Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: 500 Megatons of Boogie (CD release) + The Jonx + Gram Rabbit + Pale (video preview) + JBM + More

Still working on catching up on the massive piles of email I found waiting for me back home, but that doesn’t mean everybody else out there is resting, no sir. Here’s what sounds cool to me for this evening:

500 Megatons of Boogie (CD release)/The Jonx/Recreator @ Rudyard’s
Okay, so I’m a big old idiot for this one. I know I got sent something by the {500 Megatons of Boogie} gang, right before I left town, and now I can’t freaking find the damn thing, or even remember exactly what it was. sigh. Getting old sucks, people.

At any rate, tonight’s the official release of the Megatons’ latest CD, and while I have yet to hear it, I’m very glad to see it happen; it’s been three years since the last full-length I can remember seeing from these guys, and frankly, in Houston Scene Time, that could’ve easily meant they’d broken up & not bothered to tell anybody. (It happens.) Glad to see they’re still alive & still making that fun, quirky, thickheaded rock they do.

I can’t leave out mid-openers {The Jonx}, mind you, a band that remains this city’s most friendly curmudgeons and still the best math-rock outfit going, to my mind. (Especially since their closest competition, Tambersauro, have now officially left the building.) Get to Rudz early enough to catch their raw-yet-smart, muscle-y-yet-brainy rawk. You won’t be sorry, particularly if they roar through all 11(?) minutes of “Highway At Night.”

Gram Rabbit @ Last Concert Cafe
Never actually heard Gram Rabbit ’til recently, I’ll admit, but I’ve heard some spectacularly good things about ’em in that short amount of time, and what I’ve been able to listen to so far backs up the acclaim nicely. They’re glam-y and electro-sounding, but better than that, they blaze beautifully through New Wave-esque pop songs that sound flat-out classic, in spite of their relative newness. Impressive as hell.

Pale (video preview)/Tyranny of Bella/Radio One/From Guts to Glory/Sid 17/Raging Apathy @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
I’ll let David over at {Houston Calling} handle the details on this one, ’cause he’s far, far more up on what’s going on these days in the {Pale} camp than I am, I have to admit… Just trust me when I say this is going to be a pretty great show.

AA Bondy/JBM @ Mango’s
Slept on this one a bit, unfortunately, and now that I’ve finally listened to JBM‘s full-length, Not Even in July, I’m regretting that little oversight. I’ve heard AA Bondy in the past and been intrigued, but JBM’s the star of this particular show/tour, for me. Nicely melancholy, understated folk-pop that compares favorably to both Damien Jurado and Ray LaMontagne.

Loverboy/The Fabulous Thunderbirds/Patty Smyth & Scandal @ Sam Houston Race Park
Oh, c’mon. You know this’d be fun, if only so you could heckle Mom & Dad without fear of reprisal. And hey, the Fabulous Thunderbirds are pretty dang good, even now…

Runners-Up:
Latch Key Kids/Jamestown Tragedy/Skeleton Dick @ Walter’s
Barkerpalooza III, featuring Eyes Burn Electric, Mothers Anthem, Project H, Blondes Make Better Victims, Rule Five Draft, Castlelights, Z-Ro, & R.D.11 @ Fitzgerald’s (8PM; $10)
Eyes Behind The Wall: A Harsh Noise Wall Festival, featuring Richard Ramirez, The Rita, Indch Libertine, Svartvit, Fouke, Rusalka, Rack, Infirmary, Bachir Gemayel, Taskmaster, Vomir, Skonhet, Being, Churner, Screamin’ Fetus, Bondage Is The Future, Stress, IS, Oblive, Tissa Mawartyassari, The Slasher Is The Sex Maniac!, Insurgent, Forced Orgasm, Ascites, Heirchiss, Vice Wears Black Hose, Fatale, Slaughter-Fetus, Paranoid Time, Lotus Bazooka, Godless Girl, The Whitehorse, Painful Vigil, RU-486, & more @ Super Happy Fun Land
Secret Prostitutes (record release)/Male Nurses/Crime Wave @ The Mink