Music with Jameson & Lone Star: 2008 Recap In One Hour - GO!

Since I've been taking a holiday break from live reviews, I figure I should roll through some of the stuff that I've dug this year. This is not intended to be all-encompassing. Hell, right off the top of my head, I can think of great artists - Tambersauro, Sharks and Sailors, PLF, Young Mammals, Hearts of Animals, Buxton, Giant Princess, etc. etc. etc. - that I didn't mention below. But the way I figured I'd approach this was like one of those games where you just say the first thing that pops into your head but with a time-limit of my Monday lunch break. So, for better or worse, here is what I could list off in that hour.


Best Album of 2008
Papermoons - New Tales (CD Team Science) -
"What's that you're listening to?"
"Oh Papermoons. I love this album!"
"Oh really?" (nod)
"You really like this?" (nod)
"...bummer."
Ouch! OK so maybe one person I know didn't take a liking to this but, for me, this was the high watermark of music released in Houston this year and would put it up against anything released in 2008 outside of the city; I'll gladly take the label of being a wuss for thinking so. Much like last year where I obsessed endlessly about Hearts of Animals' Lemming Baby (Link), Papermoons' New Tales was never far from my CD player. This was an album I picked apart over and over again - stunned at how brilliantly constructed the whole thing is. I guess I'm a sucker for the juxtaposition of beautifully melodic songs with an undercurrent of sadness. With gorgeous harmonies, understated performances, and the idea that you can say a lot more without shouting this was an album with no equal.


Best EP of 2008
Balaclavas - Inferno (12" Phonographic Arts) The CDR early in the year was amazing but dropping in on 140 Gram Vinyl with a silkscreened cover was just too sweet! Dark, moody, and even danceable with the Dub-esque bass lines - this was a band that sounded like nobody else in Houston. It's the work of a band that clearly engages music as an artform but yet never goes so far as to see itself as precious. This was music as engaging and emotive theatre without succumbing to corny theatrics or self-important pomposity. If this wasn't on your turntable in 2008 you sorely missed out on some of the most vital and original sounds of the year.


Best Trend of 2008
The humble 7" - This year it's hard to pick just one single. With the huge boom of local labels you could easily point to any label like Dull Knife, CutThroat, AG82, Ditchwater, Team Science, etc. or even self-released gems like the Monocles/News On The March split or the Welfare Mothers single and say "There, there that is the single of 2008!" only to reconsider as you flip to the next single in Sound Exchange's local 7" bin. So, I'm just throwing my hands in the air and not naming one for 2008! I was even thwarted in calling 2008 the year of the 7" as 2009 looks to already be lined-up with an even longer queue of 7" singles and EPs from more artists. So, God bless the humble 7" and all who sail with her.


Best Thing to Rise from the Bayou in 2008
Wild Moccasins - (Photo Molly Rodriguez) Hard to believe that last February, Ruth Rodriguez (yay Ruth!) wrote a little story in The Daily Cougar about a band by the name Wild Moccasins (Link). Here it is - not even a year later - and they've probably become the most ubiquitous band on the scene. It's not by accident or smarmy glad-handing that they have gotten to where they are - no, instead, if you've been following them this year, they've progressively gotten better and better by fine tuning their performances and their songs to the point where by the late summer they were pretty much an unstoppable force of H-Pop. Detractors may call them the Mickey Mouse Club but who needs those nay-sayers when you're in a club or warehouse packed with dancing kids having a blast? That's a rhetorical question, son. Look for their debut release in January 2009.


Best "Who the F*$# is This?" of 2008
Room 101 - If you walk into one of Roburt Reynolds performances (complete with stock film backgrounds and him collapsing on the floor), you'd think the guy was on leave from some lower level of hell but Chicago was his former residence and he has the aggressive post-punk angular guitar lines to prove it. And yes, while you'd think with the Wiggins, Hearts Of Animals, and so on, that Houston couldn't possibly use another drum machine backed solo performer, Room 101 proves that the pool is still plenty big. Bonus points for utterly driving poor Shea Serrano over at the the Houston Press nutters with a horribly obtuse interview (link). Look for a 7" in 2009.


Best Recorded Music You Never Heard in 2008
Jenny Westbury - (Photo Mark Armes) When I interviewed Jenny Westbury earlier this year, she gave me a CDR of recorded material which was a huge eye-opener to her depth as a writer. Later, a good portion of the songs ended up on the AllStar Power Up CDR issued by Joe Mathlete but many of my favorites like Plight Of Leah and Gadget didn't which is a shame because they are such good songs. That's one of the problems you run into when you're as prolific as Westbury, she'll create these wonderful gems and then, like a sand mandala, they'll just blow away. Lucky for you, I posted a few of these "lost" tracks on for Non-Alignment Pact - check them out here (Link).


Best Live Festival of 2008
Hootenanny - Here's how I figure it. On paper this should have sucked. Cover bands?! Yuck! Nothing but glorified Karaoke! But here is the thing, this small one-venue festival blew the roof off the Mink - TWICE! The brainchild of Anna Garza, Ben Murphy, and ADR (I think Anna was the original organizer of the first), it worked because the bands are by nature NOT cover bands and what you got, for the most part, were interpretations and not mimicry. From John Sears playing Sam Cooke on an acoustic to the (then) Dimes and Mlee Suprean literally making the Mink floor shake as the Pixies, the first Hootenanny exceeded everyone's expectations and fire code capacity. The second Hootenanny had two strikes against it - recreating the success of the first and a safer selection of artists covered - but those handicaps were quickly put aside as, from Marshall Preddy breathing life into tired Rod Stewart warhorses to the show stopping American Sharks take on The Cars, Twotenanny's proved that the local indie bands were smarter and more clever than any naysayer could have expected. Sadly, there will be no Troistenanny.

Most Ungodly Smell of the Year
Rudyard's Plumbing - Yes, currently there is a plumber working to fix the cause of this and it most likely is fixed by press time here but - woo - man, that was some heinous funk!

Best Reason to NOT Steal Money from the Walter's Tip Jar
Roy - Just trust me. You really don't want to do that!

Most Lovable Crank of 2008
Kerry Melonson (Satin Hooks) - When some people get on their high horse it is usually pretty annoying but somehow Kerry is able to get away with it because he has that gift where he can be an asshole without being an asshole which is a good thing as when the man gets on one of his rants about "what musicians need to do", he gets epic.

Most Weaksauce Moment of 2008
The Proletariat Closing - Jeez hard to believe that back in February one of the best clubs in Houston read the Metro tea leaves and closed its doors forever. The final bittersweet show may have been headlined by the Fiery Furnaces but it was the locals (The Dimes, Hearts of Animals, and Elaine Greer) that really stole the show and why not? This was more than just a skanky bar with gross restrooms and a PA in need of repairs, it was our skanky bar with gross restrooms and a PA in need of repairs. For many of us, Denise Ramos' little club will always have a place in our hearts.

----------
OK There's a lot more that happened in 2008 but my self-imposed time limit is up. So, have a safe and happy New Year's Eve. See you in 2009.

Wild Moccasins

Photography Molly Rodriguez

Pop. It’s not something that people regularly associate with Houston. Fair or not it’s a city more famous for sprawl, heat, mosquitoes, crooked businessmen, and masses of trucks, cars and neighboring chemical plants belching pollution into the sky than for being a home for bright melodies, sharp hooks, and youthful energy. Yet, over the last few years, there has been rising tide of great Houston pop bands that have redefined this city’s sound. Many come to mind but none this year has captured the restless and vigorous spirit of what is exploding out of Houston more than Wild Moccasins.

If you don’t believe that the H-Pop scene isn’t one of our youngest and most vibrant scenes, just walk into any Wild Moccasins show. Out in the audience you’ll see it: a floor shaking, hands rising in the air, voices singing along, and the joyous sweat of people dancing! Yes, people dancing! In Houston! To a live band! Bassist Nick Cody and drummer Andrew Ortiz are the kind of sprightly and agile rhythm section that demands a henie-shaking tithe from all who dare stand before them. Guitarist Andrew Lee’s clean reverbed sound may not be the distorted long-haired crushing sound of some bands but, much like David proved with a slingshot, there’s more to kicking ass that just being big and heavy. Front and center is Zahira Gutierrez (pronounced Zaira – the H is silent) whose stand-out vocals and (by comparison underappreciated) keyboards are the perfect compliment to principal songwriter Cody Swann’s guitar and vocals. It’s a band where each member throws in little flourishes in which their voice rises above the chorus but never dominates.

Surprisingly, this is Cody Swann's first band and the songs on the EP are the first he’s ever written. Cody and Zahira worked on songs together but soon Andrew Ortiz came in and gave the folky music a much needed kick. Nick Cody came into the picture when he heard them rehearsing at their friend Mary’s house with just drums and acoustic guitars and felt, not only that they needed a bass to fill out the sound but, that he’d be the right person for the job. Then, at a Dimes/Hearts of Animals show at Sound Exchange, they hit it off with a lead guitarist by the name of Andrew Lee from local ska band Dumbarton, brought him home, and recorded some tracks.

“I love those tracks,” says Andrew Ortiz, “because you can hear Zahira playing Mario Kart and cursing in the background.”

“Yeah,” says a red-faced Zahira laughing, “I kind-of really get into it.”

Andrew Lee says of his first impression, “I thought it was going to be a country folk thing but, once you put everyone together, that wasn’t the case.”

“The evolution from folk to pop was natural.” explains Cody, “It was a lot easier to play alone with an acoustic rather than an electric for me. ‘Shiny Strings’ was just a two and a half minute folk/pop song without drums. As we all practiced it, it became this poppy song - we added changes and it gained that minute and a half ending. That’s typical. I’ll write lyrics and chords, bring in a ‘skeleton,’ and [the song] changes. I tried with a new song to keep it set in stone and after a few practices realized it wasn't working for us. Now we’re very much what happens happens.”

That anything goes attitude was on full display at the last block party where the band seemed to shake the stage to near collapse. Andrew Ortiz loves energetic live shows, “I’ve been going to shows since I was 13 and there are bands that go, do shows, and just do their thing but then there are those bands that are into it - visually into it - and yet don’t sacrifice their sound.”

“It’s about being spontaneous.” says Andrew Lee, “When you see us live, it’s not like we sit there and say ‘OK, when I do this, you do this.’”

“For me,” says Andrew Ortiz, “it’s not about focusing on what I’m doing [as a performer], it’s about putting everything into what I’m doing but it takes a toll; I get tired.”

Mickey Mouse Club is a label that popped-up on Hands Up Houston and Nick responds to it with a laugh, “We’ve been called a pre-teen band.”

Zahira interjects, “I think it’s because we aren’t aggressive - people are wary of upbeat and happy music even when the lyrics may not be happy and upbeat.”

“Nobody called The Who a teen band and they were young.” says Nick Cody.

Andrew Ortiz seems equally perplexed and amused by this, “Criticizing our youth is cool. Not that I’m on a high horse but there’s this new community of kids and we’re all young and supportive. In Houston, all we have is each other; that’s cool!”

That camaraderie was on display in a recent regional tour with Young Mammals, Woozyhelmet, and The Mathletes What was simply a chance to play with some of their favorite Houston bands turned into a little goodwill tour where the Moccasins found themselves performing to rowdy crowds, having a blast, and redefining this city to outsiders. Yet, that gritty Houston stereotype is still a tough one to crack as Nick found out in Austin when someone, hearing they were from Houston, said, “Oh, sorry I’m not from Houston; I’m not into metal.” Clearly their work as H-Pop ambassadors has just begun.

The new Wild Moccasins EP, Microscopic Metronomes, is scheduled for release in January of 2009. In the meantime, you can see them December 9th W/ Peter & The Wolf & listenlisten @ Arstorm/Caroline Collective ($5 ; 7-10pm) and also on December 19th at the Mink Backroom Toy Drive W/ Buxton, News On The March, Elaine Greer, Giant Princess, and B-L-A-C-K-I-E.

Links:

Wild Moccasins on Myspace (Link)
Molly Rodtriguez Photogrpahy Link)

Music with Jameson & Lone Star: Riff Tiffs, Wild Moccasins, and Eastern Sea warehouse Party

Warehouse Party!
Peeps! Heat! Sweat! Dancing! Great Music! Mystery Beer! Awesomeness!

Chris Gray was going on a while ago about alternative venues and I have to say that a sweaty hot warehouse is a nice change of pace from the usual club de rigeur. I have to admit that I had a little problem finding 2220 Commerce so I went across the street where there was a hardcore show to ask and they really nice and pointed me in the right direction.* Once I found the warehouse entrance there outside were the Wild Moccasins, Elaine Greer and Austin Lloyd, John Sears, Tom Martinez (Tontons), Carlos Sanchez (Young Mammals), Joe Mathlete, and...well let's just say it was a party - an over by curfew party! Hell even 21-year-old Carlos Sanchez said "Am I the only one who feels old here?" Right Carlos! Not that anyone paid him any mind because the moon was full, the night cool, and the Astros even throw in some fireworks for good measure - good omens all.

The Eastern Sea started the evening with a sweet set. I really loved their set at Walters a few weeks ago. They are clearly having a ball making music and that enthusiasm carried through both performances. The songs are sharp and clever folky pop with great harmonies and some nice guitar work. The only thing is, this was a warehouse party and as such, you weren't going to get the nuanced mix that Terry gave them at Walter's a few weeks back so I felt that some of what makes them great was lost (particularly the harmonies). Regardless of any limitations, the music carried though to the point where people were swaying to the music and enjoying it and that is all that matters. I'll say this about the Eastern Sea. I've heard a few tracks on myspace of their EP but there is something restrained in those recordings and what is missing is the playful energy and joy of their live performances. Perhaps that's asking for a lot out of a recording but a band as good as the Eastern Sea deserves a recording that captures the energy of their music living and breathing in front of you. All of this is just a long way of saying that I really get a kick out of the Eastern Sea and hope they make their way down to Houston more often.

Next up was, yeah, you guessed it, The Wild Moccasins. Yes, I may have to purposefully have a Wild Moccasins review blackout because this is getting ridiculous. But it's so hard to do because they are so much fun. Friday they were as great as ever and they even threw us a few curve balls with a secret weapon - the dude! Yes, to the left sat a guy with a black garbage bag whose job it was to toss out what looked like sealed pastries and balloons. Now that's a freaking special effect! Balloons above a crowd are the great equalizer! Even the biggest thuggiest tough guy will invariably smile and bounce it back in the air. Sure, it's silly and childish but you know what? That's OK. It's not dark or ironic, or heavy - it's fun. Fun is OK folks! And fun music doesn't mean it's vacuous or cookie cutter fluff. There is craft and care put into what the Moccasins do. If you abhor the Moccasins or my "Mickey Mouse" taste in music that's fine. I'll tell you what; you keep going to "adult" rock shows and I'll keep hopping and singing the Wee Ooo Eee Ooos with Joe Mathlete on Fruit Tea.

Last up was The Riff Tiffs. I'll make a confession, I didn't particularly get into the Riff Tiff's album Afflictinnittus. To me, it sounded pretty but something just seemed to be missing. I could never put my finger on it so I shrugged off seeing them until this show. The thing is, like the Eastern Sea, the Riff Tiffs are a better band than their studio work would suggest. The Riff Tiffs are all about the sonics they produce live and Afflictinnittus just misses it totally. Live it's this big wave of notes that ebb softly then build into a tsunami of sound - I'm talking brilliant dynamics. Compare that expansive sound to the recordings and the band in the recordings sounds isolated from each other and compressed. Capturing the energy and force of their live show is what some engineer needs to capture - anything less and they fail. So what I'm saying is nice set guys.

Attention Eastern Sea!
We give-in to your cuteness!

The Eastern Sea - hmmm not sexy enough...

....Oh no wait! now we're tallkin'!
YES! Pale sweaty shirtless dudes!
Eastern Sea Hotness!

Now do you see what I mean?
The Moccasins are the party!!!

The world famous Wild Moccasins
state of the art light show!!

A Lite-brite!

If you read Hands Up Houston this week you likely saw this:
"I don't like the local kiddie indie pop bands or freak folk bands that are now all the rage. They need to go join the Mickey Mouse Club on the Disney channel. Usually any band that Ramon LP4 jerks-off about every time he posts I know not to listen to."
Andrew, of course, dressed appropriately.

Austin Lloyd or Charleston Heston in Planet of the Apes?
You decide!

Some bands spend millions on lights, props, and sets.
Fuck that! The Wild Moccasins
just had this dude toss out pastries and balloons!

Hell yeah! Balloons!
You can never go wrong with balloons!

Cody Swann
Neil Diamond "Hot August Night" FAIL!

This is really what the Riff Tiffs looked like without flash

Look that woman is dancing! In Houston!

We have attained Riff Tiffs nirvana!
The Riff Tiffs doing their best
Mudhoney impersonation!

....and that's a wrap!

Links:
More pictures on my Flickr (Link)

The Eastern Sea (Link)
The Wild Moccasins (Link)
Riff Tiffs (Link)

*Andrew Ortiz later ran me a breakdown of who was playing and it sounded like a pretty sweet bill. So hey hardcore promoters you need to give me a heads up; we love the hardcore too.

Music with Jameson & Lone Star: Paris Falls @ Sigs / Tody Castillo & Wild Moccasins @ Rudyards 08 August 2008

Paris Falls may have gotten a late start at Sig's Lagoon and had to leave their patented light show in the van but none of that mattered once they hit the first notes of Shelter from the newest album. Damn they kicked it with some emotion and the room sounded great - intimate and with some unexpectedly great acoustics. You'd think that a long rectangular room like that would sound like crap but the high ceilings probably made up for any rectangle issues because Michael Deleon's drums sounded massive - even when compared to the albums. Mind you, the albums sound great but Friday it was like hearing the albums with a bigger and fatter sound. You start with a great room mix then throw-in some solid tunes and the rest is gravy. The audience's enthusiasm on Friday night was surely a testament to that. For the uninitiated, Paris Falls are a band whose harmonies, guitars, and that crazy organ/electric piano sound evoke the more rough and tumble side of late Let It Be Beatles but that description is much too simplistic. After all, the important thing isn't the point of reference but where they take it and Paris Falls shouldn't be accused of mere mimicry. Like Gold Sounds, Paris Falls seems to have gone back and looked at some classic rock, torn it apart, and rebuilt it to make their own statement. Go and listen to Shelter off the new album or the exceptional pop gem Lucky from their last album and see if you don't pick a moon dog and radiate everything you are.

From there it was off to see the Wild Moccasins and Tody Castillo over at Rudyard's. I know what you are going to say, "The Wild Moccasins - AGAIN?" Yeah yeah, I actually was thinking the same thing. That is, until I walked in and heard them playing. Sure I've seen them a lot lately but this is music that breaks any clouds hanging over your head. Feeling down? Leave the pills and your psychoanalyst behind and just catch the Moccasins live. Everything - Andrew Ortiz and Nick Cody's enthusiastic rhythm section, Andrew Lee's sharp guitar work, and Zahira Gutierrez and Cody Swann's sweet harmonies - builds into live shows that follows in the fine Houston pop tradition of bands like De Schmog and The Dimes who combine writing, musicianship, and performance into something that is joyous and fun. Friday was no different with the band hitting all the right notes and hoppin' so much that my low-rent camera could barely keep up. But that's typical. Look folks, if you want to know where the party is, it's where the Wild Moccasins are playing on a given week.

The evening closed with Tody Castillo who may not have jumped up and down like The Moccasins but, if you were able to downshift a bit and listen, you got a good dose of straight-up melodic rock. Now having heard them play their originals live, his covering Tom Petty at the Hootenanny a few week's back makes a hell of a lot of sense. Castillo and his band just dropped hook-riddled no-apologies rock and roll. Perhaps because of the Moccasins, Castillo's rockers were a hell of a lot more fun. For better or worse, songs like Brainwashed simply sound better live than on his eponymous album. That's because, on stage, Castillo and his band discard the studio glitter and just rip the songs through their raggedly overdriven Silvertones. Hey, with a whiskey in one hand and a Lone Star in the other, that's all you need.

Paris Falls - no light show but lots of rock!

ADD band Jen and Ray -
Keyboards, Bass, Guitar...
I think the only thing that they didn't play was a viola.
Oh no wait Jen plays that as well!

There is no better reason to overcome
the pull of the couch on a Friday evening
than The Wild Moccasins.
Just think of them as
Houston's super ninja party attack force

Andrew lays down some
sweet reverbed tremolo goodness.

Tody Castillo the perfect musical
accompaniment to a Jameson and Lone Star

Tody Castillo and band takes the audience down.

And we leave you this week with bathroom art by Joe Mathlete:

If you didn't have any Problems - Joe Mathlete

Life is like a cow! - Joe Mathlete

Links:
More pics on MyFlickr (Sigs Lagoon and Rudyards)

Paris Falls (Link)
The Wild Moccasins (Link)
Tody Castillo (Link)
Joe Mathlete (Link)

Music with Jameson & Lone Star: Ume, Wild Moccasins, and News on the March Saturday 25 May 2008

Yea, for though tired, I marched seven stages and five parasangs to the Alabama Ice House. There verily did I bivouack with my friend from the North Eastern region. The provisions were many - Lone Star and Shiner were plentiful here - and after many discussion regarding bananas, Amsterdam, the largeness of Buckees 52Oz drinks, and other such pressing matters the soothsayers did infact suggest that the time had now long past for me to arrive at my destination at the allotted time. Nevertheless, after sacrificing one last Lone Star to the gods I proceeded to march four stages and two parasangs onwards to Numbers 2 for the Free Press Canned Food drive.

I arrived at my destination just in time to have missed The McKenzies which was quite vexing as their skills in producing enjoyable pop is heralded across much of this land. Yet all was not lost for News on The March, The Wild Moccasins, and American Sharks had yet to take the stage. Those in attendance were numerous but the encampment was so large as to render them tiny in comparison. Later that evening I would make my way to the Mink and, even though those gathered were no larger in number than those gathered here, the more proportional size of the venue to the crowd gave the impression of a vast throng. Here the effect was quite the opposite and once one put some distance between himself and those gathered their numbers seemed smaller within the cavernous surroundings. Regardless the crowd was just as enthusiastic as the one I could come to encounter shortly on Main and spirits were high.

News On The March came fourth onto the stage and there they did please many with their excellent vocal harmonies and impeccable guitar lines. These young Hoplites sung their paeans with great skill and enthusiasm causing many in the audience to holler and applaud their skill and artistry. It should be noted that they do favor Fender amps and thus their instruments of choice do jangle in a pleasing manner. Of note is one Austin Lloyd whose work on the Jaguar was particularly enjoyable. With his reverbed tone and extensive use of the tremolo bar he did, as it is often said, bring it on home particularly through the band's rousing crescendo. He and Joe Weber conferred a great benefit to the group with their dueling guitars. This was particularly notable as the played country swing lines and harmonies whilst the soundman found himself taxed by the soundsystem which mocked his attempts to right the issues with the cello. Theirs was a set deemed very pleasing the gods.

The Wild Moccasins though would not be usurped and they took the high ground on the stage with a youthful vitality that όλα τα οντα agreed to be right and good. With Cody Swann and Zahira Gutierrez leading the charge they did conjure uncontrollable dancing from those who did not take heed of the warnings and dared stand too close. Yea for the band did bounce and hop and no mere mortal could thusly resist. Particularly memorable was Spanish and Jazz where Andrew Ortiz's drums marched with Nick Cody's slithering bass and Andrew Lee's reverbed guitar laying forth a strong groove for Zahira's vocals whose rousing chorus pleased the gods more than 1,000 sacrificed she-goats. Yet, despite their mighty grooves, the end of the new morning's first hour lay a mere ten minutes away and text messages to Dunnock and Jeff regarding when Ume would take the stage had proved futile therefore it became prudent to take my leave of Numbers and march five stages and 3 parasangs to the Mink.

When I arrived, to my great dismay, Ume - though headlining - had been already laying waste to all those that stood in their path and, as I made my way to the front, Lauren did announce to all those gathered that this would be their last song. Normally this would have been quite dispiriting except that merely one Ume song is worth more than a full set from the fiercest of bands and, as fortune would have it, they performed an electrifying encore. Taking up the rear of the formation sat Jeff who, bathed in sweat, lay a beat that Heracles himself would envy while Eric, armed with a mere four strings, took the lowlands. At the fore stood Lauren wielding her Telecaster which many admired and feared. The renown of her skill on the axe is such across the lands that anyone who hears the smallest of runs immediately recognizes its source. This evening was no different and she thrashed in a violent blur on blonde hair as her fingers nimbly laid out runs of such fury that those gathered shouted helplessly in response to the force of the sound that was thrust upon their ears. Thus it was that with a mere three songs, Ume made the gods tremble in fear and only after seeing all before them laid to waste Lauren did approach the microphone and proclaim to those who remained standing a meek "thank you."

News On The March

The Wild Moccasins

Ume

Links:
News On The March
The Wild Moccasins
Ume

Spring 2008 Westheimer Survives Yet Another Block Party

No Beer or Jameson fueled review this week folks. This week I'm keepin' it straight edge. But even if you weren't abstaining, I hope you were able to make it out yesterday to the Block Party! I kicked around until 5pm and had to leave due to some other obligations but five hours was still quite the overdose of music. In those five hours I caught 20 acts and the stupid thing is, when I had to leave, I was bummed about having to miss Elaine Greer, The Papermoons, Oh Pioneers, Young Mammals, Rusted Shut and a whole host of other bands. Is that crazy? You'd think I'd have been sick of it all and ready to leave but the day was too beautiful and everywhere you looked you kept running into cool people and cool music. So here are some highlights:

The McKenzies drew me in with their upbeat drums, organ, and poppy melodies. For me, they were my happy pop "discovery" of the day complete with bubble machine. What can I say, I'm a sucker for the well executed pop song. Sadly, no releases yet but they say they are working on it. Highly recommended!

Defenestration Unit were missing a guitarist yet, no offense to Jim Otterson's skills, you never missed him. The band filled in the gaps beautifully and Charlie Ebersbaker's work on the Korg was a great addition to the band's palate.

Come See My Dead Person were a complete surprise. I walked in and there was this big dude with a small-scale acoustic guitar, a mandolin player, and a violinist, atop the usual drums, bass, and guitar. The singer was singing like some gypsy Tom Waits while the whole place was whooping it up. It's probably the only time I've seen a band have this infectious a "drag you in" live performance since the last time I saw the Sideshow Tramps.

Antarctica Starts Here played one of the best sets I saw on Saturday. Oh, this is a band that loves a wash of echo, reverb, and delay ON EVERYTHING. Add the shimmering guitars and their patient buildups leading to some gorgeous crescendos and I'm mainlining.

Sideshow Tramps make it look so easy! I caught a bit of their set and there is the drummer throwing his stick around like some Bennihanna chef, the washboard bassist is taking a solo to hoots and hollers from the audience, the cigar box guitarist is sashaying across the stage like he's Jimi Page, and the singer is making you buy whatever they are selling. Now, that's all fine and dandy but I'd gone to see Perseph One and that stage running late so I headed back to Avant Garden then, sure enough, when I get back, the goddamn stage is filled with people dancing and singing along! Goddamn it, I can't leave those Sideshow Tramps alone for five minutes!

Basses Loaded also fall under the category of bands that make it look easy with their cool bass lines, clever arrangements, and unstoppable skills. Fine cool I can deal with that and the fact that the whole American Sharks thing is also kickin' but I didn't know until later that day that 1/2 of the band was in The Fucking Transmissions. Fuck that! That's Bullshit! Attention Basses Loaded members, you have exceeded your cool band quota! Cut that shit out!

Buxton is a band I'd been curious to hear live since hearing them on Myspace and they did not disappoint. There's a lot to like about them, strong songs, engaging vocals etc. but for me the thing that put it over the top was the lead guitarist. Here was one of those bastards that had an insane control over what he was doing - it was enviable. He'd constantly punctuate the songs with these little guitar lines and phrasing that added texture, nuance, and weight to an already heady brew. One of the best performances of the day!

The Fucking Transmissions' set was hip hop at it's most musically witty. Ben (he of too much talent and too many cool bands) played guitar and bass simultaneously while the vocalists played off each other like droll school kids trying to outdo each other. Jovial and sharp, The Fucking Transmissions should quiet any naysayers who claim Houston Hip Hop is all out of tricks.

The Wild Moccasins got everyone in a tizzy. John Sears turned to me and said "Oh Shit they're the new De Schmog!" We'll, maybe if De Schmog was a bit more rootsy but, yeah, in terms of being upbeat, fun, and getting the crowd all nutters, they had it in spades.

I closed it off with Austin's Death Hell Battle Tank upstairs at Avant Garden. The singer (is this the dude from Fuck Emos by the way?) sure had sass. He got on the balcony and began, with his voice running through an octave divider, to taunt the people below to come upstairs all the while addressing the Houston crowd as "Hey Dallas" and telling them how much they sucked. The band - dressed in military headgear, fully in character, and with fog machine in hand - then charged through a really fucked-up version of The Immigrant Song. It was refreshing to see someone just be purely stupid and silly. Now I'll grant you, the shtick may get old but it was worth rolling this one at least once.

The Punk's Not Dead Award though for the day has to go to Cop Warmth and Blackie's guerrilla performance outside the bike shop. If you missed it like I did don't feel to bad; it was thrown together on a whim after the band's performance at Numbers . Cop Warmth are like excitable chimps and - fuck stages and set times - it was time to have some fun and fling some poo: get the equipment, set up by the bike shop, play, make some noise with Blackie, and hope it's all done before the cops shut you down. Just looking at these pictures by Brent (Link) and listening to what people said, Cop Warmth may just have topped everyone else and brought some much needed real chaos to an otherwise orderly event. Amen!

Here are some snapshots:

The McKenzies - awesome pop goodness!

The Defenestration Unit's Mike Switzer
has come to kick ass and chew bubblegum
and he's all out of bubblegum!

Generation Landslide
plays an exclusive set for Indian Jewelry

Skyblue72

Team Death Trap

Come See My Dead Person rips up Mango's
and that's without their entire line-up.

Swans Will Attack

Antarctica Starts Here lay down shoegazer
shit that makes your hair stand on end!

News On the March

Sideshow Tramps!!
I left for five minutes.
When I get back everyone was on stage.
Typical!

Mistress Green

Ill Advisory - the one man supergroup!

Basses Loaded!
Asses Kicked!
Mission Accomplished!

Lovie

Buxton! Holy shit they are good!

The Fucking Transmissions dropping some cognitive
dissonance on that one dude who writes-off Houston as
"a talentless hip hop sewer of uncreative ass clowns "

The Wild Moccasins
wowing an enthusiastic crown outside Mango's

Piano Vines you got that one dude dancin'!!

Death Hell Battle Tank!
Because sometimes you need to get your stupid on!

Cop Warmth & Blackie
proof that punk's not dead!

And Finally!
Best swag of the day was from Johnathan Welch!
He was dutifully workin' it for his spiritual guru,
& handing out the most bad-ass bookmark ever.
(Yes, Johnathan, I linked the pictures to the site.)

More:

Blog Reviews:

Breakfast On Tour review and pictures by Cereal (Link)

Handstamp (Chronicle) review and Pictures (Link), more pictures (Link), and Video (Link) by Sara Cress

Houston Calling Review By David Cobb (Link)

Houston Press review by Chris Gray (with link to a slide show Link)

Impose Magazine review and photos by David deLeon (Link)

Pictures:

My Pictures (Link)

Brent's Pictures (Link)

Groovehouse's Pictures (Link)

William Cordray's Picture's (Link)

Send me you Flickr and other related links so I can add them, eh?