Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Superchunk + A Sundae Drive + The Escatones + Only Beast + Green Jelly + Jayke Orvis & the Broken Band

Hey, folks — sorry for the quiet of late; yours truly has been dealing with some changes to the job situation, and it’s left me mostly swamped and exhausted, only able to crawl out from under the past couple of days. I know I’ve been extremely lax on the posts/updates/whatever else of late, and I swear, I’m attempting to change that; hang in there, alright?

In the meantime, the world sure as hell doesn’t stop moving, so there’s plenty of good stuff happening tonight, Friday, February 7th. Here we go:

Superchunk/Waxahatchee @ Fitzgerald’s
Yeah, this one’s the no-brainer of all no-brainers. Superchunk is one of a small handful of bands that really, truly built my love of music; I first heard ’em in college, and they’ve been a pretty integral part of who I am ever since. They’re also one of the few bands I loved back then who’ve A) stayed together and B) grown along with me (or the reverse, whichever).

The music on last year’s I Hate Music is no “Driveway to Driveway,” “Precision Auto,” or “Hyper Enough,” but that’s okay — it’s still awesome and real and impeccably-crafted, and holy fuck, I still love it. The band & I have aged, it’s true, but the important parts are still there; Superchunk were pioneers in the realm of indie-rock, and those bones show through the newish skin, so that if you play “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo” alongside “Throwing Things,” you’ll walk away smiling and thinking, “yep, that’s the same damn band.”

Wolfing Out: A Zine Release and Fundraiser for the Anarchist Black Cross Houston Chapter, featuring The Escatones, A Sundae Drive, & Only Beast @ Notsuoh
Second up is a truly, truly excellent-looking lineup of folks playing at Notsuoh; it’s a fundraiser, apparently, as well as a zine release show, for a zine called Wolfing Out that’s apparently put together by the Anarchist Black Cross folks.

I’m a little “eh” on the politics, but full-on “yes!” on the music. The headliners are messy, sloppily-endearing, Gulf Coast surf-garage-rockers {The Escatones}, whom I like quite a bit, and they’re preceded by a band I honest-to-Flying Spaghetti Monster love, {A Sundae Drive}; the band’s sweetly fuzzed-out, quasi-’90s-ish indie-pop/rock sound just sucks me right in, and I seriously want more of it (where’s the followup to the EP, y’all?).

The openers are also pretty damn promising — I like what I’ve heard of bluesy/proggy rockers {Only Beast}, who make me think oddly of the rougher-edged moments of the Cowboy Junkies or Siouxsie and the Banshees. Still need to see ’em live, but they’re definitely near the top of the list…

Green Jelly/Monkeysoop/The Pukebox/Downfall 2012/SOA @ Acadia Bar & Grill
Oh, wow. I can’t believe this one very nearly crept right by me; way, way, waaaay back in 1993, I stumbled across Green Jello (pre-lawsuit-mandated change to Green Jelly), and my college-addled mind couldn’t freaking get enough of the band’s debut(?), Cereal Killer (which, naturally, also purported to be the soundtrack to a movie that didn’t actually exist). They were loud, snotty, snarling, and obstinately dumb, stomping through metal-tinged, often funky reworkings of “The Three Little Pigs” and “Anarchy In The U.K.” (actually, Bedrock), and singing songs about drugs and cartoons and, um, shit, and the whole time they were jabbing a pointed finger at folks like Metallica and the Chili Peppers.

Now, I’ll admit that it hasn’t aged as well as I’d’ve hoped, but who cares? If you go see a Green Jelly show, you’re not there to see what new stuff the band’s been up to lately; you’re there to relive the early ’90s. And hey, I’m totally alright with that.

Besides, back then I had no idea the band included members of Tool, of all things — if The Interwebz are to be believed, that’s Maynard James Keenan singing the high-pitched “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!”:

Jayke Orvis & the Broken Band/Carrie Nation & the Speakeasy/Ransom Bandits @ Rudyard’s
The bill tonight at Rudyard’s has changed a bit since I last checked, and while I was initially a little bummed to now longer see {The Dead Rabbits} on there, I’ve since given Jayke Orvis & the Broken Band a listen, and I’m now damn glad I did. They’re country, it’s true, but not in the cowboy-hat-and-big-belt-buckle kind of way; rather, they come off like a bunch of backwoodsy hillbillies playing at a hoedown somewhere way, way back there in the hills. They’re poignant and sweet at points and silly at others (and sometimes both, like on “Kaw-Liga,” which tells the story of unrequited love between, erm, two wooden cigar store Indians).

Runners-Up:
Oh Whitney/The Wandering Bufaleros/Adam Bricks & The Dead/Dezerette @ Fitzgerald’s
Rhett Miller @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
The Cookers @ Cullen Theater
The Spits/No Talk/The Secret Prostitutes/Spare Bones @ Walter’s ($10)
Ray Johnston Band/Grand Old Grizzly/Picture Book @ The Continental Club
First Friday Open House, featuring Inzurgo, Disfrutalo!, Enjoy It!, & Closed Eyes Open @ Music World Entertainment Complex (1505 Hadley; 7-10PM)
Nipsey Hussle @ Warehouse Live
Runaway Sun @ No Label Brewing Co. (Katy)
Alvin and the Slickpunks @ Fatty’s (Seabrook)