Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Bright Men of Learning (LP release!) + KTRU Benefit + The Small Sounds + More

Day Two of your weekend, Sat., September 18th, and it’s pretty damn busy, going by what’s on the list. Here’s what I think looks/sounds good, at least (and yeah, I’m having to keep it a bit short; sorry ’bout that):

Bright Men of Learning (LP release)/Orange Is In @ Rudyard’s
Bright Men of Learning @ Cactus Music (3PM)
A double shot of {Bright Men of Learning} today, in honor of the release of the band’s brand-new LP/electronic download (they’re not releasing it on CD, figuring that, hell, you can just burn one for yourself from the MP3s, if you want), Fired — see the review from a couple of days ago over here. And holy crap is it a good album; seriously, this is what I’ve wanted to hear since I first heard bandleader Marshall Preddy play with the Wholesome Rollers a long, long, long time ago. The songs are damn near perfect, with scarcely a note out of place.

It’s also a lot less alt-country than I’d expected, but that makes it all the better, hearing the Son Volt/Jayhawks thing less as a focus and more of a part of the whole mess. Fired‘s pretty much immediately jumped to the top of my in-progress Top Ten for this year. Fucking awesome, honest.

Save KTRU Benefit, featuring Free Radicals, Ellypseas, & The Live Lights @ Mango’s
Already talked about this one a bit, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to point to it again…

The Small Sounds/The Baker Family/Til We’re Blue or Destroyed @ Walter’s
Oh, boy — speaking (sort of) of alt-country bands, then there’s {The Small Sounds}, who I honestly think the Bright Men crew would have a blast sharing the stage with. They’re a lot more full-on country, but they don’t do it cheeseball, instead focusing on writing great, heartfelt, amazingly subtle songs and playing ’em without overdoing it in the slightest. One of my favorite bands in town; if BMOL weren’t playing tonight, too, this’d be no contest.

Runners-Up:
Paris Falls/The Octanes @ The Continental Club
Dev Electric/Dawn Over Zero/the last place you look/Good Job Underground @ The 19th Hole (The Woodlands)
Acuerdo de Música Libre/Free Music Agreement: a Festival of Improvised Music, featuring Remi Alvarez, Chris Cogburn, David Dove, Lucas Gorham, Milo Tamez, jAWWAAD Taylor, Fernando Vigueras, & Juan Pablo Villa @ 14 Pews (800 Aurora; 8PM)
Rebirth Brass Band @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
KPFT 90.1 Thanks Bob Tribute, featuring The Hightailers, Jack Saunders, The Mighty Orq, Sparky Parker, Gary Sapone, Tune Poets, & Tom Loud @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
End of Summer Kegger, featuring The Delta Block, Vivisect, The Takes, & Cop Warmth @ 513 W. Polk (house show; 12PM)
Bullet For My Valentine/Escape the Fate/Black Tide/Drive A @ Warehouse Live
Devil Killing Moth @ Notsuoh