Written by Defensive Listening

FRIDAY

Daniel Folmer | Dust Congress | Nervous Curtains (Good Records In-store, 7pm)

Tapes N Tapes | Wild Light | Les Americans (Club Dada)
I believe there was a time when Tapes N Tapes would have to play a bigger venue when they'd come through town, but that's how things go in the current cannibalistic world of the blog/indie/record industry; a sinking ship where one day you're all the rage with the stay-at-home journalists, only to wakeup and find you can't even get a lousy Myspace message returned. Don't sweat it, dudes. We're all in this together!

The Party (Zubar)

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE@ HOUSE OF BLUES IS CANCELED: When you tour with ten people and one of them gets a cold, you're fucked.

SATURDAY

My Son My Executioner | Era | Out To Sea | Fighting Chance | Choices (Molly's Hamburgers located at 4720 Little Rd. In Arlington)
I love hardcore names. I really do. They either sound really epic and cool, or like a Saturday afternoon movie about an abusive relationship on the Lifetime Network.

The Hex Dispensers | Fungi Girls | Occult Detective Club | Bad Sports (Bunker Hill, 2614 N. Elm St., Denton)
The Hex Dispensers are an Austin garage rock band that sound like a less-quirky version of The Spits. Their sped-up, dumbed-down version of paranoid Waver classic "Down In The Park" is definitely fun. Somehow missed Fungi Girls last weekend even though I went to the show, as I forgot that some venues actually operate in a timely fashion. Better luck this time.

Mount Righteous | Drug Mountain | Fishboy | Mr. Troll (Rubber Gloves)
Hats off to whoever added Mr. Troll to this show. I hadn't heard any of this man's music until today, and was surprised at the plain, unaffected vocal delivery improbably emanating from behind this snow-white beard and sunglasses. I hear a lot of singers on a weekly basis, and it's a rare occurrence when I actually stop what I'm doing and sit thinking to myself, "That's it. That guy's definitely not faking or trying to shove some forced sentimentality or sensitivity down my throat. Finally." Some of his arrangements also have a nice torch singer quality that you rarely hear from today's song-writer. A very good addition to an already healthily diverse lineup.

Los Campesinos | Titus Andronicus (Club Dada)
Los Campesinos sometimes sound like the Wedding Present after they signed to Island, only that band managed to retain some of their charm whereas this group might not have any to lose. Sounds pretty harsh, but you could do a lot worse than to be compared to The Wedding Present. Extra points for making their accents so prominent.

Titus Andronicus is the kind of group you're just ready to despise after reading over some gushing press blurbs (Cobain and GBV comparisons?), but they redeem themselves by coming off as a pretty believable take on the kind of impassioned blue-collar rock that The Reigning Sound, The Replacements, and The Rock*A*Teens made famous, if not in sound then at least in effort.