SCR Blog

BandCamp: BOOKING PARTY, Take Two, This Afternoon

2009-07-12T12:06:00.003-05:00

Alright, so it's not really "Take Two," but the last attempt at doing a BandCamp booking thing ended up being somewhat scuttled by the asshole-ish theft of Caroline Collective/BandCamp honcho Matthew Wettergren's laptop & all its contents. That said, the aim this time out is a little different -- the next installment of BandCamp, BandCamp: BOOKING PARTY, is based around the fact that most bands

Fake Believe, The Red Line - Rudyard's 7/11

2009-07-12T04:04:00.003-05:00

Rock Houston here. �I realized yesterday that my blogs are going through the parent company's facebook... �So you can tell the difference, I'll try to remember to put my tag at the beginning of my reviews. The parent company decided to go to Mango's tonight so I found my way over to Rudyard's. �Made it in time to see The Red Line, a bluesy pop band I'd never heard of before. �They played

Yr (Belated) Weekend: Buxton 7" Release + thelastplaceyoulook + Really Really Free Market + Alkari + More

2009-07-11T11:34:00.006-05:00

Late start to the weekend, I know -- big, big apologies to News on the March & Grandfather Child for not ranting & raving about their show last night...sigh. Day/evening just got away from me, I'm afraid... Sat., July 11: Buxton (7" release)/Ghost Mountain/The Wild Moccasins @ Mango's See here, eh? Nava's Birthday Bash, featuring thelastplace youlook, Nothingmore, Deep Ella, Moving Atlas,

Update: Buxton + Ghost Mountain + Diagonals (All Tonight!) + Handsome Furs + Tiny Masters of Today + More

2009-07-11T11:17:00.000-05:00

Got some cool new reviews up, some just in time for the weekned-ness. There's a review of the really new 7" from countrified indie-popsters Buxton, which'll be released at a cool-ass show tonight at Mango's -- I've been digging the hell out of A-side "Feathers", in particular, but both sides are darn good. Full review up here. They're playing with not only much-beloved H-town indie-pop icons

71s, The Mechanical Boy, Electric Touch @ Warehouse Live

2009-07-11T00:35:00.005-05:00

I really wanted to get off to a good start on this blog, so I decided to go out tonight and rock out with Electric Touch at Warehouse Live. �I had seen them at SXSW in March and enjoyed them. �I even talked to the guitarist after they played in Austin, only to find out he went to Bellaire High, not 5 miles from my house. ��Great crowd at Warehouse Live by the way. �Each band had a good crowd

Benefit for Infernal Bridegroom's Jason Nodler

2009-07-10T22:25:00.001-05:00

Not a music-related deal, really, but given the circumstances, I think it's well worth mentioning. Jason Nodler, the founder of the much-celebrated, ultra-indie local theater troupe Infernal Bridegroom Productions and current Artistic Director for (and also founding member of) the relatively-new Catastrophic Theatre, was apparently hit by a taxicab over in Amsterdam right at the end of May. I

Introduction - what am I doing here?

2009-07-09T22:44:00.005-05:00

Hello,I'm Rock Houston. �I'm here to help you rock in the city we call home. �Space City Rock (my parent company) has been helping me do that for years and I want to repay the favor. �Several times now, I have come home after a show at 2 or 3am to email the "parent company" with some band names I want him to know about, and after awhile Jeremy told me I should blog about the shows I attend. �I

Young Mammals Prepare to Get Out of Town (for a While), Tonight

2009-07-09T16:31:00.000-05:00

It heartens me to see more and more of H-town's best and brightest flying the coop (temporarily, mind you) to travel the country and spread their musical magic far & wide. It used to be that a touring Houston band was more of an anomaly than anything else, but in recent days lots of talented-ass folks have been hitting the road hard, from The Wild Moccasins to Guitars to B�L�A�C�K�I�E to

Memorial/Benefit for Dave Rask, Tonight

2009-07-08T14:55:00.001-05:00

I didn't know Dave Rask personally, unfortunately, but even before his untimely death I'd heard some amazing things about the Seabrook-dweller's music, both solo and with bands Death By Texas & Barstool Forest. The bits & pieces I'd heard made him sound like an impressively good songwriter, somebody with the potential to do some really incredible things, and the news from the Houston Press that

Texas Heat, Melted Down

2009-07-08T14:07:00.001-05:00

Ouch. I'll admit it -- I didn't make it out this past weekend to the Texas Heat Music Festival. I know, I know; I suck. What can I say? Just the thought of standing on hot white concrete all afternoon beneath the blistering sun on one of the hottest days of the scorching-est summer in memory, with temps well above the hundreds and not a cloud in sight, made me feel more than a little ill. So

Yr Weekend: Happy Freaking Fourth All Over the Place

2009-07-04T01:29:00.002-05:00

Yep, it's that most patriotic of weekends, July 4th, when even supposedly un-American punks like me feel compelled to smile at our fellow citizens & fly flags & attend parades & whatnot. Oh, and listen to music -- you can pretty much pick your poison in terms of kickass shows this weekend: Sat., July 4: Texas Heat Music Festival, featuring The Rapture (DJ set), 2020 Soundsystem, Drop The Lime

Texas Heat, Saturday & Sunday

2009-07-03T23:46:00.000-05:00

Mentioned it a while back, but just wanted to drop a quick reminder -- today marks the start of the two-day Texas Heat Music Festival downtown at Jones Plaza, a festival that really, truly, looks to be living up to its name, considering how it's hot as fuck outside right now. The too-apt name notwithstanding, though, the organizers of the Texas Heat fest deserve big kudos for bringing some

Just Another Southern Boy: Joey Cape + Jon Snodgrass + Cory Branan + HoboMouth, Tonight

2009-07-01T16:40:00.001-05:00

I utterly, completely love the head-on collision that's been going on lately between snarling, four-chords-and-distortion punk and raw-throated, hard-drinking roots-rock. It's probably been going on for longer than I'm aware of, sure, but these days it seems to be boiling right beneath the surface, and I'm psyched as hell about it. The combination of ragged voices, Uncle

HPMAs Are Go: This Year's Lineup Announced + Voting

2009-07-01T13:17:00.000-05:00

Just a little fyi -- for those who've been watching & waiting anxiously for more details on this year's installment of the ever-entertaining Houston Press Music Awards Showcase, well, you're in luck, because today (I think?) the HP crew went live with the updated version of the HPMA site, including online voting & the full lineup for the showcase. Sweet! (Thanks to David over at Houston

The Rest of Yr Weekend: Indian Jewelry + Ragged Hearts + The Ginslingers + Grizzly + More

2009-06-27T15:53:00.003-05:00

What, you thought that was it for the weekend? Nah, not quite. Here's some more of what sounds good to me for the next two days/nights: Sat., June 27: Indian Jewelry/How I Quit Crack/Wicked Poseur/Flowers to Hide @ The Mink (9PM) Glad to see Indian Jewelry out & about again. It may be my imagination, but it seems like they fell back off the radar a bit after releasing Free Gold. Cool that

Cryptacize, Tomorrow Night @ Walter's

2009-06-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

Friend Conor has been singing the praises of SF-dwellers Cryptacize for a while now, but I've been slow to come around, I'm afraid. It's mostly a matter of expectations, I think -- I went into it knowing guitarist Chris Cohen from his work with Deerhoof & The Curtains and singer/guitarist Nedelle Torrisi from her solo, folkier stuff, so I felt a bit blindsided when confronted with Cryptacize's

The Phlegmatics, Tonight at Frenetic Theater

2009-06-27T09:55:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I've already blathered a bit about this, but I really, truly want folks to get out & see these guys -- The Phlegmatics are absolutely one of the coolest, most intriguing rock bands in town, grabbing hold of the Weezer geekcore torch and holding it high above their Marshall stacks. They play nerdy, angst-y songs about historical figures, kung fu-wielding friends, and sensitive guys who

Tonight: Sara Van Buskirk/Prairie Cadets + The Starlight Mints + Unsparing Sea + This Year's Tiger + More

2009-06-26T17:12:00.001-05:00

Believe it or not, tonight's a bit of a slow one 'round these parts, at least for my tastes -- not that there's not good stuff going on, but there's, well, less of it. Here's what I may be dragging our out-of-town guests (back in town after 5 yrs. from the pathetically music-less wilds of Roanoke Rapids, NC; one of said friends has to drive 3+ hours just to see bands) to tonight, Friday, June

Local Video: Springfield Riots + Black Math Biographics + A (Something) Fierce Pig + Dead Roses

2009-06-25T13:57:00.001-05:00

We're veering rapidly towards the end of the week and all the work-dodging that entails (not that I'm doing it myself, but y'know), so it seemed appropriate to post some YouTube clips I've seen recently of and/or by local H-town folks... First is a bit of an afternoon show last weekend at Cactus Music, with Springfield Riots, currently one of my favorite up-and-coming, fuzzy-warm indie-pop acts

Sporadic MP3age: Double Dagger (Tonight!) + Talib Kweli (Tonight!) + Hungry Villagers + Joan Of Arc + Rural Alberta Advantage + Or, The Whale

2009-06-23T11:23:00.000-05:00

Yeah, it's been a while, and the MP3s have been piling, piling, piling up; some are just kinda "eh" to me, but once I get a chance to sift through things, there's always some good stuff to download, like the tracks linked below. I honestly wish I could post more of the stuff we get in the mailbox; sadly, I often don't even have the time to listen to all of it... Double Dagger - "The Lie/The

Update: Paris Falls/The Small Sounds (Tonight!) + Double Dagger (6/23) + Heartless Bastards (6/24) + Eleni Mandell + More

2009-06-20T17:26:00.000-05:00

A bit over the line, I know -- got some new stuff up this AM, just in time for tonight... As I raved about earlier on, both Paris Falls and The Small Sounds are playing here in town tonight, and so we've got reviews up of both the brand-new Paris Falls disc, Volume III (which I'll admit I had a hard time writing about 'til I thought about it together with Vol. II & Vol. 1), and the

Your Weekend: Papermoons + Small Sounds + Born Liars + White Lies + Juneteenth + More

2009-06-19T16:48:00.002-05:00

Another weekend, more badass music to hear/see. I'll skip the blather this time out & get right to it; here's what I think sounds cool, complete with insane amounts of flyeration: Fri., June 19: Papermoons/ Buxton/ Airon Paul Dugas & The Religion @ The Mink Yep, those gentle-voiced folk-pop boys in Papermoons are indeed back in town, albeit briefly, and while they're here, it's the perfect

The Watermarks Need You (Maybe?)

2009-06-19T15:47:00.001-05:00

In spite of having released their latest EP, Thoughts Like Bombs, just a week or two ago, it appears that The Watermarks are still down a couple of members. Frontman/guitarist Cesar Inserny, bassist Jason Petzold, & drummer Nick Dudek have been looking for a keyboardist for a while now, I believe, but they expanded their search not too long ago to include a new guitarist, as well, and they have

Tonight: The Paper Chase (MP3s!)/Muhammid Ali/sIngs + Steve Earle in Conroe

2009-06-18T16:41:00.001-05:00

Another one (er, two) I can't believe I let sneak up on me; I still have yet to see The Paper Chase live, although I've been a fan of John Congleton and his dark, creepy-ass indie-noise-rock for a few years now. They're playing tonight, thankfully, up at Walter's on Washington, along with cool (although more "drunk" than "dark," at least in the first case) local boys Muhammid Ali & sIngs (a

Tonight: Santogold (er, Santigold) at the HoB

2009-06-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

Can't believe I let this one creep up on me like this -- one of my absolute favorite, most intrigued-by music-makers going, and I nearly freaking forgot she was playing here this week. Gah... Anyway, Santigold will be playing tonight, Wed., June 17th up at the House of Blues, and while I've been burned by the HoB recently and am somewhat disgruntled, I can't help but point folks to this show;