Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: The Pons + Featherface + Mountains + The Suffers + Pleasure Shapes + Square and Compass + Howler + More

Yep, it’s Saturday now, February 18th, and the weekend rolls on; there’s a crap-ton of cool things (well, what I happen to think are cool things, anyway) going on this evening, so get ready to dodge the torrential downpour & get out there. Here we go:

The Pons/Featherface/The Wheel Workers @ Mango’s
sigh. I got sent The Pons‘ latest CD, The Blackest Shine, a month or two ago, but dangit, I didn’t even get a chance to put it in the CD player ’til yesterday. Sorry about that, y’all. What little I have heard has been pretty cool, riding the same general Silkworm-esque vibe I loved so much on 2009’s In the Belly of a Giant, and I’m looking forward to hearing more of it, I swear.

And hey, they’ve got two of my favorite local gangs of the moment opening for ’em, namely {Featherface}, whose nimble, prog-tinged psych-pop makes my head spin (in a good way), and {The Wheel Workers}, whose recent full-length was promising as all heck; I still have “The Mop” stuck in my head, even now…

This Will Destroy You/Amen Dunes/Mountains/John LaMonica @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Cool, cool, cool. I’ve yet to see/hear post-rockers This Will Destroy You, sadly, but I have heard both Thrill Jockey signees Mountains and John LaMonica, and I like what I’ve heard quite a bit.

The former are seriously ambient — at least on new full-length Air Museum — all lush, warm, heavily-layered electronics, gentle synths, shifting frequencies, and beds of soft sound beneath occasional delicate guitars. It’s M83-like at times, but actually makes me think more of an updated, less-cheeseball Vangelis. Then there’s the former, who makes one-man-band electro-pop that’s halfway between The Postal Service and darker, more murky electronic stuff; recent album Volunteers is damn neat.

The Bandulus/The Suffers/DJ Moonstomp @ Rudyard’s
Nice. It’s weird, but I’ve actually found myself yearning for some old-school trad-ska lately — Venice Shoreline Chris‘s “Ex-Darling” popped up on the iPod last weekend while I was mowing the lawn, and all I could do was grin. And before that, last month I caught The Buzzkillers opening for the {Latch Key Kids} (a show for which I still need to write a review; argh…) and was immediately thrown back to the Good Old Days at Fitz, skanking and dancing to Less Than Jake & The Skatalites.

So I’m glad to see it’s coming back around somewhat. I dunno The Bandulus, although the name sounds terrifying and medical, but I’ve heard they’re pretty great, and I was happy to discover that new reggae/ska supergroup {The Suffers} (who have an awesome name, btw) have put some live recordings of their songs up on Soundcloud. It’s excellent, laidback, rocksteady-ish stuff, from members/ex-members of {Los Skarnales}, {Lower Life Form}, {The Handsomes}, {Heptic Skeptic}, & Ryan Scroggins & The Trenchtown Texans. (See what I mean about the “supergroup” bit, there?)

ST 37/Pleasure Shapes (mem. of Golden Cities & Tyagaraja)/Future Blondes @ Fitzgerald’s
This one’s very cool not because of psych-rock heroes ST 37, who I don’t know real well, but because of {Pleasure Shapes}, which is a brand-new band that includes Marcus Gausepohl of the sadly-deceased {Golden Cities} and Meghan Hendley of the also-sadly-deceased Solanae, {Tyagaraja}, {Finnegan}, & {Sara Van Buskirk}‘s backing band. I’ve known those two for a few years now, and they’re both amazing, amazing people, so I’m psyched as hell to see/hear what they come up with together (along with cohorts Cory Martin & Heather Dowling). Haven’t heard any of it yet, but with these folks’ pedigree, it’s bound to be awesome. Srsly.

Oh, and be warned: due to the recent assholishness of HPD with the so-vague-it-can-mean-anything noise ordinance, this will be an early show, starting at 7PM so the jets-taking-off roar doesn’t disrupt the slumber of oh-so-sensitive Heights NIMBYs. Way to move into a cool neighborhood and and then fuck it up, asshats.

Soup/Silence On Hold/Only Beast/Square and Compass @ Fitzgerald’s
Dunno most of these, I’m afraid, but this one still makes the list because of {Square and Compass}, who’ve replaced {Journey Agents} — also good — on the bill.

I truly, truly dig those S&C guys, and am especially happy because they just sent me an MP3 of one of the new tracks they’ve recorded, “Imminent Demise,” and it comes through in spades on their promise to hold tight to that Braid-esque emo sound I loved on their debut EP. It’s fiery and loud, with plenty of sung/screamed vocals and thunder guitars; keep an eye out for the new album (EP?), hopefully out sometime soon.

Howler (final show)/Spastic Fit/The A.M. Prowlers/Sundrunk @ Jet Lounge
Holy crap. Okay, so this show apparently isn’t happening, at least not with {Howler} playing their farewell show — their guitarist, Jacob Bernstein, went into the hospital this week because of complications from a car wreck he was in a few years back, and the band says they can’t really play their last show without him there, which I totally get, believe me. Hope he pulls through, y’all…

Da’ Love Jam, featuring Lisa Lisa, Al B Sure, Madd Hatta, G-Man, & Jammin Frickin’ J @ Stereo Live
A Flock of Seagulls @ Cullen’s Live (Clear Lake)
Oh, come off it — you know you want to, even if only ironically. I mean, seriously: Al B Sure, live and in person! The guy does still exist, and not just as a punchline to jokes on Psych.

Runners-Up:
La Sien/Espantapajaros/Melissa Savcic Band @ The Mink
Hair of The Dog, featuring Buck Yeager Band, Placid Blue, Miss Leslie, Dunville, & Grady Skelton @ House of Blues
They, Who Sound, featuring Marilyn Crispell/Chris Cogburn/David Dove & Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten’s Young Mothers @ MECA (1900 Kane; 8-10PM)
Mike Relm/Ceeplus Bad Knives/D-Risha/DJ Kosuri @ Numbers
Gritsy, featuring Tunnidge & more @ Warehouse Live
Letters to Voltron/Decimation Theory/Rahab the Monster @ Acadia (3939 FM 1960)