Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: Mondo Generator + Hell City Kings + Nosaprise + Thurogood Wordsmith + Ecocide + More

On into Sunday now, December 23rd, and while many of us out there (me included) are pretty much fully taken over by holiday-stuff madness at this point, hey, there’re still shows going on, and several of ’em are damn good. Here we go:

Mondo Generator/Donkey Punch/Hell City Kings @ Rudyard’s
I hate to admit it, but I’ve never even heard of Mondo Generator before, and that sucks, because any band that includes Nick Olivieri, aka “That Other Guy From Queens of the Stone Age,” formerly of QOTSA, Kyuss, and Dwarves is bound to be pretty insanely awesome. And yeah, apparently the band’s existed since 1997…damn. facepalm.

At any rate, it’s raw, over-the-top, desperate-sounding rock that makes me think of a noodlier Mudhoney more than anything else, and hey, I’ve got no problems with that. Plus, the band’s playing with awesome, awesome local dudes the {Hell City Kings}, who do a great, similarly raw kind of rock that draws from punk and metal and garage but remains beholden to none of the above. Check out our review of the band’s most recent 7″ over here.

8th Annual Trills the Season, featuring Screwtape vs. Nosaprise, Thurogood Wordsmith, Elroy Boogie, & Bombon @ Avant Garden (9PM-2AM)
Oh, yes. It’s not Christmas without the Trills the Season show, now in its 8th year — seriously? Damn… — and up at the Avant Garden tonight. The perennial toy drive/party always seems like it’s a hell of a lot of fun (and a good cause, to boot), and tonight looks to be no exception to that. Organizer {Nosaprise} will be pulling double-duty onstage tonight, doing his (awesome) solo hip-hop thing and playing with his (also cool) quasi-indie-rock band, {Screwtape}; there’re hints that it might be a “X vs. X” showdown, but I’m honestly not sure how that’s going to work, unless Nosa clones himself somehow.

Anyway, also on the bill are the Bombon DJ crew, DJ Elroy Boogie, and {Thurogood Wordsmith}, another local rapper I happen to like quite a bit for his smart, regular-dude lyrics and agile flow.

And for the latter, you can also snag the jazzy, laid-back, Pharcyde-ish “App for That”; listen & download right here:

Ecocide (reunion tour)/Rotten Water/The Vipers/Come Clean @ East Side Social Center (4202 Canal; 7-11:30PM)
Dunno who Ecocide are, beyond what it says on the Facebook invite, which points ’em up as Texas doom/crust icons out of San Antonio. What little info I can find beyond that indicates they are/were a sludgy crust outfit that weirdly incorporated violin into their music; the violinist, Heidi, is also the singer, and does some impressive-as-hell death metal howls. Oh, and as the name suggests, it’s all about how humanity’s raping the earth. Happy-fun music, all the way!

The band’s playing with locals The Vipërs, whom I have yet to hear (I think; there’s also a band called {Vipers}, and I believe I have heard them), but who I’m told are damn good in a late-’70s Brit-punk kind of way…

Runners-Up:
AR*V Sunday Songwriter’s Workshop, featuring Kerry Melonson @ Avant Garden (6:30PM)