Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Riot Grrrl Dance Party + The Wrong Ones + Allen Stone + Indie! Or Die! + Roxy Roca + Grady Gaines + More

Hey, all — I know it’s been somewhat quiet over here in recent days; sorry about that, but yours truly’s been pretty well snowed-under by multiple things, and blog postings tend to fall by the wayside. sigh. I’m going to be attempting to play catch-up this weekend, so stay tuned for more.

For now, though, there’s plenty going on this here weekend, starting with Fri., May 17th (i.e., tonight), so here we go:

Riot Grrrl Dance Party: Girls Rock Camp Houston Fundraiser, featuring The Bikini Killers & DJ Fembot @ Walter’s ($5/$7)
First off, there’s a very cool fundraiser/party-type deal going on tonight up at Walter’s; it’s a Riot Grrrl Dance Party, and the proceeds go to benefit the utterly-awesome Girls Rock Camp Houston.

The main attraction tonight (beyond the overall good cause, that is) is The Bikini Killers, who are — have you guessed it already? — a Bikini Kill tribute band that includes folks from {Something Fierce}, {The Busy Kids}, {The Ex-Girlfriends}, Vivian Pikkles & the Sweethearts Über Alles, & {The Pastees}.

It’s a measly $5-$7 at the door, with the GRCH crew asking you to please pay what you can to help them show a new gang of young girls that they can rock just as hard (if not harder) than the boys can. Do it.

The Wrong Ones/Poor Dumb Bastards/Hell City Kings/Talk Sick Brats/The Swamps @ Fitzgerald’s ($10)
Yes, yes, yes — {The Wrong Ones} are back again, ready to blast the world anew with their down-and-dirty, gritty-yet-glam-y take on punk, and with Infinite Hallucination, they’ve managed to one-up 2011’s Deceiver very nicely. I’m still frantically scribbling out a review of the album, but so far it’s a lot of freaking fun.

Plus, they’re playing with a who’s-who of raw/loud/drunk rawk acts from these parts, including old-schoolers {Poor Dumb Bastards} — who were already veterans when I first moved to this city two decades ago — fiery metalhead-punks {Hell City Kings}, & snarling, snapping throwback punks {Talk Sick Brats} (who apparently have a new lineup these days?). I defy you to listen to “Don’t Know, Don’t Care” by the latter band and not have it stuck in your brain for a week:

Go get wasted, party, and rock the fuck out ’til you get in a fight or puke on somebody’s girlfriend, whichever happens first.

Allen Stone @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
I’ve been meaning to check out unassuming-looking young soul/R&B singer Allen Stone for a while now, and it just never seems to happen, y’know? Now that I’ve listened to his music, though, all I have to say is, um, holy FUCK, how did that come from, well, THAT guy? Seriously, Stone is basically a Pacific Northwest nu-hippie who has long, curly blond hair, kinda-goofy teeth, and a penchant for un-hip glasses, but my God, when he opens his mouth… It’s amazing. Check out the clip below, and make sure you stick around to hear him go into his falsetto — he does the best I’ve heard since, hell, maybe Michael Jackson:

Indie! Or Die!, featuring Elixir Kid, Joey Rez, The Illegal Wiretaps, Lion Among Me, High Toned 2, Ricky Dee, Brian Rath, Bernal-Sherrill, Old Old Jesus, & Rhonda Roberts @ Dean’s/Notsuoh ($5/$10)
A nice, nice lineup of bands playing over at Dean’s/Notsuoh tonight — the Acous’Mix Re*View organizers are calling it Indie! Or Die!, and the “indie” part is probably the only thing really holding this crew together, seeing as there’s not a lot of musical commonality between, say, sweet-hearted ukulele player {Rhonda Roberts} and the murky, electro-damaged art-pop of {The Illegal Wiretaps}, never mind the quirky folk of Old Old Jesus & the rest.

Now, for a little bit of bad news: {Grand Old Grizzly} were scheduled to play, but they’ve had to bow out, sadly. Even still, though, there’s plenty of indie coolness to go around; don’t miss out…

Roxy Roca @ Hotel Sorella
Okay, so it’s feeling kinda like a soul-funk evening, at least from where I sit. I was somewhat skeptical when I first heard from Austin band Roxy Roca, but dammit, now I’m hooked. The band reminds me awesomely of soul-ska outfit The Adjusters, with a dose of The Dap-Kings on the side — it’s all funky, sweaty, and polished-but-not-too-polished, and it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Catch ’em tonight up at the Hotel Sorella‘s Monnalisa Bar, but before you do that, watch right here:

Grady Gaines @ The Big Easy
Last but never least, I just wanted to say how happy I am to still be seeing Grady Gaines playing around town (he seems to be popping up quite a bit lately). I first saw him play down at Etta’s in Third Ward way, way, way back in college, and I still think fondly of all those Sunday nights when we’d head into the back of the barber shop, pay our $5, and either dance or just hang out and listen to Gaines & The Texas Upsetters tear through classic soul and blues like they’d been doing it all their lives. Which, honestly, they probably have. Here’s to you, Mr. Gaines.

Runners-Up:
B.E. Godfrey/IDYL/Austin Smith/Eli @ Fitzgerald’s
Scott Biram @ The Continental Club
Come See My Dead Person/Oceans of Slumber/Opposite Day/Triskadekaphelia @ Union Tavern (Webster; free!)
H.I.S.D. @ Scott Gertner’s at Houston Pavilions