Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Bright Light Social Hour + Midnight Norma Lane + Tiziano Dominico + La Sien + Tigerparty + More

It’s Friday (December 7th), but it’s kind of a light evening, honestly, especially given the jam-packed Friday nights we’ve had recently. But hey, that doesn’t mean nothing good’s happening, by any means; here’s what I think looks cool:

The Bright Light Social Hour/Ishi @ Fitzgerald’s
I’m damn glad to see Austin band The Bright Light Social Hour head back through our way (and kinda bummed I won’t be there to see ’em, but hey); I tend to get bored of bands like these guys pretty quickly, with all the bluesy swagger and quasi-funk rhythms, but hell, these guys make it work like few other bands can.

They meld classic-rock with more contemporary indie sounds in an awesome, awesome way, especially with songs like “Detroit” and barnburner “Bare Hands Bare Feet” — check out the full review we ran last year of the band’s self-titled album, right here.

Check out the video for “Back and Forth,” off that same album, below:

Snarling, soulful, ’70s-ish pop that can’t be denied, right there.

Tiger Party/Hoofprints/Fox & Cats/Valens/Midnight Norma Lane @ Mango’s
Oh, hell yes. {Chemistry} dropped off the bill for this show over at Mango’s, but their replacements are no slouches, not by a long shot — just saw today that not only is sweet-voiced, quirky indie-pop duo Fox & Cats now playing, but so is {Midnight Norma Lane}, a hazy/heavy dreampop gang who’ve been ruling my life/MP3 player the past few months. I have yet to see ’em life, but their debut EP, Moxy Kid, is absolutely great — read the review over here.

Plus, they’re playing with headliners {Tigerparty}, who are neat in a fast-paced proto-emo kind of way, with nicely melodic vocals and noodly, Braid-ish guitars, {Hoofprints}, about whom I keep hearing really good things (post some music, y’all, please?), and new-new-newcomers Valens, which I also have yet to hear but is members of {Holder}, Earhart, & The Lion of Wall Street. Sounds promising…

The Trimms/Tiziano Dominico/La Sien @ Fitzgerald’s
Last but not least, tonight’s “other” show up at Fitz is nearly as awesome as its other-floor counterpart, in large part due to {Tiziano Dominico}; the band plays a roaring, triumphant brand of fuzzy-edged, pseudo-trippy psych-rock that alternates between staring at its feet and rumbling and bouncing along the road, and I’m liking it quite a damn bit.

Then there’s {La Sien}, a band I’ve finally gotten to check out recently. The songs I’ve heard so far are in Spanish, so I’ve got no clue what they’re singing about, but I’m enjoying the somber, piano-inflected feel of it all, even still. Watch the video for “Utopia y Ficcion,” and you’ll see what I mean:

Runners-Up:
Poor Pilate/Adultry Kidding/Adam Bricks @ Last Concert Cafe
Black Leather Jesus/Continuum/Sandy Ewen @ Fresh Arts ARC (2101 Winter St.; 8PM, $5)
Mike Stinson/Dem Damn Dames/Picture Book @ The Continental Club