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| Sons
of Hercules/Emo’s
Grady/Continental
Club, September 5th
Killing
time at Emo’s, waiting for the Sons Of Hercules, I was
tortured by a completely unnecessary band called Front Row
for the Meltdown. The only thing that melted down was my attention.
Their name is a long walk to four short guys playing unoriginal
riffs, with a whiney, off-key singer spamming cheesy lyrics.
How to describe their sound? Standard “indie-garage”
(as in, stay in de garage). GONG! Why are they doing this?
Aren’t there already enough bands doing this? Apparently
not. The next band did almost
the same thing, but a little less “poser” and
a little more weird, at least. I am not being mean. THEY are
the ones who tortured ME.
I’d
heard all about the Sons Of Hercules and their legendary singer
Frank; he’s been a Rank & Revue cover model. But,
you have to see him for yourself. Goddamn is this guy cool.
He has “life-of-rock-n-roll” written all over
his face. The whole band is insanely cool. I need to stand
next to them just to absorb some of that old-school coolness.
This is the real thing, genuine balls-out groovy punk rock,
standing tall with the likes of the Stooges. Real rockers.
real men, goddammit. If all these new bands are so hell-bent
on playing live without bothering to invent their own style,
then take a lesson from the Sons Of Hercules on how to do
it right. But no, wait, they’ve probably been around
so long that they did invent that style... yeah, that thing
with the arms draped over his head... Iggy must have copied
Frank. Just quit being a geek and go see them.
Had
to miss the last band at Emo’s and fly south to the
Continental Club to check out blues-rockers Grady. A couple
pairs of swing dancers were tearing up the floor before the
band came on (I have got to learn how to do that shit, it
looks so fun, everyone doing it looks so happy). Well, I hate
the blues, it bores me to death. So what can I say about a
blues band? I dunno, what would Wendy say? “These guys
are the shit!” Rumor had it that Grady was gearing up
for a “world tour” starting in Canada (after Austin).
Their version of the blues was more rock, says the Wench,
and I would point out their nice grungy guitar sound and slow-chunkin’
grooves. None of that high-falutin’ fancy-schmancy guitar-school
crap. Their tall, lanky bodies sure looked swank in those
dark & pinstriped suits and cowboy hats. High-class cats,
to be sure. If my attention span was more than five seconds,
I’d go see them again.
-Beky Hayes
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 Fleshtones/Sons
of Hercules/Hard Feelings
Emo’s, September 5th
Walking
into Emo’s on Friday made me feel as if I had stumbled
into a time warp. This was one of the most diverse musical
audiences I have seen in a long time, ranging from baby boomers
to hippies, punks, and everything in between. And for once
I didn’t feel like the oldest one in the place. The
wide range in people was due in part I am sure to the fact
that headlining band, Fleshtones, although they have been
around for over twenty years still create animating music
geared towards lots of different musical styles.
Opening
band Hard Feelings really takes one back. Their music is a
carefully crafted blend of 50’s rock and roll, punk,
and nineties garage band sound. If Buddy Holly had grandchildren,
this is what their band would sound like.
San
Antonio based Sons of Hercules, the next in the time travel
line up, really know how to make music that stands the test
of time. They have the capabilities to draw everyone into
their music, both young and old alike. If you haven’t
seen them perform live yet, I would recommend checking them
out and bring your parents, too.
 New
York City’s Fleshtones then took to the stage with their
hyper maniacal stage performance that proves that one is never
too old to rock. These guys love to perform and it shows.
The guitar playing is not only invigorating, but extremely
well choreographed. They can rival any pop band out there
with their energizing dance moves. At one point the guitarists
leapt up onto the bar and played for a good five to ten minutes.
Performers at heart they really fed off the audience. These
guys sure have a lot of energy and will probably be rocking
with the best of them until they die.
-Misty Sweet
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American
Psycho Band
Mike Flannery Farewell Show
Emo’s, August 28th
If
you never had a chance to meet or know Mike Flannery you might
as well hang it up at this point. Mike has flown the coop
and headed back to DC to pursue his dream of working as porn
store janitor and joining the Jizzmoppers Local 101. Yeah,
he's pretty handy with a mop that Flannery. Prior to being
a jizzmopper, he used to play bass in a couple of bands and
also booked at Emo’s for a year. He has got to be one
of my top ten favorite screamers too. He's got a set of lungs
on him that's for sure.
Well,
not to walk down memory lane, but fuck, The American Psycho
Band haven't been an actual band in years. I last saw them
in ‘86 at Emo’s and they broke up shortly thereafter.
They landed a single with Bruce Pavitt's Sub Pop label too.
They opened up the show and it was good to see that not much
has changed. At 10:30 there was a pretty nice crowd as well.
It's everything you would have expected from an APB set, lots
of sharp metal edged hooks and riffs, real quirky and even
a little tuning down from time to time. Flannery did acknowledge
a heckler with a few quick comebacks and was even shooting
down the mighty Iron Maiden, "I'm not a fan. A limey
running around with a Betty Page haircut and spandex pants
is not my idea of a good time." Fuck You Mike. I don't
agree. All in all a pretty solid set, and pretty tight for
guys who haven't played together in almost 7 years.
I
had one too many beers already that night and ended up splitting
before Sabians or Antibellum played (Mike’s other band
and much better than APB). I'm kicking myself now because,
A) I love Antibellum and B) Sabians had an ex member of SLEEP
in the band and I really fucking loved that band as well.
Note to self: Don't hit dollar Lone star night at Room 710
before having to review a show.
-Slander Bob
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Soviet/I
Love You But I've Chosen Darkness/Low Technicians
Emo's, August 30th
All three bands got a bit of a treat for this show. I don't
know how often Emo's sells out on a Saturday night, but the
house was packed. I wandered out the front door at one point
to escape the crowds to find that the show sold out and that
people were being turned away - at around 11:30pm. That seems
to be early for a smaller, perhaps not so well known band
to sell out a show, but these guys did it.
The
house was pretty packed early on. Navigating the stage area
to get good pictures of Low Technicians was an endeavor. I've
seen this band play many times, but I've never seen them as
animated and excited to be on stage as they were this time.
Brian was his usual thankful self; he always thanks the crowd
after a song. It's sometimes cute. Brad was actually bopping
around while playing keys and triggering loops and percussion
- something he doesn't do very often. I even caught him singing
along to songs in which he has no vocal part. Their new blend
of synthpop and guitars should really be taking them somewhere
soon. Hopefully there were some label scouts in the audience
who caught their show!
The
house had already reached capacity by time I Love You But
I've Chosen Darkness took the stage. This rather large band
took up all the available space on stage. A keyboard setup,
four guitarists, and a drummer in the back would fill many
smaller stages, and the front stage at Emo's was no exception.
This band is interesting, an odd mix of occasional keys and
heavily layered guitars. Too bad most of the songs sound so
similar to the uninitiated fan; the only real distinguishing
factor for me was the silence between songs. Their performance
was incredibly tight; these guys are talented. I can't say
that I'm the biggest fan of what they do, but those who like
a wall of semi-spacey guitars will completely love this band.
Soviet
put on an extremely energetic set. The vocalist and the sometimes-guitar
sometimes-keyboard-player were both hopping around like madmen
whenever possible. Their setup, like I Love You... filled
the stage. Two rather large keyboards, a smaller keyboard,
the drummer in the back and the vocalist couldn't have taken
up any more room. The crowd loved this band! People in the
front were hopping around, dancing right up front and really
getting into the music. Soviet's sound can best be described
as some retro-futurist flavor. The sterility of electro-clash
is missing, but the focus on what seem to be older, more 80s-flavor
keys and style are all there. I can't say that I see any musical
genius or innovation here. Soviet is a good, solid retro-synthpop
band for the masses ... even if they do have more of an 'underground'
following. I wouldn't be surprised if they have already received
radio play.
-Brian Clarkson
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