Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Jealous Creatures + CSMDP + Knights of the Fire Kingdom + Vox and the Hound + Blackmarket Syndicate + Hall & Oates + Folk Family Revival + More

Yup, it’s Saturday (December 8th, specifically), and there’s definitely good stuff happening. In fact, there’s pretty much a three-way tie for Most Badass Oh-Crap-Why-Wasn’t-I-There? Show Going this evening; here’s what sounds & looks good to me:

Jealous Creatures/Missing Sibling/Elect Trick City @ Avant Garden
Yes, yes, yes. {Jealous Creatures} have emerged as one of my favorite bands of late, and their debut full-length, Little Heaven Big Sky, bridged the gap between jangly, ’90s-ish indie-rock and lonely, windswept, Western-sounding rock like the Sand Rubies or Cowboy Junkies and did it beautifully. The gang’s been hard at work on the followup, and from the little teeny-tiny bit I’ve been fortunate to hear so far, they’re continuing on down that road while cranking things down so tight no light can escape. When they finally show it to the world, it’s gonna be great.

Helpfully, the band’s also damn good live — they’re all good, good musicians and the nicest freaking people, besides. I got to see them back in the spring at Bright Men of Learning‘s farewell show, and I have to say, I ended up annoyed that I got there late and didn’t catch the whole set. Don’t make the same mistake I did; get on up to the Avant Garden tonight. (Oh, and it’s free, which is always awesome.)

Come See My Dead Person (album release)/Knights of the Fire Kingdom/Vox and the Hound @ Walter’s ($8)
Here’s #2 in the Top Three shows happening tonight, and it’s a winner on all counts. I still need to see Texas City dwellers {Come See My Dead Person}, who are releasing their much-anticipated (by me, at least) self-titled full-length tonight, but I like what I’ve listened to of their strange, strange folk-noise-punk-jam so far, and I’m psyched they’re up at Walter’s this evening. I really, truly do need to see them sometime, and soon…

Plus, they’re playing with two bands I have seen, hometown boys {Knights of the Fire Kingdom} & New Orleans band Vox and the Hound. The former I caught back in September, and they were flat-out great, just straight-up, no-frills, punkish-but-not-really-punk rawk that points backwards to Rocket from the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, The Constantines, or The New Bomb Turks; they’ve only got one extremely limited-edition 7″ out so far, but I’ve got my fingers crossed for more soon. These guys are gonna rule, trust me.

Then there’s the latter, who I saw opening for (the also-awesome) The Eastern Sea a while ago; the band plays gritty, intense, snarling, blues-punk that’s like The White Stripes minus the drama and with a heavy dose of Southern swamp thrown into the mix, and it’s freaking incredible to witness. I was literally standing there at one point with my mouth hanging open, amazed at what I was seeing/hearing, particularly from frontman Leo DeJesus. Get there early for these guys, and stay the whole damn time, y’all. You won’t regret it.

Skeleton Dick/Poor Dumb Bastards/Blackmarket Syndicate/Fuska/Bury the Crown @ Fitzgerald’s
While I do like what I’ve heard from headliners {Skeleton Dick} (whose CD release show this is), oldtimer drunk punks {Poor Dumb Bastards}, and ska-punks {Fuska}, the reason this one makes the Top Three is because of streetwise, politically-minded, Clash-loving punks {Blackmarket Syndicate}, who are — in my book, at least — one of the best damn punk bands in town of any stripe.

They hit all the right notes: Joe Strummer-esque guitars, intelligent-yet-raw lyrics, a rhythm section that’s like a well-oiled machine, and singer/guitarist Randy Rost‘s awesomely scratched-up vocals. The result is something that’s two parts (early) Clash, one part Rancid (which is almost the same thing), one part The Living End, and two more parts Social Distortion, and yeah, it’s badass.

Their most recent album, And the Peasants Rejoiced, is a defiant, down-but-not-out pile of songs about getting kicked around by the world but knowing that change is gonna happen anyway, one way or another. Take a look over here for the full review, then get on up to Fitz (where the show is also free, I believe)…

Folk Family Revival @ Dosey Doe Coffee Company (Conroe)
Yeah, this show’s about perfect in terms of matching the venue with the band. {Folk Family Revival} are a great, amazingly tight quartet of young’uns from Magnolia who play music that’s like what might’ve happened had Jay Farrar got religion before recording Trace; it’s rough-edged but beautiful, spiritual without being preachy, and more self-assured and well-crafted than any band this young really has any right to be. Sadly, I fully expect these guys to move off to Nashville at some point soon, and then we’ll all spend the next few years kicking ourselves for letting ’em leave.

Daryl Hall & John Oates @ Nutty Jerry’s (Winnie)
Oh, come on — don’t act like you wouldn’t like this. Seriously, Hall & Oates weren’t just a band in the ’80s, they pretty much were the ’80s; they’re one of a handful of bands/musicians, like Duran Duran or Cindy Lauper, who define the era. “Maneater”? “Private Eyes”? “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)”? Odds are that if you were alive in the ’80s, you’re already singing along with one of those in your head (and if not, you were either trapped in a basement for 10 years by sadistic maniac or have no soul).

Runners-Up:
Lion Among Men/Yello Echo/Second Lovers/Nine Minutes/Josh Gabriel @ The Continental Club
Trial By Bourbon/Grizzly/Midnight Norma Lane @ Rudyard’s
Runaway Sun/The White Flags/Eagger/Ashes of Babylon @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Hoffle Stoff Awaffogus/Fire From The Gods/Rahab The Monster/Against The Dark/Dysmetria @ Dean’s ($5/$10)
Exhumed/The Secret Prostitutes (7″ release)/The Real Energy (7″ release)/Bastard Deceiver/Turbokrieg (7″ release)/CMM @ Mango’s
A Redneck Christmas Festival, featuring Bri Bagwell, Jesse Roach, Coley McCabe, & Susan Hickman @ Malibu Water Park (Highlands; 12-9PM)