Last night started off at the Sweet Leaf Tea HQ for a kickass hat & mustache party that only deepened my addiction to Tito’s-Sweet-o’s. Free booze = kinda running late to the Mohawk… I finally showed about 15 minutes into Harlem’s set. Oops. I’m sure the other bands were great?
I have to admit, I really like me some Harlem. Drunk, dirty, punky garage rock is a weakness of mine, and these guys deliver stage drunk like not many others I’ve seen. I also just recently reviewed the new album for – well, I’ll link when it’s up – and wanted to catch ‘em live. After all, it had probably been almost two months since I’d seen them!
But mainly, I’ve been wanting to hear Friendly Ghost live since I first started listening to the new album. I heart that song.
Also, Coomers, thanks for wearing the sparkly gold headband from y’all’s effing wierd video for Gay Human Bones like I requested via twitter yesterday. I <3 that headband.
Posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago at 11:44 am. Add a comment
How about a brief break from all the sxsw pics? There are some kickass shows around town over the next week or so that I’m really excited about.
Friday, aka tomorrow, aka 3/26: White Denim @ Antones – If you live in Austin, you’ve likely already seen White Denim. And you know they’re worth seeing again. (ask me about the time I caught them 7 times in 5 days at southby a few years back) Also, if you’re in the first 200 to rsvp on Do512, you get in for only $5.
Monday 3/29: Daniel Francis Doyle and YellowFever @ Red 7 – Again, locals, but DFD’s crazy one-man-band intensity and YF’s minimalist pop are always fun.
Wednesday 3/31: Ted Leo & the Pharmacists @ the Parish
Thursday 4/1: Harlem @ Mohawk – It’s their album release shindig, and even though it doesn’t officially drop until the week after, you can get your greedy hands on it then because they love you. They have a habit of putting at least one song on each album that makes it into my top 10 of the year, and this one is no exception.
Friday 4/2: Red Sparrowes @ Red 7 – You saw them at Fun Fun Fun, right?
Elvis vs Dikes of Holland @ Beerland – This should be awesome. I don’t know why DoH aren’t much bigger, because they throw down some awesome tracks. Combine them with the onstage crazy of that Elvis frontman, and it is a no-lose situation.
Posted 4 months ago at 11:23 am. 1 comment
Austin music is awesome, don’t deny. Garage rock, psychedelic, throwback old-school pop, a burgeoning electro-dance scene, and above all the overarching – and, yes, over-used – ‘indie’ title. After hitting post on this admittedly enamored statement, I’ll likely be hit with a scornful wave of dissent from the haters who delight in saying the local scene is dying. Eff y’all, Matador Records co-owner Gerard Cosloy is totally on my side here.
As proof of how promising he views the Austin (and Denton, our underrated just-head-up-I35 neighbor) talent-pool, his label put together Casual Victim Pile, a killer compilation of the local bands you’ve hopefully already supported for at least a show or two. It has Harlem, who signed to Matador in the fall. It has the drunken growling dirty psych-rock that is Elvis, the face-melting tempo-hounds Dikes of Holland, jaunty punk-leaning indie trio Follow That Bird!, and so much more.
It’s a three-day shindig at Beerland that you better not miss. Only $5 each day, 17 bands total, and if you get there early enough on Thursday you can get your hands on a free limited-edition poster commemorating this awesomeness. Friday and Saturday they’ll be selling the comp at the venue on cd and vinyl.
Thursday, Feb. 4
Follow That Bird!
Dikes Of Holland
KIngdom Of Suicide Lovers
The Distant Seconds
The Persimmons
Friday, Feb. 5
Woven Bones
The Young
Wild America
Flesh Lights
Elvis
The No No No Hopes
Saturday, Feb. 6
Harlem
The Golden Boys
Bad Sports
Love Collector
The Stuffies
Lost Controls
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago at 9:02 am. Add a comment
I love Free Week, but thank god it’s over. 10 days of late nights, jumping between 3, 4, or 5 venues each evening, and taking over 1500 photos in too-damned-cold weather is a recipe for live music burnout. (though it is good prep for the insanity that is SXSW (only 60ish days away!))
As usual, click the pics to see the rest of the set.
Amplified Heat
Cartright
Smoke & Feathers
The Ugly Beats
Vinhomudeh
LIONS
the inside band after LIONS… can anyone help me out? I don’t think this was In Dudero…
Harlem
Posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago at 9:24 am. Add a comment