(Long-Overdue) Update: Literary Greats (11/14!) + The Eastern Sea (11/14!) + Mute Math + Lyle Lovett + More

Been needing to do this for a looooong time; I’m way behind on my updates, sadly…

The up-and-coming goes first, this time out — awesomely talented country-rockers The Literary Greats are playing the release show for their second full-length, Ocean, Meet The Valley, this coming Saturday, Nov. 14th. It’s the same night as the Block Party, which makes my own personal dilemma even worse than it already was: go see the Block Party, go see the Greats, or stay at home with the one-and-a-half-month-old and hopefully keep my wife from killing me?

It’s a tough call, made especially tough by the fact that, well, the Literary Greats are simply one of the coolest, most thoughtful bands in town of any genre. They write these subtle, interesting-but-not-complicated songs that have a warm, nighttime feel to ’em, and they play them laidback and raw all at once, like they’ll never again be allowed to pick up their instruments and can’t be bothered to worry about when it’ll end.

I loved the band’s self-titled debut quite a bit, so I was curious what the followup would be like — make no mistake, it is a different band. The Literary Greats had a lot more of a pop vibe to it, an easy friendliness that made it feel soft and cozy like an old sweater. Ocean, Meet The Valley, on the other hand, cranks up the guitars and has a lot more sharp edges, melding indie-rock energy and fire to ’60s California-style roots-pop.

Check out the full review over here, and after you do that, start planning to hit The Continental Club this Saturday night to catch these guys & openers Elkhart (who’re a Dallas-area roots-rock band, if I recall, and are pretty damn good in their own right).

Of course, you could also check out the Block Party — I’ve babbled previously about how excellent the bands will be, so I won’t go into that again, but one of the headliners playing at Numbers on Saturday night are H-town-by-way-of-Austin gang (of, what, 9 people now?) The Eastern Sea. They’ve also got a new release coming out at this very show, second EP EPII (no, really), which I’m told is pretty much a continuation of their stellar debut EP.

And speaking of awesome bands, man… Seen them twice now, and I’ve been mesmerized both times by the band’s effortless, almost casual, yet intensely tight, perfectly choreographed performances. Not that they all rock out in unison or anything, Judas Priest-style, but that they just know frontman Matt Hines‘ intricately-crafted compositions backwards and forwards, to the point where they can take a chance or three without fear of falling flat.

The Eastern Sea’s first EP was also mindblowing, so I’ve got high hopes for the second, esp. after talking with Hines himself for a bit about all things band-related. You can read the full interview over here, if you’re so inclined. And trust me, these guys (and girl) are really and truy one of the best bands I’ve ever seen. Ever, ever, ever. Period. Like I said, Saturday’s a rough choice…

Of course, that’s not all we’ve got. Nomadic writer Tom Koenig (who last chatted with the Meat Puppets for us) is back with a cool little interview with David Bazan, aka Pedro The Lion, the enigmatic Thomas McLuhan talked with seismic-shifting metal dudes Isis when they rolled through town a while back, and Rafael Rivas wrote up a recent trip to NYC to hang out with a couple of old-school graf artists.

Then there’s a small horde of live reviews, including writeups of Mute Math and Wall With One Side by valiant contributors Rock Houston and Michelle Yom, and going back a little further, Daniel Yuan‘s excellent coverage of the Hennessy Artistry show, Scott Whitt‘s review of the Nebula show, and Dre Giles excellent meditation on the wonder of punk rock (even now0).

Oh, and shitload more reviews, of both music and films. In terms of timeliness, there’s a review of the recently-released Moneen DVD, It All Started with Red Stripe , just time for them to come to town with Say Anything, and we reviewed Art Brut, The Black Crowes, & local psych-pop guys Springfield Riots before their shows, to boot.

Here’s the full, full, big-ass pile:

Interviews/Features: The Eastern Sea; David Bazan; Two NYCs: Documenting Graffiti in the Big Apple; & Isis.

Live Reviews: Mute Math/As Tall As Lions; Wall With One Side/Trills; Sunny Day Real Estate/The Jealous Sound; Hennessy Artistry, with The Roots, Common, ELIZABETH the Band, Makano, Big Daddy Kane, & Al B. Sure!; Nebula/The Entrance Band; & Punk on Punk Crime — The Shitty Limits/Logic Problems/No Talk

Reviews: The Literary Greats; Tortoise; Lyle Lovett; The Box; Moneen; Springfield Riots; Art Brut; Unholy; Teenage Kicks; Sage Francis; Arbouretum; Johnny Goudie and the Little Champions; Z; And The Moneynotes; The Dodos; The Black Crowes; The Whore Moans; The Snake Charmers; Class of 1984; Buddahead; Baby Guts; Death Sentence: PANDA!; Chinese; Digable Cat; The Sorely Trying Days; & To The Waves.

There’s plenty more in the pipe, so check back soon, eh?