Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: listenlisten + The Tontons + Hearts of Animals + Joe Mathlete + Megafauna + More

Remember how last weekend was kinda-sorta slow, with not that much going on? Yeah? Well, this weekend’s apparently attempting to make up lost ground, ’cause there’s a ton of stuff going on (including a sold-out show at The Rothko Chapel that I won’t mention here, because, um, you can’t go). For starters, here’s what up for tonight, Friday, February 25th:

listenlisten/Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship/Come See My Dead Person @ Fitzgerald’s ($5)
The biggie of the night, at least for me — I freaking love {listenlisten}, particularly live, where they can whip up a stand-and-stare Houston crowd into a testifying tent-revival with their strange, murky, quasi-folk stylings. They’re a bit less on the “folk” side of things these days (see the more modern-sounding but still excellent “dog” for proof), but that doesn’t mean they’ve left it behind completely. The band remains one of the most unique musical things Houston’s got going, now or since I first moved here, period.

I dunno New Orleans friends Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship, sorry, but I’ve heard some of {Come See My Dead Person}, who also kind of veer down a dark country road to very strange places, and they’re pretty impressive themselves.

The Tontons (tour kickoff)/Two Star Symphony/Young Girls @ Fitzgerald’s
Very cool — glad to see {The Tontons} will be out roaming the Great American West to deliver their should-be-patented brand of psych-rock-soul to the masses, at least for the next month or so. The band’s been jaw-droppingly good every time I’ve seen ’em, especially frontwoman Asli Omar, who can belt or croon like somebody a good twenty years her senior.

Beyond that, {Two Star Symphony} are pretty great (if a bit of a shifting-of-gears from the headliner), and I keep hearing good things about {Young Girls} (the band, dammit, the band).

Yellow Fever/Hearts of Animals/Joe Mathlete @ The Joanna (4014 Graustark)
Okay, so I did see this one listed as being last night, but per Yellow Fever‘s Myspace page, it’s definitely this here evening over at The Joanna, which is apparently some kind of art-space near the Univ. of St. Thomas. I’m not real familiar with YF themselves, but I really-really-truly love both {Hearts of Animals} cracked pseudo-electro-pop (that is, assuming Mlee’s not doing something completely different these days) and Joe Mathlete‘s amazingly cool, sweet little nerd-love songs. Sounds like this’ll be him solo and not “The Mathletes” proper, but hey, there’s nothing wrong with that, dangit.

Megafauna/Smoke and Feathers/Inner Lights/Peloton @ The Mink
Nice, nice, nice. I’ve been seriously meaning to give a better listen to Austin’s Megafauna since their last time through town, and now I’m glad to finally be able to check ’em out a little more. Quirky, somewhat mesmerizing indie-rock that comes off like something I’d have heard on Simple Machines a decade or two ago (and yes, I mean that in a good way), with slightly off-kilter rhythms, repeated, Fugazi-like guitar lines, and serenely drifting female vocals. I think I need to snag an album…

Runners-Up:
Atomic Duo (mem. of Bad Livers) @ Rudyard’s
Soul Rebels Brass Band/Picture Book @ The Continental Club
The Steve Miller Band @ House of Blues
Second Annual Texas Yoga Conference, featuring DJ Sun, DJ Hyfi, Sean Johnson and The Wild Lotus Band, & MC Yogi @ Jerabeck Athletic Center (St. Thomas Univ. campus)