The Rundown, 10/24/07-10/30/07

Why do I always start these freakin’ things in the late-lateness of the afternoon? I don’t have a clue, but I seem to, nonetheless. Argh. I figure I’d better get this out & up, though, because the postings may slow down a bit (ha!) in the next few days. By the by, if you ever get the urge to, say, sell your house as quickly as possible (like in under 2 weeks), my advice would be this: plan ahead for the looming nervous breakdown with large amounts of pills and caffeine. Anyway…

Wed., October 24:
Paolo Nutini/Sara Bareilles @ Warehouse Live
Dammit, I just can’t help it; I really like this guy. Sure, he’d probably appeal just as nicely to my mom (although she’s not a good yardstick; she listens to Metallica…), but fuck it — Nutini’s got an awesome, awesome voice, the kind Rod Stewart used to have before he lost it in a cigarette-smoke fog of rock star debauchery. Plus, he writes some heartbreakingly beautiful songs. (Review of his initial EP is up here, by the way, from waaaay back in Dec. of last year.)

The Draft/Dead to Me/The Gaslight Anthem/A Death in the Family @ The White Swan
Dunno most of these bands, but I really like what I’ve heard of ex-Hot Water Music guys The Draft; good, solid, slightly countryish post-emo, to my ears. Plus, now that HWM is officially not broken up anymore, there’s a rumor going ’round that an onstage reunion of sorts with Chuck Ragan could happen while The Draft are touring. You won’t know if you’re not up at the Swan…

matt pond PA/Jesca Hoop @ The Meridian
matt pond PA are one of those bands that I “like” in a weirdly nonspecific way. The songs I’ve heard have made me smile, but they’re kinda gone in the next ten minutes. And yet, I still like ’em. Some kind of musical brainwashing, maybe?

Say Hi To Your Mom/The Velvet Teen/The A-Sides @ The Proletariat
A good, good, good one. See here for the full deal.

Thurs., October 25:
Sabra Laval/Austin Lucas and the Pressmen/Black Black Gold @ Notsuoh
Austin Lucas and the Pressmen, I’ve been told, are really amazing — their Myspace page claims they’re from Prague, but I don’t know that I buy it; they sound a heck of a lot more like they’ve been hanging out in Ryan Adams backyard, getting drunk with William Elliott Whitmore. Either way, the teeny bit I’ve heard ain’t bad, and Sabra Laval is always cool by me, too, in that beautifully melancholy Azure Ray kind of way. (Black Black Gold I dunno, sorry.)

An Angle/Fletch/A Trafic Fall/Science Monsters Galore!/Glory Automatic/The Alsace Lorraine @ Javajazz Coffee House (Spring)
This show’s Part 1 of “Damn, Suburban Kids Have It Good” Week — An Angle are a freakin’ great band, like Bright Eyes (very like Bright Eyes, I should say) but with more rock and less pretense. Plus, I’m told locals The Alsace Lorraine are good, and Science Monsters Galore! have an awesome band name.

Fri., October 26:
Jucifer/Kairos @ Super Happy Fun Land
I’m a little befuddled as to why Jucifer are at SHFL, but what the hey — I hope folks come out anyway (every time I go to SHFL, attendance seems pretty light…sigh), even though Jucifer are considerably more “loud rawk” than most of the Land’s crew. A two-person band hasn’t sounded this heavy/cool since Earth, seriously (but don’t worry: Jucifer are way more listenable, thankfully).

Maroon 5/The Hives/Kevin Michaels @ Toyota Center
Yeah, yeah; I don’t care, honest. Haven’t heard The Hives’ latest, but I’m still soaring on Veni, Vidi, Vicious (which I finally found recently; how the heck did it go out of print so fast?), and I’m as surprised as you are that I actually like Maroon 5. I think it’s partly their backstory — band nears the Big Time, doesn’t quite make it, band shrugs and meanders off to various colleges, band stays friends & starts playing again & doing new stuff, thereby blowing the earlier incarnation out of the water. How often do you see a real-live second shot at stardom work out? Personally, I think it’s kinda cool.

Before there was Rosalyn/The Last Starfighter/Virus/Hydrolux/Hematidrosis @ Fitzgerald’s
No, I don’t know much at all about most of these folks, but I do like The Last Starfighter quite a bit, despite my general dislike of screamo-ish stuff. They don’t seem to play all that often within the city limits, so check ’em out while you can.

Indian Jewelry/A Pink Cloud/The Wiggins/Vaarg/Balaclavas/Cop Warmth/Satannabis @ The White Swan
Wow, a big pile of my favorite local strange-rockers in one place on the same night; quite a catch. Indian Jewelry are excellent, making noisy, murky rock that probably comes closer to vintage Sonic Youth than anything else, while The Wiggins are just plain odd. I like what I’ve heard of Cop Warmth & Balaclavas, and Vaarg apparently includes Mlee Marie of Hearts of Animals, so that’s a good sign…

Saves The Day (acoustic show)/Single File/Doctor Manhattan/Barely Blind @ Javajazz Coffee House (Spring)
Yep, Part 2 of “Damn, Suburban Kids Have It Good” Week — I’ll admit that the bulk of the one Saves The Day album I own is pretty bad, but dang it, I just can’t help but love “At Your Funeral.” (Incidentally, “Funeral” is one of the few songs I’ve actually heard because of MTV2, back when they used to show nothing but videos.)

Sat., October 27:
M.O.D./Will to Live/Pride Kills/El Desmadre @ Walter’s on Washington
How the hell are the M.O.D. guys still alive at this point? However it happened, I’m glad to see it (and that the band’s got a new album out now, Red, White, & Screwed) — I’ve sorely missed Billy Milano’s smart-assed, snarky thrashcore…

Fastball/duneTX @ The Continental Club
I’ve always been up-and-down on Fastball, I have to say. When they first hit the radio big-time, I was underwhelmed, partly because I’d heard them compared favorably to Superdrag, who were a freakin’ ball of fire of a power-pop band. Fastball, unfortunately, always seem to slow down & get mellow right when the song felt like it should be building, y’know? Anyway. Despite that, I am happy they’re still around (damn, that feels familiar), and am somewhat curious what they sound like now…

Wicked Poseur/The Cockerspaniels/Over Sea Under Stone (CD release)/Ill Advisory @ The Proletariat
Damn. Three out of the four bands playing are bands I’ve been really, really meaning to see/hear for a while now. Unfortunately, I’ve gotta do the Halloween Party thing on Sat., so…

Crocktober Fest, featuring Basses Loaded & HiFi @ 1109 Crocker St.
I swear, Basses Loaded must be the most-hyped local band in town right now, and I can’t find a damn clue as to what the music’s like. Weird.

Hellbound Hoedown, featuring The Ghost Storys, The Flamin’ Hellcats, The DollyRockers, & Wide Open Throttle @ FBI Rocks
Flamin’ Hellcats, yeah! Do these guys still get in brawls & hauled off to the pokey, or are they all growed up now?

Lick Lick/Cat Scientists/Three Fantastic @ Rudyard’s
Three Fantastic are interesting, to say the least — and they’ve got H-town scene cred a mile long — but the one I’m more curious about is Austin’s Lick Lick, since I’ve been told recently that Matt Kelley, ex-Sprawl/Middlefinger, is in the band.

The Bravery/Dremnt the End/The Critics Hall of Fame/Another Day/The Mechanical Boy @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
Not a recommendation, really — although The Mechanical Boy were good at the Westheimer Block Party & I liked Critics Hall of Fame when they went by Morningside Drive — but how is it that a band as big as The Bravery are playing in Clear Lake? No disrespect to the good people at the Scout Bar, mind you; it just seems odd.

Sun., October 28:
Buzzfest XX, featuring Smashing Pumpkins, Finger Eleven, Chris Cornell, Earshot, Evanescence, The Bravery, Evans Blue, The Starting Line, Alter Bridge, Sick Puppies, Sum 41, Fuel, & more @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
C’mon, you know you’re curious to see how Billy Corgan’s going to try to pull this off. (And hey, Chris Cornell…)

Mon., October 29:
HEALTH/Crime Novels/The Factory Party/Cop Warmth/The Always Already @ The Proletariat
I keep meaning to check out HEALTH, but keep running out of hours in the day, unfortunately. Heard good things, though, and The Factory Party and Cop Warmth are both well worth the trek all by themselves.

Tues., October 30:
Jay Reatard/Something Fierce/The Wax Museums/The Takes @ The Proletariat
The Lawrence Arms/American Steel/The Falcon/Sundowner @ Walter’s on Washington
Argh. This one hurts — I love-love-love Something Fierce, probably more than 99% of the bands in Houston right now, but at the same time, I’ve been unable to get American Steel’s Destroy Their Future out of my car stereo for the past 2 weeks (really, it’s that good; it’s like Billy Bragg fronting a Gilman St. punk band). If I can make it out next Tuesday, this one might call for a coin toss…

That’s it for now. Oh, and if you ever need to fix cracks in your walls, I would highly recommend patching the crack with criss-crossing strips of patching tape (y’know, the sticky mesh stuff), then plastering heavily over it and sanding it, rather than just smushing spackle into the cracks themselves. The tape keeps the walls from re-cracking as soon as you’re done, and that can be very nice when your house is built on a reclaimed swamp (like mine is).