Things To Watch: The Suffers Sing About Your Mom + Giant Kitty Sings About Domestic Violence
First off, I feel like I can’t even begin to post anything without first addressing the awful tragedy that unfolded today down in Santa Fe (which, for those who don’t live around here, or who maybe live out in Katy and don’t know anything east of the Beltway, is a small town about two-thirds of the way between Houston proper and Galveston, between Alvin & Hitchcock). I’m fairly sure I speak for all of SCR when I say that our hearts go out to the families and friends of those killed at Santa Fe High School this morning.
I can’t really find any words beyond that that make sense to say right now. Anything else seems trite and stupid, except maybe to say that we’re here for you, Santa Fe. We’re with you. A lot of us (me included) know a lot of people down in that area, and we know there’s a lot of pain.
Which is kind of why I wanted to do this now, actually. I’ve been way, way behind when it comes to video-watching this past year. And it sucks, because folks around here have been seriously busy when it comes to cranking ’em out; I can think of at least a dozen videos made by local musicians/bands in the past year, and I’ve been sorely remiss when it comes to talking about ’em.
Right now, though, it feels like we (well, I, at any rate) could use some distraction, and maybe some happiness or sincerity or joy or bravery. So let’s see if we can find a little of that out there, alright?
Here we go, folks. This is what I was needing to hear and see, right here. H-town soul-funk juggernaut The Suffers are coming back around with a new album, Everything Here (due out in July; their album release is July 13th at The Heights Theater), and to get you ready, they released a song about moms everywhere, the video for which features slo-mo footage of everybody in the band saying nice things (I’m assuming) to their respective mothers.
That sweet little bit of heart-to-heart-ness is intercut with scenes from the day-to-day of a family with two mothers — which is truly nice to see — and more candid shots of women from all walks of life. And over it all, the ever-awesome Kam Franklin croons sweetly in your ear, telling you how much your mom loved you (“She loved you before you even had a name”) and asking, “Do you know how loved you are?”
Of course, the music is stellar, too, bringing a funky ’70s vibe, a moody soul groove in the break, and horns that the Dap-Kings would be proud to call their own. It’s low-key and chilled-out, nothing too heavy, just a laidback bit of soulful love. Damn, it’s been too long since I’ve seen The Suffers play.
Which reminds me, actually, that they’re playing this coming Sunday, May 20th, at the once-postponed Great Texas BBQ Festival, now happening at Post HTX both Saturday & Sunday. It promises to be a damn fine show, and hey, Post HTX is probably a better venue in the heat than Sam Houston Park, since at least you can go indoors (hopefully, anyway)…
Shit. I missed this one by literally one damn night, since the Giant Kitty crew played just last night with FEA over at The Continental Club — sorry about that, y’all…
Still, despite my own lack of timeliness, the message of “Disorder Girl” is itself a very timely one, pointing a steady finger at the reality of domestic violence. I’m no expert on the subject, so there’s no way in hell I can really dive into it here, except to say that it’s something that goes on every day, everywhere, and right under the noses of even the people closest to those being abused. The video says it far, far better than I can, showing the fear and dread of the victims as they wait for their abusers to come home.
Music-wise, the band keeps things relatively reined in, mirroring the controlled lives of the people in the video; it feels like Cassandra Chiles‘ guitars are just about this close to really breaking out at any given time, but instead they stay in check, snarling low throughout the song.
Frontwoman Miriam Hakim uses her powerful voice to good effect here, too, with more singing than yelling this time out, although the most affecting part is probably the spoken bit, where Hakim intones all the rules imposed by the abuser: “Don’t speak when he’s around / Don’t tell anyone / Your brain is broken / and he will fix it.” It’s cold and chilling and far too on-target to ignore.
Oh, and while yes, I screwed up and didn’t post this before Giant Kitty’s most recent show, you’re in luck, because they’ll be playing on June 9th at the always-excellent Madness on Main Music Fest. Get your tickets now…
That’s all for now; with any luck, we’ll play some more video-catchup real soon, so check back.
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