Tonight: We Landed On The Moon! + Tody Castillo + Bright Men + HPMA Preview + Landmine Marathon + More

It’s a busy one tonight, esp. for a Thursday (July 22nd, to be specific), so I figured I’d mention some of the shows going on that sound good to yours truly, for those who’ll be out-and-about this evening.

First up, though, I wanted to point to a handful of cancellations/reschedulings that I’ve heard about recently… First off, Brooklyn black-metal dudes Liturgy had to cancel their show next Wed., July 28th, due to illness (no word on a rescheduled date). Before that, apparently The Protomen‘s bus broke down on their way to last week’s show at Super Happy Fun Land — they’ll be back, though, on August 23rd (again at SHFL).

A little nearer to home, it appears {The Manichean} have cancelled their long-heralded video release that was supposed to be tomorrow, July 23rd, up at the Avant Garden. Not sure what the deal was with that, I’m afraid, but now the Garden’s playing host to a bunch of bands with their Leo Party thing; more on that soon.

And lastly, I know it’ll break a lot of hearts out there, but yes, on top of the JoBros rescheduling, now Nick Cannon has cancelled his appearance in September at the House of Blues. Can you hear the sound of me weeping uncontrollably? No? Good.

On to what’s happening tonight:

We Landed On The Moon!/Gilbert Alfaro (Spain Colored Orange)/Adam & Lena @ Rudyard’s
And here’re one of those bands I’ve managed to catch and mean to write about…but never quite get around to it. sigh. I saw Louisianans We Landed On The Moon! in March of last year, opening (weirdly) for Bolt, and while I went into it a serious cynic, they won me over handily, enough that I bought the album they were selling at the time (they’ve got a new one on the way, apparently). They’re nicely melodic, mashing together roaring guitars, keys, and Melissa Eccles‘ Jenny Lewis-esque voice, for an end product that comes off a little bit like an amped-up, driving Blondie. Seriously, check ’em out.

Tody Castillo/Bright Men of Learning/Beetle @ The Continental Club
Damn, how am I only just now hearing about this show? Two of my favorite rootsy/jangly bands/people at The Continental on the same night; darn good. {Tody Castillo}‘s most recent album, Windhorse, found its way back into my car’s CD player recently and reconfirmed my love for every damn thing the guy does — the songs make me want to weep, but in the best possible way. Then there’s {Bright Men of Learning}, who have worked themselves into being one of the tightest, most confident roots-rock bands ’round town these days. And who, um, I need to check out more often. cough…

Houston Press Showcase Bingo Music Awards Preview Party, featuring DJ Kyle Berg, Satin Hooks, & D.R.U.M. @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room)
Not sure if this is an invite-only thing or not, but I’ve seen a flyer for it, so I’m betting not… So go, right? Hang out, rub elbows with the H-town music elite, and enjoy some damn good music, besides. {D.R.U.M.} have been local reggae gods for a decade, at this point (no, really), and I truly dig {Satin Hooks}, as well.

Landmine Marathon/P.L.F./H.R.A./Red River/Carrion Sun @ Walter’s
Dunno most of the locals for this one, sorry, but I have heard Sovereign Descent, the new album from Landmine Marathon, and it’s pretty impressive — heavy-ass, breakneck-speed thrash with Slayer-style vocals and some seriously old-school throwback moments that make me want to raise the devil horns high right at my desk. (Which would probably get me some weird looks, obviously.) And yes, that’s apparently a woman — LM’s Grace Perry — at the mic. Wow.

Michael Schenker Group @ 18th Street Pier Bar and Grill (San Leon)
Mentioned this previously, I know, but I wanted to stick an extra ! on the end of that: holy fucking shit. Back in my guitar-god-wannabe youth, I would’ve killed to see this show…and now I see it’s the band’s 30th anniversary. Um. Damn. I’m old.

Runners-Up:
Ratt/Mercenary X @ Warehouse Live
The BoDeans/Ray Johnston @ The Warsaw (formerly The Engine Room)