Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: Buxton + The Donkeys + Bright Men + Tigerparty + Appleseed Cast + Jeff Wells Memorial + More
Not quite as busy this Sunday, August 21st, no, but there’s still some very, very cool stuff going on tonight, so don’t let it pass you by. First on my list is Rudyard’s tonight, where local country-folk-indie heroes {Buxton}, whom I freaking love & worship & all that (and am damn glad to see have been getting some attention lately outside of Houston) will be opening for the scattershot indie-pop of The Donkeys, a band that jams together pretty much any retro-ified pop influence you can name.
Been listening to Born With Stripes a bit this past week, and it’s definitely not bad; check out a couple of tracks here:
I have to admit, though, that Buxton’s the bigger draw tonight, for me — I absolutely cannot wait to hear their new full-length on New West…
Of course, as with any night like this, I’m seriously torn, in this case because over at The Mink, the awesome, awesome {Bright Men of Learning} will be burning up the ramshackle stage with their roots-tinged, laidback-but-cynical indie-rock roar. 2010’s Fired was honestly one of the best damn albums I heard all of that year — indie, major, local, whatever — and it’s also one of the few that’ve stuck with me in the 8 months or so since 2010 drew to a close. I could listen to “One That Matters” or “Blood Rain” for hours on end, honest.
Plus, they’re playing with {Tigerparty}, who I’ve only recently gotten ’round to listening to again — they used to be more of an electronic thing, I believe, but these days they play some truly fiery, Death Cab-but-heavier indie-rock, and it’s pretty damn neat. Looking forward to hearing more… There’s also Minnesotan We Are The Willows (aka Peter Michael Miller), who plays some interestingly folky, jangly, Fleet Foxes-y pop with the highest non-falsetto voice you’ve ever heard from an adult male who wasn’t screaming for a metal band. (No, really; I thought Miller had to be a woman before I looked him up. And I don’t mean it as a slam, mind you — the guy’s got a gorgeous voice.)
I can’t forget Fitzgerald’s tonight, mind you, mostly because emo survivors (although I doubt they’d much like being called that) and post-rock experimentalists The Appleseed Cast are playing. These guys have been uniformly great for more than a decade now, and it makes me happy as hell to see them constantly shifting and evolving, never really giving a damn what box anybody (like me) thinks they should fit into. Keep on doing what you’re doing, you guys…
And hey, you can give ’em your email address to snag an MP3 off their latest EP, Middle States:
Let’s see…there’s also the Jeff Wells Memorial Bash tonight at Dan Electro’s, celebrating the memory of a guy who was a fixture in the music scene here for decades, literally. He ran a well-known studio, Sound Arts Recording, since before I ever moved here, and a lot of folks knew him as well for being the lead guitarist & singer for bluesy rock band Dr. Jeff and the Painkillers. Wells succumbed to cancer back in April, apparently, but it’s nice to see a memorial show happening, even a few months after the fact.
Full list? Here you go:
The Donkeys/Buxton/Steve Reno @ Rudyard’s
We Are The Willows/Tigerparty/Bright Men of Learning @ The Mink
The Appleseed Cast/Hospital Ships @ Fitzgerald’s
Jeff Wells Memorial Bash, featuring Free Radicals, The Liquid Kitchen, & Jeff Wells Tribute Band @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Greeley Estates/The Plot in You/Life on Repeat/Miracle at St. Anna/Everyone Dies in Utah @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
White Ghost Shivers @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Houston Fringe Festival, featuring Sobers & Godley, Tina Mullone, & Milo & Shyla @ Super Happy Fun Land
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