Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Second Lovers + Miears + The Tie That Binds + We Were Wolves + Warrior + More

Howdy, all — it’s Friday, January 5th, and we’re heading into a weekend with some very cool stuff happening, so I wanted to mention a bit of it before everybody makes their plans and all that. I know I haven’t done one of these in a long, long while, and I’d kinda sworn I never would again, but there’s too much going on, y’know? Here’s what I’m liking that’s happening:

Second Lovers/Miears @ White Oak Music Hall
First up is an awesome one-two punch of greatness up at White Oak Music Hall, starting with excellent synth-pop performer Miears. I caught her at this past summer’s last-ever FPSF, and despite having to wade through a literal foot of shit-smelling mud to get to the stage where she was performing, it was absolutely worth it; she’s mesmerizing up onstage, and I can’t say enough good things, seriously.

At the top of the bill, then, is another of my absolute-favorite local bands, Second Lovers. There’s just something about Nic Morales‘ roughened-yet-tuneful voice that gets to me, whether the band’s roaring through a fiery rocker or musing quietly about love and loss. They’ve got a brand-new track out now, too, “Corner Store,” and it’s even better than I’d nervously hoped it’d be, bringing to mind the Pogues, Lucero, and Springsteen at various points and melding the best parts of each.

Check it out, right here:

The Tie That Binds/Date & Destroy/Ol’ Hag @ Satellite Bar
Then there’s a blast from the past over at the Satellite Bar, where the Duarte brothers ride again as The Tie That Binds, a band anybody who lived here (and listened to music, obviously) back in the ’90s probably heard at some point or another. They were/are a damn great indie-rock/emo band, hitting all the high notes of the latter genre without getting formulaic — a feat that’s even bigger when you consider they were basically performing to friends and neighbors, what with H-town Back in the Day being viewed as a musical backwater inhabited solely by ZZ Top and King’s X.

As somebody who was here back then, I’m psyched to see these guys come back around and (hopefully) get some recognition, despite the fact that they — and yours truly — are dads with jobs and mortgages and all the rest these days. TTTB was good back then, and they’re still damn good now. Take a listen:

We Were Wolves/Black Syrup/Howard and The Nosebleeds @ The Secret Group
Shifting over to mostly-comedy venue The Secret Group, there’s badass, rawk-n-roll dudes We Were Wolves, who are no-seriously-not-kidding one of the best bands in this whole damn city when it comes to loud, heavy (but not too heavy), rough-edged rock.

They’ve got a bit of a sludge-rock thing going on, but they’re way too damn fast to get bogged down in that; there’s a touch of psych-rock in there, too, but it’s balanced out by a Red Fang-ish, no-fucks-given energy that burns through the whole damn thing. In the relatively brief time they’ve been around, the band’s cranked out a full-length, 2013’s stellar Wolf House, plus three EPs, the most recent of which, this past November’s Empty Plans, is probably the best thing I’ve heard from these guys. I could listen to “Millionaire’s Pie” on endless repeat, no lie:

Warrior/Cremator/Shy Foxx/Winter’s End @ Acadia Bar & Grill
Last up is one that made me smile and say, “well, holy shit.” Long, long ago, in the far-off wilderness of Killeen, Texas, I once combed through racks and racks of cassettes, looking for metal bands who sounded cool that I’d never heard of. And one afternoon, I stumbled across a self-titled album by some band called Warrior; I didn’t have anything else I’d really been wanting to buy, so I shrugged and bought it.

And yeah, it blew my proto-metalhead self away. It wasn’t the music so much as it was that the whole thing seemed to be some sort of concept album about fighting against evil powers trying to control the Earth, particularly on the band’s anthem “Fighting for the Earth.” I freaking loved it, cheeseball though I realize it now was; it was a product of its time, and even now, I still love that damn cassette. I never heard a damn thing from the band ever again (although they apparently had a 1998 album, too), but it stuck with me, even still…and now, apparently they’re touring once again.

As for “Fighting for the Earth,” well, enjoy:

Runners-Up:
Joe Lovechik’s Birthday Show, featuring Alone on the Moon, Den Mother, & Process of Illumination @ Rudyard’s