Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Paris Falls (Reviewed!) + The Suspects + Girls Rock Camp Benefit + Javelin + Featherface + More

Well, it’s Saturday (January 15th, to be exact), and I’m busily doing the family stuff — playing with the kids, getting up on the roof to dig leaves out of the gutters, the usual — but I didn’t want to let all the excellent stuff going on tonight slip past, even if I can’t go into a heck of a lot of detail. Here goes:

Paris Falls (CD release)/A.P. Dugas & The Religion (final show!)/Young Girls/DJ Psychedelic Sex Panther @ Fitzgerald’s
It’s hard to pick a winner out of everything going on this evening, but this one comes real damn close… Been listening a lot lately to {Paris Falls}‘ brand-new full-length, Reverse Mirror Image, and it’s pretty awesome, a step in a different direction from the previous Vols. I-III trilogy. Maybe it’s because I remember drummer Mike Deleon from the Beatles-loving Jinkies back in the day, but it feels somehow very appropriate that the Paris Falls crew should be veering towards Paul McCartney more than anything else these days. (I think, anyway.) Got a full review up over here.

On a sad note, this’ll also apparently be the final show of A.P. Dugas & The Religion, which paired the PF folks with singer/songwriter Airon Paul Dugas. Not sure why they’re calling it quits, but there it is.

The Suspects/Murder The Stout/Channel One @ The Continental Club
All hail {The Suspects}, the band of ska heroes who will never die…or, at least, who will never stop coming back to life, whichever. It always makes me smile to see these guys; they honestly haven’t missed a step since their heyday back in the ’90s. And for those cynical hipsters who’ll just snicker behind their hands about ska being “dead”: you’re an idiot. The craze may be dead, but the music didn’t start or end with Goldfinger sinking into obscurity; I’ll still proudly play my Suspects, Specials, Scofflaws, & Jump With Joey albums and dance, myself.

On an oddball note, this show also includes {Murder the Stout}, who’re an Irish/Scottish folk band and aren’t half-bad. Yours truly hired ’em for a “pub night” thing at the office a while back and was fairly impressed. A little bit of a weird pairing of bands, but hey, who cares?

Girls Rock Camp Houston Benefit, featuring Vivian Pikkles and the Sweethearts Über Alles, No Love Less, & more @ Unitatian Fellowship of Houston (1504 Wirt)
Always, always, always a good cause, and I’m told Vivian Pikkles and the Sweethearts Über Alles is an outfit that includes members of guitars (or GTRS? not sure), {Something Fierce}, & {The Busy Kids}, and that’s no bad thing…

Javelin/My Milky Way Arms/DJ Cuba Gooding Jr. @ Groundhall
I was able to check out Brooklynites Javelin‘s latest album, No Mas, and while I’m not huge on the whole electro-pop thing, I was pretty impressed. Writer Henry was, too — check his review over here.

The Mild Mannered/Featherface/The A.M. Prowlers/FootPie @ Mango’s
I’ll keep this one short; just wanted to say that {Featherface} are a damn good band, one of the coolest of the crop of youngsters I’ve seen/heard lately. Read about ’em here. And on a totally-unrelated note, the name “FootPie” is mind-boggingly dumb, and I’ve got to point it out. Really?

Fat Tony/Simple Success @ The Flat
Raved about {Fat Tony} repeatedly in these pages, so I won’t go too berserk here; all I’ll say is that he’s seriously one of the best rappers in town right now. And hey, high-five to Tony for his recent swing through the East Coast states — this is his homecoming show.

Reel Big Fish/The Aquabats/Suburban Legends/Koo Koo Kanga @ House of Blues
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What? I enjoyed the heck out of Reel Big Fish‘s album of covers, Fame, Fortune and Fornication, and there ain’t nothing wrong with that. Plus, I’ve become weirdly fascinated by The Aquabats since finding out frontman Christian Jacobs (aka MC Bat Commander) is the brains behind Yo Gabba Gabba!

Runners-Up:
Born Liars/Venomous Maximus @ Big Star Bar (free!)
Tax the Wolf/Yokomono/Calaveras Club @ Bohemeo’s
Roots of Exile/U.Y.U.S./Landfill/Mama Tried/Black Tuesday @ Walter’s
Jetspeed Live Music Festival, featuring Parabelle, Dev Electric, Exit 380, Black Queen Speaks, Chrome 44, Carmeci, & Dawn Over Zero @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Gritsy, featuring 12th Planet @ Warehouse Live