Yr Weekend: The Pons (Reviewed!) + Lost In Space + Noisefest + Slack Fest + More

Plenty going on this weekend, that’s for sure; it’s kind of turned out to be somewhat of a red-letter couple of days, in fact… And hey, the snow’s mostly melted, it seems like, so you’ve really got no excuse to stay home, right?

Sat., December 5th:
The Pons/ listenlisten/ The Tontons/ Gretchen Schmaltz @ The Mink
First up this time ’round is what’s going on at The Mink this evening… Austin trio The Pons are headlining, and I have to say that after (finally) listening to last year’s In the Belly of a Giant, I am mightily impressed. They take all of the best parts of midtempo, mid-’90s indie-rock and carefully stitch them together so that you can barely spot the seams; the songs alternate between louder, more rocking stuff (a few tracks of which remind me of Silkworm and, weirdly, fellow Austinites Fastball) and more gentle jangle-rock, all with a nicely somber, downcast — but not emo — feel to it. Got a long-overdue review of the album up last night, if you’re interested; check on over here.

Of course, I can’t forget the awesome, awesome openers, all of whom I well & truly love. Gretchen Schmaltz starts out the night with some warm-hearted, smart indie-folk-pop, then The Tontons hit us with another surprise visit, bringing along their cool/strange blend of psych-rock and soul. listenlisten go on before The Pons, I believe, and honestly, if you haven’t witnessed their out-of-time melding of folk, country, and whatever the hell that is in there, you’re really missing out.

(Show starts at 7PM, and the door’s $7 for the of-age folk and $10 for the underagers.)

Lost In Space, featuring My Education, Weird Weeds, Ghost Town Electric, Golden Cities, Motion Turns It On, B L A C K I E, Ghost Mountain, Slow Motion Rider, Solanae, Chairs, Forests, & Defending the Kingdom @ Khon’s Bar (rooftop, 2808 Milam; 6PM, $10)
I know I’ve already talked a couple of times about tonight’s Lost In Space festival, but hell, it’s worth mentioning again, I think. The organizers have been hard at work on this thing, and in spite of the cold, I think it’s going to be pretty badass. Bring heavy-heavy winter jackets and hang out on the roof in Midtown under what’ll hopefully be a sparkling-clear night sky (don’t worry, the party goes downstairs at 10PM, so hopefully nobody’ll freeze to death when the temp really starts to drop).

For any stalkers/well-wishers out there, btw, this is where I’m hoping to be tonight, barring any horrific accidents or the kids suddenly getting sick. I’m an official-shmofficial sponsor of the thing, so I’m gonna do my best to be there & support. Here’s hoping this is only the first of many of these things…

Benjy Davis Project/The Black Math Experiment (reunion!)/Skyblue72 @ The Continental Club
Black Math Experiment @ Cactus (1PM)
Already talked about this one, too, so I won’t go too much into the details again — check the earlier post for that. I’m damned glad the Black Math Experiment are getting back together again, particularly since the one time I’ve actually seen them was technically after they’d already broken up. And all you Skyblue 72 fans, get this one last show in while you can, before Jessica goes out on maternity leave.

Oh, and there’s a bonus BME sighting, too, up at Cactus this afternoon, so you can even get yourself a double dose of “You Cannot Kill David Arquette”, should you feel the need.

Houston Noisefest 2009, featuring Iron Lung, In Disgust, Hummingbird of Death, WhatShame?, Goner, Mindless, PLF, Dissent, & War Master @ The White Swan (8PM; $10)
Honestly, I don’t know many of these bands, but hey, I’m all for more loud, raw, ugly music bombarding this city. I’ve heard PLF and Dissent are good, and War Master are apparently throwback-ish thrash metal, which ain’t no bad thing if you ask me…

Kiss/Buckcherry @ Toyota Center
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the obligatoryKiss mention. Odds are, if you want to go to this, you probably already are (or at least know about it). Personally, I’ve never been a fan — even when I was a teenage metalhead, they seemed cheeseball and campy — but I’m curious to see if a bunch of aging guys in their 50s can still rock out.

Dirty Honey, featuring DJ Brett Koshkin & DJ Flash Gordon Parks @ Boondocks
Okay, I’ve just gotta say it — DJ Flash Gordon Parks is the most entertaining DJ name I’ve run across since DJ Cuba Gooding Jr. Just sayin’.

The Small Sounds/Trey Brown @ Goode’s Armadillo Palace
Voices Breaking Boundaries Anniversary, featuring Free Radicals, Tyagaraja, & Kayumanngi Pinoy Rock Band @ Houston Institute for Culture (708-B Telephone Rd.; free!)
Keiko/Versecity/Windsor Drive/Frank & Derol/Winter Wallace @ Fitzgerald’s
The Houston Blues Society Holiday Party, featuring Sherman Robertson @ The Meridian
Clandestine @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Exterminating Angels/Novox/Bald Eagle Burger @ Rudyard’s

Sun., December 6:
Slack Fest 2009, featuring Los Skarnales, The Slackers, Ryan Scroggins & The Trenchtown Texans, The Umbrella Man, DJ Moonstomp, ROom 101, The Failed Attempt, DJ Jay Debauchery, Come See My Dead Person, LA Catrin & The Love Terror Cult, & DJ Big E @ Numbers/ Mango’s/ Avant Garden
Damn…how did this one sneak up on me? I didn’t really hear much about it ’til this week, so I thought it was just a bunch of disconnected shows, but nope, it’s actually one big three-venue (Numbers, Mango’s, & Avant Garden) festival put on — I think? — by ska heroes The Slackers, who’re genuinely one of the best of the bands remaining from the big ska boom in the ’90s. They are good shit, seriously, as are just about all of the local openers. Bounce between the three clubs in your heavy jacket & try to catch as many as you can, eh?

Shock Treatment, featuring Rusted Shut, Chelsea Hotel, Shit City High, The Hates, & Mohawk Steve @ Rocbar
Punk and noise insanity at Rocbar? Wow. Kudos to the place for widening their horizons somewhat; it’s definitely nice to see. And personally, I’d love to be there to see Rusted Shut take the stage & subsequently clear the room.