Skyscraper stereophile

It may be a few days late comin’, but here’s the picks of the month. Get out there and lose those higher aural frequencies at some great shows. Later dates in the month are still open, so when we get news of more goings-on, expect those omitted slots to get filled.

• 5/07  Flight of the Conchords at Bass Concert Hall - Can’t beat absurd New Zealander humor. If you got a ticket, don’t waste it.
• 5/08 Drew Smith, Suzanna Choffel at Lamberts OR Lucero and Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears at Emo’s - Because the Toadies are overrated as shit. Don’t see ‘em; instead, check out these local guys. Drew Smith has conquered a strange Austin crowd of folk, country, and indie kids with their  honest pop sound, and with good reason. Check out the song “Follow Me Down”. Black Joe Lewis needs no introduction, and is always a safe bet for a soulful evening.
• 5/09 Old Crow Medicine Show at Stubb’s OR Texas Rockabilly Revival [Reverend Horton Heat, Lemmy Kilmister and the Head Cat, The Chop Tops, Hillbilly Casino, Lowdown Shaky Chill, Pickled Punks] at the Nutty Brown Cafe - Anywhere you go, you’re gonna get some gritty, blues tinged sound. Old Crow is some straight vintage Americana with some coke and booze mixed in; on the other hand, Lemmy Kilmister…is fucking Lemmy.
• 5/10 Afroman and the Frontier Brothers at Aces Lounge – No idea what’s gonna happen at this show, but supposedly Afroman often dabbles in normal DJing, some acoustic songwriting, and generally bein’ pimp as hell. Bring your pussy umbrella, its gonna be a ho-rricane (especially at a venue known for its cabaret show).
• 5/11 Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction, Street Sweeper at the Erwin Center – If you’re into synthetic music and/or dudes who have been on cocaine for 20+ years and are somehow still alive.
• 5/15 Ugly Beats, Amplified Heat, Ripe, The Minx Reaction (formerly Dans La Lune) at Emo’s – Start with an endearingly dorky Ugly Beats, then switch to a hairier, harder rocking Heat to finish things off. Amplified Heat has a notoriously solid live show. For their recorded stuff, check out their Self-Titled reissue or How Do You Like the Sound Of That?
• 5/16 Car Stereo (Wars) at the Beauty Bar – Notorious Austin mashup artist and DJ.
• 5/19 Isis and Pelican at Emo’s [outside] – Bring earplugs, but don’t miss it. Each on their own is awe inspiring, together they’re the horseriders of the apocalypse (on that note, when are the Doomriders coming through?)
• 5/20 Chaos in Tejas kickoff party with Ponytail (12:45am), Harlem (midnight), Teenage Cool Kids (11:15pm), Yellow Fever (10:30pm) at Red 7 [outside, all ages] OR Consider the Source and BetaPlayer at the Mohawk. - Not sure what’s changed over the past few years where Ponytail is allowed within 15 miles of Chaos in Tejas, but whatever. Gotta kick this thing off somehow. If small girls screeching like dying vultures isn’t your thing, jump to Mohawk for CtS.
  
• 5/21 Chaos In Tejas presents Propagandi (10:45pm), Trash Talk (10pm), Bridge and Tunnel (9:15pm), Canadian Rifle (8:30pm) at the Mohawk [all ages] - If this one needs to be explained, get the fuck outta here. Propagandhi hasn’t toured Texas in ages, and they’ve got another album under their belt. Expect some serious snark.
• 5/22 Chaos in Tejas afterparty with World Burns to Death, AI (Japan) at the Broken Neck [all ages] – Loud and angry hardcore.
• 5/23 Chaos In Tejas presents Amebix (12:45am), Pierced Arrows (2/3 of Dead Moon, 11:30pm), Judgement (Japan, 10:45pm), AI (Japan, 10pm), Warcry (9:15pm), Outlaw Order (8:15pm), Midnight (7:30pm), Drunkdriver (6:45pm) at Emo’s [outside, all ages] – Amebix is legendary, and even if they’ve started coming around more often, they’re still worth the effort of going out to see.
• 5/24 Chaos in Tejas presents Eyehategod (12:45am), Harvey Milk (11:30pm), Crude (Japan, 10:45pm), Mind Eraser (10pm), Iron Age (9:15pm), Unit 21 (8:30pm) at Red 7 [outside, all ages] – Its Chaos in Tejas. Just go already, if only for Iron Age.
• 5/25 The Meat Puppets at Waterloo Records [5pm] – Its charming, goofy, and at times immature. And, you can buy CDs at the same time. Win win.