TCB
Music news
By Christopher Gray, Fri., Feb. 10, 2006
Believing is Art
Almost a year to the day after their not-quite-secret show at Trophy's, Spoon returned to Austin's live arena with two sold-out nights at La Zona Rosa. "I have to go find my parents," nodded frontman Britt Daniel after a brief chat Friday. "I think they're lost." Though Thursday's set began with "Utilitarian" from 1998's A Series of Sneaks, both shows otherwise drew from their last three albums, Girls Can Tell, Kill the Moonlight, and Gimme Fiction, until the encore, when they pulled out the adjunct to debut Telephono, 1997's Soft Effects EP. Considering a good two-thirds of the crowd on hand was in junior high when those came out, it was a scrappy tribute to the band's Electric Lounge origins. Austin stays with you like that. Watching a late-night set by the Arm on Friday at the Red Eyed Fly, Daniel, who moved to Portland late last year to join his girlfriend, acknowledged he'd be around "a lot" this spring working on new material. Spoon will also open Echo & the Bunnymen's free Auditorium Shores SXSW show March 16. Like the man said, if there's anything you want, come on back 'cause it's all still here.
Eight Arms to Hold You
Last week was a big one for the delightfully unclassifiable Octopus Project. Their ongoing search for a guitarist led them to longtime friend Brandon Durham, who moved back to Austin from Chicago upon the recent dissolution of formerly local dream warriors Palaxy Tracks. Since Durham already had an album's worth of songs ready to record, the Project in turn agreed to effectively become Palaxy Tracks in the studio. "He definitely wants us to do the record with him," says OP tentacle Josh Lambert. "I'm not sure how shows are going to go. We haven't really talked about that yet." Lambert, wife Yvonne, and beatmaker Toto Miranda figure to have Durham broken in just in time for their appearance as the only Texas group at the 2006 Coachella festival April 30 in Indio, Calif. "Unbeknownst to us, on MySpace they were having this thing where people would vote for the bands they like, and the Coachella people would listen," Lambert says. "They picked the one they liked the best, and it just so happened to be us." The Project will drop by Coachella on their spring tour with Oklahoma's Starlight Mints, following a top-secret pre-SXSW Austin show. "I can't really say when or where right now, but it's free," Lambert says.
Bark at the Moon
They're young, attractive, and good enough to land shows with the Crack Pipes and Brothers & Sisters (next Saturday's trifecta at the Longbranch Inn), but the Faceless Werewolves still can't find anyone to release the album they recorded last year. Even so, they've already started recording another one, giving any would-be suitors a potential two-for-one deal. Singer/guitarist Baldomero Valdes says two local labels have agreed in principle to release the garage trio's album, but with some cumbersome conditions attached. "They're like, 'Well, we'll put it out, but I have to do this first,'" he says. Their frustration has prompted the Werewolves to explore other avenues outside the narrow confines of Red River. "Maybe we've tried too much with the indie/punk-rock [scene]," says Valdes. "That's where we're at, but maybe it'll take somebody like New West picking us up to really get shit going." (Hint hint ...) At least, he adds, "Each day that goes by, we get a little more impatient, but we get a lot better live."
Not Again
It's deja vu all over again, only much worse. In the early hours of Saturday morning, a four-alarm fire broke out just off Sixth Street at Taste nightclub and quickly spread to the adjacent buildings, with 67 firefighters eventually needed to douse the blaze. (The Austin Fire Department had not determined a cause at press time.) One of those structures, 304 E. Fifth, housed Sweatbox Studios and KOOP Radio and was previously damaged Jan. 6 in a fire. Unlike Sweatbox, which relocated to the Nevele Eleven studios down South, KOOP continued broadcasting from the building and was completely wiped out. "It looks like we're going to have to replace all of our studio equipment and our music library," station manager Amy Wright said Monday. "I don't think anything is going to be salvagable." KOOP was insured, and Wright said they hope to get back on the air this week by sharing another station's facilities, but it will take at least six weeks for KOOP, which had planned to move after the previous fire, to find a permanent home. "We're a little down, but we're very resilient," she said. "This is not going to stop KOOP." The Nervous Exits and Ugly Beats play a benefit Friday at Beerland, the first of many.
Seven Nation Army
Without further ado, your lineup for the 2005-06 Austin Music Awards, March 15 at the Austin Music Hall, 7:55pm sharp: the Red River Revue with Black Joe Lewis, Walter Daniels, and Chili Cold Blood; Guitars a Go-Go with 3 Balls of Fire, George Tomsco, Jerry Cole, and the Boom Chica Boom Girls; Jon Dee Graham with Eliza Gilkyson; and Roky Erickson & the Explosives with Powell St. John. More to come.
Emo's inside is hosting a benefit tonight for Jack Control, singer with local punk bands World Burns to Death and Severed Head of State, who was stabbed in the abdomen while breaking up a fight outside the Parlor Jan. 28. Signal Lost, Camp X-Ray, Army of Jesus, Iron Age, and Modern Needs perform.
As the Runnin' Horns continue their Sherman-like march through the Big 12, several local artists will serenade fans at both men's and women's games. Pregame performances from Eve Monsees (Saturday), Woode Wood (Sunday), Shawn Pittman (Tuesday), the Hudsons (Feb. 25), Darin Murphy (Feb. 26), Ron Titter Band (March 1), and the Allen Oldies Band (March 5) happen at the Frank Erwin Center's North Plaza and are free. For the halftime shows, all with the Longhorn Band, you of course need a ticket: Carolyn Wonderland (Tuesday), Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel (Wednesday), Roky Erickson (Feb. 25), and Jerry Jeff Walker (March 5). Hook 'em!
Barbara Orbison, widow of Wink-born rock & roll legend Roy, has started a petition drive to place her husband on a U.S. postage stamp alongside former Sun labelmate Elvis Presley and fellow West Texan Bob Wills. Bono, Dan Aykroyd, and Pamela Anderson have already signed, so you should too, at www.petitiononline.com/royvote/petition.html.
Classic-rock-loving Hill Country twangers the Dust Devils are the latest Texans to hop on the XM train: their album Gathering Dust is No. 26 on X Country's (XM 12) weekly chart, a few paces behind Honeybrowne and ahead of Guy Forsyth, Scrappy Jud Newcomb, and the just-added Gourds. The Devils tape an interview and performance at XM's Nashville studio Wednesday.
Blind item of the week: Two employees of a nameless downtown nightclub, both musicians, were drinking at a nearby watering hole when one excused himself to use the facilities. The other seized this opportunity to undo his trousers and rub his manhood around the rim of his buddy's glass. The victim returned from the restroom, took a sip, was shown digital-camera evidence of the act, and promptly went ballistic. Later, he had to be forcibly restrained from defecating in the defiler's van, and at press time has yet to exact his revenge. Remember kids: Never, ever leave your drink unattended. Some things are much worse than roofies.
