by rudyards | August 24th, 2012
Doors 9pm,
Music 10pm(!!!)
21+
Pay what you can – suggested donation $10
1 am Project Grimm
12am The Linus Pauling Quartet (playing a couple Mike Gunn songs)
11 pm Dead Mineral
10pm Hearts of Animals
While recently on tour with Charalambides last month, Tom Carter was hospitalized in Berlin for pneumonia. Due to complications, he was put in a medically induced coma that lasted weeks. Tom’s recovery was uncertain at first and some doctors even suggested he may not pull through but on June 18th he was pulled out of the coma and thankfully his prognosis is good, though questions remain about long-lasting complications. On July 10th, Tom was transferred to a medical rehabilitation facility in Germany, near the Baltic Sea where he will receive medical care, monitoring, and physical rehabilitation. It is expected Tom’s recovery will take months, and he will remain in Germany for the time being. If all goes as planned, doctors have recommend that he may be able to return to work and regular activity by January 2013.
Because of this, The Robert Thomas Carter Irrevocable Trust has been set up to take donations that will go toward the considerable expenses related to Tom’s recovery. Please consider a contribution here: https://helptomcarter.org/donate
*100% of the door money goes to to The Robert Thomas Carter Irrevocable Trust
*100% of the sales made that night of the new LP4 album “Bag of Hammers” will go to The Robert Thomas Carter Irrevocable Trust
Project Grimm (Houston, TX)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Grimm/121509194528707
A decidedly less experimental group than its most direct predecessor, the Mike Gunn, Project Grimm was formed in 1995 by Gunn frontman and guitarist John Cramer to satisfy his urges to be a bit more straightforward in his approach to guitar rock. Interested in looking to build a band around this new direction, Cramer called local drummer Rick Costello (…of Houston band Bleachbath) who volunteered his services straight away. Drew Calhoun joined on bass, and former Schlong Weasel (University of Houston “branch”) member Jim Otterson rounded out the lineup as second guitarist. Their first show, on July 3, 1995 was followed by recording sessions that would result in their first album, Lying Down out on Linus Pauling Quartet’s Ramon Medina (also a former Schlong Weasel-er) Worship Guitars label in 1996. The pace of recording and releasing would slow down considerably for the band, which wouldn’t quite get around to releasing the follow-up until 2003. In the meantime, Bo Morris would take over on drums for the kicked out Rick Costello, and Cramer would work with former Mike Gunn colleague Scott Grimm on his Dunlavy project. July 2003 would see the release of Project Grimm’s second album, Huge Beings (released on Camera Obscura’s Australian sister label Camera Lucida), but it would also see the band split — on the very day of the album’s release. Leader John Cramer would later appear as a solo artist working under the name the Powers of Light & Darkness, and played sporadic shows around Houston. – Chris M. True via allmusic.com
The Linus Pauling Quartet (Houston, TX)
https://www.worshipguitars.org/LP4/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Linus-Pauling-Quartet/16831955249
Pure guitar muscle and Texas Stoner Metal Psych insanity with universal themes like drugs, beer, sci-fi/fantasy, and Bongs of Power. If you like your riffs heavy, the solos unyielding, and the smell of the bong to billow out of your stereo, the LP4 is your band.
“a core point about the Linus Pauling Quartet isn’t merely that they’re a great psych band, but a great band period, able to embrace a lot of styles and moods and work them well. ” – Ned Raggett, Allmusic.com
“Anthemic, stupid and selflessly unrestrained, the LPQ eventually attain self immolation of sorts during the sprawling chaos.”– Phil Mc Mullen, Ptolemaic Terrascope (UK)
“Variety through dementia indicative of excessive drug use and boredom.”– Flipside
“Compulsory listening for anyone interested in modern American guitar rock, or just plain alternative music.”–Crohinga Well (Belgium)
” [the band] should consider doing a few less bonghits”–Michael Davis of Option Magazine
“A quartet of Texas weirdos who’re smart enough to play it real stupid, mining that fine line between drug-induced idiocy and conceptual genius for way more than you might’ve thought it was worth.”– Kevin Moist, Deep Water.
“I don’t know what kind of drugs they’ve put in the Texas water supply, but I hope they keep doing it, because now we have these mutant sons of Yeti.”–Factsheet 5
“…possibly the most enigmatic yet bombastic rock band to emerge out of Texas inthe last 10 years.”–Mats Gustafsson & Lee Jackson – The Broken Face(Sweden)
“… a 2,500-microdot dose of conceptual zig-zaggery so daunting that Roger Dean would get a hernia trying to sketch the album sleeve. Imagine Captain Beefheart’s magic Band “reworking” Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother right on the cusp of the Rapture. ” –Fred Mills – Magnet(US)
“Not surprisingly for a product of the same hometown as the Red Krayola and Rusted Shut, Houston’s Linus Pauling Quartet is equal parts demented and lovable. A sevenpiece with several guests, the Quartet specializes in waves of psychedelic slog thicker than humidity coming off Buffalo Bayou in August. At the same time, C6H8O6 doesn’t abandon humor or melody in its overwhelming sonic onslaught…Like Slater says in Dazed and Confused, “You couldn’t handle that shit on strong acid, man.” On second thought, maybe that’s the only way you could.” – Christopher Gray, Austin Chronicle
Dead Mineral (Houston, TX)
https://www.facebook.com/deadmineral
Formed in 2005 under the name Novox, Dead Mineral have been blasting Houston area bars and clubs with mostly instrumental dual guitar driven rock that wraps beauty inside searing noise. Members collectively hail from other Houston bands including Dry Nod, Sprawl, The Drunks, STOMA, The Keenlies, Run Trip and Fall, Rusted Shut, Project Grimm, Texas Guinness Lovers.
“This four-piece formed in 2005, originally billing themselves as Novox. They released a split seven-inch on Four Letter Music with Fired For Walking this year. The Dead Mineral side features their track “Hyper-Vigilance,” a melodic, shifting instrumental number. Houston’s first and foremost “Ouija Rock” band (note, if anyone wants to hop on that bandwagon, you’re likely to be the second) is definitely worth a listen, especially for those who admire Explosions In The Sky but want something a little surlier.” - Houston Press
Hearts of Animals (Houston, TX)
https://www.myspace.com/heartsofanimals
Not what I expected at all, this is way more femme-digi Slumberland label-style than the abrasive distorto-punk I was more than half-expecting given the pile of grit it was plucked from at Z Gun Western HQ. Four tracks of drifty-dreamy female vocals layered onto spiky-chiming guitars that are sashay-picking their way thru that same sunny field that Ray Davies and Co. are waltzing thru inside the gatefold of Village Green Preservation Society. It also evokes some of those waaaay-downstream post-UK-DIY labels of the 90′s such as Che or Pickled Onion, back when drum machines were first being set at a steadily reactionary 60-70bpm, like these ‘uns done. Most twee-skirting indie pop barely makes it thru the was for me, but this makes my mood feel a mite bit…pink. -From Z Gun
Another Tejas 7″ that showed up on my doorstep is a 4 song ep by a band what’s called Hearts Of Animals. Actually I suspect it’s a solo effort but I’ll check the facts later. Right now it don’t matter. There’s elements that smack hard of shoegazer nonsense like Velocity Girl & that ilk, but when it flys-which it does on 2 tracks-it soars through the same jet stream as Amos & Sara or Family Fodder. Really terrific diy dub/psych minimalism & it might be the 1st record to come outta Houston that I kinda like since Charalambides split that swamp. -Roland Woodbe of Slitbreeze records
Quite the find here, a natural bridge between straightforward indie pop traditions and some more daring territory, where I thought Tickley Feather might be headed. I’m much more fond of this Mlee Marie’s work when it’s abstract and loaded with delay, skronking horns, and a psychedelic/free mindset at play. And luckily, two of the four tracks here fit that description; opener “Stars Say No” being the hit, and the most far-reaching track here, and the repetitive gait of “Stop Talking” a mincing, relentless blast of blue sunshine. Truth be told, the pop songs are good too, just not as unique as the other tracks. Very excited to hear more of what she’s doing. Good one. 300 copies. - Dusted Magazine
