Wow. Quite a weekend we've got coming up, I have to say; over the next few days, the flow of showage gets pretty epic, and I'm honestly having a hard time keeping up... Here's my attempt at running down what I think looks cool tonight, Friday, March 19th, in-between trips to petting zoos and hardware stores:

Fight Pretty (final show)/She Rides/Decades/Ghost Town Electric/ Defending the Kingdom @ Walter's
A bittersweet one, here; metalcore dudes Fight Pretty release a brand-new album -- Smoke Filled Womb, which manages to hit both the "creepy/disturbing" and "freak-ass weird" buttons with just its title -- has the Hatetank gang set 'em up with a badass lineup of a show...and then breaks up. Fuuuuck. Damn shame, too, because I like what I'm hearing off Womb a lot more than I have their earlier stuff; not all that different, really, style-wise, but it seems a lot tighter and more dangerous-sounding.

But hey, at least they're going out with a bang and dragging some good friends along with 'em. I dunno Providence band She Rides or Dallas-dwellers Decades at all, but local heavy/murky, metal-ish rockers Ghost Town Electric have been steadily carving themselves a nice little niche in my black, black musical heart. I really need to see 'em again, believe me; they remind me of Federation X or Priestess, but with a bit more of a Sword-like metal edge. And I was happily surprised with Defending the Kingdom (who're replacing The Burden on the bill, looks like) the one time I've seen 'em so far -- think Isis, early Cave In, or Mastodon, if you want some idea of what they're like.

As an added bonus, the Fight Pretty guys will be giving away copies Androphobia 7" to the first 50 people through the door, and they'll be providing a free keg for the festivities. On top of that, they've apparently been working on a band-documentary-type DVD that'll include plenty of live video, interviews, etc.; not sure if that'll be done by tonight, but hey, it's doubly cool if it is.

Hell City Kings/Born Liars/Automatic Thrill @ Rudyard's
I freaking love the old-school-looking flyer for this one -- I'm an admirer of flyer/show poster designs in general, and it's neat to see something that looks like it was handmade in somebody's 11th grade Economics class. (And of course, it helps that I like two out of three bands involved.)

Both Hell City Kings and Born Liars, oddly enough, are bands that've had to grow on me a bit, bands where I wasn't all that keen on the first thing they released but became a convert after hearing the second -- in the Kings' case, I'm "eh" on The Road to Damnation but "hell-yeah!" on The Wolf (released a week ago today); in the Liars' case, debut LP Exit Smiling sounded kinda weak and quiet to me, but their "Don't Tell Me, I Know"/"I Don't Know Why" 7" knocked me flat, while second LP Ragged Island sealed the deal. Both bands kind of tread the same path, that of loud, brazen, in-your-face rawk, although the Kings add more of a metal thing to it...

SXSW Overflow Fest, featuring The No-Hawks, Suzi Trash, Experiment Haywire, Beach Party Slaughter, Damn Bullets, Pharmacy, The New Familiars, & True Womanhood @ Super Happy Fun Land
No time for a "full" SXSW Overflow Fest rundown today, sorry... I can tell you, however, that Seattle-by-way-of-New Orleans band Pharmacy are pretty damn cool, all woozy, bumping/crashing, retro-psychedelic pop (on Park The Van Recs, no less), and The New Familiars, who play bluesy-yet-sweet country/folk stuff, are interestingly cool, too. Oh, and Son Volt fans should probably check out Damn Bullets.

Sleeping Rubys/Andy McWilliams (ex-Scattered Pages)/Band on the Run @ The Continental Club
Not super familiar with the Sleeping Rubys, but their jangly, kinda rootsy pop hits a nice chord, at least with me, dwelling in the same underrated territory as, say, the Gin Blossoms or Buffalo Tom; I'm liking it, and I need to hear more soon.

Plus, they've got Andy McWilliams, formerly(?) of the astounding Scattered PAGES, who vanished into the ether in an untimely fashion a couple of years ago. Thankfully, McWilliams is back making music again, and what he's coming up with is impressive, very orchestrated, baroque-sounding pop stuff that doesn't sound a lot like his old band except maybe in scope.

Runners-Up:
The Beach Boys @ Jones Hall
A Fistful of Soul @ The Mink
Xarnax/PLF/H.R.A./Bucket Flush @ The White Swan
Floorbound/Sour Soul/Another Run/4 O'Clock @ Fitzgerald's
Steve Aoki/GRRRL Parts/James Reed/Ron Duffee @ Rich's
Carolyn Wonderland @ Dosey Doe Coffee House (The Woodlands)

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

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