Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Second Lovers + Black Mountain + Co-Pilot + My Jerusalem + Sevendust + Canconier + Crawfish Fest + More

What a freaking week; looking back over the past handful of days, I feel like I’ve been sucked down a black hole that absorbs all attempts at progress and work and usefulness without even a goddamn sound. Part of that’s due to me losing a whole day this past Wednesday to whatever this flu thing is — I swear, I barely remember the middle of this week — but even beyond that, it feels like my weekly battle against the forces of Entropy is a losing one. sigh.

Anyway, with that cheerfulness out of the way, there’s a mountain of excellent shows tonight; here goes:

Bar Takeover, featuring Second Lovers & Runaway Sun @ Jackson’s Watering Hole (1205 Richmond; free!)
Second Lovers @ Heights Vinyl
Damn. I’d meant to get something online about this before now, but…well, see above re: black holes and time/effort suckage. It kills me, though, because I’ve only just recently gotten to listen to a teensy bit of excellent roots-pop crew {Second Lovers}‘ brand-new EP, New Mexico, which the band’s releasing pretty much right now on through the end of tonight.

And what I have heard is freaking great; it’s got all the same components as the band’s previous full-length, Wishers, Dreamers & Liars, but there’s a hopefulness to the songs that wasn’t there before. It’s got a Springsteenian feel to it that I’m loving, and Nico Morales‘ vocals mesh beautifully with new member Kelsey Lee Bland‘s; set it against pretty much any contemporary roots-rock/country you can name, and I guarantee you’ll walk away impressed. (Unless, okay, you only like Brad Paisley or something, in which case I cannot save you.)

To celebrate the EP’s release, the band’s “taking over” an oddball venue, Jackson’s Watering Hole over on Richmond near Graustark, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t see too many bands come through. But hey, it’s a neat idea, and it’s always cool to see bands outside their quote-unquote “native environment,” so there you go…

Black Mountain/Co-Pilot @ Rudyard’s
Oh, yeah; talk about a well-planned matchup… Canadian band Black Mountain have always kind of lingered on the edges of the whole “psych-rock” thing, but that’s never really rung true to me; they’re atmospheric and thundering and hazy, to be sure, but so are a hell of a lot of other bands that don’t get tagged as “psych.”

Put them alongside Houston/Austin instro-rock outfit {Co-Pilot}, though, and…okay, yeah, now I can see the pieces falling into place. Both bands work hard to carefully build these movements within each song, shifting and climbing to a crescendo before crashing down to the bottom again. All you need to do, in the end, is put your head down, close your eyes, and let it carry you along.

Coal Chamber/Sevendust/Lacuna Coil/Stolen Babies @ Warehouse Live
I dunno most of the folks playing up at Warehouse Live tonight, I’ll admit it, but I’ve been a fan of Sevendust for quite a few years now, and they always impress the hell out of me. Metal that’s heavy and raw but still thoughtful and melodic is hard to find, y’all; these guys fit the bill.

Peter Murphy/My Jerusalem @ Numbers
I’m not a Goth. Really, I’m not; ask anybody who’s met me, and they will most likely laugh at the very idea. Of course, just because I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool fan doesn’t mean I don’t have respect for the genre’s founding fathers — I love music, so I want to understand where the music I love comes from, and some of it, yes, has its roots in the music of Peter Murphy, one of the progenitors of the whole Goth scene. I’m glad to see the man’s still alive & well & making music & touring, for crying out loud, especially when a lot of his peers have long since hung up their all-black outfits.

Now, with that said, what actually got my attention most about this show wasn’t Murphy but his opening band, My Jerusalem — I was surprised and excited to see ’em pop up on the bill, since their 2012 release, Preachers, was pretty fantastic. And looking back, I get the connection; Preachers may not strictly be a Goth album, but it is intensely murky and dark, and Jeff Klein‘s vocals bridge the gap between Johnny Cash and Nick Cave where you really never realized there was a gap beforehand. Get there early, y’all.

Canconier @ Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church (6221 Main; 7:30PM)
Now, you want to hear something truly Gothic? How about music from the time of Vlad the (Fucking) Impaler? Does it get more dark and “Goth” than that? No, sir, it does not. Period. Bear witness as SF-bred ensemble Canconier evoke the age of Vlad Drakul using instruments a lot of people don’t think anybody plays anymore…

Texas Crawfish & Music Festival, featuring The Toadies, Sarah Jaffe, & Tyler Lenius Band @ Old Town Spring (Spring)
Well, color me impressed. I’ve never really given the Texas Crawfish Fest up in Old Town Spring all that much thought, honestly, mostly because while I do love crawfish, that’s a little ways out of my ‘hood to drive to get it, y’know? There’re much closer sources of crustacean-y goodness, frankly.

However, I have to hand it to the organizers of this year’s fest for not going the tried-and-true “easy” route of booking nothing but country and/or Cajun bands to play their festival. Sure, there’s plenty of that on other nights of the shindig, but tonight, at least, leans a little more in the alternarock/indie direction, with now-old-school alt-rockers The Toadies (who I like each more with every passing year, somehow) and the sublimely sharp folk rumble of Sarah Jaffe. Go for the crawfish; stay for the music.

Runners-Up:
JW Americana/Modfag/Key Bumpz/Little Joe Washington @ The Continental Club
Youth Lagoon/Majical Cloudz @ Fitzgerald’s
NEEDTOBREATHE/Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors @ House of Blues
Atlas Genius/The Neighbourhood @ Fitzgerald’s (sold out!)
Craig Kinsey Band/DJ Angie Audio @ MKT Bar (1001 Austin; 5-11PM)
Noise/The Broadsiders/No Resistance/Los Gritos/Johnny Rioux @ Mango’s
JUNGLENATION, featuring Lion Bros. (BMC, Brad Slack, & DJ Swift), ZAKAOS, Rob Bass, Missing Link, Just George, 8*b1t, Davizm, DJ Twinkdogg, Iam Notic, Matty & Mandy Pimp, Liberty Galloway, @ Deshira @ The Engine Room
Lewd and Taboo, featuring Gwo, My Friend Me, Hollywood Roadkill, A Spanish Disposition, COMExCLEAN, Giant Battle Monster, & Brain Dead @ Dean’s (free!)
Powerman 5000/Downfall 2012/Signal Rising/Sundown Audio @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)