The Lonesome Heroes/Dim Locator/Daniel Cioper (The Kessler Theater): A couple of Austin folk acts are here tonight, along with Denton’s Dim Locator AKA Will Kapinos of Jetscreamer, who can I only assume named his dark blues solo project after the classic Birthday Party song. Kapinos is a gifted guitarist with a focus on traditionals, and I’ve heard him cover both R.L. Burnside and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
The Lonesome Heroes are a pleasant-enough Americana act though their bio claims “psychedelic country.” That might be more obvious live, as some tracks have a noticeable Blue Bell Ice Cream commercial quaintness to them. Other songs are better. A couple feature Memphis-styled horns and the southern melodrama that colors vocalist Landry McMeans‘ vocals, the best things about The Lonesome Heroes. Occasionally, her singing sounds a little like Cassie Berman of The Silver Jews, and sure enough, they are listed as an influence. McMeans also creates western-themed artwork (which she calls “Nouveau Western Design”) such as the abstract relief pictured above.
Daniel Cioper also hails from Austin and his style of songwriting is so direct and literal (even and especially when singing about politics) that it borders on uncomfortable. Have a listen to his rather unsubtle Bush-era tirade entitled “Fascist Dictator” to see what I mean. His lengthy and tragic bio inlcludes the revelation that he traveled as an opening act for Cindy Sheehan during her well-publicized “Journey For Humanity” protest tour of 2005.
Oh, and note to all musicians: Nobody likes a website that just starts loudly spewing music at you right away. Note: Show has been postponed.
Man Factory/Datahowler (Lochrann’s Irish Pub)
Discipline (Rubber Gloves)
Wallflower Management Party with Woolfy/Blake Ward (PM Gallery and PM Lounge in The Joule Hotel): Launch party in honor of the Wallflower Management, a local talent agency which has actually been around since 2009 (as D reported at the time). The company is presided over by former fashion writer Tammy Theis, who covered the topic and worked as a stylist for The Dallas Morning News for 21 years. Wallflower takes an aesthetically diverse approach regarding its models, and one that considers international trends outside of what might be considered the norm in North Texas. The Male and female models the company features are both simultaneously “graceful” and “awkward” according to the company website.
The main party will be handled by the extremely employed Blake Ward (taking place in the PM Gallery), with an after-party that features Woolfy of DFA Records (In the PM Lounge). The inlcusion of Woolfy marks yet another Thursday where a name act is performing for free in The Joule’s on-site nightclub.
Woolfy grew up in The UK but developed as a musician in Los Angeles. Besides the house and balearic-leaning sets that he DJ’s, he is also known to play and record using live instruments. His guitar style has that stylistically expected disco scratch so prevalent on dance records. Just as significant as his work released with DFA, he has also released material through Munich’s Permanent Vacation label. SF Weekly recently conducted an entertainingly honest interview with Woolfy, where he admits that he prefers Coachella over other music festivals because it’s the “only one that pays.”
80’s Night With Yeahdef/Gavin Guthrie (Hailey’s): The invitation to this 80’s weekly caught my eye, since it implored the attendees to:
“take Friday off work, call up your significant other, and make your plans to spend the night seducing each other on the dance floor while resident DJ Yeahdef and guest DJ Gavin G take you back…”
Seriously? I don’t know how romantic a potential date would find me if I told her our Valentine’s Day plans included 80’s Night with Yeah Def and that guy from Florene that’s into that obscure synth music. I mean, perhaps the illicit hookups of which I associate this event and venue could someday turn into something worthwhile; something where someone loves you for the rest of your life — or even just three months, but I don’t know. Oh, and they also request you wear the oh-so-subtle red or always terrible white. Almost nobody looks good in white. Did a couple of bachelors plan this whole thing? Back to the drawing board, fellas.
Big Bang With Sober (Beauty Bar): About a month ago, DJ Sober gave us Dallasites some insight into the atmospheric differences between Houston and DFW, since he plays Houston so often. He explained that it was a proud crowd, more relaxed, less demanding with the requests, and a crowd that was not ashamed of its reputation for consistently putting out groundbreaking Hip Hop and Rap since the 80’s. That’s something that Dallas has always longed for even though it has made some serious in-roads in the past five years or so.
After a recent visit to Houston, I can personally attest to this. There was a DJ, who goes by Klinch, an especially golden age-influenced DJ (late 80’s/early 90’s) playing a small club who had some real moves, mixing Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me” behind some free-style before moving on to a back-to-back smattering of obvious classics like “Juicy.” But it’s not the DJ I’m talking about; he was actually from Austin. It was the crowd. When the opening bars of the Isaac Hayes‘ sample kicked in on “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” the audience absolutely erupted and everyone in the crowd sang along, with obvious worship accenting every word of The Geto Boys’ biggest hit.
It was a moment I was envious of and the city certainly lived up to its reputation. So go see Sober tonight. Houston always has him back for a reason. And it’s a city that knows the words.
One more thing: Sober just announced he will be performing at the always well-attended Gorilla VS Bear day party during South By Southwest.
Image: “Big Sur.” Cardboard relief by The Lonesome Heroes’ Landry McMeans.
