1/8/11 - Novaak, Peopleodian, Eyes and Ears

...at Hailey's.

Eyes and Ears (Denton). Two dudes - guitar & drums - plus a gal painting (Eyes and Ears, get it??). Mostly instrumental (a few oohs and aahs here and there). Pretty cool. Kinda veered into jam-band territory at times, but I enjoyed it overall.Peopleodian (Denton). Very interesting electro-pop. Led by the love-child of David Byrne and Bill Gates, who stayed hunched over a Korg on top of milk crates. Also featured guitar, drums and a female vocalist, who seemed to be intentionally singing in a different key. 'Twas a strange thing - I really enjoyed the music in every song, and I really enjoyed the vocals, but they just didn't seem to fit together (I'm sure there's some Point I'm missing). Definitely interesting to listen to, but a tad unsettling to my ear.Novaak (Denton). Ugh. I really don't get all the accolades this band is getting. Very standard, very 80's chick-led pop (here's a sample). Lead singer definitely channeling Debby Harry, minus the energy. Blech.

1/1/11 - lalagray, Sundress, Comrade

...at City Tavern.

Comrade (Austin?). Seen these guys a few times now, and described them as "slightly weepy". I'm stickin' with my assessment, but my intrepid companion disagreed: "Weepy sounds so sad. Certainly sentimental, slow, intentional. Wish I knew what he was sayin".Sundress (Denton). Easily in my top five all-time favorite local bands, but you knew that. My intrepid companion's comment: "Trippy!"lalagray (Dallas). Was looking forward to seeing Ashley, what with all the positive press she's gotten 'round these parts. This night, she performed solo, with only her keyboard. Nice collection of tunes, and i loved her voice. But i have to admit - while her songs were pleasant enough, none of them grabbed me, or hooked me. Maybe it was just my mood that night, maybe it was the lack of a full band, maybe it was the (seemingly always) douchey audience at the CT that threatened to drown her out, but it seemed like each song just floated past, blended into the next one, and the next one, til the set was over. Anyways, I'd like to hear her again someday, to (hopefully) correct my impression.

12/14/10 - Mini Mansions, Man Factory, New Fumes

...at The Cavern.

New Fumes (Dallas). One dude, plus laptop, guitar, autoharp. Wore a strange badger mask, on backwards. Had a projector duct-taped to milk crate, showing very interesting visuals on a sheet behind him. Couldn't see how the badger mask or the visuals were related to the songs, but I'm sure that's The Point. Very creative, very interesting. One nit-pick: dammit, interACT with the audience, will you please? Like most electronic artists I've seen, there's never a pause between songs, no talking to the audience, hell - no acknowledgment of our existence. Anyways, I did enjoy the set.
Man Factory (Arlington) - Longest. Sound. Check. In. History. 2 guitars (could swear they're twins), bass, keys, drums. Catchy pop. Inspired a drunk-ass front-row fanboy to clink his glass with his buddy so hard he broke it. I chuckled.
Mini Mansions (LA). Unusual 3-piece. Side project of Queens of the Stone Age bassist, so, you know, there's that. Keys, standup drums (very popular this year), guitar. Sometimes Beatles-esque, sometimes mellow psych pop. Wanted to be key-driven pop, but the drums & guitar wouldn't let it. Awesome cover of Heart of Glass, & you know I hate covers. Dug it, overall.

12/5/10 - Sundress, Final Club, Land Mammals, River Mouth,

...at Hailey's.

The River Mouth (Denton) opened. 3-man band, two of them long-hairs. Stereotypical bluesy southern psych rock with super-heavy reverb on the vox. 'Twas ok, but hasn't that been done before? Like, a million times?Land Mammals (Denton). Said it many times before - I loves me some Land Mammals. Check 'em out.Final Club (Denton). Jangly, shouty, punkish noise rock. S'ok. My advice to lead - turn towards the fucking audience every once in a while (a pet peeve of mine, I'll admit).

Sundress (Denton). Ahhhhh, Sundress. Exquisite. Glad to see they're finally getting some well-deserved buzz around here.

12/2/10 - Mr. Gnome, The Baker Family, Dim Locator

...at the Dee-dub, with Knuckles and the Piledriver.

Dim Locator (Denton) - one guy with slide guitar, plus foot-operated drum-type accessories. Massively talented, there's no doubt, definitely knows his way around that guitar. Some pretty decent bluesy tunes. Sometimes felt like technique was over-emphasized, but that's probably just me.

The Baker Family Band (Austin). Pretty enjoyable indie pop, though they took themselves a bit too seriously for my taste. Very Local Natives-esque, says The Les Savy Fan. I liked the way the blonde gal danced, it made my insides feel funny.

Mr. Gnome (Cleveland) headlined. Seen them many times now, and been blown away every time. Phenomenal.

11/24/10 - Stew!, Geronimo

...at The Curtain Club, with Knuckles.

I don't remember much about this night, but here are three things i learned: one - Knuckles thought that one of the bass players fancied himself to be Cliff Burton (whoever that is). Two - if you let Knuckles drive your car, and it has a bump-shifter mode, he will attempt to burn up your engine, and three - knuckles' couch is mighty comfy. That is all.

This is Geronimo. Or maybe Stew.This is the other.