Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Co-Pilot + My Education + Lions of Tsavo + Funeral Horse + He’s My Brother She’s My Sister + Tyagaraja + Lone Star Rally + More

Argh. Even later than usual, I’m afraid — I got swamped earlier in the day and guilted/suckered into playing Lego Batman 2 with the little guy this evening…sorry about the lateness, all. Even still, though, if you hurry, there’s still time get out and about; here’s where you need to be:

PuraPharm/My Education/Co-Pilot @ Mango’s ($7)
It is a tough, tough call for the first spot on this list, I’ve got to say, but this one edges out by virtue of Houston/Austin gang {Co-Pilot} playing; the band doesn’t play here all that often these days, and I swear, I keep meaning to get on out to see ’em once more, but it never works out. sigh. Which burns, because they’re honestly the best damn epic-spacerock-instrumental band I’ve heard, period. They’re soaring and heavy at the same time, making that kind of music that washes over you and lifts you skyward, then leaves you with your eardrums ringing.

Also on the spacey side are Austin friends My Education, although they temper that fists-to-the-sky noise with some gorgeous, delicate strings and almost cinematic arrangements; check out last year’s A Drink For All My Friends, and I would damn near guarantee you’ll be impressed. Plus, headliners {PuraPharm} are very impressive themselves — I finally got to see ’em live at Yes Indeed! Fest a little while back, and they were damn good, with some of the best female vocals I’ve heard from a rock band in a long time.

Lions of Tsavo/Bowel/Funeral Horse/Omotai @ East Side Social Center ($5)
And then, we take that heaviness and crank it up to 20 or so. I’ve listened to a fair bit of Lions of Tsavo this week, and they’re very cool, kind of like Deafheaven’s post-punk-ified doom metal had digested some straight-up noise-punk along the way; it’s heavy and noisy as fuck, but also remarkably intricate and layered, which definitely isn’t something you can say about most heavy-ass bands.

It’s pretty appropriate, though, because two of the other three bands on the bill — {Funeral Horse} and {Omotai} — are similarly heavy-yet-intriguing, breaking out of the doom-metal crypt while staying in the dark, heavy, moody neighborhood. I freaking love both bands, honestly; watching the latter is like witnessing kaiju coming ashore to lay waste to a city, and the former plays doom-y stuff with tongues planted firmly in their collective cheek, and frontman Paul Bearer has promised that “LOUD” won’t even encompass how tonight’s show is going to (and probably currently does) sound. Get on out to the East End…

He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister/Caught A Ghost/Song Preservation Society @ Fitzgerald’s
On the mellower side of things, there’s this cool-sounding show up at Fitzgerald’s — no locals on the bill, sadly, but that’s okay, because He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister are pretty neat in their own right. Yes, they do that country-folk thing that so many bands have latched onto these past couple of years, but they do it with a jaunty wink and cheeky grin, bumping along less like some band of hillbillies dragged out of the holler and more like one of those “old-timey” bands a lot of folks only know from O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Actually, while it likely won’t mean much to a whole lot of people, the band these folks remind me of the most are Houston’s own sadly-departed News on the March; both bands have a bright, upbeat sound that’s rootsy and sounds like it comes from another time entirely…

Caught A Ghost isn’t bad, either, although they’re pretty different — no country-folk here, but rather full-on soul, albeit on the darker end of the soul spectrum. They make me think of Fitz and the Tantrums if said band were locked for several weeks in a grotty New York tenement with nothing to consume but cheap wine and bad drugs.

Adam Bricks/The Migrant/Tyagaraja/B.E. Godfrey @ Rudyard’s ($5)
Damn glad Rudyard’s shows tend to start late, because this is one you really shouldn’t miss. The headliner’s NY transplant {Adam Bricks}, who’s quickly risen to become one of my favorite folksingers, hands down — his music is jangly and relatively minimal, but it’s urban, not a bunch of murder ballads from the backwoods. Think Dylan, or maybe The Mountain Goats, and you’ll be closer to the mark.

And heck, I’m always game for catching {Tyagaraja}; not everybody’ll get his sadhu thing (which isn’t really a “thing,” mind you, as he’s very, very sincere in his beliefs), but even if you’re not into the religious/spiritual aspects, just sit back and listen to the man’s voice. Oh, lord, can the guy sing. As mentioned a little while ago right here, when I saw him perform with {The Manichean} this past summer, his wordless, Dead Can Dance-esque vocals nearly brought me to tears.

Lone Star Rally 2013, featuring Hairball, Jared Blake & Alyssa Claar, Nick Gaitan & The Umbrella Man, Jasmine Cain, Farrell Webber, Ogre, Zach Tate, & Paul Ramirez @ Seawall/Saengerfest (Galveston; free!)
Okay, so I’ll be honest — I know very little about the bands playing this year’s Lone Star Rally down in Galveston (although Nick Gaitan & The Umbrella Man are always excellent).

What caught my eye about the Rally this time around, instead, was the fact that cast members from badass biker soap opera Sons of Anarchy will be on hand. Specifically, the Rally supposedly features characters/cast members Chibs (Tommy Flanagan), Bobby, Juice, and Tig, the four of whom are, frankly, my favorite people on the show now that Opie and his dad are both dead. Go, shake hands, act tough, yadda yadda, whatever it is you do when you meet TV stars…

Runners-Up:
Quiet Morning & the Calamity/Yoko Mono/Slowlikefire/Charles Ellsworth/Shadow Puppet @ Super Happy Fun Land
Iluminaciones y Calaveras, featuring Stephen Farris, Darwin’s Finches, Traffik Jams, Josiah Gabriel, Nikkhoo, Springfield Riots, Kose, YET, Joyce, Devil Killing Moth, & John Amar @ Avant Garden (free!)
Deer Tracks/BLSHS/Fair Attic @ Fitzgerald’s
Dy’lan and Friends/Bagheera @ MKT Bar (1001 Austin; 5-11PM)
The March Divide @ Acadia Bar & Grill (3939 FM 1960 W)
Green River Ordinance/Hudson Moore/Honor By August @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock)
The Bandulus/DJ Moonstomp/Picture Book @ The Continental Club
Otep/Stolen Babies/New Years Day @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)