SPACE CITY ROCK: SCR Blog

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The official Space City Rock Blog, featuring news on local Houston musical happenings and occurances, random venting about various things, and fervent ravings on the wonders of music, art, film, and anything else.

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Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: Camera Obscura + Dead To The World (Reviewed!) + Born Liars + Resonant Interval + More [4/11/2010 10:36:00 AM]:

And now it's Sunday, April 11th, and (maybe) surprisingly, there's still quite a bit going on...

Before I go into it, though I'm sad to have to report that it looks like the Wye Oak show I'd been told (a while back, admittedly) would be happening tonight at Mango's, um, isn't. Sorry, y'all -- it's no longer listed on the band's Myspace, and it never showed up on the Mango's calendar, so I'm assuming it fell through. There's still good stuff happening, though; here's my list

Camera Obscura/Agent Ribbons @ Warehouse Live
I haven't heard anything from Glaswegians Camera Obscura lately, but I've really and truly dug what I've heard from 'em in the past, particularly 2006's Let's Get Out of This Country; they've always reminded me of fellow Scots Belle & Sebastian, particularly in the way they come up with these sweet, gorgeous, lush pop songs that still have a sarcastic bite to 'em, although Camera Obscura has (to me, anyway) a lot more of a bumping, grooving Northern Soul sound. I can't help but think of "You Can't Hurry Love" every time I hear "If Looks Could Kill," in particular. Here're a couple of tracks to check out, if you feel like it:

Camera Obscura - "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken"
Camera Obscura - "If Looks Could Kill"

[Note to label/band people: I'm putting this up here strictly for promotional purposes; if asked, I'll take 'em down asap. And for all the freeloaders out there: help the band out by getting off your ass and actually buying the album, eh?]

Astute followers of shows here in town have probably seen the name Agent Ribbons pop up more than a few times lately, btw; they recently moved out to Austin from Sacramento and have been playing quite a bit down here as a result, including at the SXSW Overflow Fest at Super Happy Fun Land. Rather than rehash what I said about 'em then, I'll point you on over this way...

Punk U. II, featuring The Dead Rabbits, Chelsea Hotel, Vatos Locos, The Vag Scabs, Dead To The World, Pseudo Section, The Cunts, Brutally Normal, Abide, Penny Arcade, Obama Nation, Capital Gain, & The Missfit Girls @ Cardi's (Pasadena; $10)
I have yet to hit the new location of Cardi's out in Pasadena (frankly, I just don't get out that way real often, sorry), but tonight they've got a cool-sounding punk showcase on the calendar for tonight, Punk U. II, that makes me think it's a place worth checking out...

Most intriguing to me, at least, are the recently-formed Dead Rabbits, a nicely-done Irish folk-punk band that's very reminiscent of both Dropkick Murphys and The Tossers (more the former than the latter, admittedly, but with the Tossers' more varied instrumentation); what I've heard so far has been pretty darn good, and I seriously want to hear more.

Headliners Dead to the World sound pretty cool to me, too, and writer William K. was kind enough to write up a review of their self-titled demo on up over here. They're old-school, straight-ahead punk rock, reminiscent to yours truly of stuff like Avail or Social D, and what I've head so far's promising. I always dig both Vatos Locos & Chelsea Hotel, too...

Shock Treatment, featuring Dickey Hands, The American Heist, & Born Liars @ Rocbar
A nice lineup of cool-ass punk bands at Röcbar, they of the dubiously-placed ülaut -- it's funny, actually, to see primo garage-rawkers Born Liars on the bill, given the stories I've heard...didn't they get themselves permanently banned from the place a couple of years ago for referring to it as "Cockbar" during a Houston Press Music Awards set? Hopefully this means the Röcbar crew had a sense of humor about the whole thing...

Either way, the Liars themselves are ridiculously badass, as raw and gritty and bluesy as garage-rock should be, and The American Heist (briefly known as Born Anchor) are pretty cool, too, in sort of a Social Distortion vein (albeit with a bit more of a country twang, I think).

Resonant Interval Sound Series, featuring Melanie Jamison & The Great Travis Kerschen @ The Husk (2808 Milam; 7:45PM, $5-$10)
This one's been a little up in the air, it sounds like... First, The Husk, the empty retail space next to Khon's Bar where the bulk of the Resonant Interval shows have been held, is up for lease, so it's not entirely certain whether this show'll be there or next door at Khon's proper. My advice? Park in the Mekong shopping center lot around 7:45PM and follow the loud, strange noises.

Beyond that, the original guest for tonight, The Drink Up, Honey, couldn't make it, so instead the show'll feature Melanie Jamison, an H-town expat dwelling in NYC 'til recently. Here's the official word on what she's like:

Melanie is a recent returnee from New York City, where she studied interdisciplinary artforms (including compositions lessons with minimalist scion La Monte Young). She is currently pursuing graduate work in art in Houston & collaborating with a number of artists across several disciplines. We will be performing some electroacoustic pieces this weekend, accompanied by video art by Aisen Chacin.

Also playing is The Great Travis Kerschen, the latest project of local noise/experimental maven Travis Kerschen (duh), known for both the stellar A Thousand Cranes and the new-ish (but promising) Fiskadoro. I dunno quite what it's going to be like, but I hear it's more noise-y than his other stuff. Which, um, is a little interesting, since the other stuff is pretty noise-y in itself...

House of Hits: Goldstar & SugarHill Book Release Party, featuring The Allen Oldies Band, The El Orbits, John Evans, & Nick Gaitan & The Umbrella Man @ The Continental Club
Already talked about this one a little bit, but I wanted to prod & remind, nonetheless, 'cause it's bound to be good...