Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: Quiet Company + Knights of the Fire Kingdom + The Wheel Workers + Lion Among Men + Peace, Love and Rescue + Runner of the Woods + More

UPDATE: Well, it appears that Sam Smith has tonsilitis and has had to cancel tonight’s show; I’ve crossed out that show on the list. Sorry, folks…

Alright, people — here’s the big pile of stuff going on this weekend, pretty much centralized on today, Saturday, October 4th. And holy crap, there’s a lot of ’em; here’re the ones I like best:

Quiet Company/Featherface/Young Girls @ Fitzgerald’s
First up, it’s a bit of a surprise, in that I only heard about this show a week or so ago, when I’m usually pretty up on any and all Quiet Company shows in and around town. I’ve been a fan for a few years now, since the band’s utterly incredible 2012 release, We Are All Where We Belong, which stepped in somberly and obliterated any preconceptions I’d had about the band. They’re rock and pop in equal measure, but played with enough desperation and ferocity that it’s all “rock” at the end of the day, and on top of that, they’re also ridiculously personal and smart; frontman Taylor Muse has an impeccable sense of lyricism, right up there with folks like Will Sheff in my book.

They’ve got a new album waiting in the wings, by the way, their first all-new effort since Belong — in-between, they’ve redone their debut album, Shine Honesty, not just re-releasing it but re-recording it and putting it out as A Dead Man On My Back: Shine Honesty Revisited (and yes, it’s pretty great) — called Transgressor, and I’m pretty damn psyched to hear it, myself. They’ll be playing some of the new songs tonight, so keep an ear out.

As a bonus, they’ve got some equally-cool openers tonight, namely {Featherface} and {Young Girls}. The former play lush, fuzzed-out, head-nodding psych-pop that’s unlike just about anything else you’re likely to have heard, while the latter do a cool mishmash of surf-rock and psych-influenced shoegaze, kinda like a more mellowed-out Surfer Blood. And both are great; get there early.

Knights of the Fire Kingdom/The Phuss/Vanilla Whale @ Warehouse Live (Green Room)
Over at Warehouse Live, there’s another welcome surprise, an all-too-rare show with badass rock dudes {Knights of the Fire Kingdom}. I’ve seen these guys live a couple of times now, but I’ve got to say that my favorite show was on the very stage they’ll be destroying tonight, the weird little Green Room area at the Warehouse. Last time they played to a relatively sparse crowd (they were competing against Quiet Company, if I recall correctly, which is kinda weird given the above) but rocked like they were playing to thousands, blazing through a set of jagged-edged, raw, distorted, yet still melodic at just the right time songs that straddled the line (that you probably didn’t even realize existed, I’ll admit) between Drive Like Jehu, Fugazi, and the Foo Fighters. Even with the five guys in the band jammed onto that little stage, the were fucking badass.

I heard not too long ago, by the by, that they’d actually finally be releasing their much-anticipated full-length — they’ve been promising it for a while now, but had been looking for a label to do the actual release, and lo and behold, now they’ve got one: Little T&A Records will apparently be doing the honors sometime very soon. But hey, ’til that happens, here’s a little taste:

The Wheel Workers @ Khon’s (rooftop)
Oh, yes. What better way could there possibly be to bask in the cool(-ish) weather we’re currently having than hanging out up on the Khon’s rooftop under that clear, gorgeous night sky, chilling out to the jaw-dropping, brightly-colored roar that is {The Wheel Workers}? Trust me, this’ll be pretty awesome; I’ve been to a couple of rooftop shows at Khon’s, and it’s always neat to be able to hang out up there and stare at the skyline, and beyond that, hey, the Wheel Workers rule. Seriously, I’m hard-pressed to think of a smarter, catchier, more thoughtful indie-pop band in town right now, and given the competition, that’s saying something — they’re the kind of band where you’ve never heard of them at first, but by about three songs in, you’re singing along with the chorus.

Lion Among Men/End of the West/Tailor Summer @ Mango’s ($5)
Dunno two out of three bands playing at Mango’s tonight, but I had the pleasure of catching {Lion Among Men} a couple of weekends back at Yes, Indeed! Fest and walked away well and truly impressed. They were out on the Pachinko Hut stage, and I liked ’em as much for their friendly, aw-shucks, just-glad-to-be-here demeanor as I was by the music itself. The latter was impressive all on its own, naturally, a wide-smiling, bright, warm, jangly breed of indie-folk-pop that’s less indebted to the backwoods than it is to more contemporary bands like Mumford and Sons and Of Monsters and Men.

Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, what they really remind me of is of Papermoons, the stellar ex-Houston/now-Austin folk-pop duo; the band’s two vocalists harmonize beautifully in the same way that other band does, and the sound is similarly gorgeous and lush, despite its relative minimalism. Not bad company to be in, if you ask me…

Peace, Love and Rescue: 1960’s Themed Benefit for SMART Rescue, featuring The Ugly Beats @ Hyde Park Gallery (115 Hyde Park; 6-10PM)
Peace, Love and Rescue Benefit After Party, featuring The Ugly Beats, The Mullens, & The Motion @ Rudyard’s
There’s a cool, cool two-part benefit show happening, as well, for the great local animal rescue nonprofit SMART Rescue, which I happen to think is an awesome cause. First, there’s the actual benefit itself, over at the Hyde Park Gallery, and it’s apparently a ’60s-themed deal where they’re encouraging folks to come in “groovy threads” (no, seriously). Typically, that’d make me cringe, but hey, it’s for charity, so what can I really say?

Plus, they’ve got badass Austin band The Ugly Beats down in town to play the benefit and an after party that’ll be happening over at Rudyard’s, where they’ve got longtime Dallas garage-rockers The Mullens and excellently mod-ish local folks {The Motion} opening for ’em. It’s like a one-two punch of Ugly Beats and charity, y’all.

Runner of the Woods @ Goode’s Armadillo Palace
Ran across this one kind of out of the blue, but I’m happy I did; ex-Doc Marshalls member Nick Beaudoing has a new band, Runner of the Woods, which does a kind of roots-rock that veers near to Son Volt in the best possible way, with halfway-to-solemn vocals and just-distorted-enough guitars, lives somewhere near to Sun Kil Moon or David Ramirez at its quieter moments, and is damn good throughout. You can grab a free download of one of the band’s tracks, off forthcoming album Thirsty Valley, right over here:

Runner of the Woods – “Good Things Will Come”

Take a listen, then meander over to Goode’s Armadillo Palace, alright?

Runners-Up:
Zine Prom, featuring Narrowhead, Pitter Patter, The Wiggins, & DJ Knife Emoji @ The Summit (3536 Navigation)
#veryjazzed Presents: Children of Pop and Friends Season 1, featuring Swimming With Bears, Children of Pop, Zin Sin, The Beans, Mantra Love, & Jef and The Bagwels @ Walter’s ($7)
Paolo Nutini/PHOX @ Warehouse Live
Waterparks/Forever The Fierce/The Soapbox Revolution/Rome Hero Foxes @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
The Preatures/Catch Fever @ House of Blues
Buffalo Bayou Shrimp Festival, featuring Craig Kinsey, Hank Schyma, The Kelly Doyle Trio, & Hayden Jones and The Roosevelt House Band @ 901 N. York St. (12-6PM)
The New Mercies/Espantapajaros/Stevie Menjivar @ Notsuoh ($3)
Sam Smith/Broods @ House of Blues
King Britt/Derek Jones @ The Flat (1701 Commonwealth)
Bury the Crown (record release)/Dead to the World/Commie Hilfiger/Some Nerve/Nine Minutes @ Fitzgerald’s
TWELVE Project, featuring Waylon Payne & Little Joe Washington @ Smooth Tony’s (Galveston)
Kemah Oktoberfest, featuring Rat Ranch, Jarrod Sterrett and the Hired Guns, & Enzian Buam @ Kemah City Parking Lot (Kemah; 12-11PM)
Real Life Real Music Festival, featuring Hal Ketchum, The Kyle Hutton Band, Terri Hendrix & Lloyd Maines, Chubby Knuckle Choir, Kelley Mickwee & Drew Kennedy, Sibling Rivalry, & Abbey Hirvela @ Bernhardt Winery (Plantersville)