It List: Thursday

Wax Museums/Teenage Cool Kids/Straight Paint (715 Panhandle): Tonight kicks off a four day mini festival at 715 Panhandle and 907 Denton st, which have become the most pleasant and reliable DIY venues in Denton over the past several months. This four day affair, called "Phat Camp," consists of a series of shows and events, and tonight's activities begin with a parade starting at 630 at 715 Panhandle (you can ride bikes, dress up, ride in the back of a truck or all 3, I suppose) followed by Wax Museum's tour kick off show, which should be great-- if you haven't ever seen Wax Museums or Teenage Cool Kids at Panhandle, you really should, because both bands are in their element any time they play there. Straight Paint is a drums/sax combo featuring members of Koji Kondo, and I believe tonight will be their first performance. Keep an eye on these two houses all weekend, as good stuff will be happening every night. We'll have more details on this for you tomorrow. And who knew that Payton from Wax Museums looked so much like Weird Al?

Sarah Jaffe CD Release Party with Thao and the Get Down Stay Down/Horse Feathers (Club Dada): There has been a lot of debate around here lately concerning the merits (or lack thereof) of Sarah Jaffe's music, and much of it has been misguided and downright silly. There's a shock, eh? First of all, the discussions concerning whether or not Jaffe is a "hot piece of tail" or whatever have been pretty ridiculous-- no, hot chicks succeeding just for being hot is NOT the totality of how the industry works, pal, at least not the sector of the industry that Sarah Jaffe would find success in, and that whole part of the discussion really isn't worth responding to beyond dismissing it as boring... which it is. The more interesting discussion concerns her music itself-- is Jaffe a "talented songwriter?" Sure, I suppose she is. Her music is certainly well crafted, intricate and tuneful, and her backing musicians are pretty solid in any traditional sense of the word. In fact, Jaffe's combo of confessional lyrics, a solid singing voice and competent playing sounds like a winning recipe for commercial success in the world of indie pop, and I wouldn't be surprised if she found such success outside of the DFW market. However, two things must be said: first, the number of other Sarah Jaffes scattered around the United States acquiring "buzz" in their respective towns has to be pretty large, doesn't it? There are a lot of intelligent female vocalists with solid backing bands who produce music very similar to Jaffe's, and at least thus far, nothing she has done really separates her from the pack. When you listen to her songs, you hear indie folk done well, but little else. Second, the potential for commercial success has nothing to do with the merit of the music in question, and despite the aforementioned strengths, Jaffe's initial output sounds extremely safe and marketable, taking hardly any risks musically, lyrically or otherwise. Not that everyone needs to "take risks" with their music, but "talent" is a lot more plentiful than most people care to admit, and it often isn't enough to be inspiring on any level other than a commercial one. Potential is an important quality when it comes to local music, and Jaffe certainly possesses it, but lets call this what it is-- relatively safe music for indie rockers to chill out to. Sarah Jaffe will open the show, so get there early if you want to see her. Portland's Horse Feathers plays similar string heavy folk stuff that sounds a bit more interesting.

80's Night with DJ G (Hailey's)