Not a whole hell of a lot happening this weekend, but it's ok because none of you are really that cool anyway. Shows:
FRIDAYNouns Group | The Carrots | Daniel Francis Doyle | Fight Bite (Hailey's)
Most people reading this blog are probably familiar with Nouns Group, Dan Doyle and Fight Bite at this point, but some of you might not be aware of the Carrots just yet-- the Austin band, which includes both former and current members of future WSJR girlfriends Finally Punk*, performs light hearted 60's girl group pop about boys and stuff that is surprisingly NOT retarded. I usually assume the worst with this kind of stuff, but I caught them in Austin during SXSW and really enjoyed their set-- it's like the Ronettes and the chicks from the Fleetwoods skimmed through a copy of Maximum Rock N Roll right before they dumped you.... and you'll like it.
The Sword | Torche | Stinking Lizaveta (Lola's)
Austin's The Sword have certainly been blessed/cursed with the 'hipster metal" tag more than just about any other band I can think of this side of Wolfmother, but I've always wondered what it is, exactly, that makes a metal band "hipster" or "nigel" or whatever the members of Sunn0))) are currently pretending not to be these days. Is it their record label? Or their haircuts? Or the company they keep? Or their record collections? I'm actually asking here because I really have no clue, and frankly, I would think that whether or not members of this or that metal band went to art school should probably be rendered irrelevant if said metal band is actually good at playing, uh, metal. But hipster/legit debates aside, I've had several songs off of Torche's album Meanderthal stuck in my head all week long, and it's making me want to drive to Ft. Worth. If you haven't heard this record yet, you should really download it soon before Pitchfork gives it an 8.8 and ruins the whole thing. I suppose you could call it a "metal" record, but I wouldn't know how to break it down much beyond that-- no particular genre or subgenre comes to mind when I listen to it, but I do know that it is one of the most instantly memorable heavy albums I've heard in quite a while. It sort of sounds like something Headbanger's Ball would have played the fuck out of in 1993, with big fuzzy riffs, efficient solos and huge choruses that sort of go beyond any of the influences that crop up throughout the disk (diverse acts such as Kyuss, Soundgarden and even Queen come to mind). Anyway, Stinking Lizaveta is also well worth checking out, although they sound completely different from either of the other bands on this bill, with a sound that somehow seems more punk infuenced yet more classically metal. Maybe it's just the shitty recordings I heard, but I like it. The Sword are pretty good, but they are by far the LEAST interesting band on the bill.
Bitch Cat with the Scoop (Moosh)
Featuring
Semantic Noise... I'm sure it will be hip hop, but I'm NOT sure what it will be beyond that. I'm guessing of the backpack variety.
Tame...Tame and Quiet | Deep Snapper (The Chat Room)
A benefit for the 89.3 KNON show Pagan Holiday, which airs Sunday night (technically Monday mornings) from midnight until 4am. $3 cover at an apparently cool Ft. Worth spot that I haven't had the chance to check out quite yet.
SATURDAYBlood on the Wall | Record Hop (Lola's)
Pretty good match up between these two bands, as both seem to draw from the canon of smart 90's rock that slowly seems to be creeping its way back towards relevancy in an underground climate that has been celebrating anything BUT the 90's for the past few years. Blood on the Wall's newest record Liferz, is truly one of my favorite pop guitar records of the year, reminding me of everything from Helium to Sonic Youth to X to Mudhoney. It isn't rocket science, but neither is partying, brah.
Car Stereo Wars | Sydney Confirm | Genova (The Cavern)
Austin mash up dudes provide what is surprisingly the only relevant dance music in Dallas for the weekend. Their live sets are WAY better than their remixes, PS.
Street Hassle | Delmore Pilcrow | Wild in The Streets (Strawberry Fields)
Street Hassle CD release, starts at 9.
Sarah Jaffe | Emil Rapstine | Glen Farris | Jen Seman (Rubber Gloves)SUNDAYWild in the Streets (Hailey's)* they wish
