My Ex-Boyfriend's Band

Lucha loca does not mean mercy en espanol

I can’t believe things exist in this world I don’t know about. Seriously. I am convinced I know a little bit about everything. Actually, I know a lot more about many things than most people. Does that make sense? Excuse me for being flustered, I am very confused, my world order is being turned upside down.

If you’re reading a blog, I assume you understand there are many types of top-level domain names, such as .com, .net. org, .gov, so on. Did you know there is an entirely new type of top-level domain? It is called .mobi, which stands for mobile, because it is used by sites intended for mobile devices, duh. Apparently it was launched in September 2006, yet I had no idea such a thing existed! Here’s the rub. Many people, perhaps even you people, are completely familiar with .mobi. How can this be? I just don’t understand! But I find it fascinating, so read all about it on Wikipedia, the second greatest invention since the Internet.

While we are on the pop culture slant, I made yet another new discover. Lucha Libres are awfully cool cats from Mexico that dress in sparkly masks and wrestle. For all the unhip people, Jack Black brought them to the masses via the epic Nacho Libre. But lucha libres are all men, right? WRONG! There is a group of ladies in L.A. known as the Lucha Locas. They have fantastic names like Infernala and dress in masks but not much else and wrestle with each other. Obviously, the Lucha Locas are not exactly family entertainment, they fall somewhere between burlesque and naked mud wrestling on the morality scale. Still, I dig the idea, and now have the perfect Halloween costume.

The musical commentary will return tomorrow, featuring White Rabbit and Blitzen Trapper.

June Review, The Corporate Edition

June marks the beginning of summer, of lazy days spent at the Greenbelt and sticky nights walking down Red River. And it also ushers in the first wave of summertime music. An interesting pack of upcoming indie rockers and established industry stars dropped albums this month. I know these things leak like sinking ships, but they really are brand spanking new, at least to those who get music legally. Let’s begin with the major leagues. Really, its like a totally different art form than the indie kids, they deserve their own post.

Best of the Big Boys:

Yeah, you know it, the new White Stripes is awesome. I thought Jack White spent all his creative juices jacking off to the independent beauty of The Raconteurs. I thought Brendan Benson had replaced Meg as his soulmate d’arte. I thought wrong. Icky Thump nails it. Take nail, pick a wooden surface, beat with album, break into dirty pop pleasure. The sweet Nudie-esque outfits on the album cover earn them an extra gold star.

Album I Wish Was More Awesome:

Ryan Adam’s Easy Tiger. This confirms that I have to stop looking for another Heartbreaker. It just ain’t gonna happen. Adams is still an unapologetic ass with ungodly talent, but he isn’t a rough rebellious mess any more. Still, this album is a huge step back up from 29. And it is full of dry humor. Listen to the middle of "Halloween Head" for "Guitar solo!”

Band Better Off Broken Up:

The Verve announced today that they are getting back together. I do happen to be an underground fan of several Verve songs such as “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Lucky Man.” But they are getting a tad old for symphonic sidewalk shenanigans. As we all learned from Michael Jordan, a mean hooper and Chicagoan to boot, if you go out on top it is wise to stay out on top.

My current roomie's band

Our new house was the setting for a birthday blow-out this weekend for my roommate Ashley and great friend Lindsey. One of the many highlights of the fiesta was a demonstration of Ash's sweet guitar skills, learned at Girl Guitar, a class that all the lovely ladies in Austin need to check out.

Happy birthday rockstars!

ACL vs. Lolla, Round 2

Finding the perfect headliner is mere child’s play compared to piecing together the festival schedule. Both ACL and Lolla have an impressive roster of bands, but the laws of time, space, and beer lines make it impossible to see every act. Still, there were many a frowning face the final schedules were released.

Did they even try to spread things out for Lollapalooza? Grant Park is not a small patch of grass, it probably takes a good 20 minutes to wiggle your way from one main stage to the other, and after a while it just feels better to just stand still, even if you are missing Ryan Adams for Ashley Angel.

But, not only did they stack great acts back-to-back at opposite ends of the park, they have some truly blatant conflicts as well. On Friday, Elvis Perkins and The Fratellis play at 11:45 a.m. Son Volt and Ted Leo are at 1:30 p.m. The Rapture and Silversun Pickups both play at 5 p.m., which overlaps Blonde Redhead at 5:30 p.m.

Saturday pits Tokyo Police Club and Fields, Tapes n’ Tapes and Pete Yorn, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and The Roots, plus Regina Spektor and The Hold Steady. Then they top it off by putting Muse and Interpol head-to-head at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday isn’t too horrible, but the real kicker is Modest Mouse and My Morning Jackets both going on at 6:15. This one will be my only quandary, I figure most of the other acts will sort themselves out according to geography, but I still don’t like making decisions. Is that the point of festival, getting it all at once, an uninhibited act of gluttony? I want my cake and ice cream and pot brownies and everything.

While the quantity of scheduling issues at Lolla is impressive, the sheer quality of a single conflict at ACL blows me away. Wilco and My Morning Jacket at the same time? Really? Really! I just don’t understand the logic behind this one at all. Surely they could have spread these guys out during a three-day festival. And they are two of my favorite groups today, live and in stereo, so like a mother torn between a baseball game and piano recital, which do I pick? Actually that is a bad metaphor, I for sure like Jeff Tweedy and Jim James more than I’d ever like children.

Final decision: Despite the J-Factor, ACL does come out ahead as far as scheduling goes.

Beauty and two beasts: Lavender Diamond, B.R.M.C, Riverboat Gamblers

As always, there is so much, too much, to catch up on. I need to perfect the art of blogging while hung over. Every time I go to these fabulous shows I feel incredibly inspired to write. Then rehydrating myself and trying to fend off the evil headache that threatens to split open my skull somehow takes priority. I suppose I could write anyway, throw a bunch of junk on the page and be done with it, but that is just cheap. I may be many things, but cheap I am not. So, until I find the magic elixir, which will probably be chemically identical to Advil Liqui-Gels, my news is a bit tardy.

Last Tuesday, Lavender Diamond put on an inspired, heartfelt show at the Parish. This young L.A. band is composed of three solid players, just dudes in t-shirts playing their instruments, and an angelic singer Becky Stark. Her voice is both ethereal and enormous, its delicate fingers gripping the audience with impressive force. I don’t think a single eyelid batted during the breathtaking ballad “Oh No.” Lavender Diamond first LP, Imagine Our Love, was just released by Matador. Add it to the top of your shopping list.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club rolled into La Zona Rosa on Friday with dark, grand fury. I fell in love with B.R.M.C. during a summer in London. It is the sort of love story that deserves its on space, all foggy morning and dim nuances that I’ll talk about later. So expect a full review to come. For now, I’ll say that unlike most ex-lovers, BRMC did not disappoint me. I still think Howl and B.R.M.C. are stronger albums than Baby 81, but in the smoky din of La Zona, all of it sounded perfect.

I even made it to Emo’s to witness the infamous hurling of bodies and breaking of vocal chords that are a Riverboat Gamblers show. The Gamblers are the perfect band to celebrate Emo’s with. Sure, I ended up standing near the bar in the back, my arms protectively wrapped around me, but getting the entire view was beyond impressive.

Tonight I will be back in action at Emo’s for Ghostland Observatory. Will it surpass the anarchy of the Riverboat Gamblers? I think it might…

No drinking or driving, just rocking and partying

And why is Ghostland playing a special super secret show at Emo's on Wednesday? Because Emo's, one of the raddest rock clubs in the country, is turning 15.  Scroll to the bottom to see Chris Gray's scoop on the beginnings of my favorite dive in Austin. And yes, I said dive, because that is what makes Emo's so great. The bathrooms really are gross. The bartenders are not pretentious, even though they could be, they all look like they rolled out of bed just in time to serve you that drink and they keep the line at the bar moving by refraining from bullshit. The entire venue looks like it might start to fall apart any day now, though I believe there are some key pieces of duct tape holding it together. Plus they serve Sparks, the lifeblood of bad decisions, at least for me. No wonder it is the best place to see an indie rock show in Austin, period.

Highlights of Emo's 15th Anniversary Par-tay

Friday, June 15:
Riverboat Gamblers, The Freeze, Summer of Bloog, The Arrivals, Acid Reflux, Chix Pack

Saturday, June 16:
Shearwater, Great Lake Swimmers, Eleni Mandell, The Minus Story inside
Hell's Belles, Broken Teeth, Dixie Witch outside

Sunday, June 17:
The Stills, The Broken West, The Laughing outside with limited tickets

Wednesday, June 20:
Ghostland Observatory with guests TBA

Thursday, June 21:
De La Soul, Just Born outside

Rock me Ghostland

Ghostland Observatory was the first truly Austin band I saw when I moved here. Aaron Behrens wicked command of the stage, long braids whipping and tight pants squeezing, sold me on the scene within the first minute. So I was thrilled when my friend Matt Odom at the Statesman heard from his friend Mr. Behrens that there would be a secret show at Emo's next Wednesday. Of course, printing it in The M.O. means it's not so secret any more, so go to the Emo's web site or Waterloo and buy tickets ASAP.

Going steady

Is it me or the music? Probably me, I've been doing a lot of ball dropping lately, but I do believe there has been a slight lull in the live music offerings the past few weeks. In Austin, we go straight from SXSW into the spring concert season and it just spoils me rotten. But things are starting to speed up again.

Hold on for the Hold Steady tonight at Emo's. Anyone that puts the lyrics "She was a really cool kisser and she wasn't all that strict of a Christian/ She was a damn good dancer but she wasn't all that great of a girlfriend" over a Springstein-esque piano ditty and belts it all out in a gravely punk voice is gonna be awesome. They are a Brooklyn version of Lucero. I don't know much about the openers, though I have heard good things about Illinois, who just wrapped up a tour wiht the Kooks.

I'll likely take a break until Tuesday, when Lavendar Diamond plays at the Parish. The L.A. quartet is a new recommendation from my West Coast consultant Gabriel. I'm digging their airy and upbeat feel, they should sound great in the Parish.

Somewhere in between those shows I need to get my Black Rebebl Motorcycle Club tickets. I have been a huge fan ever since I spent the summer of 2002 in London. The new album, Baby 81, doesn't have the same raw passion as Howl, but that won't keep me away from La Zona on Friday.

This iron will and body of steel are genetic

My music blog isn't the most appropriate place to be sharing my fam's close calls, but I can't resist. My dad is like the Keith Richard's of amateur endurance athletics, an unstoppable force whose body miraculously survives a plethora of abuses.

Check it.

And yes, that daughter they refer to is indeed me. Of course my late night's on Red River mean  I haven’t been on the bike very much (more like not at all), so I'm a tad nervous, I am supposed to keep up with this guy for 500 miles across Iowa. I thought his little accident might mean the grueling trip was canceled, but never fear, Lydon will be there, broken in body but never in spirit.

Will bartend for rent

This may be the hippest happy hour in town because it really is supporting the most excellent cause in Austin: our local music scene. From 5 to 8 p.m. today, Mike Booher of Zykos and Jerod Cykoski are hosting the “Booher and Jerod Must Make Rent Happy Hour” at Mohawk. All those hefty tips you leave on cheap drinks will put a roof over their heads, plus their guitar heads, their drumheads, and all the important heads that make the indie magic happen. So head down to Red River after week and let the boys serve you.