Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Linus Pauling Quartet + Golden Cities + Side Arms + Scale The Summit + Dax Riggs + The Bangles + More
Time for the second installment of the weekend’s cool shows, and tonight’s actually more jam-packed, if anything, than last night. Let’s just cut to the chase, eh? Here’s what sounds good to yours truly:
ST-37/Linus Pauling Quartet (split-7″ release)/Golden Cities @ Rudyard’s
Probably my favorite of the evening — although that’s kind of a close horserace, honestly — in part because I really, truly dig the heavy, smart, sarcastic psych-rock those guys in the {Linus Pauling Quartet} make and in part because I also really dig the atmospheric, prog-y spacerock thing {Golden Cities} do. For the former, I also happened to review their recent split with Austin psych crew ST-37 recently (right over here) and was very impressed with oddball psych-pop track “Monster” (see the H-Town Mixtape for a listen). Ramon tells me the song’s actually a teaser for an upcoming odds-n-ends release the band’s planning for later in the year, packed with all those songs that didn’t necessarily fit with the tried-and-true LP4 sound. Keep an eye out for it. Oh, and like the flyer says, this is one of those shows I like where the band throws in a copy of the 7″ when you pay the cover — sweet.
Side Arms/Ghost Town Electric/The Burden/Flat Earth @ The Mink
Been meaning to check out {Side Arms} for a while now but just haven’t had the chance, in part because they don’t play all that often, it seems like… The band’s the latest project of Al Hendrix from {Sharks and Sailors}, along with drummer Mike Rollin of S&S and Aaron Griffin, formerly of the excellent Sinews, and they play a rough-edged kind of retro-sounding indie-rock with tinges of Jawbreaker and/or, say, Drive Like Jehu. Which is obviously a very cool thing (duh).
Oh, and the show also includes {Ghost Town Electric}, who’s sludgy stoner-metal thing I like — I’m told this is their original lineup, but I dunno what that means, exactly — {The Burden}, and {Flat Earth}, the latter of which is playing it’s first-ever show.
Scale The Summit/Another Run/The Pant Factory/Female Demand @ Warehouse Live
Niiiiice. If you haven’t heard {Scale The Summit} yet and are into metal or guitar heroics, you’re honestly just punching yourself in the head. The landscape-building, dual-guitar instro-metal they play is like this weird amalgam of Between the Buried and Me crunch, Joe Satriani guitar wizardry, and tempo-shifted post-rock. Beyond that, there’s the cool-ass {Female Demand}, who take the instrumental rock thing and throw it down the stairs, mixing in some Dub Trio and Federation X in the process.
Dax Riggs/The Examples/Featherface @ Mango’s
A music writer-ly friend was kind enough to send me a copy of Dax Riggs‘ We Sing of Only Blood or Love, and I swear, it’s scarcely left my car since. I’m not real up on the whole Southern-metal phenomenon Riggs is supposed to’ve been a part of, but honestly, this goes way beyond anything like that, to me — it’s just awesomely dark, disturbed, rootsy-yet-heavy rock. Here’s a taste:
Locals {Featherface} are on the bill, too; they’ve got their EP up on their BandCamp site for free, so go check it out. (Yeah, yeah — I downloaded it but haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet. Sorry…)
Warsaw Grand Opening Party, featuring Burn the Boats, Dickey Hands, The American Heist, Inner Lights, Come See My Dead Person, Dollyrockers, & The Failed Attempt @ The Warsaw (1515 Pease, 5PM, $10; formerly The Engine Room)
Yep, as reported a while ago, The Engine Room is back, reincarnated as dance-club sounding venue {The Warsaw}. (Seriously; I either think of Eurotrash disco and fancily-dressed kids with lots of drugs or, well, White Nights, neither of which is something the folks who run the place probably want.) And hey, I’m all for it — while I’ll freely admit to loathing the sound at the Engine Room back in the day, the nostalgic part of me is glad to see the space come back.
There’ve been some lineup changes for this show, apparently; Donkey Punch is no longer playing, and neither is {Defending the Kingdom}, sadly (I’m pretty impressed w/those guys). The list’s still good, though, with raw, punk-gone-country guys {The American Heist}, heavy rockers {Burn The Boats}, psych-ish dudes the {Inner Lights}, and ska-punk(?) band {The Failed Attempt}. And I still very much need to check out {Come See My Dead Person}, one of these days. Not a bad lineup for a grand opening, in my book. (Okay, so that’s changed, too; looks like it’s now the “Soft” Grand Opening for the place. Um. Okay…)
LAX/Fat Tony/Hospital/Sensory Memories/Brandon Duhon/GRRRL Parts @ Walter’s
Dunno most of the people involved with this one, but I’ve heard good things about both Austinites L.A.X. and {Hospital}, the latter of which is the new project of ex-Jonbenet guys Michael Murrland and Dann Miller (although I hear it’s mostly Murrland’s deal), and I truly love {Fat Tony}, seriously. That guy can do no wrong, in my book — he’s pretty much the best rapper Houston’s got going right now, as far as I’m concerned.
The Bangles/Tonic @ Moody Gardens (Galveston)
sigh. Okay, I’m not gonna lie — this actually sounds pretty cool to me, as somebody who grew up with The Bangles as a near-constant presence on the radio…
Runners-Up:
Nameless Sound, featuring Koboku Senju @ The El Dorado Ballroom Building (2310 Elgin, downstairs corner suite; 8PM, $13/$10 students)
Black Queen Speaks/Dev Electric/Pale/Low Frequency/Blue Light Traffic @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Blue Oyster Cult/Foghat @ Sam Houston Race Park
Blackmarket Syndicate @ W. Airport & Murphey (Stafford)
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