Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Melvins + Unsane + Sight, Sound, Space + HoC Benefit + Art Institute + Mango’s Band-Off + More

Dunno where you are, but outside our doors the weather is full-on crappy, alternating between torrential downpours and hail; nevertheless, there’s a ton of cool-sounding stuff to do tonight, Friday, April 20th. I’m stuck at the casa, unfortunately, fighting off a nasty case of strep and attempting to get everything I need to get done done before Sunday, when I get to start the kind of cross-country drive I swore I’d never attempt again after college, but if you’re feeling healthy, definitely brave the rain, y’all.

First off, though, in case you hadn’t heard somewhere else, ’90s alt-rockers Garbage had to cancel their show tonight here in H-town (and tomorrow up in Austin, to boot). No reschedule date yet, sorry; I’m guessing they’re not sure when the family emergency’ll be over & done with…

But eh, there’s a lot of other stuff going on (and I’ve always disliked Garbage anyway, personally):

Melvins/Unsane @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
For starters, here’s the biggie of the night, with two of the planet’s loudest, bassiest, most batshit-insane bands, bands that have ever managed to carve out fairly big followings for themselves in spite of being the kind of band your dad would totally yell at you about if he found you playing it at full volume in your room. Seriously, any band that’s heavy with a crapload of bass owes a major debt to both of these bands, whether or not they’re willing to admit it (or even know it).

I’m only lukewarm on The Melvins, myself — they just don’t do all that much for me — but Unsane are freaking incredible in an utterly misanthropic, we-will-kill-you-with-sound kind of way. So take that for what it’s worth, right there.

Sight, Sound, Space, featuring Charlie Ebersbaker, Paul Connolly, Jonathan Jindra, Steve Jansen, John Pitale, & Baltazar Canales @ The Temple (2300 McKinney, 4th Floor; 8-11PM)
Dangit — sorry, I’m late on the draw on this one, I’m afraid…sigh. I have no idea what it sounds like, to be frank, but I A) like the people involved quite a bit and B) am somewhat intrigued by the idea of a 3-hour performance, especially when the music’s billed as being “ambient” — whatever happens, this is pretty much guaranteed to be a unique performance.

And going back to A, I like Charlie Ebersbaker (aka Charlie Naked, or {Linus Pauling Quartet}, his own solo stuff, & quite a few other bands) and Jonathan Jindra (aka the guy behind the Binarium Sound System. Stop by & check it out (very, very quietly). If you had to escape from the dual Melvins/Unsane aural assault, hey, this could be where you’ll need to run to to recover…

House of Creeps Benefit Show, featuring New York City Queens, Featherface, Square & Compass, Deep Cuts, Sunrise and Ammunition, & Lisa’s Sons @ House of Creeps
Well, damn. Not only is this a show featuring a slew of folks I like quite a damn bit, namely sneakily power-poppy outfit {New York City Queens}, emo dudes {Square and Compass}, {Sunrise and Ammunition}, electro-pop heroes Lisa’s Sons, & the ever-awesome {Featherface}, and I’m only just now hearing about it, but on top of that, I have no idea where the hell it is. I had the address for the old House of Creeps, but the new place is a mystery to me. If you’re in the know, well, you probably heard about this before I did.

Art Institute/Ese/A.S.D./Big Gerb and the Bearded Bandidos/Secret Society @ Walter’s (1120 Naylor)
I dunno most of these bands, I’ll say it right now. I do know {Art Institute}, however, and having seen them live relatively recently, I have to say: holy fucking shit. I swear, they’ve gotten leaps & bounds better since the last time I saw ’em, and that’s saying something — this last time they were like this sprawling, fast-moving tangle of proto-punk/New Wave/No Wave sound, and it was great to witness.

The Invincible Czars/Glass the Sky/Young Girls @ Rudyard’s
Ah, yeah — I dig Austinites The Invincible Czars, partly for their willingness to grab onto traditional Russian/Eastern European folk music (and other types of “old-timey”/classical music, to boot, these days) and make it, um, something totally different, and {Young Girls} wowed me last year with their hazy, snarling take on surf-y shoegaze. {Glass the Sky} I’m less familiar with (sorry…), but I like the bits & pieces I’ve heard so far, and they’re good people besides.

The Boxing Lesson/Jealous Creatures/PuraPharm/Residual Kid @ Mango’s
Kid Liberty/Kublai Khan/No Nuts No Glory/Take This City/Imagine Dreams In Action @ Mango’s
And last but definitely not least, ladies & gents, we have ours a Band-Off, it looks like. No, I’m not kidding — from what I can tell from various Facebook events & emails, there are two (count ’em, two) different shows scheduled for tonight up at Mango’s (and their Facebook page offers no clues).

See, there’s this show, with the badass {Jealous Creatures}, who are rapidly rising to the top of my personal pile of local bands I love, and Austin-dwellers The Boxing Lesson, whom I heard a very long time ago & liked. Then there’s this show, which looks to be all roof-punching hardcore/screamo goodness. And while they’re not scheduled for exactly the same times, they definitely overlap. Hell, the hardcore show’s already going on, it looks like. Either way, I seriously doubt both shows can fit into the same venue, esp. since the rain makes any kind of outside stage a no-go.

So, who wins? I dunno. Those hardcore dudes look tough, sure, but I wouldn’t want to mess with Sarah & Ian of the Creatures in a fight. They’ll cut you, man.

Runners-Up:
Mustard Plug/Left Alone @ Fitzgerald’s
The Ting Tings/MNDR @ Fitzgerald’s
Marcel Khalife & Al-Mayadine Ensemble @ Jones Hall
Lost Bayou Ramblers/Picture Book @ The Continental Club
Disfrutalo!/InZurgo/Handsomebeast/Fuska/Bayuco Social/Mad Joy/Zoofelia/Cassette Tape/Downer/Meta The Man/PAPAYA @ Super Happy Fun Land
26th Annual Texas Crawfish & Music Festival, featuring Country Jim, Gerald Delafose Zydeco Band, Leon Chavis & The Zydeco Flames, Sam Riggs, & Stoney LaRue @ Old Town Spring (Spring)