Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Featherface + Dick Dale + Angry Samoans + Guilt Party + Carolyn Wonderland + A Sundae Drive + More

Whoa. There’s a ton of stuff going on tonight, Friday, April 12th, so much of it that I feel like I’m just barely skirting the edges of what looks/sounds cool to see & hear. Hell, I can’t even think of anything else to say, so let’s get to it:

Featherface/The Preservation/Soviet/Infinite Apaches/Bagheera @ The Doctor’s Office (1301 Nance; $5)
This one very nearly slipped past me — sorry, {Featherface} dudes! — but happily, persistence pays off from time to time. The show’s at new-ish venue The Doctor’s Office, in the warehouses northeast of Downtown. And it’s a hell of a lineup, with headlining psych-popsters Featherface, who are freaking amazing hands-down, alongside hazy, drifting rockers {Infinite Apaches} and cool electronic entity {Bagheera}. Good, good music, all ’round; if you don’t believe me, take a listen to Featherface’s Actual Magic, right below:

Dick Dale/Dani Vargas Group @ The Concert Pub North (2470 FM 1960)
This one’s kinda sad, honestly; nothing against the Concert Pub North folks, but the last few times surf-guitar legend Dick Dale has played H-town, it’s been at much, much bigger venues. But hey, I freaking love Dick Dale, no matter where the hell he’s playing. I mean, the man essentially invented an entire style of music, and it’s one I happen to love. Even now, I get a weird chill down my spine every time I hear “Misirlou.”

Angry Samoans/Swingin’ Dicks/Die Rottz/The Guillotines @ Rudyard’s
Hot damn. It’s retro-punk time up at Rudz tonight, with L.A. icons Angry Samoans blazing through town. I honestly hadn’t realized the band was still around, but apparently they’ve remained pretty much alive in the intervening decades since their ’80s heyday. Go, mosh, punch the roof (metaphorically, please), and pretend it’s 1980 all over again.

Guilt Party (record release)/Brain Attack/Debt/Electric Sleep/COMExCLEAN @ Walter’s ($5)
Another one that nearly got past me (thanks to Jacob Majors for letting me know about the show), and it’s a damn good thing it didn’t, because {Guilt Party} are pretty excellent, in a straight-up O.G. hardcore kind of way.

Tonight’s the band’s 7″ release, actually, although it’s not new, strictly speaking; local label Agro-Wax has compiled both of the band’s previous cassette-only releases, Basement Church and Topical Depression. Check out side “B” over here:

Carolyn Wonderland @ Last Concert Cafe
I’ll admit it: I was bummed when longtime Houston blues/rock scene fixture Carolyn Wonderland back in 1999, but I’m happy to see she’s still performing both up there & down here in her hometown. She’s a hell of a musician and guitarist, the kind who takes the blues and incorporates pretty much everything but the kitchen sink into her music without even batting an eye. Live, she’s seriously phenomenal.

Joe Scott’s 30th Birthday, featuring The Dead Rabbits, Meganaut, Super Robot Party, & A Sundae Drive @ Da Pub (Pasadena; free!)
Out on the east side of town, there’s a good show happening tonight at Da Pub in Pasadena; it’s the 30th birthday festivities for Joe Scott, drummer for cool-sounding local outfit {Super Robot Party}, whose EP I still need to take a listen to…sigh I’ve been wanting to check ’em out for a while now, especially since I saw frontman Matt‘s old bands way, way back in the day…

Plus, there’s absolutely great Irish folk-punkers {The Dead Rabbits}, whom I like quite a bit, and the utterly awesome indie-pop-rock crew {A Sundae Drive} — got to see them live at long last this past weekend, and holy shit, I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner. They’re one of the best damn bands I’ve seen in quite a while.

Slick Rick @ Scott Gertner’s At Houston Pavilions
Last of all, there’s this intensely incongruous show, which sees old-school, eyepatch-wearing rapper Slick Rick in town, performing at, um, Scott Gertner’s at Houston Pavilions. If you recognize Scott Gertner’s name, it’s because he’s the jazz player who ran the Montrose-area SkyBar for several years; the handful of times I went to the place, it seemed to mostly play host to low-key jazz and electronic stuff.

These days, though, Gertner’s branched out somewhat, so I guess the hip-hop thing’s not that odd to see on the bill at both his Houston Pavilions location and Richmond Strip-area Sports Bar. Glad to see it, and damn glad to see Slick Rick back around. Hearing that name seriously drags me back to high school…

Runners-Up:
Senses Fail/Such Gold/Real Friends/Major League @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Emily Bell/John Evans Band/Craig Kinsey @ Fitzgerald’s
Equals/Sunrise and Ammunition/WellWell/The Early Transcendentals @ Mango’s ($5)
Lich King/Legion/Owl Witch/Insinnerator/Metalloyd/Malevolent Force/Deathrazor/Social Bomb/Toxic Steel @ White Swan Live
Kashmere Reunion Stage Band/Lower Life Form/Kyle Hubbard/Fistful of Soul DJs/Flash Gordon Parks/BBC @ Fitzgerald’s
Kelly Doyle Trio/DJ iPod Ammo @ MKT Bar (1001 Austin; 5-11PM)
Montrose Rock Revels, featuring Cassette Tape, We Scare Coyotes, Enloom, Mannequin Mishap, Sekoia, & Moths @ Avant Garden
Nightlife, featuring Ceeplus Bad Knives, Mr. Castillo, & Fredster @ Clutch City Squire (410 Main)
Outside the Lines: An Un-Concert, featuring Stephen Bachicha, Charles Halka, & Robert McClure @ The Orange Show (7-10PM; $10/$15)
John Digweed/Sean Carnahan/Surain @ Stereo Live
Vertigo Blue/Vanilla Sugar/Morgue City/The Asexxxuals @ Dean’s
The Hollisters @ The Continental Club
Third Annual Kemah Crawfish Festival, featuring The Fab 5, Grateful Geezers, Bayou Roux, Ezra Charles, Trick Dog, & more @ Under Kemah Bridge (Kemah)