Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: Jucifer + Omotai + Linus Pauling Quartet + Music for Silent Films + More

Late, I know, but I couldn’t pass these by… Tonight’s Sunday, February 19th, right before Ye Olde Day of Presidents, and while there’s not that much going on, there’re two lights shining bright out there this evening:

Jucifer/Omotai/Linus Pauling Quarter @ Super Happy Fun Land
I’d recommend bringing earplugs to this one, but honestly, it may not matter anyway. I’ve never seen Jucifer live, unfortunately, but from what I hear, they’re so deafeningly, skull-crushingly loud — in spite of being a measly two people, one on guitar and one on drums — that even if you have earplugs in, you still walk away with your head ringing. Whoa. Volume aside, I freaking love the sludgy, noisy, stoner-rock-ish music I’ve heard from the band, and it sounds like they’re pretty epic live.

With that in mind, it makes perfect, perfect sense that they’ve got both {Omotai} and the {Linus Pauling Quartet} opening for ’em. The former play some awesomely heavy-as-fuck, doom-y metal that’s less like music and more like the sound you hear when giant lizards destroy your city, while the latter blaze through these alternately cool and goofy songs that revel in their stoned-out, flat-out rawk roots. Oh, and both bands are really, really freaking loud themselves. Honest; Omotai were the only band at Summerfest last year where I spent half the set with my fingers in my ears, just so I could maybe hear the rest of the bands that day.

Anyway, if you’re into metal, noise, guitars, or just sheer sonic overload, this is the show for you.

Music for Silent Films, featuring Chris Becker, Richard Cholakian, Seth Paynter, & Stan Smith @ 14 Pews (8PM; $10)
And on the other end of things, if you’re into the more experimental side of the musical world, this one’s probably more your thing. We’ve talked here previously about NYC/H-town avant-garde composer {Chris Becker}, but with his Music for Silent Films series, it’s less about him and more about the general idea. In this case, that idea is that Becker and a handful of other experimental/improvisational musicians — Richard Cholakian, Seth Paynter, & Stan Smith — will be improvising brand-new, original music to a set of silent films, live as the films screen behind them.

Granted, it doesn’t sound like these are classic Buster Keaton movies or anything like that, but rather they’re films made by more contemporary artists, including Houston’s own Jonathan Jindra; even still, though, this sounds like a very, very neat, utterly unique experience, one where you’re never going to see/hear the same performance as anybody who sees a subsequent show. That part of this appeals to me a heck of a lot — the uniqueness of the show, above and beyond the usual “yeah, we always play it a little differently live” thing.

Now, for the bad part: it’s starting, well, right about now. Get on up to 14 Pews, asap…