Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: Holy Fuck + Indian Jewelry + Balaclavas + Binarium Sound Series + Lower Dens + More

Late, late, late, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, had to dig a hole (well, expand an existing hole, actually) in the back yard and then couldn’t really move for a few hours. Anyway, it’s the end of the weekend, and a storm appears to be currently hammering parts of the city, but there’s still plenty going on; here’s what sounds good to me for tonight, Sunday, September 12th:

Holy Fuck/Indian Jewelry/Balaclavas @ Walter’s
I can’t claim to be real familiar with Holy Fuck, honestly, but what I have heard hasn’t been bad, kind of murky, meandering indie-electronics/noise that lives in the same realm as, say, Menomena, making music that’s “electronic” but definitely not strictly for dancefloors — it’s way too smart for all that. And I respect the hell out of the band for avoiding the use of preprogrammed backing tracks in their live shows; if you’re a one-man electro band, sure, that’s great, but four guys? No offense meant to anybody who does it, but this way’s far better.

Oddly enough, despite the provocative, getting-’em-banned-various-places name, Holy Fuck is pretty much going to be the least abrasive, raw, in-your-face act of the night. I mean, they’ve got {Indian Jewelry} and {Balaclavas} as openers, the former of which crafts music that is damned difficult to listen to without feeling freaked-out yet still weirdly captivating, and the latter of which holds the post-punk torch high, crunching and thundering their way through a barbed-wire nest of almost-melodies and corkscrew rhythms.

It’s going to be hard for those Canadian boys to follow either one, in my book…

Binarium Sound Series, featuring JD Emmanuel & Midmir (Jonathan Jindra & Frank Dambra) @ The Mekong Underground (2808 Milam; 8-10PM)
I’ll probably never claim to be a huge fan of things experimental, no, but trust me when I say that this show’ll be worth it, even for a non-fan (generally, anyway) like me. {JD Emmanuel}‘s a real-live Houston legend, playing spiritually-tinged electronic music solely on analog keyboards, and what I’ve heard of that has been extremely cool.

Then there’s {Midmir}, which is a collaboration between {Trills}‘ Jonathan Jindra (who also happens to be curating the {Binarium Sound Series}; he deserves a high-five just for that) and Frank Dambra, who’s just back from living in NYC for a while. I’d never heard of Midmir ’til today, but I’m liking it so far — it’s electronica, the kind of spacey, atmospheric, almost world-music-y electronica that’d sound fine either in the wee hours in a chillout room at some club somewhere or out on the Serengeti at night, buzzing on an iPod. I’m hoping to hear more soon, myself.

Lower Dens @ Big Star Bar (9PM)
Just heard about this one; apparently partially-expatriate-Houstonian band Lower Dens is sticking ’round town an extra night and is about to start rocking out at the Big Star Bar. And yeah, I feel somewhat like I gave the band short shrift a bit yesterday; sorry ’bout that, y’all… I haven’t yet heard a ton of their music yet, but so far, yep, it’s pretty fucking great.

Although honestly, with Jana Hunter‘s soul-drenched, rough-edged, Chan Marshall-on-acid voice, how could it not be? Seriously, everything I’ve ever heard blows me away, going back to the Matty & Mossy days, so I’m pretty well primed to love Lower Dens. Can’t make it out tonight, unfortunately, but I’ll have to pick up the band’s full-length, Twin-Hand Movement. See ’em if you can.

Wesfest: Benefit for Wesley Gonzales, featuring Muhammad Ali, Alimanas, Atrocity, Kruller, Skeleton Dick, Suckerfish, No Worries, U.Y.U.S., Contortion Session, Idiginis, The Alien8ed, & Talk Sick Brats @ Groundhall (1515 Pease; 1PM-2AM)
Yep, already talked up this one somewhat on over here. And again, {Muhammad Ali} fucking rules. I can’t get that weird, bendy guitar hook from “Smiling” out of my head for anything; it’s very nearly displaced (thank God) all the damn Yo Gabba Gabba songs that my 1-year-old’s responsible for me hearing, and that fact alone makes me love the band.

Runners-Up:
The Texas Buzz, featuring Adelaine, Sun Salutation, & Foster @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival, featuring Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, Halestorm, Hellyeah, Airbourne, New Medicine, Hail The Villain, & more @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion