Tonight: The Octopus Project + Phillip Foshee + Young Girls (tour kickoff!) + More

Busy weekend looming on the horizon, but I didn’t want to miss mentioning what’s on tonight, Thursday, July 15th, ’cause some of it’s looking pretty damn good:

The Octopus Project/Record Hop/Tia Carrera @ Warehouse Live
Yes, yes, yes, yes. I have to say, I freaking love The Octopus Project, and it kills me that the last time I got to see ’em live was literally something like five years ago. (I think. My memory sucks.) That pain’s mitigated, though, by the fact that the band seems to be doing better & better with each release and are moving onwards & upwards all the time, apparently — they crank out music faster than some people, um, write blog entries, and their next release, Hexadecagon, sounds particularly badass & was mixed by John Congleton (of pAper chAse fame/infamy). It makes me happy as all get-out that they’ve moved up from playing Rudz to playing Warehouse Live.

I’m afraid I haven’t been able to check out either of the openers, sadly, but I’ve heard good things about both Tia Carrera (not the godawful actress/”singer,” thankfully) and Record Hop…

Stephen McCarley/Phillip Foshee/Marcus Acker @ The Mink
Okay, so I feel a mite bit guilty about this one… Way back around last year, yours truly heard that {Phillip Foshee} had moved off to France, of all places, and I emailed the guy, asking if I could pester him w/some interview-y questions. I was flying high from a handful of MP3s I’d heard of his, particularly “Warm In Texas” and “Technically I Love You,” and I was psyched about the prospect of it. Then he responded, and…I dropped the ball. Hell, I not only dropped the ball, I took off my jersey and left the damn field. sigh. Sorry, Mr. Foshee…

At any rate, I’m very happy to see he’s back in town & playing yet again — the guy’s one of the coolest singer/songwriters we’ve got ’round these parts, I swear.

Young Girls (tour kickoff)/Piss Disco/Tax the Wolf @ Walter’s
Dunno what {Young Girls} sounds like yet, I’ll admit, but damn, I’m hopeful. Pedro Tijerina seems to pretty much hit the mark no matter what he’s doing, these days (see: {Springfield Riots}), and I’m betting this is more of the same. And yes, tonight’s their tour kickoff, which makes them The Band Who’s Been Around the Least Amount of Time Before Hitting the Road that I’ve seen in a long while. Check ’em out.

Runners-Up:
The 71’s/Sic Spero/The Lovable Old James @ Dean’s Credit Clothing
Kids at the Bar/Glasnost/GRRRL Parts @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room)
The Mother Truckers @ The Continental Club