so. i’m back. it’s been a while. i was busy wandering the western half of the country, seeing family and friends, making a little bit of music with some of the best people i know, and returning to austin confused, sort-of relaxed, and possibly triumphant. i had a couple post-vacation downer days, and then got back in to things, by hitting two shows in a row at beerland, which may end up being my second home in austin.
thursday, december 11: man stamps/ginsu wives/antique curtains/attractive & popular/when dinosaurs ruled the earth
man stamps: they were already playing when i walked in. as far as i can tell, they’re a garagey austin three-piece who are relatively new. it seemed as if they were mostly (entirely?) playing covers (i think i recall hearing the monks’ ‘complication’). they reminded me a little bit of the black clouds, from providence.
ginsu wives are from little rock, arkansas, and were on tour with attractive & popular. let’s just put it this way: a completely insane, skinny maniac in boxer shorts with effects-heavy, wailing vocals backed up by bizarre, funky (honestly) bass, synth, and drums. i was momentarily horrified until i realized i was totally enjoying myself. they seemed like super nice dudes (i could really embarass my roommate here, but i won’t) and i’d definitely see them again. one of their albums made it to my house, so maybe i’ll get around to reviewing it.
antique curtains had two doppelgangers for boston friends: their bassist reminded me of a cross between matt-L and my ex, james, and their guitarist was pretty much ho-ag era dines. fast, angular (sorry, i’m shit for adjectives today), noisy rock that reminded me of things i like, like the wipers. they’re from memphis. i probably should’ve taken pictures. i’ll probably talk about their cd eventually.
attractive & popular completely made my night. 3 dudes and a lady from hot springs, arkansas, they reminded me of the chinese stars – creepy synth-thrash with an attention-getting singer (oh, and then i learned they’d just toured with them), which in my world is a big compliment. i also giggled a little to see my friend patrick and the singer from ginsu wives thrash during their set, because they looked like excited brothers. i got their earlier record and LOVE it. maybe i will talk about it for real? can i keep in the habit? anyway, if i could marry one band from this show, a&p would be it. no band this much fun should be missed. i would see them again in a heartbeat. oh, and points for any band-audience contact during the set, something about ‘you’re gonna live forever.’
i must be lonely, because i kept seeing boston-lookalikes at this show. when dinosaurs ruled the earth, who are like a dancier melvins (typical boston comparison for me: think ho-ag meets the hidden) freaked me out because their singer was like kevin from the hidden crossed with matt parish. more band-audience bumpin’ – i have a feeling i’m going to see this band a million times because they’re austinites, and they have basically everything i could want in a band – heavy and just danceable, with no prissy vocals or boring moments. i left this show bouncing up and down, feeling like i’d finally found the music i wanted out of this town.
then friday rolled around and i went back to beerland for punk rock. the modern fuckers seem to be a relatively new austin band (they were fighting over the name) fronted by a dude from the ape-shits (maybe?). again, echoes of thursday night, i think they were doing mostly covers, but whatever it was, it was fast, fun punk music.
then came the teeners, again, fast, way fun punk rock from austin – this is the first rock band i’ve seen twice in this town, and they don’t disappoint. i got their new ep (somebody blew a lot of cash this weekend, eh? what! it’s the holidays.) and it was the second lady drummer of the night. which shouldn’t be notable, but it still is, so hell, i’m mentioning it. she rules. this band should really play up in the northeast so my friends up there can hear what i’ve been talking about.
holy shit! were more super fast punk from milwaukee. this show reminded me that any time you see somebody at a show who looks a little out of place, there’s an 80% chance they play in one of the bands. don’t ask me why that is, but several of the dudes in this band sort of stood out to me, and suddenly i walk in and oh, they’re in the band. right. they were fun as hell and obviously a ton of people came out for them.
and then there was nobunny. there are no words for this. i was hanging outside with friends and a spaceman, a dude in a dress that looked like he’d just aborted in it, and, uh, a person in a very raggedy bunny mask came marching in, followed by a dozen other people. then they dropped awesome garage punk all over our faces. it reminded me a lot of the king khan & bbq show, but more insane. i think maybe nobunny was based in tucson but is now in austin? something like that. so, again, i went home tired and so happy.
maybe next time i’ll trouble myself to bring a camera. maybe.
<3
