Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: The Wild Moccasins Head Overseas + Darwin’s Finches + The Escatones + Hearts of Animals + More

Day #2 of a pretty darn promising weekend, and tonight, Saturday, February 12th, is looking especially cool. Here’s what looks & sounds good to me:

The Wild Moccasins (European tour kickoff)/Young Mammals/Wicked Poseur @ Fitzgerald’s
Talked about this one a couple of times now, but it’s pretty monumental — it’s not often a band from right here makes it across the freaking Atlantic Ocean, y’know? I’m psyched as hell for {The Wild Moccasins}, because they’ve worked their asses off just about nonstop since appearing on the scene here, and beyond that, they just seem to get better & better. It’s awesome that now they’re going to get to expose virgin European masses to their infectious, sweet-voiced, unassuming brand of indie-pop.

And hey, it’s the {Young Mammals}! Good to see them, too — those guys still amaze me, even if I, um, can’t seem to get a hold of a copy of their damn full-length, Carrots. sigh.

Darwin’s Finches/The Escatones/Art Institute @ Mango’s
Argh. I suck, I suck, I suck — I’ve got this massive pile of CDs sitting on my desk (well, okay, right now large chunks of it are riding around in my backpack), and Old Skatillivich, the full-length from Galveston-dwelling weirdballs Darwin’s Finches is practically living at the top of the pile, in desperate need of some focused attention I’ve yet to give it.

Which is especially painful because I do like what I’ve heard so far, even if it throws me for a loop every damn time; the shambling, backwoodsy strangeness these guys bring forth is hard to pigeonhole but still pretty neat; I’ve got to give it a more serious listen, and soon. They’re playing with a pair of similarly promising bands, as well, namely jagged-sounding proto-punkers {Art Institute} and League City newcomers (I think?) {The Escatones}, whose mid-fi, Sebadoh-gone-surf jangle is pretty intriguing. Check it out…

Hearts of Animals/Fiskadoro/Christopher Cascio @ Rudyard’s
Halle-freaking-lujah, folks. Honestly, at this point I’d pretty much assumed {Hearts of Animals} was dead & gone; it’s been more than a year, I believe, since they played last ’round here, and in H-town Scene Time that usually indicates that the band/musician in question has moved on to other things. I’m very, very glad that’s not the case, because Mlee‘s quirky, noisy, sweet-yet-strange take on pop experimentalism is really something cool and unique.

Of course, it helps that she’s playing with {Fiskadoro}, whom I’m liking quite a bit, and {Christopher Cascio}, about whom I’ve heard good things & who’s got a new solo album out now that I’ve got sitting on my desk right now, as yet unlistened-to (sorry, sorry; I will soon, I swear).

Runners-Up:
Glasnost/Fresh Millions/Knifight @ Fitzgerald’s
Helstar (CD release)/Metal X/Carry The Storm/Bagheera/Axis in Collapse @ Numbers
Amos Lee/Vusi Mahlasela @ House of Blues
The Ugly Beats/Amplified Heat/Matt Mayo Band @ The Continental Club
Gritsy, featuring Distal, Mayhem, Sines, Suraj K, John the 3rd, Upgreyed, Juxta, & Knome @ Groundhall
Woolfy/Bobby Dj/Ceeplus Bad Knives/G-Wizz/Mr. Castillo/Fredster/Linh Nguyen/DJ Jaycee @ The Mink
The 6th Annual Valentine Benefit for BMI and Eye Care in the Third World, featuring Double Vision @ Firehouse Saloon