Yr Weekend: Happy Freaking Fourth All Over the Place

Yep, it’s that most patriotic of weekends, July 4th, when even supposedly un-American punks like me feel compelled to smile at our fellow citizens & fly flags & attend parades & whatnot. Oh, and listen to music — you can pretty much pick your poison in terms of kickass shows this weekend:

Sat., July 4:
Texas Heat Music Festival, featuring The Rapture (DJ set), 2020 Soundsystem, Drop The Lime, Hot Pink Delorean, Ceeplus Bad Knives, Roky Moon and Bolt, Electric Attitude, The Sour Notes, Grandfather Child, Searching for Signal, Shina Rae, Springfield Riots, Workingirls, The Mathletes, Tax The Wolf, Grizzly, DJ Dayta, El Roy Boogie, Suraj K, SDFONE, Page, TDBZ, Kung Fu Pimp, DJ Dan-Knee, G-Wizz, They Call Me Jep, Brad Slack, MC Gremlin, & Bloxwerth @ Jones Plaza (downtown)
Already talked this up, so I’ll let it lie — see here and here, eh?

The Tontons/Caddywhompus/Giant Princess/Limb/sIngs/Brains for Dinner/Rainbows in Your Wildest Dreams @ Super Happy Fun Land
Well, The Tontons don’t have this one listed in their Myspace calendar, but I’m hoping that’s just a fluke, ’cause this is a damn cool lineup. The Tontons psychedelic soul-blues is mind-blowing, those two Caddywhompus guys blaze mightily for being a mere duo (the guitar crunch on “Absinthesizer” still knocks me down every time), Giant Princess play some awesomely raw garage-blues rock, & Limb does a crazy, single-minded laptop-electronic thing. I’ve heard good things about the rest, too, esp. sIngs, who I’m particularly psyched about now that the one-man show’s expanded to include Pam Cantu of Piano Vines, among others. (Oh, and there’re apparently films to be shown while the rock is played, to boot.)

4th of July Punk Bash 2009, featuring The Drafted, Death From Afar, Riot Up Front, Freddie Ghonerea and the Gunz, The Kamikaze Overture, Brutally Normal, Pseudo Section, & Final Warning @ The White Swan
I’m a little bummed that 13 Black Coffins are apparently no longer playing, but The White Swan‘s “United We Slam” punkfest in honor of the Fourth sounds pretty damn good, even still. The Founding Fathers could be some rough bastards, make no mistake — I think they’d approve. C’mon, when was the last time a politician challenged another politician to a duel and actually shot the guy?

Ty Segall/Charlie & the Moonhearts/Southern Backtones/Welfare Mothers @ Mango’s
If you like your patriotism accompanied by a big, steaming-yet-raw slab of garage-rock, well, here you go, friend — SF-er Ty Segall roars through some seriously mid-fi, heavily retro-sounding garage-y stuff, and so do fellow Californians Charlie & the Moonhearts and local heroes the Welfare Mothers. The only odd men out are the Southern Backtones, really, in that they’re considerably more polished, psychedelic, & modern than their lineup-mates, but given what I’ve seen of ’em in the past, I’m sure they’ll hold their own.

Happy 4th of July Party, featuring Dertybird, Wayward Sons, Miss Ruby Slippers, Grizzly, Miss Leslie & Her Juke-Jointers, Buckshot, & Whiskey Boat @ The Continental Club
Ooh, I’m liking the looks of this one. Miss Leslie I always love, and I’ve been liking what (little, admittedly) I’ve heard of Grizzly, too. A nicely rootsy, countrified Fourth, all within sight of the downtown fireworks. And if you’re looking for something a little different, just walk down Main a block or so…

4th of July Extravaganza, featuring Robert Ellis, DJ Paramour, Holy Fiction, DJ No Fun, July’s, & Psychedelic Sex Panther @ The Mink (7PM; $5)
…to catch Robert Ellis. He’s seriously one of the best songwriters in town right now, of any stripe. “Good Intentions” makes me want to sit alone in a mountain cabin & drink whiskey ’til I die; not sure if that’s a good thing to do, really, but it’s definitely a response. Plus, I like what I’ve heard of Holy Fiction so far.

Cellcyst/Decimation Theory/Cavernous/Dreaming of June/The Goods/Chin Xaou Ti Won @ Warehouse Live
The Goods rule, and I can’t freaking wait for their second full-length. That’s all I’m gonna say.

Fourth of July Rock Fest/Star of Hope Benefit, featuring The Wonderland Avenue, Westborn, Sirens and Bombshells, Aberrant Lines, & Distant Lights @ Hard Rock Cafe (3PM; $5)
Dunno these bands, I’m afraid, but I do know the Star of Hope shelter; they do a lot of good for their fellow Houstonians & deserve any help they can get.

Freedom Over Texas, featuring Clay Walker @ Eleanor Tinsley Park
Nah, I don’t really care about Clay Walker — sorry, but he’s just another cowboy-hunk country star to me. You, on the other hand, may indeed care, and since I’m trying to be inclusive and embody the spirit of one-country unity, hell, here you go. Besides, the fireworks are always pretty badass. (Good luck w/the parking…)

Southern Fried 4th Picnic & Music Festival/Benefit for Texas EquuSearch & Harleys Angels, featuring Mean Gene Kelton & The Die Hards, The Beat Daddys, Brother2Brother featuring Sandy Hickey, 4 Barrel Ramblers, & Clovis @ The Hawg Stop Ampitheatre (11335 Sheldon Road; 12PM-11PM)

Come See My Dead Person/ EraseTheVirus/ Digi Dancers/Morgue City/We Are Halfnelson/Flawlessly Inadequate/I.O.N. @ Numbers

Freedom Rings Concert 2009, featuring The Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra @ Stafford Centre

Sun., July 5:
Texas Heat Music Festival, featuring RJD2, People Under The Stairs, Felix Cartal, Bird Peterson, Hot Pink Delorean, The Button Freak, Satin Hooks, The Factory Party, American Sharks, Josh Dupont, DJ Red, GRRRL Parts, Sad Gorilla, Glasnost, Female Demand, James Reed, Brandon Silva, Alpaca, The Gold Sounds, Benjamin Wesley, Warbler PL, Bjorn Larsen, Chris Calix, Damon Allen, BMC, Steve Mok, & DJ Maximilian @ Jones Plaza (downtown)
See above…

David Cook @ Moody Gardens (Galveston)
Does it strike anybody else as weird that the winner of American Idol last year is playing Moody Gardens, and not somewhere up in Houston proper? Is he that confident that all his Houston-area fans will make the trek down for him, or is he making a biiiiiig mistake? Just wondering…

A Static Lullaby/Vanna/Asking Alexandria/Motionless In White/Tides of Man @ Javajazz Coffee House

Mon., July 6:
No Talk/Secret Prostitutes/ Loser Life @ The Mink
I just wanted to make sure this one didn’t fall through the cracks — I like No Talk‘s unapologetically in-your-face leathercore punk, and the Secret Prostitutes‘ snarling, ultra-basic, lyrics-all-in-Malay(?) Brit-punk is damn intriguing.