My sister often tries to push new music on me. Sadly, 99% of it is usually the latest thuggy craze sweeping the redneck wigger club she frequents. The other 1% is some pseudo-indie bullshit she heard on her boyfriend’s XM radio. She calls me from small town record stores to ask me, “Have you ever heard of A Modest Mouse?” To which I reply with a sigh and a “Yeah I think so.” But at least she’s trying.

Well, the past week or so, she kept asking me if I’d ever heard of a band called Skybox, and remarkably I hadn’t. She said they were playing in her town, and she really liked them and she thought I would too. I blew her off and told her to quit calling me, thinking it was just some more lame-o crap she heard in the dressing room at Abercrombie & Fitch. But then I felt bad, as I’ve only got one sister. So I humored her and went to their Myspace page. Then I had to stand up and wait for the monkeys to fly out of my butt: My sister had actually recommended something to me that I liked.

Three of the four tracks up there are just so-so. But the first one grabbed me with a goofy, rinky-dink piano, and dug in with a headstrong hand-clap pop-chorus. Sure, the guys sings a little like David Cross in that one Mr. Show sketch, and the lyrics are a little creepy – but I haven’t stopped listening to it for, like, two days. There’s a recent wave of this unapologetic theme pop, and I’m thankful. I hate the dark, thick wall of noise stuff. I credit Sesame Street. That show taught me about beginnings, middles and ends. It taught me about clapping along and counting, and I guess it taught a few other people that too, since it seems they’ve all grown up and started bands. So sit down – next to the Starlight Mints and the Happy Bullets – it’s not snack time, it’s time for sharing. Chicago’s Skybox plays tonight at Darkside Lounge.

Tonight, Darkside Lounge appears to be where all the action is if you're into, um, lesbian punk rock hip hop duos that may or may not include a guy. That is what Scream Club is. Another We Shot J.R. favorite, Eat Avery's Bones, will be playing one of their 20 minute sets as well, along with Skybox and something called Girls Rise with Heat that we don't know anything about.

You can read the description of Skybox above this post. It is written by a new We Shot J.R. writer that we will for now call Taunto. Let us know what you think of this new development.

1. Stereolab/Sam Prekop/ Archer Prewitt (Nokia Theater)
I think everyone I know has free tickets to this show. And its a good thing, because despite the fact that Stereolab and the Sea and Cake guys are old favorites here at We Shot J.R., there are some risk factors for this show: 1) its at Nokia; 2) the most recent Stereolab we've heard hasn't been very good; 3) and you have to drive to Grand Prarie. If none of those things bother you, then you'll probably have fun.

2. Voot Cha Index | My Heart is a Machine | Washing Machine (Red Blood Club)
Three young bands that we like quite a bit are playing at one of the dumbest clubs in Dallas. Should be fun anyway though.

Man. Sometimes things sound a lot different on Myspace than they do in person. S-1 Committee is one of those bands. We really liked what we heard on Myspace: muffled, noisy, lo-fi sloppiness with soft vocals that you couldn't really understand. It was interesting and fairly catchy if nothing else. Live, however, the band seems to be a different proposition, as the vocals move front and center in the mix, creating an entirely different sound. For s-1 Committee, this is not a good thing.

Now, we don't think that you have to be a great singer to be a great singer, you just have to be interesting or compelling in some way. If you can't sing or write lyrics, fine. A lot of bands we love (Jesus and Mary Chain for example) can't do either. But damn it, if that is the case you've gotta hide it a little bit. Put some reverb on the vocals. Turn them down in the mix. Slur your words. Something. That is what the singer for S-1 should have done last night, because it was the vocals that really held them back. The lyrics were fairly immature, and delivered in a loud, cutesy and off-key manner that really didn't seem to go along at all with what the rest of the band was doing. The music was actually pretty good, and the band was able to capture much of what we liked about their Myspace songs live, which was probably a fairly difficult task. And we wouldn't have even minded the singing so much if we just didn't have to hear it so clearly. But we did, and as a result we were less than impressed with the show.

If these guys make some adjustments from a vocals standpoint, they could be really good band. Until then, however, we'll have to throw them in the "Wait and see" file.

1. The Shapes | S-1 Committee | Teenage Symphony (Rubber Gloves)
Wow. We had never heard either S-1 or Teenage Symphony until today, and we really like both. S-1 has kind of a poppy Jesus and Mary Chainish meets Mercury Rev meets twee synth pop thing happening, and we're interested to hear how this translates live. Add the Shapes, a band we already like, and you've got the best show of the night.

2. Mazinga Phaser | Jack with One Eye (Darkside Lounge)

3. Metrognome Collective: Man Factory | My Heart is a Machine (Fort Worth)
Good venue, and My Heart is a Machine is a solid young pop band that you might be hearing more about soon.

Hey there people of Dallas. I know that getting you to try something different for your Hipster Does Dallas routine is difficult sometimes. You've got your "scene," and your "friends," and your "rock n' roll" that all the kids listen to. But let me ask you a question. When was the last time you had a really fun Thursday night?

I know what you're going to say. "I have a lot of fun going down to Expo Park every Thursday and listening to assholes sing dumb songs at karaoke." To which I say, "what are you, an idiot?"

Now that we have all that cleared up, let me ask you another question. Do you like late 80's/early 90's hip hop? If you answered no, grab your mouse, point it up to the top right hand corner of this screen and kindly leave my website. You can come back when you stop being dumb. But for those that do appreciate what is truly the golden age of hip hop, you might want to think about heading over to the Slip Inn next Thursday night for a taste of the old school.

And I know what you're thinking. Many of you probably know that Old School Hip Hop night is nothing new, and has in fact been happening at the Slip Inn for the past couple of years. Thats cool, because like our friend over at Themepark Experience said today, sometimes you just miss the boat. But last night was the first time we had attended, and let me tell you: we decided that it will be our new Thursday night hang out spot just about a minute after we walked through the door.

And I bet some of you are also thinking that nothing could be worse than a bunch of dorky hipsters dancing to JJ Fad. Well theres no need to worry, because Thursday nights at the Slip Inn are hipster free (and JJ Fad free), and goddamn did we need a break (not from JJ Fad). Yes, going to Old School Hip Hop night will require you to be around some different people. A few of them might even go to SMU (gasp!), and others might even be, get this, not white. But if you can get past your 80's retro xenophobia for one evening, you'll discover that the Slip Inn is the best thing going on Thursdays.

Here was our experience last night: we walk to the door and witness the tail end of a fight between bouncers and some jackass (which was kind of exciting), and then walk inside to a packed house dancing to a Leaders of the New School Song, which was immediately followed by a Black Sheep song (not the movie). Then some dude came up to us and said that he had bought four beers at once because he didn't want to go up to the bar again, and that since he now had to leave, he wanted to give us two of them. We said yes. Just about this time, two strangers started a conversation with us about matching socks and that episode of Seinfeld where George does the opposite of everything, at which point a song by Notorious B.I.G. came on. Then we danced.

As we kept drinking and dancing, we heard songs by Arrested Development, Chubb Rock, Digable Planets, Wu Tang Clan, and a bunch of other really cool shit that we had either heard long ago and forgotten about, or had never heard before at all. And it wasn't "ironic" or kitschy or whatever, it was just fun. Drinks were spilled, good looking people danced, bad looking people danced, and we didn't hear a single note of that krunk bullshit that has rendered American Hip Hop virtually dead to us. The mix was fantastic, and the people were nice. We stayed until closing, and were left wanting more. No skinny ties, no bad attitudes, and no bad music. Thats the kind of thing we need on Thursdays, and if you're adventurous enough to try the Slip Inn next Thursday, you'll realize that it is the kind of thing that you need too. Bele dat.

(oh, and check the Compact Disk logo on the Rob Base cover. Why don't they use that these days? And also, later today you will see the first post by a new writer on We Shot J.R. This person will be contributing from time to time because 1) the person is a good writer that you will like, and 2) we can't be everywhere at once every single night, and we thought this would help expand our coverage a little bit. Tell us what you think. And we'll tally up the We Shot J.R. Award votes this weekend, even though we didn't get as many votes as we wanted. We'll post those some time today or tomorrow as well.)

1. Tah Dahs | Pegasus Now | A Pacific Model (the Cavern)
It has been a long time since we've seen the Tah Dahs play, and we're curious to hear what Pegasus Now has been working on as well. A Pacific Model seems like pretty traditional indie pop, but slightly more adventurous than most. Should be worth seeing. Word on the street is that Pacific is on at 10, Pegasus at 11 and Tah Dahs at 12. After you're done at the Cavern, stop by

2. Mile End (Fallout)
with Dj Laureen. Its indie, britpop, rare 80's, electro, and other good stuff. They'll be playing some brand new Voxtrot tonight too.

1. The Party w/ DJ Nature (Rubber Gloves- Denton)
If you haven't checked this shit out already, then don't talk to us. Nature will be passing out his second mix CD tonight. We'll have a track list later we think....

2. I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness (Gypsy Tea Room)
Their new CD is fantastic, and we've never seen these guys live but we hear that they are pretty good. Who knows? Go late so that you miss Black Tie Dynasty.