We're kind of having a crisis here at WSJR today. I thought SR was going to do this and he thought I was going to. Honestly neither of us is really in a position to be writing a bunch of event descriptions, as we will both be out of DFW this weekend. To save time, I am going to write in the my true defensive voice, which is what I always intended when I started writing for this thing. Please check out the 715 Panhandle write-up by Daniel Zeigler and Payton Green below as well.-DLFRIDAYFergus and Geronimo/Schwa (Bunker Hill): What do you have against this show? Is it that you don't like the Motown influence mixed in with your poppy indie punk? Seriously, what is your problem? Is it that your band has never had a single label solicit it for demos even though you've been playing music for fourteen years? While, they've had a hundred labels solicit them, and for all I know they have never even had band practice, and may not even exist. Is that your deal?
Is your problem with this show that there's a DJ performing? Does that totally fuck with your HxCx world? Sucks, man. Maybe he'll play a
Liquid Liquid song in there somewhere. Would that help? You seriously should just get over it and go to this show.
Metal Rouge/Anvil Salute/Shortwave Death System/Aaron Gonzalez, Nevada Hill, Sarah Alexander (Firehouse Gallery, Ft. Worth) Why can't people just accept that not everyone that performs music is going to "write songs?" What the fuck is wrong with people? Why do old people like
Jackson Pollock and treat him the way people used to treat
Norman Rockwell, yet when it comes to music, they hear something remotely atonal, "treated," or unplanned and they freak out? Why are young people in DFW like old people everywhere else? I mean Shortwave Death System's manipulation of radio frequencies with various effects is just more interesting than a bluegrass duo, sorry. Does that make me an asshole? Aaron Gonzalez just happens to be one of the greatest bass players that you'll ever hear locally, Nevada Hill one of the most versatile and interesting guitarists, and Sarah Alexander one of the greatest
and versatile
and interesting vocalists. So hearing them play together will be a privilege. Why don't you check this out instead of scouring for drink specials?
Jubilee/Big Fiction/Zwounds/Sometimes The Bear Gets You/We The Granada (1919 Hemphill)Fischerspooner (Granada): You probably hate this band because they're "not really a band." You probably just chalk them up to being performance art. They probably pissed you off when they covered that
Wire song. Maybe it's time to see if they have accidentally turned into a real band, as so often happens with groups that form out of high-concept origins and intent.
Johnny Moog/Hawatha/Ty City/Prince William/Yeahdef (Rubber Gloves): Well, maybe you don't like hip-hop shows, and that's why you're going to avoid this. Or is it because whenever the local media covers hip-hop, they always start calling things "fresh" and "dope," even though they would never call
St. Vincent "fresh" or "dope," and they come off looking like totally embarrassing, racially clumsy morons? If that's the case I don't blame you. But look, if you let that turn you off, I'm afraid you might be missing the best rapper in Dallas (Hawatha). I'm totally into the Dallas sound; I like the menacing repetition of the keyboard parts, and I think it's great that there is so much local rap on
97.9, The Beat. That is an anomaly like no other in Dallas and I think it's great even though being a blind local music supporter is something I detest. But all that aside, I think that Hawatha is a talent that's beyond being a hometown hero. I think he's much bigger than that.
Warren Jackson Hearne and the Merrie Murdre of Gloomadeers/Ted Hadji/Some Say Leland (Hailey's)SATURDAYSabre/Florene/TBA (Muscle Beach, 4PM): You probably don't want to see this show because Florene is so different from most groups playing houses in Denton this weekend. They're too instrumental, too ambient, too expansive or too "nuanced." Okay, maybe it's because that one dude in Florene used to wear a mask and that's too pretentious for you. You can accept
Dylan painting his face before a performance, or
John Lennon hanging urine-filled condoms in his house, but you're going to avoid this show because this kid likes to wear a mask. How boring are you?
Bleach Boys/Uptown Bums/Koji Kondo/Teenage Cool Kids/Angry Businessmen (715 Panhandle): People were always really annoyed at me for championing Angry Businessmen so much. I got shit for giving their cassette five stars, and I may be wrong about this, but I believe it was the only five star rating that WSJR has ever given. So that kind of makes the Angry Businessmen cassette as pivotal a moment in music reviews as when Source gave "Illmatic" "
five mics." They are just one of those bands that are so completely realized that it's as if they fell out of the sky, with perfect lyrics, sound, artwork, everything. I'll admit that I'm generally a sucker for extremely skeletal, bass-drum-vocal bands, and I always enjoyed the clarity in the group's music; a clarity informed by surf, soul, and melody steering them away from total blast-beat territory, while imbuing them with a sense of humor and groove not often found in hardcore trios.
Koji Kondo was a little easier for people to swallow when they were around, as they were more traditional as far as their setup goes. They wrote unbelievably brief, stuttering, blasts of prog-punk where the technique of having the guitars, bass, vocals, and drums all simultaneously mimicking each other made the songs seem even more complex than they really were. Lead vocalist
Tyler Tons is a vastly underrated talent as far as lyricists go, something that's easy to overlook when he is barreling through the first three rows of spectators.
It was also heavily speculated that I attacked a particular
Good Records clerk when he allegedly gave the band an incorrect spiel on local music consignment policy, in order to generate sales and publicity for the band. Look, there's just no way I'm that diabolical, trust me. I'm not a damn genius, despite what your mom thinks.
Record Hop/The Great Tyrant/Hawk Vs. Dove (Lola's Sixth): Oh, you don't like Record Hop because you hate the 90's and you hate records made in actual studios. What a shitty little 21 year old you are. You can't stand the fact that they make CD's and not cassettes or limited edition colored vinyl released on obscure West Coast labels. That doesn't mean they're "not good" or "don't rock." Get over yourself.
The Great Tyrant presents a challenge for you, due to their lack of guitar. I understand. That makes you sound like
Chuck Berry complaining about "modern jazz" like fifty fucking years ago. Time to grow up and evolve a little, okay? Oh, their songs are too long? I'm sorry. God forbid you have to listen or concentrate on something more complex than a ringtone or a gif.
Daron Beck's voice is too "gothy?" Fine. Go listen to
Deerhunter then, you fucking lightweight.
New Science Projects/Roy Robertson/Tiger Tooth and Paw/Clint Niosi (The Hydrant)Fuck You Pay Me/One & One Is Three (Fallout Lounge)SUNDAYCollick/Big Blow/Wiccans (818 Hickory St.): So you're too cool to go to this show because the dudes in Wiccans are in every other band, yeah it's annoying, duh. But maybe some of their more art punk and garage rock tendencies are put on hold, and this is straight hardcore. Maybe you can get behind that.
Chain and the Gang/Hive Dwellers (Calvin Johnson)/Shiny Around the Edges (Hailey's): Just because Ian Svenonius' philosophy is usually better than his music, that doesn't mean his music isn't generally pretty good, and that he's not a really great, unique performer.
Veronica Ortuño from
Finally Punk/The Carrots and
Karl Blau having been involved in this project may make this seem like it's a way too hip street gang that formed in the Pacific Northwest, but I'm still sure that this show is very much worth your time. Especially if you consider that
Calvin Johnson's Hive Dwellers are also playing, though Johnson is definitely a better pick up artist than he is a singer, I still love his voice.
TV On the Radio (House of Blues): I'm too tired and pressed for time to defensively preview TV On The Radio, but I will say that the best thing they've ever done is having one of their members produce that terrific album of
Tom Waits covers by
Scarlett Johansson.
Disqo Disco (Rembrandt's Dutch Pub in Victory Park)Querencia Community Bike Shop Benefit Show (Dan's Silverleaf): Featuring
Chris Flemmons,
Slow Burners,
Boxcar Bandits,
Sarah Jaffe.
.png)
