Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: excuseMesir (Final Show!) + Balmorhea + B.E. Godfrey + Omotai + Blackmarket Syndicate + Jason Smith + More

Moving on into Saturday, February 9th, now, and damn, it’s going to be a busy day. I won’t be able to make any of tomorrow night’s shows, myself, because the wife’s planned some special pre-Valentine’s Day that she’s being very mysterious about, but hey, you don’t need to be me — there’s some great stuff happening.

Here we go:

We Scare Coyotes/Ruiners/Hoffle Stoffle Awaffogus/Sunrise & Ammunition/7south1/excuseMesir @ Avant Garden
Niiiice. Four of the most promising, coolest bands I’ve heard recently in this not-so-fair city of ours, all playing on one stage; it’s pretty hard to beat that one (which is why it’s up here at the top). I talked about both {Ruiners} and {We Scare Coyotes} in our inaugural “Hear This Now” piece, and I swear, I could listen to either one all damn day long, especially Ruiners’ “One” (which may not be the song’s actual title). It freaking rules my skull right now.

On top of that, there’s two bands I’ve reviewed recently, Sunrise and Ammunition and {excuseMesir}, both of which seriously impressed the hell out of me. They’re fairly different, mind you — on With You In Mind, the latter is proggy and soulful at the same time, which is no mean feat, while S&A’s album Tesseract is busy and complex and intricate in the best possible way. Get there early for this one.

Balmorhea/B.E. Godfrey/Idyl @ Walter’s ($10)
Weirdly, this turns out to be one of the few out-of-towner gigs on my shortlist; I just couldn’t skip Austin instrumentalist Balmorhea, though, especially after falling for Stranger in a big way. The band is seemingly somber and self-effacing, refusing to just roll along and do their own thing without bashing you in the face with it. It’s some good shit. Take a listen:

Plus, B.E. Godfrey is always, always worth catching. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of his solo performances, but I’m told they’re phenomenal, and as one of the core trio of doom-folkies {listenlisten}, I know for a fact he’s an awesome songwriter. Can’t recall if I’ve posted a link to any of his songs before now, but fuck it, here’s “What Used To Be”:

Poor Pilate/Fire In The Kitchen/Tax the Wolf/Whitman @ Fitzgerald’s
I’ve talked quite a bit about {Poor Pilate} in recent weeks, but they definitely merit another mention for their moody, bluegrass-inflected rock. {Tax the Wolf} I haven’t seen/heard as much from lately, so I’m glad to see side project {Bang Bangz} hasn’t eaten up all of frontman Mario Rodriguez‘s time.

As for Fire In The Kitchen, I only ran across the Austin band recently, but I’m liking ’em quite a bit. They’re Americana without being country, pointing backwards towards The Eagles as much as to Wilco & the like, and they remind me awesomely at points of the sadly-defunct Band of Heathens.

Carlos Fantastico B-Day Fiesta, featuring The Bad Drugs, Irene, Ese, Blackmarket Syndicate, We The Enemy, & DJ Browncoat @ Mango’s
I don’t know Carlos Fantastico, sorry — although I’ll gladly wish him a happy b-day — but I know a couple of the bands playing his birthday party over at Mango’s tomorrow night. There’s {The Bad Drugs}, who I’m liking so far and need to hear more of, and then there’s {Blackmarket Syndicate}, who are one of my absolute favorite punk bands from anywhere, honestly, with their raw-throated, sharp-edged, smart, Social Distortion-gone-political, roots-rock-tinged streetpunk. Most recent album …And the Peasants Rejoiced is a hell of a slab of old-school Rancid-/Clash-style punk, and it’s freaking brilliant.

Omotai @ Cactus Music (5PM)
Oh, wow. I’ve seen a handful of performances over at Cactus Music in recent years, and while none have been what you’d call “quiet,” they’ve all been at least relatively turned-down, so as not to send potential customers screaming for the door.

Imagine my surprise, then, when {Omotai} popped up on the list — if this band ever truly gets acoustic or something, well, that means hell’s frozen solid. They are bone-crushingly, soul-rattlingly loud and heavy and monstrous…which, yes, is part of why I love ’em. Go by, put in earplugs, and pick up a copy of Terrestrial Grief while you’re at it…

MKT Vinyl Night, featuring Jason Smith (Alkari) @ MKT Bar (1001 Austin; 8-11PM, free!)
Feel like just hanging out with some cool music (and people, too, obviously)? Well, Saturday’s the latest installment of MKT Vinyl Night over at MKT Bar, and while I’m still bummed I missed Cory & Justice from {The Manichean} spinning tunes, friend, musician, photographer, and all-round good dude Jason Smith will be up there tomorrow night to play some of his favorite music for you. Go check it out, eh?

Eugene Swank/Valens/Handsomebeast @ Dean’s
Finally, there’s a cool-sounding show over at Dean’s, featuring not only cool dudes {Valens}, who I talked about just last week, but also brand-new band {Eugene Swank}, which is apparently Josh from {Jealous Creatures} and Ken from {The Kimonos} doing something Josh calls “dark, gothy, David Lynch stuff.” I can’t speak for everybody, obviously, but that sounds pretty damn promising to me.

Runners-Up:
The xx/Austra @ House of Blues
Alejandro Escovedo & the Sensitive Boys/Hot Club of Cowtown @ The Continental Club
Pet Sounds Saturday: Fundraiser & Food Drive for Pup Squad Houston, featuring La Sien @ Cactus Music (11AM-4PM)
6th Annual Miggins Memorial Irish Stew Cook-off & Music Festival, featuring Murder the Stout & more @ Luckys Pub (801 St. Emanuel; 12-6PM)
Rave to the Grave, featuring Max Xandaux, Fredster, & Ceeplus Bad Knives @ Fitzgerald’s
Mardi Gras, featuring Christeene, DJ JJ Booya, New Orleans Hustlers Brass Band, Koomah, Human King Cakes, & Continuum @ Numbers
Oath of Cruelty/Termination Force @ Sound Exchange (8PM; free!)
94.5 The Buzz’s The Hottie Posse Lingerie Show & Concert, featuring the last place you look, Lost Element, The Last Hour, & Hellsouth @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
Folk Family Revival/Shellee Coley @ Main Street Crossing (Tomball)