Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: The Tontons + Wild Moccasins + listenlisten + Wheel Workers + Young Girls + More

I’ve got a crazy, crazy weekend ahead of me — not involving music, but involving multiple family birthdays — so I’ve got to keep this brief for now, but never fear, there’s a huge pile of good stuff going on this weekend, starting tonight, Fri., February 3rd.

Here goes:

The Tontons (tour kickoff)/The Wild Moccasins/A SEA ES @ Fitzgerald’s
Already mentioned this one yesterday, but dangit, it’s still really freaking cool. {The Tontons} absolutely rule — I haven’t seen them play anything less than a stellar show, I swear, and that includes them playing everywhere from dimly-lit bars with insanely-high stages and lasers to folksy wooden backyard stages. They’re one of those bands I force on random people, “here, listen to this; no, no, trust me — it’s awesome!” (If they’re not people I already know, btw, it gets a little uncomfortable from there.)

Plus, there’s {The Wild Moccasins}, about whom I’ve heard a lot of unwarranted grief about the praise they’ve gotten in the past, and I have to say that I honestly do not get that. Maybe it’s because I can listen to their shiny, warm, jangly indie-pop sound and heard all those jangly, shiny bands I used to listen to back in college & just after, sure, but I think it’s also because they flat-out know their way around hooks and harmonies. Don’t believe the grumbling, y’all.

The Wheel Workers/Winter Wallace/listenlisten/England in 1819 @ Mango’s
Oh, yes. One of my absolute favorite bands in town, {listenlisten}, playing alongside two of the most promising — {The Wheel Workers} & {Winter Wallace} — and a very cool out-of-towner, England in 1819. This promises to be quite a mixed bag of music, with the dark, indie-folk anachronisms of listenlisten next to the jangly, almost protest-rock of The Wheel Workers and Winter Wallace’s finely-honed folk-pop, but all of ’em are good, so the combination’s bound to be pretty great.

Final Exam/Young Girls/Poor Pilate @ Walter’s (1120 Naylor)
Dunno a thing about Austin’s Final Exam, sorry, but {Young Girls} rolled through this past spring/summer like a crazy, sunstroked band of surfer-bros with jangly guitars, gorgeous melodies, and bad attitudes, and they knocked me out flat in the process. Then there’s {Poor Pilate}, whom I caught accidentally a while back at The Mink and was mightily impressed by — think some strange melding of Ben Folds and Iron & Wine, and you’ll be in the ballpark.

The Journey Agents/Achachay!/Electric Attitude/Brandon West @ Rudyard’s
This may be a little further down the list, but it still sounds like a very cool show. Achachay!, in particular, are nicely funky, as are local dudes {Electric Attitude} (who are always entertaining as hell live), and I’ve heard good, good things about {Journey Agents}, as well…

Runners-Up:
Parabelle/Pale/AThousandColours @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room)
White Crime/The Escatones/Dada Moda @ Notsuoh
The Adicts/World Inferno Friendship Society/Dead to the World @ House of Blues
The Beans @ Avant Garden
Hello Chief/Adam Bricks/Picture Book @ The Continental Club
Poetic Mental Aggression/The Illegal Wiretaps/Devil Killing Moth @ Fitzgerald’s
Los Lobos @ Dow Academic Center (Brazosport College campus; Lake Jackson)