Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Houston Kickoff + Arum Rae + Jealous Creatures + Keeton Coffman + March to the Sea + Ruiners + More

Alright, so it’d be putting it lightly to say that the whole FPSF insanity this coming weekend has consumed my life this week & last, but dammit, there’s a whole world of musical things out there these next few days that have nothing to do with wristbands or Passion Pit or crippling heat or long lines. Here’s what’s coming up tonight, Friday, May 31st, that I happen to think looks cool:

Houston Kickoff, featuring Knights of the Fire Kingdom, Potbelly, Murder the Stout, Hollywood Black, Craig Kinsey, Journey Agents, Second Lovers, Glass the Sky, & Electric Attitude @ Walter’s ($7; 6:30PM-2AM)
Alright, so if you’ve looked at the schedule for that FPSF thing, you may have noticed that, well, it’s a little light on the local folks this year, at least as compared to years past. Not passing judgment, here — I know the FPSF crew were trying to rein things in somewhat after expanding the last couple of festivals, and there are simply fewer acts playing overall this year over at Eleanor Tinsley. But because of that, yeah, there’re some names I was surprised I didn’t see on this list.

And no, I wasn’t the only one, but unlike me, some of those other folks decided to do something about it and organized what they’re called the Houston Kickoff show; they’ve positioned as kind of a pre-party up at Walter’s, where you can relax in the air conditioning and rock out before melting your skull tomorrow and the next day under the hot, hot sun.

It’s a damn good idea, made better by the lineup they’ve gathered, which includes electrified funk crew {Electric Attitude}, melancholy roots-rockers {Second Lovers} (whose new 7″ is excellent, btw; expect a review soon), tense, faith-minded indie-rock band {Hollywood Black} (who I’m very glad to see alive & kicking), cool, down-low troubadour {Craig Kinsey}, jazzy/proggy pop gang {Glass the Sky}, and — best of all, to me — straight-up heavy, loud, raw rockers {Knights of the Fire Kingdom}. Go get your pre-party on, y’all.

Arum Rae/Pleasure Shapes/Jealous Creatures @ Fitzgerald’s
Fitzgerald’s tonight may be overshadowed by the aforementioned Walter’s show, but that really shouldn’t be the case, because this is a hell of a bill all on its own. I’ve been wanting to check out {Pleasure Shapes}, a supergroup of sorts that includes folks from Golden Cities, {Tyagaraja}, & a slew of other local bands, for a while now, and I seriously love openers {Jealous Creatures} and their just-rough-enough, Americana-tinged “Western” indie-rock. If you haven’t seen the latter yet, you really need to.

Plus, there’s headliner Arum Rae, who used to go by the moniker White Dresses but tours nowadays under her own name. Either way works for me, honestly — I’m just happy she’s still making music, whatever the name is, because her dark, murky, moody, intensely retro-sounding folk-blues is something pretty special, like Scout Niblett without the weirdness or Neko Case shifted backwards in time. Recommended.

Houston Lights, featuring Jody Seabody & The Whirls, Keeton Coffman, & The White Flags @ 2010 Commerce
Okay, I give — I’ve got no clue if “Houston Lights” is the name of the show or the venue it’s at, and I’m seeing it listed both ways. Eh, whatever. Either way, this promises to be a damn good show, with a trio of local folks who are really, truly worth checking out.

There’s classic rock-ish dudes Jody Seabody & The Whirls, whose album Summer Us is damn good, and then there’s Keeton Coffman, who’s the currently-on-hiatus frontman for The 71’s and about whose solo performances I’ve heard good things, and then, last but not least, there’s newcomers {The White Flags}, who I have yet to hear (but who look good on e-paper, for sure).

March to the Sea/Ruiners/The Dead Revolt/We Scare Coyotes/Sleeper Street @ Mango’s ($7)
Damn…now it’s really starting to hurt, seriously; on top of the three awesomely cool shows going on above, there’s this one over at Mango’s, which features not one, not two, but three of my absolute-favorite up-and-coming bands ’round town right now.

First & foremost is {Ruiners}, a hazy-yet-focused indie-rock outfit that sounds like a throwback to those heady days of mid-’90s indie-rock, especially the best parts of Sebadoh. Then there’s headliners {March to the Sea}, who are brooding and dark in the best way imaginable, with some seriously cool emo touches, and {We Scare Coyotes}, whose atmospheric, orchestral instro-rock is a great contrast with the other two. Tonight’s going to require multiple coin flips, I have a feeling…

Runners-Up:
Synthesize, featuring ((PRESSURES)), MKF Kunst, Ceeplus Bad Knives, Mr. Castillo, & PRKL8R @ Clutch City Squire (410 Main)
.38 Special/Kansas/Blue Oyster Cult @ Arena Theater
Blaggards @ Ashford Arms Pub
A Flock of Seagulls @ The Concert Pub North (2470 FM 1960)
Morgue City/Hollywood Roadkill/The Bad Drugs @ Rudyard’s