Yr. (Early) Weekend, Pt. 1: Adam Bricks + Ancient Cat Society + Walker Lukens + Boyfrndz + Sunrise and Ammunition + Second Lovers + More

Hey, all — back from vacation in London, finally (and yes, it was fun, even if I sadly didn’t get to see any actual English bands while in England), so I’m attempting to drag myself back up on the horse by doing things a little bit earlier than I have previously, by briefly pointing to some of the excellent pre-weekend shows happening tonight, Thursday, August 22nd. Here goes:

Adam Bricks/Walker Lukens/Ancient Cat Society @ Rudyard’s
Firstly and foremostly(?), there’s this show up at Rudz tonight, which features two of my absolute-favorite Houston songwriters and one who used to be from here but relocated to Austin a few years back. For one, I’ve been liking H-town-via-NYC folksinger {Adam Bricks} quite a bit recently, especially after hearing his excellent, excellent, astoundingly appropriately-titled City Songs, which drags Bob Dylan kicking and screaming into the new millennium.

Then there’s {Ancient Cat Society}, a side project of {Buxton}‘s Sergio Trevino and Austin Sepulvado with the honey-sweet songstress Haley Barnes; it’s got the same backwoodsy feel as the best Buxton songs but is more fragile and delicate, stepping carefully where the Buxton boys would barrel on through. And lastly (despite being in the middle), there’s Walker Lukens, who does a beautifully soulful take on indie-folk, almost coming off like a less-gospel Folk Family Revival. Well, well worth checking out, seriously.

Boyfrndz/Sunrise and Ammunition/After Young/Starfighter Speedship @ Fitzgerald’s
But hey, what’s this? Okay, tonight just got a heck of a lot harder to call… Not only am I truly mesmerized by jazz-prog-post-rock purveyors {Sunrise and Ammunition}, who dance nimbly from instrumental metal-type stuff to head-nodding spacerock to quirky, Pixies-influenced indie noise — check out their badass full-length, Tesseract, and you’ll see what I mean, once you pick your face up off the ground — but the headliners are Austin haze-rock trio Boyfrndz, who I’ve also been listening to a fair bit recently. The two fit together nicely, actually, combining a ridiculous level of musical skill with a close-your-eyes-drift-off kind of vibe…

I’m not as familiar with the other two bands, unfortunately, although the one track I’ve heard so far from Baytown band AfterYoung is cool in a stutter-stop instro-rock kind of way; not a clue what Starfighter Speedship is like, I’m afraid.

If The War Should End/Light & Ladder/Modern Explorations/Second Lovers (acoustic) @ Walter’s ($8)
Last of the three I want to highlight tonight is the bill up at Walter’s. It’s got some names I don’t recognize, to be sure, but I’ve heard some damn good things about headlining band {If The War Should End} and Denton band Light & Ladder, who are a cool kind of folk-prog, from what little I’ve heard so far, and I always, always love {Second Lovers}. I swear, they get better every time I hear ’em, and this past spring’s New Mexico EP is no exception. Say what you will about jangly, warm, head-high folk-pop — when it works, it works.

Runners-Up:
Rapture/Yeller (mem. of MOTHS)/Saya/Nikkhoo @ Notsuoh (free!)
John Egan @ House of Blues (Crossroads Stage)
R.O.C.O., featuring DJ Damon Allen @ Clutch City Squire (410 Main)
Nick Gaitan & the Umbrella Man @ The Big Top