If you truly love a band, an artist, or anyone who’s creative; then you should champion their growth.  We all turn a blind eye to changes in art.  A great example of this would be comparing Rolling Stones albums from the eighties to their albums from the sixties.  The fact is, that the best bands and artists change over time.  A band who has changed over time, is Houston’s Young Mammals.  “I don’t think people are gonna’ like it cause’ it’s so different,” explained guitarist Cley Miller when I asked earlier this year about their new album.  That new album, “Alto Seco” is definitely different than previous Young Mammals albums.  However, I don’t see how anyone who listens to it, can’t immediately fall in love with it.  In ten tracks, the band takes you on a path of rock, pop, and indie sounds that don’t disappoint from track to track.

The opening song, “Lose The Grip,” is pretty much the perfect opener for what’s to come.  Utilizing an almost U2 kind of opening, the band quickly segues into an indie rock vibe that’s catchy, while not being hokey.  Gone are the overpowering pedal sounds of the band’s past recordings in favor of a more straightforward and leaner sound.  That vibe is carried over into the second track, the fast and quickly paced “Speedboy.”  There’s such a simplistic feel to the way the hooks are presented while staying fresh and having a head bopping chorus.  By the time you’ve gotten to the slow paced and almost Cure sounding third song, “Alto Seco;” you should be cool with how these guys have changed.  There’s growth here for sure, especially with the landscaped guitar sounds all over the song that have the feel of a Starflyer 59 tune.

Halfway through the album, you’re greeted with a really simplistic and almost swanky vibe on “Rabies” where singer Carlos Sanchez’ vocals emote such passion without sounding too personal.  The dual guitars on the song really make a basic structure come off with a more lush and fuller than you’d hear from acts with more complications in their songs.  “Build A House,” swings in with a pop rock force that definitely makes you realize why it was dropped as a stand alone last year.  It’s a truly crafted pop song that hides behind soundscapes of guitar, that never bury the true nature of the track.  The fuzz heavy sound of the eighth song, “Queen” really comes off as a possible second single from the album.  It’s definitely a standout that is simple while still sounding diverse, and it’s length is quick enough to leave you wanting more.  The album gets finished off with a hollow body guitar laced track, “Littlefield.”  The song clocks in at a little under seven and a half minutes, but it never feels like there’s too much of it.  Vocals slip in and out of the song with almost a whisper, but the track consistently slings along without ever losing its initial rhythmic feel.  Then, about three and a half minutes in, there’s a small break, then back to the original intent from the beginning.  Even the keyboard heavy ending is more than welcomed, and it never feels like the band is straying away from their initial purpose on the song.

It wasn’t really a surprise for me that I liked this album, as it’s catchy sound and surprises are a welcomed change for a band that has always grown.  I don’t think there’s really anything about “Alto Seco” that you could find to dislike.  In a little over thirty minutes, Young Mammals embraces change and keeps their core sound intact, leaving us listeners with something we can jam out to for a long time to come.  You can catch Young Mammals live on Friday October 3rd, when they play at the Coog Radio Fifth Birthday Bash.  And, you can pick up your own physical copy of “Alto Seco” when they perform at Fitzgerald’s on October 11th, with Wild Moccasins, Hooked Rugs, Toast, and DJ’s Andy V & JE.

Sometimes life is hard.  Okay, well, this isn’t as difficult as decisions that face the poor and impoverished.  I’m talking about where to go and what to do when there are more than one great option at your disposal.  This weekend in Houston offers up some great options where you, the patron will have to make a decision on which to attend.

On Thursday you have two options, help the homeless, or rock out to psychobilly.  The Heart & Harmony Benefit at Walters, featuring Sarah Golden from that terrible NBC show “The Voice”  is happening on Thursday.   I sincerely detest reality shows, competition shows, and pretty much everything that isn’t on Adult Swim, personally.  But, this is for a good cause in healthcare for Houston’s homeless. The tickets are $100.00 & $150.00 each, so not going is completely understandable.

The other offering for Thursday, isn’t as admirable; but it sure looks like fun.  The Nekromantix make their return to Houston, I would guess with newer members than the last time they came through; led by founding member Kim Nekroman.  The Nekromantix put on a great live show, they’ve been around for a quarter of a century, and Kim’s bass is a giant coffin shape.  If that’s not enough to get you interested in slicking back your hair and hot rodding over to Fitzgerald’s, then the female led rockabilly outfit 13 Black Coffins and the sleeze induced sounds of The Freakouts should help. The doors are at 8:00 and the tickets range from $13.00-$17.00.

 On Friday, the decision is simple; go to Superchunk.  Superchunk is one of the greatest indie rock bands in existence.  They’re touring on the heels of two amazing albums, 2024’s Majesty Shredding and 2024’s I Hate Music; both great examples of their indie cred.   I got to interview Mac from the band who started twenty five years ago alongside starting the independent heavy hitting label Merge.  You should go just to thank him for releasing some of the best music in the past twenty plus years.  Waxahatchee will open things up with her hauntingly gorgeous sound.  The doors are at 8:00 and the tickets are between $16.00 and $20.00 at Fitzgerald’s.  I would strongly suggest buying before the doors open as this show has a strong chance of selling out, or getting close to.

Saturday is a tough decision on all accounts, even for me.  I will attempt to make both shows, which can be done, if you don’t mind going by yourself.  Wild Moccasins are playing over at Numbers for FREE, brought to you by Free Press Houston.  This is the album release party for their new and fun sounding album, 88 92.  The lineup is pretty solid in the list of openers that will warm things up.  Local mainstays Young Mammals will definitely amp things up with their infectious sounds.  Last year’s “Build a House” was easily one of my favorite songs of the year.  The pop and sing song stylings of Houston’s Young Girls and a thumping DJ set by Bagheera, round things out.  It’s an all ages show, so expect a line with a 9:00 door time.

Also on Saturday, over at Fitzgerald’s; the incredibly ingenious and pop laced goodness of Into It. Over It., comes to town.  This guy, I seriously can’t tell you how rad he appears to be.  In 2024 he made an album of fifty two songs that were written over the course of a year, appropriately titled 52 Weeks.  Then, in 2024 he lived in a different city, including Brenham; writing a song in each released as Twelve Towns.  The new album, Intersections is as immediate and easy to love as a release gets. I love when someone gets creative in a world of sam ol’, same ol’ and Into It. Over It. is definitely creative, and worth checking out.  The jazzy emo core sounds of Connecticut’s longest band name recipients The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, and the pop tunes of Brooklyn’s A Great Big Pile of Leaves are onboard as well.  Houston’s own Football, Etc. open the show with an 8:00 door and a cover of $10.00-$14.00 downstairs at Fitz; this promises to be one of the better emo shows to make its way to town in quite some time.

 On Sunday, you can soldier on over to Fitzgerald’s to check out Russian Circles.  I don’t really know what they call their music, but I can say that they bring it live.  With a mix of industrial, emo, and punk electronica, Russian Circles is worth making it out just to see once.  You should at least make it out for the Canadian metal noise rock openers KEN Mode, who promise to rip us all a new one.  Virginia’s metal doom act, Inter Arma get things started.  Doors are at 7:00 and the tickets are between $13.00 & $17.00.

Of course, if you were lucky enough to grab tickets, Queens Of The Stone Age will be rocking the walls of Bayou Music Center (formerly Verizon Wireless) as well on Sunday.  Though it’s sold out, the rumor is that some tickets are getting released on the day of the show.  The doomy and gloomy electronic goth folk style of Chelsea Wolfe open the show.  The doors are at 8:00 and tickets range between $39.50 and $45.00.

It’s not a bad thing to have decisions, just a tough thing sometimes.  This weekend will definitely either have you making the rounds, or possibly missing out on something.  In the end, they’re all great options; and in Houston, it’s great to have too many than no options at all.

How many of you folks paid top dollar to see Madonna last night?  Well now, don’t you feel a little dumb? Yeah, because tonight at The Continental Club and Big Top you can see Madge and a whole host of other amazing acts like The Pixies,  The White Stripes, Kate Bush, The Mummies, and the Buzzcocks. And all for a mere $5 or $10!!! Fools!   [ed. – Actually, it’s Young Mammals, Wild Moccains, The Whit Strips, LIMB, Mikey and the Drags, and Wicked Poseur playing as those bands but we didn’t have the heart to tell him]  Omar told me he had connections with all these acts and so he put me in touch with organizer Bob Geldof [ed. – Actually, that was just Joe Mathlete’s e-mail] who in turn put me in contact with all the acts, most of whom had time to respond to a variety of questions I’d always wanted to ask them.  Here are there responses.

The Pixies [ ed – Young Mammals]

Why are you such a meanie to Kim Deal?

 She’s from Ohio

Where IS your mind?

Riding the tide of the River Euphrates

This whole reunion thing is all about the money, isn’t it?

Totez.

Madonna [ ed – The Wild Moccasins]

How many dancers will you have employed for this performance? 

53 dancers. 50 men. 3 women. all working hard, but unemployed. 

What’s with your arms being so weird?

 You are speaking to 80’s- early 90’s Madonna so I don’t know what you are talking about yet.

 Guy Ritchie is said to have compared sex with you to cuddling with Gristle.  As a G.I. Joe villains go, he’s…well, I could see where that would be unpleasant (see) but if you were going to compare Madonna sex to GI Joe sex, which Cobra villain would you choose?

Well, I have a confession to make.. This is an embarrassing question for me, because I’ve actually already had a fling with a Cobra.  A couple years back I met Dr. Mindbender while filming the Borderline music video. He wound up being cast as my Hispanic love interest and very soon there were sparks on and off the set..Unfortunately during the filming there was a dispute between the director & Dr. Mindbender because of artistic differences.  Words were exchanged and ultimately Mindbender was cut from the video and replaced by John “Jellybean” Benitez whom you see now in the video. I haven’t seen him since, but I hope he’s happy wherever he is.

 If Joey Guerra attends can you make him karaoke with you to his favorite Madonna song?

I will be lip-syncing 98% of the set, but he can get up and vogue whenever he’d like.

The White Stripes [ ed -The White Strips aka Mlee Marie of Hearts of Animals and Chris Cascio]

Madonna is likely going to have some dancers and stuff but you guys actually had your music used for a ballet. Are you guys going to bring over the Royal Ballet and one-up Madonna? 

No, we are the minimalist kings and queens and we will keep it that way, thank you very much.  Blues rock needeth no damn dancers.

Your music was featured in Guitar Hero and Rock Band.  Which one do you prefer and who is the best player between you two?

Plastic button guitars?  Surely you jest.  Seven nation army would have been better used in a yogurt commercial, see:  http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/jack-white-sings-about-yogurt-with-stephen-colbert-20110622

You guys are really weirdo incestuous siblings, aren’t you?

Yep.

The Mummies [ed – Mikey and the Drags]

 Will you guys come dressed as mummies and isn’t that going to be uncomfortable after a while?

You don’t need comfort when you have Rock and Roll!! We’re coming in full costume!!

You recorded a song in a furniture warehouse.  What’s the connection between furniture and rock and roll?

What kind of question is that?!?! You can’t have one without the other!!!

Does Steve still let you party at his house?

No…. Can we party at your house???

Organizer Bob Geldof  [ed – Joe Mathlete]

 How is this in scale and scope to live aid?

 Way fewer assholes and British people. Infinity percent more Lone Star. Chances of ending world hunger via the power of rock and roll: same.

 Are you going to shave your eyebrows and go all pseudo-fascist for this show?

My eyebrows stopped growing back years ago. I hired Chinese specialists to train fuzzy caterpillars to perch above my eyes for most public appearances. Being rich is pretty great.

I grew bored with pseudo-fascism years ago; I used the money I got from Live Aid (which obviously didn’t go to feeding starving African children, did anybody really believe that?) to equip and train a standing army. So far all they do is march, salute my image and sing a few Boomtown Rats songs, but we’re working up to invading Wales. Wish us luck!

You killed  Michael Hutchence, didn’t you?

I merely showed him how to masturbate while strangling himself. At most, that’s second-degree manslaughter.

Morrisey called  Do they Know It’s Christmas? “tuneless” and  “the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music” …  he’s kind of a dick, isn’t he?

Morrissey is a fat vegetarian.

Friday, October 26
False Idols: The Halloweening, featuring Young Mammals as The Pixies, The Wild Moccasins as Madonna, The White Strips as The White Stripes, LIMB & Pals as Kate Bush, Mikey and The Drags as The Mummies, Wicked Poseur as The Buzzcocks

DJ ADR, Little Joe Washington, & more
@ The Continental Club, The Big Top
$10, $5 with costume, Doors 7pm, 21+

$22 bucks is the kind of ticket price that makes me think twice but Daniel Johnton’s show in Houston on Saturday night was one where I couldn’t imagine anyone left the place thinking they didn’t get their $22 worth and then some. The hook that got me over that $22 was the ensemble that had been cast for this show. My understanding (please, correct me if I am wrong here) is that Joe Mathlete was assigned the task of playing Nick Fury and “assemble Earth’s mightiest superheroes” or in this case some of Houston’s mightiest musicians. In addition to himself, there was Cley Miller (Young Mammals, Wicked Poseur), Carlos Sanchez (Young Mammals), Mlee Marie (Hearts of Animals), Brett Taylor (sIngs), and Collin Hendrick (Giant Princess) and the result was likely the best band Johnston has ever played with and a show that people will remember for years.

When Johnston first took the stage for an acoustic set with Joe Mathlete, I was a little taken aback. Johnston approached shockingly overweight, hunch backed, and with an uncontrolled shaking of the microphone that was unnerving. The last time I saw Johnston was with his band The Nightmares at Rudyard’s and that was years ago. That was a slimmer Johnston and one whose body was yet to be ravaged by years of medication* so to see Johnston in his current state was, to me, very upsetting. When he first started shaking his microphone, I thought he was doing this to get a vibrato effect but it clearly was something more and I spoke with quite a few people who, like me, feared he would knock his teeth out with this uncontrollable tick. Despite this, one thing had not changed over the years and that was his voice which was still as beautiful as ever and that opening with Joe on acoustic had the same kind of lonely beauty one finds in performers with similarly quirky voices like Neil Young.

As the night moved forward though, those concerns about Johnston’s health seemed to disappear. Maybe I just got used to it but it felt that once the backing band arrived Johnston really began to enjoy himself. He even cracked a couple of jokes and seemed to be really responding to the love coming from the room. And why shouldn’t he, Johnston had the best group of people behind him and the players were more than up to the task and sounding like some crazy mutant Pixies on steroids. This was not your dad’s Daniel Johnston – this was Daniel Johnston playing rock star to a packed, cheering crowd (especially “Rock and Roll/EGA” which was likely the heaviest that song has ever been played). The set list was like a greatest hits of Johnston’s career and everything from “Greviances” to “Speedy Motorcycle” was met with people in the audience singing along which is something I’m sure a lot of readers wouldn’t expect but it was true. This wasn’t a freak show as those only familiar with Johnston as a curiosity might think. No, people really do love Johnston’s work and they love it enough to sing it with him; that’s what great art will do when it affects people.

Before we get to some pictures just a few brief notes on the opening bands I saw.

Tax The Wolf – A rousing set, hadn’t seen them as a trio until now but they sound better than ever.

Mikey and The Drags –first time seeing this post-McKenzies garage trio and they lived up to all the buzz I’d been hearing. Unfortunately, and this was my one beef with the evening, the organizers didn’t stagger the upstairs and downstairs so they were left to perform downstairs while Grandfather Child played upstairs. Not cool, these guys deserved better.

Grandfather Child –  Without a snare, is a banjo really a banjo?  Discuss.  OK now, let’s get serious here, if anyone has any doubt about this band being at the top of the heap in Houston, this show should set that question to rest (like every other show I’ve seen from them). One minute the band dishes you some heartfelt soul and the next a rousing blues number and they do it all seamlessly and with a style all their own.    I heard one dude in the front row calling them a seemingly endless stream of genres in describing the band to his friend and that’s about right. Who else can pull of a crazy psychedelic country number that hearkens to Sun Ra and have the audience go crazy but these guys?  

Honestly, I have a lot of appreciation for the hard work done by the folks down at the Houston Press but the fact that Grandfather Child was not nominated in the Houston Press Music Awards just shows how utterly irrelevant those awards have become since they introduced open nominations. That’s really a shame because they used to be, to a degree, a real reflection of what was going on in Houston but now, while there are some good bands nominated, the open nominations thing has reduced the HPMAs to a joke.  They should just nix all the categories and just call it what it really is by just giving out one award “best use of social networking by a band.”   There I said it! 

Sorry did I go off on a tangent? OK here are some pictures….

Tax The Wolf played a rousing set.

Mikey and The Drags killed it downstairs while…

..Grandfather Child did the same upstairs.

Grandfather Child's Geoffrey Mueller with his "electric banjo"

Daniel Johnston began the set with Joe Mathlete backing him up on acoustic guitar

After a few songs he was joined by a local all-star band (here Brett Taylor on the right)

Accompanying Johnston here are (L to R) Joe Mathlete, Cley Miller, Brett Taylor

Behind Johnston and the kit – Mlee Marie

here is an animated Gif because I have photoshop and so why the helk not?

Tonight the Young Mammals release a new 7″ – their first since releasing Carrots a bit over two years ago. The band has been somewhat quiet over the past couple of years so I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of you may be unfamiliar with them but when the band roared into the scene with its high energy indie pop they made a huge splash and arguably led the way for bands like Wild Moccasins, The Ton Tons, and Buxton by helping expand what was happening in the local music scene. Tonight at Walters, the band roars back into the spotlight and unless you are dead or in jail, I suggest you check out what these guys can do live (the rest of the line-up is pretty spectacular too). We e-mailed band leader Carlos Sanchez a few questions about the band and the new single.

FPH – You guys have been quiet since your sophomore album. Is this single a signal of more new material coming out?

Sanchez – Yeah, we have been working on a new material. We are hoping to finish an album later this year.

FPH – It’s nice to know that Ryan Chavez is going to have a document of his being in the band. I think someone once told me that he pretty much saved the Mammals because you just couldn’t find a drummer at one point. Is that a true story?

Sanchez – Thats totally true, I think Cley said that. When our old drummer Iram left the band, we were kind of lost. He was such a great drummer and he was very animated on stage, so we were looking for a guy that played just like him. Once we realized that we would not find a drummer like Iram, we asked Ryan to play with us. At first he was just filling in but as time went by he became an active member of the band. If it wasn’t for Ryan I dont know what we would have done.

FPH – Tell us about the single. Where was it recorded? Who recorded it? Who is releasing it? Who did the art? How did you pick the song?

Sanchez – Landlady was recorded at Cley’s and Ryan’s old house. Ryan recorded landlady. Optometrist was recorded in New York city with Nick Stumpf. Steve Christensen mixed both songs. Bombs by Mail is releasing the 7inch and Eyesore provided the artwork.

FPH – When you first came on the scene you guys were the young kids causing a stir and a ruckus with a new sound. Now you guys are more the old guard – you guys are respected and well known in town. How does it feel being on the other end of that spectrum? How have you sen the scene cahnge over the years? Also, who are the young bands that make your earl perk up?

Sanchez – It pretty much feels the same. I don’t feel any different about our band now than I did when I was 17. The scene has changed a lot since we started. Around 2024 it seemed like Houston had a very aggressive sound. You had bands like the Fatal Flying Guilloteens, Bring Back the Guns, Gods Temple of Family Deliverancewho all had a very intense sound. Now it feels more like a mixed bag. Now there are bands such as the Wild Moccasins, The Energy, Sings, and Grandfather Child, who are all very different from one another. I don’t know if I have heard any new bands recently. I need to go out more.

FPH – what’s next for you guys after this seven inch?

Sanchez – We will continue to write new material for the next record. Hopefully, it will be ready for release in early 2024. Aside from that, we plan to play more shows in and out of town.

Young Mammals perform tonight with sIngs, Extra Life, and Sandy Ewen at Walters. 8PM All Ages/ $8

On Saturday the dashing Young Mammals will be kicking off their tour with Eastern Sea and Buxton. But if you feeling like partying as if it were your birthday then 50 Cent will also be performing at the Arena. The Wild Moccasins will be playing an intimate mid-day show at Cactus Music. And making a surprisingly unheralded appearance will be the Village People at Sam Houston Race Track. To finish the weekend up we also have a little Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special. Happy hunting!

See here is the thing about SXSW, sure you have all the issues revolving around this big overblown marketing beast where small independent bands scream to be heard above the fray, but forget that. Put that aside and what you have at SXSW is this crush of humanity descending on our proud state capital every year to hear some great music and have a great time. I mean look at this fellow below.

Chris Gray – Responsible Writer
Yes, that’s our dear friend Chris Gray of the Houston Press working hard like the excellent writer he is. He’s got his press badges, his wristbands, and he blogged extensively throughout. Well, not us. No sir we are down in the trenches with you plebeians. While Chris was jumping from show to show in the evening, we had to pick our shows*, pay for each one, and drink like fishes at our homebase bar on 7th. While Chris was blogging extensively we were either too hungover to type in the morning or threatened with death for typing too loud at the early hour of 1PM. While Chris was bringing you the latest and greatest bands, we were discovering new uses for Guideon’s Bible that probably would fall under sacrilege in most denominations. So, no, you are not going to get the full SXSW musical experience here. Neither will you get a run down of all the silliness, weirdness, drama, and genuine party call me insanity of the weekend – this ain’t no personal blog. But here is a quick recap of what I got to see from Thursday and Friday. Blogger is being weird right now so Saturday’s recap will have to wait.

Thursday 19 April

Consider this a stand-in for all lame SXSW bands
Let this band take the place of all awful and middling bands of SXSW. Ya see, for all the good that you can find at SXSW, you can find something terrible. Now granted, the “Texas Rock” stage on 7th street is the worst crap you will ever hear at SXSW no matter what year it is and even these guys above couldn’t hold candle to that shit but in their own bar band/blues rock tropes kind of way they were pretty unbearable.

Elaine Greer’s death metal set at Casa de Gallo
Next stop was Casa De Gallo and when I got there I had JUST missed Giant Princess play. The setting was pretty nice – a small little home in an obscure street on the east side and there was a good representation of all your music friends relaxing while enjoying some food and music. Elaine Greer played a great set with Travis on bass being his usual jovial self and Austin lending his skills on guitar, accordion, and backing vocals. The room sounded great, the band delivered, and Elaine’s voice carried all the melody, wit, and intelligence of her songs with a charming grace. Of course, if you’ve read my columns or blogs, you’d know that this is nothing new. Buxton was to follow Elaine Greer but I had to leave to catch an old friend from Austin. No worries, you know as well as I that it’s an easy bet that Buxton would take no prisoners. Need proof? That new single they have coming out KILLS! When it comes out buy a copy, then you will truly know of this band’s might.

Friday 20 April

Friday ended up being my Battan Death March. Let’s just say, I paid for Thursday all of Friday and leave it at that but, using every possible method available to me, I plugged through. Still we did see some good bands along the way.

Jana Hunter
After that is was a race across town to see Jana Hunter at Domy books. I’d missed her Tuesday so I was glad to find that Domy was running a bit behind schedule. I mean c’mon you know Jana: that singular phrasing, that jangly guitar, the slow spacious emotional songs. Much like Lou Barlow’s set the prior night, Jana hailed in the cooler evening weather playing her haunting music as the sun began to fall and birds flew across the sky overhead. I couldn’t have asked for better.

*My band didn’t apply this year and so I didn’t ahve wristbands like I did last year.

Ahhh OK now that I’ve addressed that idiocy can I get to the rest of the evening? It was actually a pretty good evening and, mind you, the morons I speak of couldn’t ruin it.

I missed the always fun the Wild Moccasins but got there in time to see Young Mammals who were looking to bat 300 with this – their third – performance as The Pixies. Jeff of Bowel/Brian’s Johnston filled in on the drums dressed as The Hulk (pretty hilarious as he’d grimace like Lou Ferrigno while holding his sticks). But his stage presence and antics aside, my one small quibble for their performance was that his drumming style is a better fit for some plodding sludgy metal than the upbeat driving pop of the Pixies. Again that’s quibbling as, despite that “Is my turntable running just slightly slow?” feeling at times, the band hit the songs solidly and had the crowd singing and dancing. I mean you can’t fail with Cley Miller’s guitar work and guest Mlee Suprean handling Kim Deal’s parts.

News On the March followed with a good performance but not their best. They had a blast on stage with some silly Halloween bit where this was supposed to be a News On The March reunion twenty years in the future where we got to see see what will have happened to all the members . It was funny and cute to be sure but, in hindsight (and having seen the band at Walter’s before with impeccable sound), the antics got in the way of the music and the performance. The humorous asides and silliness simply seemed to stall any momentum the band had built up. That’s not to say that people weren’t amused and having a good time, but I’d wonder what, if any, impression News on the March would have made to those not already familiar with their work. Is that quibbling? Maybe it is, as the songs were played well, but there is a reason why bands dread things like breaking strings and that’s because building momentum and keeping a flow is so crucial. Still it’s Halloween the important question is was it fun and that was a resounding “Yes!” so let’s not over analyze.

The Monocles meanwhile didn’t bother with skits (though Jeoaf was sporting a dashing police uniform). No, fuck that, just start her up, grab the wheel, and put the pedal to the floor. Damn straight, you don’t need any frills, just straight up garage with the pop pop pop of drums, an overdriven guitar, a driving bass and a whole lot of sweat. Not just any sweat – rock and roll sweat – the kind that has you dancing and shouting “Monocles! Monocles! Monocles!” Well done lads.

Dannzig (the always brilliant Jonbenet) closed the night with a pitch-perfect tribute to Glen Danzig. For my taste, I’d have liked to have heard a bit more Misfits material in the mix but, again, I’m in a quibbling mood this morning. You know the score – shirtless blood-soaked men playing loud – and that’s exactly what you got. People were packed at the front of the stage with their fists up in the air and singing along. Sure there were the handful of meatheads I mentioned in the beginning of this review but even their idiocy couldn’t mar the performance and the audience’s revelling in all things Danzig. I’ll bet you any amount of money that if you saw the real Glenn Danzig on Wednesday at the House of Blues, you probably got a shittier show for more money. Ironically, this was the real deal.

Links:
More Pictures on my Flickr (Link)

Young Mammals (Link)
News On The March (Link)
The Monocles (Link)
The Jonbenet (Link)

Hearts Of Animals (Link)
Bowel (Link)
Bryan’s Johnston (Link)