REVEALED: INSECT WARFARE LP ARTWORK

Minds are blown. Hold the brutality in your hands, hearts and ears when Insect Warfare's World Extermination 12" LP comes out later this summer on 625/RSR.

SABRA’S NEW BIG BROTHERS ON FIRE!

We’d like to present the award for Tuffest Week in Rock for this past 7er to our friend Sabra Laval. There she was one minute, driving her car and minding her own, enjoying the new Listen! Listen! ep no less, and then the next she’s standing outside the car as it burns to the ground with her guitar, microphones and left shoe inside. Harsh.

If her saintly pipes and auto misfortune weren’t enough, there was another reason why we took an hour out of our phone-destroying, wii-breaking player-hating Saturday night to go check her out – new lineup! Yuss. Returning to the stage as part of the band of brothers called the, er, Big Brothers was the banjo-tastic Mr. Craig Breaux, but joining them for the first time on guitars was Mr. Austin Lloyd and on drums Mr. Richard Didnotcatchhislastname. Yes. Drums. Richard and Craig play in a rockabilly band together (we’re stoked – more on that when we can unearth it) and we’d have to say that the entire thing went very well, and added a great dynamic to the live sound. Add to that the fact that Richard’s first and only practice with the band was a few hours before the show, and it goes without saying that there’s still a bit of this and that to be worked out before their next show.

Sadly, however, said show (in Houston anyways) is not until July 23rd. However, take some solace in the fact that there are now four (COUNT EM!) tracks of their available for download off ye olde myspace profile. If you happen to be in San Antonio or Austin, you can catch Sabra at the Mohawk or the Red Room on June 22 or 23rd respectively.

DECISION 2k7: IT’S NOMINATIONAL!

Last Thursday, as Alaska Senator Mike Gravel clearly demonstrated why he will win that and every debate leading up to the Democratic Primaries, we got a little lonely thinking about just how long it's going to be until we can submit that sacred secret ballot and then watch the results on TV with our best girl. Hopefully we will not repeat the mistake we made in the last election cycle where we fell for a girl whose mutual attraction was built solely on the potential of a Democratic victory, and the morning after was really the morning after of all times. Actually, we would totally do that all over again.

Anyways, welcome back from LiveJournal

SO – it does turn out that there is a little bit of the participatory democracy in our future, and its sooner, weightier and more award winning than you think. That’s right, none of than the city’s Graval of music sections is now seeking your nominations for the 2007 Houston Press Music Awards. This isn’t the time when you vote on the list put in front of you, but when you, citizen activist, actually write in the names yourself. Sadly, you are limited to a single entry and a single suggestion in each category, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting a few of your favorites in there using a bit of creativity in your personal pigeonholing.

NOMINATE: Houston Press Music Awards Nomination Ballot

ATTN THIS WEEKEND: WE LIKE YOU, WE CANNOT LIE

YUSS. We get to be in town with no work for TWO DAYS IN A ROW. It's like heaven all over again except we still don't know how to play an autoharp, let alone a manual one. SO - TAKE THEE A MOMENT TO CONSIDER THY PLANS, and know that we will be out painting red and causing terror to strikez.

Friday
Tyla (of Dogs D'Amour), Sister Devastation, Ragged Hearts - Happy Hour show @ The Proletariat

The Generic Tribe CD Release Show w/ The Generic Tribe, Novice, Confusatron, Hearts of Animals - Walters on Washington

Saturday
Voxtrot - Instore at Urban Outfitters in Rice Village (free, but you need to get an e-ticket here)

The Masquerade Charade (serious masquerade party) featuring music from 2 Star Symphony, Leslie, The Ly's, M.E.R.C.Y., The Fcking Transmissions, T&T Music Factory and You(genious) - The Proletariat

Sunday
GLASNOST, Thieves like us, Girls and Boys club, Die Grauzone - Notsuoh

Men, Women and Children, Oohlas, Margot @ the Mink

Lucinda Williams @ The International Festival

REVIEW: THE GENERIC TRIBE - THE DRESSMAKER, THE DRONE AND THE YELLOW

One thing we greatly enjoy about Houston (indeed, perhaps the 3rd strongest barrier between us and collective homeownership in Buffalo, Pittsburgh or Milwaukee) is the imbrededly tight group of personalities that populate the various acts (living or defunct) who stand before us, play before us and make the darkening hours of the day worth the time toiling indoors. Take the new Jana Hunter record (what, you thought we were going to go a week without mentioning her? Yr silly) It has many local kids on it, like this one guy who is in Fatal Flying Guilloteens, which has a member that used to be in this band Blueprint with a dude whose now in Spain Colored Orange, which has a beard-o that was once in The Kimonos, who also once had a guy who is now in Le Thargic, which has a buerretist that recorded the Turkeys' record, which has a guy that used to be in God’s Temple of Family Deliverance, which has a surfer-cut who was in Dethro Skull with a guy who is in Inoculist who is the same dude who also chipped in on Jana’s record and cue the animated sunrise and lion and Elton John singing The Circle of Life' and all that.

There are about a million ways we could have done that circuit, and we freely admit that, aside from scene points, one of the reasons The Skyline Network is even around is to weave a narrative into these connections and expose those so inclined to the wicked rich and healthy community of music here in the city’s heart. But, equally so, we write what we do to try and find the other stories like this – the other circles and cores and uncoordinated collective actions that doubtlessly exist elsewhere in our local calling zone; to break the lock on those chests and add their narratives to the larger story of the 713/281/832.

We’ve been suspecting for a while now that the Generic Tribe is part of one of those other circles that we’ve been gunning for. Turns out, they are, and their new record, The Dressmaker, the Drone and the Yellow, is pretty much the smoking gun. But who else dwells in their patch of savannah? They are more than a little coy in responding:

Yes we do work with a lot of artist...we are a tribe. Mostly local musicians that are our friends. That is part of the mystery of the generic tribe. we are not ones to put any names on our cd's…Friends come by and add their parts and there is the magic to it.

Mystery, about the tribe, about the membership, about who contributes, is a fairly overt theme in our correspondence with them. And while it’s nearly impossible to not recognize Sabra Laval’s pipes and cadence, the rest of the talent (key word) and their other projects (by extension) remain in occultation. Some will say “that’s chill – I like the idea of the mystery and not knowing who’s involved,” while others will likely lean more towards “woah, total dick move – I want to check some of these other people out!”

We’re in the ‘check the other people out category.’

On Dressmaker, as it would be in any healthy flop-housish music scene, is all over the place, genre/stylistically. Except it’s not a scene, it’s a record; it’s not a compilation culled from the catalog of a dozen bands in a scene, it’s a compilation of the talents of a scene organized around a core of a few regular performers. We dig that idea, and pass major props on to all involved, even though we wish we had a bit of a clue more about who they were. So, with that out of the way, onto the record itself.

We freely admit that our introduction to the Generic Tribe was through a few songs on their MySpace, tracks like ‘Momma Come Quick’ and ‘Hold onto a Tuesday’ (both on the Dressmaker) which gave us a certain impression and pre-conception of the band as easy-going gulf fishermen with a jug of the psychedelic. This even tended to hold up with the somewhat abridged version of their set at the Westheimer Street Festival we were able to take in. So we were always a little perplexed when reviews of their earlier CDs kept comparing them to Eminem (this is their seventh, btw. SEVENTH!). And we still are, frankly.

More than Marshall Mathers, you’ll hear Jewish Brooklyn party rap, dark electro, French-vocaled twee-tronica, guitar pop that’s more Lennon than McCartney, My Life with The Friday Classic #’s and New Power Generation solo project fodder… and once you’ve heard those tracks, you’ll still have twenty more songs to consider. Seriously. This album has three more dunks than a Michael Jordan jersey, and nearly each one is completely unrelatable to what immediately preceded it. In fact, please do not take the fairly obvious descriptions we employed earlier in this paragraph to mean these compositions are obvious apeings. To the contrary, we are paid by the word and simply don’t sell enough ads to even to begin to describe things as they should be were this even a 10 minute ep. It is an understatement to note that this is not a record that will help you sustain a mood, unless that mood is ADD.

But yet, like a compilation skillfully culled regionally rather than thematically, it works. There are tracks you will skip, and tracks you will loop; and they won’t be the same for everyone, and they won’t even always be the same ones for you. One thing is pretty consistent, though – you aren’t likely to listen to it just once. Indeed, we’re of the impression that, with enough repeats, you will, in-fact, begin to find the common threads throughout it. And that you will find, on that fabric, that there is a narrative for that scene (the one we wanted to help write). And that the Generic Tribe win; they get both their mystery, and their narrative and (bonus) they get to do it themselves, at home, in their studio, on their own terms and in their own way of communicating. And we’ve gotta say, that’s pretty whipass. Recommended.

Get your hands on a copy of The Dressmaker, the Drone and the Yellow at the CD’s release party tonight at Walter’s on Washington, and get a little further into the mystery as they perform live and potentially live up to their reputation of having other artists on stage with them. Also on the bill are Novice, Confusatron and Hearts of Animals.

DUMB QUESTIONS/SMART ANSWERS: HOLLYWOOD BLACK

Every Thursday we take a few minutes of time out of some poor soul's life and ask them the most typical typical boring journalism 101 questions we could come up with. Responding to our desperately last-minute please for content this week were none other than the Chris of Mia Kat kool kids, Hollywood Black. Let the information sharing begin!

What's your favorite record lately?
Recently I've been playing Hot Snakes "Thunder Down Under", Make Believe's "Of Course", and Starflyer 59's "Gold"

Is there a Houston band who you've been digging lately?
I'm a fan of The Dimes. I also love Something Fierce. They are all super nice people.

What's your secret Houston place?
I really don't have a "secret" place. If I'm out and about in Houston, I usually stop by Agora to relax and have some coffee.

What's the best thing you have spent money on in the last year?
The best thing I have put money towards is my credit card debt..haha. Oh, and I just recently bought the "Planet Earth" dvd. I love it! Nature is interesting to me.

What is the best thing you got for free in the last year?
Beer

Is there a question you wish we would have asked, and what would the response be?
Q: Is pimping easy?
A: For Hollywood Black, Yes

What does hollywood black have going on right now?
We are currently booking our Summer tour right now. We will be featured in the Houston Chronicle on May 10th. We will also be featured in the May/June issue of HM Magazine. We are also performing at this years Cornerstone Music Festival in Illinois.

You can catch Hollywood Black in person tonight at Walter's opening up for Vederna and This is Me Smiling.

TWO FOR THURSDAY: ANOTHER JAZZ POST!

HEY – GUESS WHAT WE LIKE? GOOD CITIZENS. No, we’re not talking about those price-you-out-of-the-Montrose townhome owners that always keep their yards clean and their shades drawn (die – or better yet, come to see what you have destroyed and live forever knowing it), we’re talking about people and organizations that do Eagle Scout level kickbacks to the people in our community that just kinda get overlooked (to say the least). And since we dig on music almost as much as we do Scandanavians, we’re more than happy to throw some of our measly promotional power behind an event that the good folks over at Nameless Sound have going on Saturday night, even though it involves out-of-towners (who, therefore, are mad suspect).

But first, Nameless Sound is an org in Houston that not only brings in some top notch music into town, but has does workshops and what-nots with those artists (and locals) targeted towards public schools, community centers, homeless shelters and whatnot. LIVE FROM THE PR PAGE, HERE IS WHAT THEY IS ABOUT:

Nameless Sound 's Creative Music Workshops are designed to stimulate a supportive environment for artistic exploration through music improvisation. The processes explored emphasize the important values of diversity, dialogue, self-awareness, group awareness, listening, creative problem solving, spontaneity, and risk taking. Creative Music Workshops offer the potential for personal growth and community development through creative improvised music.

So, pretty rad, eh? Well, double time when you consider that this weekend they’ll be offering up a performance by White-Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Lightning Bolt-covering Joe McPhee and The Thing (go read Anna Garza’s write-up of the show here). The show is at MECA, has a student discount, everyone under 18 gets in free and supports the wicked good work that Nameless Sound does. Yup.

(back to the ROCK after this post, we promise).

DROP TRIO DROP TOUR DATES

Now, generally we don’t cover the jazz scene in our fair city. This is not because we are ignorant of the ones and threes of this particular art form – far from it. Not only did we receive very high marks in the Jazz Appreciation coursework that we took together during our time at the University of Texas in Austin (seriously) and we know the intense aphrodesiatic power of The Gentle Side of John Coltrane. Heck, like jazz great Woody Allen, we once played the clarinet, and pretty much only still have a Walkman so that we can listen to this one particular Chet Baker tape that we haven’t ever found anywhere else (in this day and age, all other Tape Deckage has long since been broken).

That being said, we have always kind of dug on the stuff that locals Drop Trio do whenever we catch them here or there. And, it being a slow news week for us, we though we’d take a moment to step outside our comfort zone and let you know that our decidedly un-Weather Reportesque Houstonians are on somewhat of a tear of a tour through the Southwest and the West coast. Peep the complete schedule here, and be prepared to read about such diverse locations as Lubbock, Mesa, Seattle and Oakland. Drop Trio also has been working on another album which is due out this fall and, presumably, should help propel them to a five-peat in terms of their winning Houston Press Music Awards. Peep a preview track below.

MP3: Drop Trio - Track 1, Session 1

PS: If you are in a band or in the know and disagree that this is a slow news week, for goodness sake please email us with the scoop. kthnx.

ON THEE ROAD AGAIN: WICHITA FALLS, TX

You think you’re probably having a pretty whippers of a Sunday, huh? I mean, you’re got plenty of good shows to choose from tonight, and according to our sources the weather has been of the extreme patio orientation all day. Well JOKES ON YOU cause for the next couple of days the entire staff is on a VIP BIDNEZ TRIP to the nearly Oklahoman town of Wichita Falls. It’s not our first time here, but this is the first time we have experienced the two star glory of the newly anti-vated Howard Johnson’s Hotel. We’re on a quest for more small town headwear and to actually see the vaunted falls this time. But first, off to an ice-breaker with a country cover band. No, seriously. Please keep your jealousy contained and excuse the clearly-stolen-from-the-internet nature of the next few day’s posts. RADDISH!

ATTN THIS WEEKEND: YOU ARE FESTIVAL CRAZY

Dang Houston (and surrounding towns), you must have figure out in advance that the weather was going to be ACES for the next couple days, cause you’ve got more music festivals going on than bubbles in a can of SPARX! Of course, if you’d rather be in a place where you could tear the roof off the suckah (as opposed to hearing said mantra intoned in a setting where there is no actual roof) you’re in luck too. Have fun, be safe, eat your vegetables.

FRIDAY
The Appleseed Cast, The Life and Times, Sharks and Sailors @ Walter’s
Marked Men, Born Liars, The Points, Something Fierce @ Rudz

SATURDAY
Listen! Listen! EP release party w/Jenny Westbury, Secret Sideshow @ Notsuoh
Ethan Durelle, Hemyah, Warm winter, Preserve the Sound, Robert Ellis, Autonomy @ The Cherotel (Lake Jackson)
George Clinton Parliament/Funkadellic @ The International Festival (Downtown)
Buzzfest XIX @ The Woodlands
The Alvin Music Festival @ National Oak Park (Alvin)
Texas Crawfish Festival @ Preservation Park (Spring)
Matt Ellis and the Mayapples (ex-The Nautical Mile), Buxton, Meryll @ Superhappyfunland

SUNDAY
Cop Warmth, Rape Worm, The Sporatics, Hearts of Animals @ Notsuoh
Western Civilization, Peekaboo Theory @ The Proletariat
STNNNG, The Kimonos, Blades @ The Mink
Angelique Kidjo @ The International Festival (Downtown)

REVIEW: LISTEN! LISTEN! - LISTEN! LISTEN! EP

Any time truly spent in the splendor of the rural is precious. This is not a statement of urban fantasia regarding the clean air and hearty ethic of a life more pastoral. As a people, as a Nation, we have a wholly unique connection to the land; to what is now constructed as the Rural but what was once the West or the Frontier. This piece of God’s earth was de- and re-peopled by men of little means who owned land and profited (however little) from it, rather than being tied to and part of the profit of the soils that their forbearers worked in the Motherland.

(We should stop here and state, unequivocally, that this was by no means a universal experience. Many among us descend from those who had precisely the opposite of this experience – those whose ancestors related to the land in ways other than ownership and who were brought here to be made slaves to the children of serfs; to be part of the profit of the land. But so strong remains the hegemony of those descended from the Scots-Irish push Westward that even the most recent immigrant to our shores will find themselves quickly coated in this particular micah flake of American exceptionalism and will be near powerless to prevent its internalization.)

In the rural this connection remains. Profit is still made from the very vastness of the open dirt; from proximity to where God has hidden special abundance rather than through the urban proximity of man to man. In both places there is still toil and there is still struggle, but we view each other’s space, the Urban and the Rural resident both, as a refuge and a place to flee away from the particular way in which our experience breaks our backs and ruptures our hearts. As most of us now live within beltways and loops, a buckless hunt can be near antidote to the familiar struggles, scrapes and victories of a life where the number of bars on a cell phone matters.

And this distinction is in music too. Can we, the Urban, really move beyond the roadside attraction and old-timey good feelingness of a song like ‘My Oklahoma Home’ to understand how its narrative meaning is no less beat down than that of ‘Working for the Weekend?’ While each has a pop-protest approach to the particular condition that each man must make profit in order to live, the difference is in how this struggle is espoused, expected and experienced. In that sense, though their instrumental palette is straight from an old Kentucky home (along with the few flourishes that a musician was able to save as his gypsy ghetto burned), Listen!Listen!’s self titled ep is a wholly urban experience.

It is not bluegrass; it is not country, or not even particularly folksy – though they both use entirely the same set of strings and strums, this record will never fit comfortably in any playlist that also includes the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, or any variation on dueling banjos.

Unexpectedly rich and nuanced, it evokes the vastness of malaise rather than open air; It is the cramped beauty of a cameraphone shot of the endless grey of a cold parking-lot corner, but one that has been re-plowed and seeded because of the unexpected late-spring freeze. The lyrics, the meaning, the core of the message being communicated to you is common, and applicable and empathizable from your own city sickened experience; medications to be taken, eyes in backs of heads and all of that. But it is wrapped in so fresh a husk that it is as much an escape as waking from a slumber in a hayloft. This record made us go out and buy a banjo (seriously) and mega-dittos on feeling like no amount of our prose could do it justice. Just go buy this record – you owe yourself some peace in the valley.

Listen! Listen! release party for their self titled ep is Saturday, April 21st at Notsuoh with Jenny Westbury and Secret Sideshow also on the bill.

MP3: Listen!Listen! - The Winter of Two Thousand and Five
MP3: Listen!Listen! - Watching the Watchers Watch us Watching

DUMB QUESTIONS/SMART ANSWERS: SHARKS AND SAILORS

Every Thursday, we subject someone in a band the brings the pain to the most asinine music-journalism 101 questions we can think of and post their responses. This week, we are relieved to have the completely non-potty mouthed responses of Sharks and Sailors bassist and hater of her own press photo, Melissa Lonchambon. LET ER RIP:

What's your favorite record lately?
The last few records I picked up were Panda Bear - Person Pitch, Don Caballero - World Class Listening Problem, and the new Blonde Redhead. So I've been jammin those the most the last couple weeks.

Is there a Houston band who you've been digging lately?
Blades is one of my favorite Houston bands. I'm a sucker for catchy math-esque instrumental rock. Also, Golden Axe, Jana Hunter, Sinews, and Listen, Listen.



What's your secret Houston place?
I don't think I really have a secret Houston place. My neighborhood is kind of a secret Houston place because it's inside the loop and near downtown, but somehow feels completely on the outskirts sometimes. It hasn't been overrun by townhomes and Starbucks yet and the Shell station is the 'hotspot'.

What's the best thing you have spent money on in the last year?
The best thing was a mac laptop.

What is the best thing you got for free in the last year?
A new job.

Is there a touring act you are looking forward to seeing?
Maserati in June. Again with the being a total sucker for instrumental bands. Battles. I might make it to Austin to see Blonde Redhead, too. Also, does anyone have an extra Police ticket? Wanna take me?

Is there a question you wish we would have asked, and what would the response be?
I wish you would have asked me about the Indie Rock Tackle Club and if you could join it. And I would say the first rule is no one talks about the indie rock tackle club…

What do the Sharks and Sailors have going on right now?
We're in the middle of recording an album at Dead City Sound. Which, by the way, is a great place to record. I highly recommend it. Especially if you don't like trash cans. So yeah, we're pretty excited about the record. And excited to write a slew of new songs in the next few months. We're also doing some globe-trotting in June, including a date in Corpus Christi, TX. So if anyone is down for a beach trip, bring it on!

Still plotting your path through the wilds of this weekend? Consider a route that takes you through Walter's on Friday night, where Sharks and Sailors are on the bill with The Appleseed Cast and The Life and Times. Also, yr being silly if you haven't yet caughed up the FREE to download their first ep from last.fm.

DRAMA! LOMAX DISSES ON CHRON!

SUFFERING SUCCOTASH! After a few years of pretty fair criticism of the live music content happening at our annual International Festival (this weekend, btw), perennial not-down-with-the-scene Houston Press music editor John Lomax changes his target in this year’s discussion of the event, stirring up a bit of raven poo and flinging it right at the wicked poorly marketed chron.com.

And, oh yeah, there's an irony here we would feel remiss, or at least ungratified, in not pointing out. The local music stage's official name is the “Chron.com Houston Stage Presented by Flamingo Gardens.” Hmmm. Given my role in picking the talent, this handle makes this stage look like a Coors Lite-sponsored soiree at which only Guinness Stout is dispensed, but if those johnny-come-latelies at the Chron can sleep soundly after slapping their name on something that was in no small part my work, they can go right ahead. Nighty-night, liars.

GUFFAW @ “Nighty-night, liars.” Lomax’s ‘role in picking the talent’ (all that work) is outlined earlier in the article, where he states “late last year, [Festival Music Curator Rick] Mitchell asked me to send over a list of bands for his and the other organizers' consideration, which I did, and more than a few of them made the cut.” Damn. Stone cold. You sent a list? Who would think the Chron could just chip in some money and end up with a stage of the same acts that they cover anyway. We totally feel the pain.

THAT’S WHY, as of this writing, we have decided to not be all drop-the-ball-like-Alvarez and get waaaay ahead of the curve. We have just completed sending our own list (look to your right – we just cut and paste) along with a check for $35 (thanks advertisers) as a down payment for what we hope will be the 2008 International Festival’s “Donnie’s Port-o-Let Presents The Skyline Network Damn Hipsters Stage.” Yusss. It’s gonna totally rule and totally not going to happen.

REVEALED: SOMETHING FIERCE SPLIT

NO! NOT SPLITSVILLE! As far as we know, there is no danger of a Burt and Loni anywhere in Something Fierce’s walk on the Hollywood Stars. We’re talking about their upcoming split 7” with College Station’s The Hangouts. The kids who come correct sent us a few of the deets about the new record, which comes out July 7th on Manic Attack Records. ALLOW US TO CUT AND PASTE THEIR WISDOM:

“The Hangouts are the sole reason there is any sort of "scene" in College Station. They've got kids, real jobs, and a love for Punk Rock like you wouldn't believe. We make it out there frequently, and we even recorded our demo tracks with AtariMatt, the guitarist and leader of the band, in his cozy, avocado painted bedroom. He records everything out of his house.

Manic Attack Records is Matt's baby, and our Split 7" is just another one of his self-funded projects. He has a giant garage full of pinball machines, ancient Atari arcades, and he even takes Atari's apart to make music. He's one of the coolest people I've ever met.”

MMMM avocado. The strangest fruit at the core of the crucial guac. MMMM. Check out Something Fierce (you know, when we say 'check out' we're not just saying that - like seriously, check this band out. They is wicked fresh like guacamole that a waiter makes at your table) tomorrow night (April 20th) with The Marked Men and The Points @ Rudyards.

LET’S NAME BUCKY’S BOOKING

You know, we admire people here that take the initiative, people like our favorite internet creator and elected president Al Gore. But all politics aside, sometimes people in our most muni of municipalities sometimes need a bit of a bat to the butt when it comes to putting all the ribbons and bows on their DIY. And so we feel it our role as responsible citizens of rock and overall Great Americans to occasionally help others bring more Method than Red to their man.

That’s why we’re pleased to announce the first ever TAKE THE INITIATIVE CHALLENGE, focusing specifically on the as-yet un-named booking enterprise setup by that most gumptioney of Montrosians – Bucky. Yes, it’s true, the man who once had his Hands Up for Houston has lately been booking shows (like Bellavista and Lightning Bolt) completely brand-free; and if there’s any injustice in this world that will not stand, certainly it is a lack of Madison Avenue accoutrements.

SO – LETS TAKE THE INITIATIVE! If you are attending the Lightning Bolt show tonight, we STRONGLY SUGGEST you spend a few minutes before hand to think of a name for Bucky’s efforts, write them on a piece of paper along with your email address, and give them to the doorman. If Bucky picks your pick, then an exclusive Skyline Network t-shirt shall your wardrobe rip. Yuss.

PS – Bucky does not read this blog and has no idea we are doing this to him. FUN!
PPS - We are submitting for RIPPING WOLF ACES SHOWS, SUCKAH!

SHOW SELECTOR STEREOTYPE-O-GRAPHIC!

Yes, tonight is another one of those madcap H-town evenings where you, our loyal in spite of a lack of posting, readers have to make a decision from amongst a bevy of more than fairly whippin’ shows. HOW SHALL YOU CHOOSE? Here, you can use our handy STEREOTYPE-O-GRAPHIC. GIVE IT A WHIRL!

	MY GOD. IT ARE FULL OF STARS	.Adult, Parts and Labor, Dan Deacon @ The Mink
	Drink Vodka. It’s Chill.	Bill Callahan, Austronautulis @ The Orange Show
	YEAH YEAH! YEAH YEAH!	Lightning Bolt, Cop Warmth @ Notsuoh
	I DEMAND TO BE SHREDERTAINED!	Trigger Minor @ Rudyards
	You got no rank unless your name is Shabba.	Rebel Crew @ The Proletariat

SUNDAY MADLIBS!

Something hotter than a West Alabama lollypop happened in downtown this Sunday... but we're not alloud to talk about it due to non-disclosure paperwork signed by our reliable and wicked good looking sources. Soooo, taking a page from the playbook of another music blog in the city, we thought we'd ask you, our likewise wicked good looking readers, to help do our work for us. Yes, we've got a little game we're going to call ANTI-LIBS. No, this is not an ANTI-FLAG coverband populated entirely by Rush Limbaughs, it's sort of like the game MADLIBS, but instead of a short little piece of writing without the key words, we are giving you the key words and asking you to write a story with them. No, seriously, do our job. And post it in the comment section. HERE BE THY LIST O' WORDS:

SKATERAMP
PARKING LOT SHOW
GALLERY FURNITURE DELIVERY TRUCK
THE NAKED CHEF
BRING BACK THE GUNS
CHARITY
SCREAMING CHILDREN
ACTION SPORTS!
TONY HAWK
BEYONCE'S LITTLE SISTER, CILANTRO
STEDI-CAM
BOOM MIC
SUNSCREEN
AUTOGRAPH
VAN!

Now get to commenting with your story! (PS - we sadly will have to delete any actual eyewitness accounts, if only because they will be boring).

ATTN THIS WEEKEND: YOU ARE SO RAVEN!

Yuss yuss. Not even the impending thunderstorms can put a dampen on the cantina accordion gunfire that is this weekend. Yuss.

Friday
Lisa Novak, Rich Hopkins, Scattered Pages @ Rudyards
Tzar Bomba, The Boxing Lessons, The Simple Pleasure, Motion Turns it On @ Notsuoh
Sebadoh @ Walter’s

Saturday
The Drunks, New Disaster, Novox @ Rudyards
Blood Brothers, Celebration, The Dead Science @ Numbers
Mickey Avalon @ Warehouse Live

Sunday
Trans Am @ The Engine Room

YOUNG FOLKS: ELAINE GREER

We first met Elaine Greer at the Westheimer Block Party a few weeks ago, and before even hearing her music we were pretty stoked to hear she once had serious enough contemplation of performing under the name “The Duck Duck Goose Band” to swipe the MySpace extension. Well, sadly enough for anyone that though said moniker would make for an ACES split 7” with The Red Rovers, The Tetherballs, The Heads Up Seven Ups or any of the numerous grade-school game-invoking bands that by any right should be out there (we have no clue if any of these actually exist, btw. Steal these names), she no longer uses it. Instead you can sometimes catch her as Elaine Greer and the Ever After, or, as she is described on the flyer for her show at Super Happy Fun Land tonight, Elaine Greer and The Boys.

The Boys are a recent addition to what Elaine has been up to, and fill out her occasionally campfire, occasionally twee, often walks-in-the-woodsy elven-folk. (But hey, seriously, Elaine – put ‘Everything Again’ back up for people to download – that jam is the catchy marmalade!). Her songs are blushy and have a breeze behind them, and you will prolly get annoyed if people talk while she is playing. So, like we said, consider checking out Elaine and the Boys tonight at Super Happy Fun Land with Ayn, Alle Norton and Kelly Shay Hicks.

DUMB QUESTIONS/SMART ANSWERS: MATHLETES

Every now and then (Thursdays), we subject someone in a band that reps the real to some pretty dumb questions and post their responses. This week, we sent off our set of music journalism 101 prompts to Mr. Joe Mathlete.

What's your favorite record lately?
An iTunes playlist with every Stereolab song on my hard drive, set on Random and Repeat.

Is there a Houston band who you've been digging lately?
A couple of years ago we opened up for The Dimes at Super Happy Fun Land, and they pretty much restored my faith in everything from punk rock to guitar music to live music to Houston to dancing to smiling. I also like to listen to Jana Hunter albums on headphones and hunt for ghosts.

What websites do you frequent?
Achewood, Google

What's your secret Houston place?
The network of ice caves underneath the Astrodome.

What's the best thing you have spent money on in the last year?
A bunch of broken instruments from my friend Tony, who had to sell pretty much everything he owned besides his accordion and dog and move to Kosovo really fast because his wife was mad at him. I went over to his place because had a delay pedal and Casio I was interested in, and when I made him an offer he thought for a second and said "how about for that you just take all the instruments in this room and take them away right now." I got a broken drumkit, a broken violin, a broken trombone, a broken french horn that he'd painted back when he used to drop acid in college, a broken bass he'd painted possibly during the same period, a broken flying V, a broken thumb piano and some other stuff I can't remember right now, plus the aforementioned delay pedal and Casio. I've already fixed up a bunch of it, and everything can at least make noise, though... It's amazing, my house looks like an instrument graveyard. He said later "I think we both walked away from that deal going 'god that guy's a sucker.'"

What is the best thing you got for free in the last year?
[Something naughty] from Regina Spektor backstage at SXSW

Is there a touring act you are looking forward to seeing?
The Rapture. Part of it's because I get excited a lot at shows, and I hate it when that happens and nobody else is dancing, but maybe people will be dancing at that show and I won't feel like that one tall sweaty asshole who bumps into people a lot. Part of it is because I really like their songs.

What is never far from your side?
At least one sharpie, some keys, a picture of me [doing something naughty with] my middle school Spanish teacher on her desk

What do the mathletes have going on right now?
Playing at Rudyard's tonight, opening for Elf Power at the Proletariat on May 9 (which is awesome 'cuz I love them and was a total Elephant 6 junkie back in my formative years), figuring out how to release our covers album, The Mathletes Own Other People's Songs without having to do much of anything. Also I've got some pieces in an art exhibit thing at Super Happy Fun Land that features a bunch of other Houston music, theatre and general artsy-types. I don't know about any of the other Mathletes. They don't talk to me much.

Is there a question you wish we would have asked, and what would the response be?
Q: Would you rather burn out, or fade away?
A: Ringo.

THE CONTINGENCY: WE ARE PLAYING ONE (MORE?) SHOW THIS YEAR

Hey have you happen to have caught The Contingency at one of their shows yet this year? No? Well, mark May 1st18th(?) on your calendar (?) and be sure to show up wherever they are playing at Rudz(?), because we caught the dish from Mr. Jason Wheeler himself that they’ve got one more show to go this year and THAT’S IT(!). Why all the question marks, you may ask? Well, let’s just say we didn’t exactly have our stenograph or wits about us when we spoke with him Monday night (in fact, we have been accused of sass, subsequent…[?]) and can’t seem to remember all the details as sharply as usually is required to maintain our strictest of journalistic standards. Also Google is no help. Also we promise to remind you as the date approaches. Also has anyone seen our stenograph?

BUT WHAT WILL THEY BE UP TO? Well, writing and recording is what we hear, using Bunny’s mad knob skills and wicked portable setup. (Did you know their last album was recorded upstairs at Rudyards? No, seriously, over the course of three days while it wasn’t being used with the drums in the middle of the room and the bathrooms as isolation booths and the likes. Woah.) Stoked.

UPDATE: BIG THANKS to the person behind THIS FLYER, which revealed to us that the correct date is actually May 18th @ Rudyards with Fired for Walking and Lick Lick.

VIDEO: THE WIGGINS ON HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

Oh Dear Doogie. As we reported last week, the CBS show How I Met Your Mother licensed the Wiggins track 'When I Get Up' for use in this week's episode. Well, the show has aired and we are positively in stitches over how it was used. Consider yourself LOLified - the song is the soundtrack to a flash-back re-telling of a Neil Patrick Harris-organized bachelor party, complete with an unsightly stripper and a classic NPH closing line. GRATZ WIGGINS!

JANA HUNTER KICKS OFF TOUR

Hot on the heels of her ACES new LP, Jana Hunter has the van all packed up for a spring in the states and across the ocean, starting tomorrow in the city that made The Wire famous, Baltimore MD. Joining her for the first, passport-free leg of her travels is none other than fellow Hunter John, who we are told has already been involved in significant shenanigans, including both ripped pants and backwards underwear. into it. John is quoted as saying simply that Baltimore is "crazy" and Jana has written to assure us that should any press reports emerge claiming she has placed Raisinettes into someones bed that this is absolutely false.

She also tells us that she talked with Girl Talk after a show of his the other night about a bit of the message board drama that ensued after his last appearance here and has concluded that minors are "sleazy creatures." Indeed.

Apr 10 Lemon Hill - Baltimore, MD
Apr 11 Luna Lounge* - Brooklyn, NY
Apr 12 Davis Ballroom* at Smith College - Northhampton, MA
Apr 13 TBA* - Portland, MN
Apr 14 Aboveground Records - Edgartown (Martha's Vineyard), MA
Apr 16 AS220 w/Deer Tick - Providence, PA
Apr 17 First Unitarian Church Chapel - Philadelphia, PA
Apr 18 Mohawk Place - Buffalo, NY
Apr 19 Beachland Tavern - Cleveland, OH
Apr 20 Pilot Light w/King Kong - Knoxville, TN
Apr 21 The Firehouse w/Oakley Hall - North Manchester, IN
Apr 22 Empty Bottle w/Peter & the Wolf - Chicago, IL
Apr 23 Hall Mall - Iowa City, IA
Apr 24 Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
Apr 25 Conservatory - Oklahoma City, OK
May 8 LZ é Dos - Boisisboa, Portugal*
May 9 Savoy - Gijon, Spain
May 10 Cafe La Palma - Madrid, Spain*
May 11 Casa de Cultura - Castellon, Spain*
May 12 Sala BeCoo - Barcelona, Spain*
May 13 Groove Bar - Tarragona, Spain*
May 15 Violon Dingue - Nantes, France*
May 16 L'Escapade - Clermont Ferrant, France*
May 17 SONIC (Péniche Mascaret)* - Lyon, France
May 18 Instants Chavirés w/Charalambides* - Paris, France
May 19 La Chapelle de Boondael - Brussels, Belgium*
May 20 Leopoldskazerne - Gent, Belgium*

*with Tara Jane O'Neil

Never one to gather too much moss, Jana will be hitting up the west coast in the month of June, and will add Ray Raposa (Castanets) and Yoni Kifle to her ensemble. Not enough? Well, September will have her and John McCauley tearing a terrible trail of terror through the UK, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.

IT'S THE FREAKIN WEEKEND

AND WE IN THE WEEKEND. AND IT IS A WEEKEND. OH YES IT'S A WEEKEND. HE LOOK AT THE WEEKEND. WE PULL OUT OUR BARETTA. HE WALKS UP TO THE WEEKEND. HE GOES UP TO THE WEEKEND. NOW HE'S AT THE WEEKEND. NOW HE'S OPENING THE WEEKEND.

Friday
The Show is The Rainbow, Wicked Poseur @ The Mink
TV on the Radio, The Noisettes @ The Meridian
Yo La Tengo @ Warehouse Live

Saturday
KTRU Outdoor Show w/Ratatat, 120 Days, Despot, The Dimes, Moxie
The American Masquerade (formerly 1977), Juneau, N-Crowd @ Java Jazz

Sunday
The Scattered Pages @ Robertson Stadium (Pre-Dynamo match show)

DUNNOCK REMIXES JANA HUNTER

OH SNAP! OH CRACKLE! OH POP! The official release date of There's No Home is still five days away, but already it's getting the remix treatment. None other than local hero Dunnock (Reprogram Radio, Frank From Accounting) puts the chop, the glitch and the hip-hop drums to Jana's jam Regardless. Coming soon to a G.R.A.B. DJ party near you? Check it!

MP3: Jana Hunter - Regardless (Dunnock remix)

DUMB QUESTIONS/SMART ANSWERS: WICKED POSEUR

Every now and then (Thursdays), we subject someone in a band that reps the real to some pretty dumb questions and post their responses. This week, we sent off our set of music journalism 101 prompts to Arthur Bates of Wicked Poseur. Mom, Dad, Grandma - Please do not read this article.

What's your favorite record lately?
Lately I love the downtown underground sounds of Jana [Hunter]'s new record and the unreleased Deer Tick record. Both amazingly rad and out of this world. I drive to work everyday...I drive my wife to work everyday...we share one car. In the car there is a cassette deck. I've had this original Pavement Slanted and Enchanted tape in there for the past three months. I love it. It takes me back like 12 years ago to when I was jamming that shit and smoking weed driving around in high school. Total TIME-WARP.

Is there a Houston band who you've been digging lately?
Fuck NO. Houston bands died when Dethro Skull broke up. Everything now, including myself, are pathetic imitations of what could be. I think too many of these "half-fags" need to get kicked right in the balls by their moms, girlfriends, boyfriends...and take a look at where they're at. I'm a lover, not a fighter, but I'll be fucked if some of these dicks don't get their lights punched out soon.

What websites do you frequent?
Feowrecords.com, Enduringself.com,....,...whoops, I dropped something! Youtube, myspace, pornotube, tomgreen.com, viceland, I can spend all day looking up art/music sites and checking out all their links, it's fucking addictive.

What's your secret Houston place?
I've lived in Houston for almost my whole life and I think all the "secret" places have been bulldozed for condos. My pal Ronnie Talons fucked a girl doggy-style on the top of the old rice silos in high school and now there's some kind of crappy condos there. He said it was awesome to be fucking a girl and looking out over all of Houston and seeing the Houston SKYLINE!!! Now nobody can do that....those things were like 14 stories high. What a shame. My house is the only secret place I know now, cause I live in Meyerland and nobody wants to drive out here.

What's the best thing you have spent money on in the last year?
Rent/utilities/food/beer.

What is the best thing you got for free in the last year?
I'm gonna free your balls from your nutsack you fucker! What, you don't like poor people? Am I a charity-case to you?

Is there a touring act you are looking forward to seeing?
YES. Mickey Avalon, April 14th , I think. Everyone I know hates on Mickey, but fuck that....I think he fucked my wife in Austin and he has strippers dance on stage for his shows, the songs are just great, ROLL THE DICE!!!!

What is never far from your side?
a potent mixture of cocaine and heroin with a beer chaser.

What does Wicked Poseur have going on right now?
Man, I'm working on my keyboard-chops like OVERTIME! I got my hair cut and we're gonna be doing shows around Houston. Then is June we're flying to LA to play this little weekend-tour thang, up to Santa Barbara, then to SF. We plan to wreck that shit with my posse from ENDURING SELF.

Catch Wicked Poseur with The Show is the Rainbow Friday Night at The Mink's backroom. Also on hand will be DJs Ceeplus Bad Knives, Bad Motor Scooter and Dunnock. See, I told you not to read this.

THE WIGGINS GO HOLLYWOOD!!!

YUSS! We love a good story like this. Turns out the last time Mr. The Wiggins was in LA, he wandered into a party where the right actors where there. One thing led to another, and now suddenly, the CBS show How I Met Your Mother has licensed the song "When I Get Up" for an episode scheduled to air on April 9th!!! WHAT DOES HOUSTON'S NEW SOUNDTRACK KING HAVE TO SAY: "The Wiggins is being paid a very large amount of money...I guess this means I can retire now." Trust us when we say we will figure out a way to get this on the internet as soon as we can. SCENE!

PS - See The Wiggins in action on this recently released video highlight-reel of the second day of Noise and Smoke.

WE LIKE THIEVES, THIEVES LIKE US

HEY! What’s your favorite scene in Spies Like Us? We’d have to go with the one early on where Chevy Chase is all dressed up in manufactured injuries to conceal elaborate cheating mechanisms for a Super Secret Spy Test. Yeah, thieving the answers. We never ask bands where their names come from, we just make it up – and hence our conclusion about doubletime hi hat and leady-bass rock kids Thieves Like Us.

They kind of remind us of this one wicked good back in the day (2003) Houston band that got all kinds of teased with jabs like "Singlepol" or "Interstrokes" or more commonly "Thee Haircuts." Well, we are willing to bet the meaning of KGB that there are some knuckles out there that make similar cracks about Thieves Like Us. Indeed, we bet they get alot of "Thief Division," "Theif Order" and "Thievertines" too.

WHATEVZ. We're know first hand how much fun it is to write and play music like this. And seriously, why does it burn so much briscut that some people rock out with a healthy lung-full of Party People from the past? Plus, you know any outfit with a track called "Indie Rock Star" is a bit on the slapstick side - you like fun, don't you? So turn your base back into a drive-in, grab a tie and do a little safety dance. - you know you want to.

Catch Thieves Like Us tonight at The Proletariat with BANG BANG and Reprogram Radio.

PHOTOS: JANA HUNTER CD RELEASE PARTY

YUSS! We love a good party, especially when it is for the release of one of our favorite new CDs (do you have a copy yet? Well, its available already on iTunes if that’s yr style)(P.S. That’s our style – We like when the Panda Bear says “coolness is having courage / courage to do what’s right”.)(P.P.S. No more asides in this paragraph, we promise). Though we couldn’t be there due to our mad SoCal assignment, Skyline Contributor and TOP ACES photog Elissa “Settle Down” Brown was there to capture all the action. The complete set should be up on her Flickr soon, but here are some highlights in the meantime:


Arthur Bates (Wicked Poseur) serves as the evening’s MC


Tyler from Balaclavas brings the pain!


YO! It’s the Jana Hunter Folk Explosion


Who is that masked man?! It must be JRACULA


MORE MASKED TRICKERY!


OH SNAP! Bates halts Jracula mid-set to conduct a chugging contest….


…and is rewarded with a wedgie from John Hunter (Inoculist, Dethro Skull).

Like we said, this is just a taste, be sure to check out the entire set to reveal such secrets as which member of Bright Men of Learning was recruited mid-set to play some guitar (Hint – the same one that Jana brought in for the set-closing Isley Brothers cover at Noise and Smoke). Thanks again Elissa!

FREE SHOW: PAUL WALL

So - did you watch all five parts of the Rap in H-Town documentary that we told you about last week? You ready to experience that rap game on the real? WELL Yo! Check it! Tomorrow (Tuesday, April 3rd) there is a FREE Paul Wall show at The Roxy. It's one of those MySpace secret shows and so it's completely first come first serve, with the doors opening at 7PM.

Mad thanks and Big Ups to Skyline Network contributor Carrie Murphy (Awesome!) for sending us a note about this show.

1977 CHANGES NAME

Ok, first, check out the date, it's no longer April Fools day, so you can rest assured that everything from here on out will not only be deadly serious, but will rise to our extremely high standards of gossipy journalism, which is to say 'things we may have overheard in a bathroom, but it was kinda loud, so we're not sure.' But, one thing that you can definately scratch off and put in your wallet for a rainy day is this: the kids in 1977 have changed their name. Yes, the guys behind one of this years Official Skyline Feel Good Hit of the Summer Candidates shall now go under the way way longer nomer of The American Masquerade.

YO! The American Masquerade, drop the science of the decision on us: "There are many reasons behind it...but they don't matter." Oh. Mahn, we hate it when people don't play along. Regardless of the fact that they are no longer named after the most important year in all of human history, go check out The American Masquerade this Saturday (April 7th) at Java Jazz with Juneau and the N Crowd.

(PS - We are still in California)

ANNOUNCED: FIRST EVER SKYLINE PLAZA PARTY

YUSS. We're had to be wicked tight lipped about this because of all the parties involved, but we are pleased to annouce the FIRST EVER SKYLINE NETWORK PLAZA PARTY - two stages downtown featuring THE RETURN OF D.R.I.!! YUSS! STOKED! We're really excited to be bringing such a diverse lineup, one we hope will open ears, eyes and wallets. KEEP IT HERE for more details as the event draws closer. YUSSS.

JANDEK: IT’S TRUCK MONTH

Uh. We, and everyone else on the Corwood Industries media list, got this in our inboxes this morning. Uh. We’re just going to reprint parts of it. Uh:

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

Jandek Track Licensed by Mazda for Ad Campaign

April 1, 2007 (Houston, TX) Corwood Industries announces that the Mazda USA Motor Corporation has licensed the Jandek composition ‘Fork in the Road’ (from the 2005 CD Khartoum) to use in a series of ads to promote the Texas Limited Edition of the 2008 B-Series Mid-Sized Truck.

Uh. Uhh. We’re going to skip the part of the release that talks about things like the B-Series’ class-leading low-end torque and get right to the PR mouthpiece:

“Like the state itself, the Texas Limited Edition B-Series Truck is authentic and rugged. In advertising the truck, we wanted to tap into that spirit, plus the fierce individualism that all Texans share,” said Carol Amherst, VP Regional Marketing, Mazda Motors USA. “Jandek is the perfect embodiment of what Texas and the Edition stands for, and we’re excited to use his music and have him as a spokesman for this campaign.”

Uh. Yeah, we added the emphasis. Go read it again. So actually not just the song, but, um, will Jandek be driving the truck in the commercials? Will he get a catchphrase? Minds are blown. Trust us when we say we will be checking YouTube every ten minutes for the rest of our lives until this commercial is posted. You’ll see it when we do. Ok, we need a nap now.