Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Scale The Summit + Quiet Company + Buxton + Art Institute + The Shadow + Liberty Fest + More

Running up into the weekend, y’all, and I don’t have any extra-special show-related news to impart, so let’s just cut to the chase for once. Here’s what all’s going on tonight, Friday, January 27th, that I happen to think will be cool:

Scale The Summit (tour kickoff) @ Fitzgerald’s
I have to say, those guys in {Scale The Summit} are odd birds in terms of the Houston scene; namely, they’ve never really bothered to jump into it. Which sounds bad, maybe, but eh — whatever works for you, right? And for these guys, taking the “outside” route has definitely worked for ’em. Hometown crowds probably still aren’t as familiar with STS, but they’ve made the covers of national guitar mags, signed to well-respected metal label Prosthetic Recs, and even (if I’m remembering correctly) got a song in one of the Guitar Hero games.

And once you actually hear the band, it becomes pretty apparent why they’re flying so high, scene support or not. Last year’s full-length The Collective is instro-prog-metal at the best it can freaking be, I swear — I’ve got no clue what these guys are like live, but I can put on either Collective or 2009’s Carving Desert Canyons and drift off on the sound of those insanely-precise guitars and drums as they weave in and out. Well worth hearing.

Quiet Company/Young Girls/Electric Attitude/Hour Band @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room)
I’m a very, very recent convert to the Quiet Company fold, it’s true — while I’d heard some of their previously-released stuff, it wasn’t until their most recent album, We Are All Where We Belong, hit my ears that I truly sat up and took notice. (And when that happened, the first words that came out of my mouth were, “Holy fuck; this is incredible. Who are these guys, again?”)

The band has crafted what has immediately become one of my favorite albums of the past 12 months, dipping their collective toe in all flavors of smart, sharp-edged indie-rock (Death Cab, The Talk, The Decemberists, Okkervil River), all while chronicling a man attempting to explain why he’s lost faith in God and religion and everything that goes with it. That may not sound like it’d be all that entertaining to listen to, but trust me, it most certainly is. I can’t stop listening to the damn thing.

It helps, too, that they’ve got some cool folks as openers, including electro-dance-funk-rock dudes {Electric Attitude} (who I haven’t seen live in way, way, way too long) and summery/hazy psych-pop gang {Young Girls}, who I could’ve sworn were moving off to Austin themselves. Is that no longer happening? No offense, y’all, but I hope that plan got scrapped…

Oh, and if you can’t make it to the evening show, get over to Cactus Music by 5PM and you can catch a (most likely more subdued) set by Quiet Company before they roll on up to the HOB.

Buxton @ Cactus Music (7-10PM)
And speaking of Cactus…the biggie over there tonight is the official “listening party” for Nothing Here Seems Strange, the brand-brand-new album by those hard-working, fast-rising {Buxton} guys. It’s their first full-length for New West Records, and having gotten a listen to it already, I have to say, it’s damn impressive. It’s backwoodsy and sweet and meditative, which isn’t quite what I was expecting but is still excellent in its own right.

You don’t have to take my word for it, though; check out/download “Boy Of Nine,” off the 7″ of the same name the band released back in the fall:

Hit Cactus for a little bit of a preview — which will include a short performance by the band and some listening-to of the new album after, plus a neat-sounding art exhibit over in the Record Ranch by Josh Alan, who created the cover art — and then mark yr calendar (in the unlikely event you haven’t already) for Feb. 4th, the band’s “real” release show. See these guys before the rest of the world catches on.

The Shadow/A Spanish Disposition/Art Institute/Ska Bands Like Us @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Cool, cool, cool. This is a weird one for Dan Electro’s, but I’m psyched to see it all the same. Rather than the venue’s usual blues/rock mainstays, tonight they’re playing host to a host of mostly-local throwback punk rockers, namely {The Shadow}, {Art Institute}, {A Spanish Disposition}, and {Ska Bands Like Us} (who I’ve also seen listed as “A Ska Band Like Us,” FYI).

I dunno much about the latter two, but I love-love those crazy Art Institute guys, in part because they throw the stereotypical “punk” clichés right out the window in favor of raw, smart, sarcastic songs that wouldn’t have sounded out-of-place coming off some long-lost Minutemen LP. They’re great, honest. Then there’s The Shadow, who play a nicely poppy-yet-streetwise kind of punk, with sweet vocals and tough-guy guitars; it’s still a little rough around the edges, but I’m betting they’re pretty great live.

5th Annual Houston Liberty Festival Benefiting Homes For Our Troops, featuring Mark Chesnutt, Chris Brade, The Texas Tenors, Kevin Black Band, David St. Romain, Dallas McGilberry and the Tierney Brothers, Brothers-N-Arms, Crank Case, Steve Krase and the In Crowd, Gary Boehm and the Texas Bluzzcatz, Krippled Dogz, Ken Gaines, re-enactors, air show, & more @ George Bush Park (16500 Westheimer Pkwy.)
This one actually covers the next couple of days, and I’m not really clear on the schedule — check out the website for details on that. I’m not real familiar with the folks listed, either, I have to admit.

Whoever’s playing, though, what gets me is that this is all for a great, great cause, one that’s close to my little Army-brat heart; the proceeds go to benefit a group called Homes For Our Troops, which is a nonprofit that builds custom homes for members of the military who have been seriously injured. The best part? The servicemen and women get those homes free of charge, with no mortgage or strings attached. At a time when a lot of folks in the military are coming home with horrible wounds and even more horrible mental scars only to run into a difficult job market, it’s very cool to see somebody standing up to help them out.

Runners-Up:
11th Annual Trinity Jazz Festival, featuring Richie Cole/Paul English, Horace Alexander Young/Darrell Lavigne/Victor Delagarza/Vernon Daniels/Marcie Chapa, Westbury High School Jazz Band, & COTS Jazz Crew @ Trinity Episcopal Church (1015 Holman)
Bad Weather California/The Tyburn Jig @ Fitzgerald’s
Soulutionn/Fullmetal F dot & The Bandtastic 4/Dante Higgins/Justified/One Hunnidt @ The Mink (Backroom)
Mia Borders @ Shakespeare’s
Jetspeed Music Showcase, featuring Blackout X, Done Deal, The Scars Will Heal In Time, Inner Image, Born From Ruins, & Doomfire @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Reggae Rhythm Revival, featuring D.R.U.M., Idiginis, Bigga Starr, Zin, DJ Mike Rhythm, & Jimmy Lee Deen @ Last Concert Cafe
Slowtrain/Little Joe Washington @ The Continental Club
The Sellouts/Mission vs. Madness/The A.M. Prowlers/Gnar World Order @ Big Star Bar
Ray Wylie Hubbard @ Nutty Jerry’s (Winnie)