IT List: Friday 11/24/06

Hey there. We've been doing holiday stuff with family, etc. this weekend, and we're a little busy taking naps and figuring out ways to avoid going shopping or even talking about shopping. We were going to do a big weekend concert list on Wednesday, but we just haven't had the time to get it done. So instead, we'll have little It Lists each day for the rest of the weekend before getting back to normal on Monday. Deal with it. Tonight:

Pleaseeasaur/El Paso Hot Button/Hardin Sweaty and the Ready to Go (Rubber Gloves): Pleaseeasaur is a joke band that probably listens to a lot of Ween and a little Captain Beefheart. Whatever. I hate joke bands. The real highlight here is El Paso Hot Button, and they are certainly a strong live band that is worth seeing if you're up in Denton. They play around here quite a bit, but I wish they did even more. They sound like they could be hugely successful and really goddamn good at the same time (imagine that), so I would recommend keeping your eye out for them. Great punky hard rock. And dude from Hardin Sweaty recommended a Swell Maps video to us on Youtube the other day, so he is awarded two WSJR bonus points.

...And You'll Know Us By the Trail of Dead/The Blood Brothers/Celebration/Brothers and Sisters (Granada): I haven't heard the new Trail of Dead album and I really don't give a shit. The last one was positively terrible (remember that song about the Twin Towers?), and I frankly don't even have the energy to make fun of this stupid crap. However, I've linked to what is apparently a fan Myspace page so that you can hear some of their better, earlier stuff if you feel like it. Yes, I did like Source Tags and Codes when it came out. Despite the suckness of the headliners, the rest of this line up looks pretty good. You probably either hate Blood Brothers or love them, so theres really nothing I can really say to influence you one way or another. You should know, however, that they can be unreal live. Celebration, who came through earlier this year with TV on the Radio, are surely the most interesting band in this line up with jagged guitars and infectious but understated rhythms that fight for attention with urgent and detached vocals that distinguish this band from the pack almost right away. They have a truly unique sound and a good one at that, and I would pay to see them alone. Brothers and Sisters: Son Volt with a slightly less entertaining singer and a Polyphonic Spree fetish. Enough said.

The Great Tyrant will be playing at Amsterdam tonight. Not sure who is opening for them (sorry), but they are expected to go on around 1100.

Dove Hunter/The Backsliders/Team Evil (Doublewide): I suppose this show is one to catch if you're interested in seeing a couple bands that many of the other local music news outlets have been buzzing about in recent weeks and months. Unfortunately, my limited exposure to each of these groups hasn't inspired a lot of excitement around WSJR headquarters. Dove Hunter is probably the most worthwhile of the three, with a slightly country/folk influenced take on the kind of jammy, dark indie pop that takes nods from Arcade Fire and the more relaxed moments of Wilco. The musicianship is pretty solid and the songs are well put together in many of the ways that you could hope, but there just isn't a whole lot going on that you haven't heard before, and even less that will get any of you very excited. They're much more tolerable than the average popular local rock band to be sure, but thats only saying so much. The Backsliders don't really do it for me either since I just don't like Reverend Horton Heat or the Muffs... sorry. And Team Evil reminds me of a more directly punk influenced version of a Frank Black solo record. Not bad, I suppose, but I'm not going to pay for it without hearing more. The whole show reminds me of OKCola.