Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Giant Battle Monster + P.L.X.T.X + dead horse + David Garza + Funeral Horse + More

Been taking a bit of a break today — Saturday, June 29th — to hang out with the kids at the neighborhood pool, eat burritos at Freebirds & ice cream at Amy’s, and watch Lilo & Stich with the munchkins. But hey, there’s plenty of good stuff happening tonight; here we go:

Giant Battle Monster (Japanese tour kickoff)/P.L.X.T.X/gWo/Moths/Saya/Mannequin Mishap/Blast Dad @ Notsuoh
The biggie of the night, at least for yours truly; {Giant Battle Monster} has had a rough, rough year as a band-like entity, honestly, with two-thirds of the band bailing and Chris Gerhardt having to recruit a whole new band to play their upcoming tour of Japan(!)

These days it’s a very different beast than the one I saw last, I expect, with ex-{Female Demand} noise-rocker Bradley Munoz on bass and Marty Durlam on drums, but I have pretty high hopes that the GBH sound lives on intact. Which is to say, these guys will hopefully still have that whole “it sounds like the band’s being electrified right there on stage, while singing about creepy aliens and half-human/half-animal/half-machine hybrids!” I mean, c’mon — how can you beat that?

Plus, they’re playing with a full complement of fellow strange-o’s, notably Munoz’s “other” project, the hardcore noise outfit {P.L.X.T.X}, which is far, far cooler than I’d guessed it would be, plus {MOTHS}, {Saya}, & {Gnar World Order}/gWo, all of whom I’ve heard good things about. Go enjoy the weird, noisy mess, and support the GBM guys on their coming tour at the same time, alright?

dead horse/Tricounty Terror/Hod/DollyRockers/Burn The Boats/Force Fed @ Fitzgerald’s ($12)
Hey, remember {dead horse}? If you paid any attention at all to Houston music back in the ’80s and early ’90s, yeah, then you probably did; they were honestly Houston’s biggest band way, way back then, melding full-on, thrashy metal with raw guitars, Michael Haaga‘s impressive songwriting skills, and a complete and utter lack of taking themselves seriously. There’s still a special place in my heart for their cover of the B-52’s “Rock Lobster”…

David Garza @ The Continental Club
Speaking of blasts from the past, up at The Continental Club tonight is the ever-interesting David Garza — who I’ve lost track of for the past decade and a half, to be honest, after the awesome pop glory of 1998’s This Euphoria, which still ranks up there with my favorite albums of all time. After listening to some of the songs I’ve missed in the intervening time, though, it sounds like Garza’s barely missed a step in the meantime; he continues to craft these ridiculously layered, tuneful-yet-dark pop songs, the likes of which you don’t hear real often these days.

The Swamps/Dogz On Parole/The Bloody Von Erichs/Funeral Horse @ Big Star Bar (1005 W. 19th)
Last but not least, there’s a decent-looking lineup over at the Big Star Bar, one that’s far more “rock” than the Bar typically plays host to. I’ve heard good things about {The Swamps}, but the band I’m most interested to check out is newcomers {Funeral Horse}, which formed out of the ashes of the gone-too-soon Art Institute; they’re heavy and sludgy and slow as hell, dwelling somewhere in the realm of High on Fire or Sleep, and that’s no bad place to be.

Runners-Up:
Space City Beat Battle Episode XII, featuring a bunch of awesome producer/DJs @ Warehouse Live (Green Room)
The Bad Drugs/Hollywood Roadkill/Joy Haus/The Living Room @ Super Happy Fun Land
Brave Combo @ Cactus Music (5:30PM)
KHMX Hullabaloo, featuring Sara Bareilles, Youngblood Hawke, & Churchill @ House of Blues
Hot Leather Debauchery Party, featuring BOAN, LIMB, Future Blondes, Voidmate, Max Xandaux, MC Trachiotomy, Arago’s Wheel, La Catrin, Calero vs. DJ Dirt Hole, Mr. Castillo, PRKL8R, Fredster, & Ceeplus Bad Knives @ Mango’s (4PM-2AM)
Straight Line Stitch/Hindsight/Five Eyes Wide/Engine 69/Awaken The Siren/North Til Dawn @ BFE Rock Club
Wet N Wild 3, featuring Tal Tager, Kit Likwid, Mad Classy, Mr. Peabody, SunOnWater, Brad Slack, Lawrence & Celauro, DJ Koss, White People, Poe Junior, Davizm, Vandal Heart, J Oddio, Slick Kid, 2t0ne vs. DJ Mitch Fu, Bjorn Larsen, Derek Casa, The Crew, Baud Optics, Dubla, Frankie 5X, Rob Bass, DJ Weezar, Sine Entertainment, Rabbi, Sew Dough, & Liquid Nation @ La Palapa Ice House (11901 Aldine Westfield; 2PM-3AM)
Texas Johnny Boy/Allison Fisher @ The Art Car Museum (140 Heights; 7-10PM)