-ians Buxton and Airon Paul Dugas, whom I’ve yet to see but have heard good things about.

Born Liars/Welfare Mothers/Balaclavas @ Rudyard’s
And here’s your counterpoint: a night of raw, noisy, drunk-as-fuck guitar rock, sometimes with sharp edges to cut yourself on (Balaclavas) & sometimes with fists thrown at your face (Born Liars, Welfare Mothers). Two of H-town’s best garage-y rawk bands going + the truest heirs to the Gang of Four throne in these parts = goodness.

Chase Hamblin (CD release)/Craig Kinsey/Molly and the Ringwalds @ The Continental Club ($10)
Caught Chase Hamblin at the FPH Block Party and was fairly intrigued; he’s definitely not what I’d expected from a singer/songwriter folkie type, but is really more of a full-blown pop songwriter in the vein of somebody like, say, Jon Brion or Roger Manning from Jellyfish. I think I’m gonna have to pick up his new album as soon as I can…

Royal Bangs/ Alkari/The Live Lights @ Mango’s
Ah, I can’t help but love those Alkari guys. Not only are they the friendliest, nicest trio of guys around, but they crank out some nicely label-free rock music, too. I’ve only heard their Kublai Khan EP so far, but I sincerely hope there’s more on the way. Guys?

A Gulf Coast Juneteenth, featuring Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band, Diunna Greenleaf, I.J. Gosey, & Earl Gilliam @ Miller Outdoor Theatre
Never been to a Juneteenth festival since I’ve lived in Houston — which is a little depressing, now that I think about it, because it sounds like a cool celebration. Check out Lomax‘s nice writeup from last year’s festival on the history of the H-town version; it’s pretty fascinating stuff.

White Lies Black Sheep Screening, featuring Fat Tony, B L A C K I E, The Cocker Spaniels, & Love Field @ 1816 Calumet (6-10PM; $5)
This one sounds cool; it’s a screening of the new flick by Afro Punk filmmaker James Spooner, which is neat in and of itself, but it also includes some darn cool music, like Love Field (who apparently did the score for the film), B L A C K I E (who pretty much epitomizes the clash of punk noise with hip-hop fury, to me), & Fat Tony, from whom I’ve heard some good shit so far (need to hear more). The screening/show starts early, so get in the car asap.

Mixers and Elixirs, featuring The Handsomes @ Houston Museum of Natural Science
Sadly, this is pretty much the only show of the Houston Museum of Natural Science‘s “Mixers and Elixirs” shows that I’d even consider checking out. And besides, it makes me happy to know The Handsomes are indeed still around. phew…

Michael Schenker Group/Doug Doppler/Metavenge @ House of Blues
Yeah, I’ll admit it — the deeply-buried guitarhead metal kid in me thinks it’d be pretty damn cool to see Michael Schenker shred…

Sunset Rubdown @ House of Blues
Nightmare River Band/Jesse Bonnano/Gnaugahyde/The Small Sounds @ Super Happy Fun Land
Darwin’s Finches/Addom/Giant Battle Monster/Daytes/White Zebra/Matty Sullivan @ 1225 Campbell (8PM)
Jesse Williams/Colton Saylor @ Sedition Books (901 Richmond; 8PM)

Sat., June 20:
Paris Falls (CD release)/Airon Paul Dugas/georgia’s Horse. @ Mango’s
With three releases under their collective belt, Paris Falls have managed to become one of the bands in town that intrigue me the absolute most; they do rock that sounds “classic,” in that it pulls from all that stuff from the ’60s and ’70s, but they never come off as derivative or lame, rather ending up sounding, well, timeless. Smart, rough-edged rock with great melodies and enough darkness to make you wonder. Then there’s georgia’s Horse., who haven’t played much here ’til fairly recently, after a too-long period of silence, and make some of the most incredible murky/folky music I’ve ever heard. This is one of my ultimate top picks for Saturday, tied closely with…

The Small Sounds/ Elkart/The Literary Greats @ Walter’s on Washington
…your second dose of The Small Sounds for the weekend. Got a hold of the Sounds’ 2008 full-length a while back, and holy shit, is it good. Seriously; it’s “repeated listenings make it better each time” good. And I recently picked up The Literary Greats‘ self-titled release from a couple of years back, and promptly had to pick my face back up off the floor. How in the hell have I not seen/heard these guys ’til now? I’d heard a song or two floating around over the past few years, but…wow. Stellar, stellar songwriting (and the same goes for the Sounds, too). Both of these bands deserve to be known far outside our little-big city, believe me.

The Cocker Spaniels/Math the Band/Joe Mathlete and the Deluxe Love Field/Ghormeh Sabzi @ Super Happy Fun Land
Not real sure what the deal is with this show — it almost seems like spillover from the White Lies Black Sheep show the night before? But heck, I’m not going to smack it down for that, especially because I’ve heard some cool stuff from touring folks Math The Band and because Joe Mathlete writes these great little pop tunes that make you want to giggle uncontrollably and grin at the same time. Dunno much about The Cocker Spaniels, sorry…

Guitars/Nervous Habits @ The Mink (7PM)
I know I’ve been sorely lacking on the coverage of Guitars, they with the most un-Googleable band name ever (attempting to remedy that, I swear), but I’m glad they survived their post-Block Party tour of these fine United States and have returned to rock us all. And I’m told Nervous Habits are cool, too.

World Beat Music Fest 2009, featuring Chaka Khan, Beenie Man, Steel Pulse, Yellow Man, Notch, & Robert Minott @ Herman Square Park (Smith & Texas)
C’mon, it’s Chaka Khan. Still, after many, many, many years, and at a point where a lot of her contemporaries in the world of funk & soul are dying off. How can that not be worth witnessing?

Pimpadelic/LeftBroken/3Hour Shower/Platypus Angst @ Notsuoh
I’ve gotta say, this one would be worth seeing just to witness heavy rap-funk-metal dudes Pimpadelic take the Notsuoh stage & watch the hipsters & artists scatter.

Leg Sweeper/sIngs/B L A C K I E/Muhammid Ali/DJ Meshak @ The Mansion (2502 LaBranch; 3PM)
Bun B & Friends @ Warehouse Live
Five Dollar Ska/Punk Fest, featuring Unlikely Heroes, Blindfolded Robbery, Always Guilty, Until We Got Caught, & Three 60 @ Javajazz Coffee House
Sisters Morales @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Reverend Horton Heat @ House of Blues
thelastplaceyoulook/20-20/Ransom Jack @ Jasmine Hall (Lake Jackson)
Superchango Studios 6th Anniversary Party, featuring Chelsea Hotel @ The 19th Hole (The Woodlands)

Sun., June 21:
afton: push play, featuring Radio Ark, Montezuma’s Revenge, The Manichean, Three 60, Low Plane Drifter, Mayor Isaiah, Knight Mare, & Silence Amongst Chaos @ The Meridian
Dunno most of these bands, but Jason from Alkari recommended The Manichean to me pretty strongly last weekend, and I dig his tastes, so…

Ear Pwr/Adventure @ Mango’s
Sandy Ewen & Y.E. Torres @ Avant Garden