It List: Tuesday

The Sycamore house show in Denton last night went beyond my expectations. Both local acts were great, but I was really surprised by Best Friends Forever. The A/C in the house didn't work, so I had no intention for watching more than a couple of minutes of their set due to the extreme indoor temperature. However, once they kicked in with their rhythmically captivating (somewhere between Kira Roessler and every band on 99 Records) set, it was impossible to leave. A friend had warned me that they weren't very good, but luckily he was wrong.

Also: Ended the night at The Cavern where people were applauding Schwa for winning "Big DJ" at Quick's "Big Thing." It was actually nice to see such a positive reaction, completely free of the pretense found in many other aspects of the lokewl music scene. Congrats.


Little Joy/The Present/Queens (Club Dada): Apparently Little Joy will be missing founding member Fabrizio Moretti for most of the tour this summer; not sure what kind of an impact that will have on the public's desire to see the band perform. I can say with complete certainty that it has no impact on my own.

The Present includes notable indie rock producer, (Panda Bear "Person Pitch," Animal Collective, "Sung Tongs") Rusty Santos, who mixes improvisation and restrained, Satie-like, piano parts with this subdued yet dramatic trio. Ever wonder why some improv acts just bang away, while others tend to play what sounds like nothing but completely rehearsed "sad" movie scores? Chalk it up to style I suppose, but remember kids: style is everything you do wrong.

Leatherbag/RTB2/Delmore Pilcrow (Rubber Gloves)