Local albums make me happy. Mostly.

By Omar Afra

Woozy Helmet
Get Down

Get Down is an apt title for this album. Ha-ha. Not funny. OK. Anyways, Woozy Helmet is one of the most crunktastic things in the state of Texas and this album exemplifies that paradigm in every way possibly. The songs on this album range from broken glass massaged into your testicles to being spoon fed vanilla custard. You could call this album a 'recording' but it is really more a snapshot of their kick-you-in-the nuts-tight live show. What respect means to Jose captures the serrated edges of Woozy Helmet while maintain the melody and fun they pull off so seamlessly. Other clutch songs include New Bear, Strawberry, and Hopeless. Like I fucking said, their live show awesomeness as they so exemplified last month at Artstorm for their CD release. Though their myspace says they hail from Austin, a sordid town full of dubiously gay frat boys and hippies who advocate a kinder gentler for of capitalism', we like to claim them as our own as FRONTMAN Jay is a fellow Montrosian. Or at least I run into him at Catbird's enough for him to qualify.
See em' live in Austin December 6th at Elysium.
myspace.com/woozyhelmet

Check Other
Westheimer Traffic: The Mixtape

Despite having produced this stellar mixtape, local 'monsters' Check Other perform hip-hop live with the tenacity of any heavy band around. To be honest, that tenacity is missing from most H Town rappers live performance. Check Other's members hail from NYC to the Left Coast as well as right here in Houston. Comprised of Sunny D. Cypher, Mention78, Sid, and Tommy Bumps, Westheimer Traffic is rife with whimsical rhymes and audacious claims. Love (What I need), Corona Light, and Get U Down are no doubt the golden tracks on this mixtape. You will hear allot of De LaSoul in their sound as they generously borrow from them and are honest about their influence as they cite it with ease. Nowadays, who better to be inspired by?
myspace.com/checkother


The Small Sounds
Self Titled

The Small Sounds have carved them selves out an album out that is more country than 'Indie Country' but waaaaaay to the left of 'orthodox' Nashville Country. This 12-song full-length album has grit, tenacity, stellar vocals and playing, and sounds quintessentially Houston. The haunting tale of Mothers and Daughters is a pretty Texas country ditty played within the framework of a Beatles-esque progression (without sounding contrived). This album is recorded simply and cleanly without the corny sounding, over washed reverb that all the kids are using these days to record their brand of Country. Or whatever. As for live performance, The Small Sounds pull off all their antics on stage with ease and their harmonies are a delight. They play the Armadillo Palace on December 13th.
myspace.com/thesmallsounds

Room 101
Demo
Angular guitar playing, impassioned vocals, and meditative beats make Room101 one of Houston's most interesting new acts. This sometimes sounds like Jeff Buckley mating with Fantomas then rapidly dips into a garage aesthetic. Plastic Bag Hat is a bright spot on this demo recorded and performed entirely by 'one man band' Robert Ruynolds. He would just as easily fit in onstage with local acts ranging from Hearts of Animals to Rusted Shut. Catch him at The Artery on December 5th.
myspace.com/room10101

Jacob Meador
In Dependence

Jacob Meador has been engineering thousands of albums at Houston's famed Sunrise Studios for several years now. Sitting back and watching bands record for dozens of years while hiding away your passions and music has to be frustrating. Meador puts this frustration to use in his ode to 'modern rock' In Dependence. Slickly recorded and engineered, this 8 songs album misses the mark yet leaves the door open. Nonetheless, though I may think this sort of music is a dead horse, those of you who enjoy the stylings of Incubus and other comparable (shitty) acts may enjoy this. Guest appearances are made by several local notables such as Nolan Burke and Winter Wallace. Jacob Meador performs live December 6th at Fitz.
myspace.com/jacobmeador

Female Demand
Self Titled

2-piece drum and bass duo Female Demand wore Bumble Bee and Banana costumes while they performed at last October's Westheimer Block Party. As the sound of their erratic riffage escaped the inside on Mangos, attendees poured in to see what all the fuss was about. Those who did got a collective kick in the nuts from this fierce some duo. This self-titled ep captures that spirit in more ways than one. This roughly cut collection of songs is Lightning Bolt meets Zeppelin recording their music in the hole they dug Saddam out of. Despite the piss poor drum recording, check this out, then go see Female Demand live, and then load up on B12. Come to Helios on December 20th to see them as well as Satin Hooks, Piano Vines, Eastern Sea, Nick Greer, Ozeal, and Chase Hamblin.

myspace.com/femaledemand

Tonight Petr & The Wolf, listenlisten, Wild Moccasins, Sew What and FIRE!!!

You'd think I would have mentioned this in my Friday preview but for some reason I was mistakenly under the impression that this was next week. D'OH! No worries consider this your heads up for Music, Beer, and Bonfire at the ever wonderful Artstorm located inside Caroline Collective. Here are all the details for the show. (Thanks Saray for the heads up on my oversight and listenlisten for extra details. )

Here are the details:

Tuesday, December 9th
ArtStorm, 4828 Caroline St. (inside Caroline Collective)
$5 cover includes beer and bonfire. Starts at 7pm.

7:30 Wild Moccasins
8:15 listenlisten
9:00 Peter & the Wolf(Austin)
10:00 Sew What

More info here: artstormhouston.com

Music with Jameson & Lone Star: Saturday Dec. 6th a night of Hardcore and Pop.

Yeah, it's gonna be a good night when the first thing you encounter on your way to the White Swan is a van parked in the street with the overwhelming smell of pot and sound of Van Halen emanating from inside. I guess that means it's either 1978 or some Gulf Coast Hardcore kid feels that Women and Children First is the only way to get stoked for hours of the city's best hardcore/Grind/Metal bands.. Have you seen junior's grades? gneaw! gneaw! gneaw! gneaw! gneaw! gneaw! gneaw! Yes folks, The White Swan was hosting the second night of Noisefest. Here's a brief rundown of what I saw there:

The Assholes opened sounding a lot like the bands I had in high school after hearing the Circle Jerks and Black Flag only better, faster, and funnier. Imagine a guitarist that looks like Stephen King and a small bald big eared dude playing songs like “Stupid Fuck” which consisted of those two words repeated over and over in rapid fire succession for about 30 seconds. Oh lordy, who knew Assholes could be such geniuses?

Satannibis was a three piece consisting of a drummer surrounded by sludgy dirty bass and guitar ( I think that was Dissent's white Epiphone wielding guitarist). The great thing about them was the drummer; he played not with a straight punk 1-2 1-2 but had a brutal yet loose and jazzy style that was totally unexpected.

Battle Rifle was likely the most droll band of the evening. Opening their set, the guitarist announced with a smile, “We'll make this quick; I have a fight to watch.” which was met with a “De La Joya's going' down!" from the audience (likely those charming smart-asses the Hypocristinas) which in turn led to a a hilarious back and fourth between the band and the audience. The music was no less brilliant with the brutal assault led by the drummer's sharp fast blast beats – that guy was a freaking machine! Likely the only band I've heard recently that could make a 20 second song sound epic.

The Ale Gore followed. God bless their little souls but they looked like everyone's favorite nerdy friends led by a lead singer who looked like Jeff Goldblum gone hardcore – with as bizarre results as you would expect. Oddly though, despite his awkwardness, he was actually was a pretty good frontman who put himself fully into what he was doing and to solid effect and the band was, for the most part, pretty dead-on with the exception of the drummer whose single kick drum style left you pining for the double-kick assault you expect with this kind of music. That aside, the only real issue with them was that they simply played too long. This stuff works great in 15-20 minute blasts max but their set may have gone 5 minuted too long which, in hardcore, is an eternity. Nevertheless. they were pretty fun.

The last band I saw at Noisefest was Insecticide. I will admit it, I feel pretty stupid having never seen these Californians before this show. They've been doing this for 20 years and the kids all knew the songs and why wouldn't they? They were brutal uncompromising metal in all it's glory! The guitarist would blaze through solos with as much joyous ass-whoopin' as the best 20 some odd hotshot. The bassist meanwhile was a show unto himself – pure showmanship and without compromising the music (to borrow a quote from Andrew Moccasin). In fact, I was so enraptured in their performance, that I let my hardcore guard down and forgot to pay attention to my peripheral vision; there to my right was a body hurling in my direction. Thankfully the person's winter wear made for a blow as soft as a pillow but unfortunately it did knock off my glasses and, focusing more on my glasses than my balance, I fell flat on my ass. Classy! No problem though, everyone gave me a hand up and it was back to Insecticide in all their awesomeness!

Meanwhile, over at Rudyard's it was a totally different scene - the poppy indie-rock scene. Sadly, I missed Phillip Foshee but I did manage to catchElaine Greer. Beyond her trusty bass wielding sidekick , Travis, she was also assisted by Austin (News On The March/Humanicide), and Andrew (Wild Moccasins). Elaine was at her best. Hell, better than that. She whipped out a new song that I thought simply killed. Andrew kicked-in with this chugging locomotive beat while Austin laid down this lovely guitar line and Elaine's vocals carried the whole thing home. The song suddenly seemed to end as Elaine let a few chords ring on her guitar and the band then went into this lovely coda that was epic and heavy. Amazing stuff but unlike the participatory Hardcore crowd, people here were sitting on the floor or sitting in chairs like it was a poetry reading. Good god people! How anyone could sit through this, I have no idea.

Austin's Unbearables were a solid ensemble featuring two keyboardists, two wind players, bass, guitar, drums and one extra vocalist. The songs were sweet but the really nice thing was the leader of the band was sharp enough to leave the individual players room to move. The best songs were those in which the bassist would lay down a solid and dirty bass line with the drummer behind him laying down the backbeat. With that backdrop, the wind instruments (one woman of a flute and the other on trumpet, sax, and clarinet) would play off each other with a lovely psychedelic trippiness. Excellent stuff.

News On The March, whose EP release was being celebrated, stole the evening. If I had any issues with News on the March's Halloween show, I wasn't going to find them here. There the band's performance was constantly stepping over the music but here there was no sign of that. Here was a band fully focused on its music and delivering the goods. A lot of credit needs to go to soundman Joe Olmelchuck because to really appreciate News On The March live you want to savor it all and here the sound was pristine bringing out the glorious harmonies, rich cello, and those jangly melodic guitars. It was simply the perfect way to absorb the richness of what this band had to offer. And guess what? People finally got off their asses!! When Geoffrey of Sideshow Tramps started dancing with a woman in the audience it was the perfect expression of the joy that that band can bring to your soul.



Links:
More Photos on My Flickr

News On The March EP Release Pics (Link)
Noisefest Pics (Link)

Bands:
The Assholes (none, sorry)
Satannabis
Battle Rifle
The Ale Gore
Insecticide
Elaine Greer
The Unbearables
News On The March

The Music Crumudgeon's preview for Friday November 5th, 2008

THIS WEEK'S SPOTLIGHT IS ON
A Dark Crushing Hardcore Festival
and a Light Sunny H-Pop Record Release

H-Town Noisefest '08
@ The White Swan ($10/day starts at 7PM)
--Friday December 5th--
Gorenado, n.i.b.i.r.u., Termination Force, Ecocide, Dissent, El Desmadre, Laughing Dog, Catheter, Kill the Client
--Saturday December 6th--
The Assholes, Satannabis, 54R, Doom Siren, Snot Rokitts, Knelt Rote, PLF, Terrorism, Noisear, Superbad, Indigust
If you like your music loud, fast, heavy, punishing, and involving a circle pit then this is like an early Christmas present. The fun thing about this is the way the promoters describe the bands; you know, because there aren't enough sub-genres. So let's go though them shall we?

In Disgust (Extreme PowerGrindViolence, California) , Catheter (Grind HC Crusher Legends, Denver, Colorado) , Superbad (Crazy Heavy Jam-Grind / Portland, Oregon) , Noisear (Ripping Grind Brutality, New Mexico/Texas) , Laughing Dog (Crazy Grind, New Mexico) , Terrorism (Sick Grind/Gore, California) , Snotrokitz (Extremely Ripping HC Thrash, Oklahoma) , Knelt Rote (Portland, Oregon) ,
54R (Grindcore, Mississippi) , Doom Siren (Heavy Crust HC, Austin, Texas) , Kill the Client (Grindcore, Austin/DFW Texas) , Til Death (Crust HC, Texas) , PLF (Grinding Thrash, Houston, Texas) , Dissent (Burly Ripping Crust, Houston, Texas) , Satannabis (Slow/Fast Groove, Houston, Texas) , El Desmadre (Fast Ripping HC, Houston, Texas) , Termination Force (Grinding Thrash Metal, Houston, Texas) , Nibiru (Grindcore, Houston, Texas) , Gorenado (Fast Thrashing HC, Houston, Texas)

I love that there is a distinction between Crazy Grind and Sick Grind and that Knelt Rote's genre is merely Portland, Oregon. Oh and 54R, Kill The Client, and Nibiru. Grindcore? JUST grindcore? C'mon now, you're going to have to work harder if you want to earn those extra adjectives. But all kidding aside, this is going to be punishing and awesome. With sets expected to run about 15-20 minutes it's your best chance to come and sample some of Houston's and the Nation's best hardcore bands. Don't be intimidated, the hardcore kids are by and large nice people. If the circle pit is a bit rough for you, just keep your distance and you'll be fine. The fact of the matter is it's a bunch of kids out to have a good time. You should check it out or as the organizers say "Be there or POSE!"

Saturday, December 6th
News on the March (EP release)
with special guests
The Unbearables, Elaine Greer, Phillip Foshée
@ Rudyard's
News on the March have been laying down some lovely H-Pop that dips it's feet in Country Music while basking in lovely harmonies, clean reverb washed guitar, and some lovely cello work. Their previous EP release was thwarted by Hurricane Ike but here it is a few months later and the EP is in the band's hands and ready to jump in your CD player. Austin's Unbearables are a pop collective with some pretty arrangements and varied instrumentation that I'm sure will make for a very crowded stage. Elaine Greer's folky pop songs are always refreshing and lovely little gems that shine like a stars in the H-Pop sky. Phillip Foshée's folk music isn't the kind of thing that grabs you by the collar and demands your attention. Instead, it quietly grabs you with melody, emotion and understatement.

ALSO THIS WEEK

Friday, December 5th

Amplified Heat, The Big Green Machine, The Bexar County Bastards
@ Rudyard's
Jump in as Austin's Amplified Heat take the the Blue Cheer highway via Billy Gibbons Farm to Market. Oh yes, in case you didn't know, they even have a hot sauce made by Whorehound's Trevi Biles (Link)

Electric Attitude, The Gold Sounds, Studemont Project, Alkari @ Walter's on Washington
Go! Deer Park's favorite sons, Gold Sounds!

Benjamin Wesley
On the KTRU Revelry Report (6pm 91.7fm)
The Axeman from Fucking Transmissions / Bassess Loaded will likely be showing off his solo stuff. Neat!

Buddy Guy/Tom Hambridge
@ House of Blues
Buddy Guy is so amazing that even Hendrix would cancel his own shows to see him play. Check out this gorgeous video clip with the Texas Blues Legend Big Momma Thornton.





Saturday, December 6th

The Paper Chase, Tambersauro
@ Walter's on Washington
Can't tell you much about the Paperchase (thanks Myspace) but Tambersauro are one of Houston's sharpest and most energetic bands period. They're like the musical equivalent of watching gymnasts at work.

Andy Rourke (DJ set)/Fredster/Damon Allen/Les Boom/Shoe
@ The Meridian (Main Room)
Ex-Smiths Bassist Andy Rourke spins with some of Houston's finest DJs.

Secret Saturday Show
@ The Shady Tavern
The bands who playint he afternoon are hush hush but the price is always free.


Sunday, December 7th

Zechs Marquise, The Goods , Female Demand
@ The Mink
Marcel Rodriguez Lopez (of the Mars Volta) and his band, Zechs Marquise, clearly have been listening to a lot of Funkadelic and likely smoking a lot of herb if ya know what I mean. Should be a lot of fun plus it's one of your few chances to see a member of the MV outside a theatre stage.


Monday, December 8th

Fishbone, Heavy Mojo, Natives of the New Dawn, World's Most Dangerous Band
@ The Meridian
The first Fishbone EP was pretty amazing when it came out. I remember seeing the video for ? (Modern Industry) and wondering "What the fuck is that?" and immediately raced out to buy the EP. Somehow, they are still at it.

Dickey Hands, Burn the Boats
@ Boondocks
Monday's Free at Boondocks. Weee!

Wednesday, December 10th

Spain Coloured Orange, Motion Turns it On
@ Rudyards
This just popped on the radar screen so pardon the lack of a blurb but do these guys really need an introducton?

Thursday, December 11th

Eugene Chadbourne/Walter Daniels @ Rudyard's
Chadcourne's pretty fun to watch. Last I saw him was at the old SHFL and he ran through originals and interpretations of classic rock, jazz, and country in a way that recalls that same nervous energy of a mischievous child.

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)