It’s a pretty diverse mix of shows on the slate this weekend, from a lovefest at North Door for Thelonious Love’s birthday to some sonic terror from Space Camp Death Squad and the Sonics. So get your dancing shoes on and peek what’s up this weekend…
Friday
We may have only recently gotten turned on to Thelonious Love, but today he’s celebrating his birthday at the North Door with our friends Magna Carda and RC & the Gritz, so how could we not encourage you to celebrate along with him? Thelonious‘ style is a dapper mix of spoken word and consciousness rap, recalling that time in the late ’90s when both those scenes seemed to be blowing up in a big new way. Austinities who dig the visual style acts like Sorne and Technicolor Hearts bring to their sets should find extra reasons to love Thelonious and the pairing of him with Magna Carda’s emotionally honest and raw neo-soul inflected live hip hop is a smart move.
Saturday
On the other end of the hip hop spectrum, Houston legends Geto Boys are coming through to Mohawk with preeminent Austin miscreants Space Camp Death Squad. Space Camp have a new mini-album coming out next week, which you may have heard about through the Chronicle’s premiere of their new track “Joe Dassin.” The early glimpse I got at the album makes me certain that Space Camp won’t be slept on much longer, it’s a work that tackles a lot of ugly issues in exceedingly clever ways, and the envious roster of producers the group worked with means the music is finally up to the same level as the lyrics. In the past I’ve felt that Space Camp Death Squad has the potential to be Austin’s response to Das Racist, but I think this is the year they truly distinguish themselves as something more unique and devastating.
Sunday
We’re all about supporting local acts here at Ovrld (it’s in the damn motto, after all). But I’m gonna break pattern here and command you to go to Red 7 on Sunday and catch a historical bill featuring probably the most important garage rock band of all time (and one of the most important band’s, period): The Sonics. I’m not making that suggestion merely out of historical respect, either. The Sonics put out a new album appropriately titled This Is The Sonics earlier this year and it’s one of the rare reunion albums that not only isn’t a total disaster but actually makes a worthwhile contribution to the band’s canon. Each member of the Sonics may be older than some entire Austin garage rock line-ups, but they also manage to make music with more potency and energy than huge chunks of our local scene.
Nick Hanover got his degree from Disneyland, but he’s the last of the secret agents and he’s your man. Which is to say you can find his particular style of espionage here at Ovrld as well as Loser City, where he mostly writes about comics. You can also flip through his archives at Comics Bulletin, which he is formerly the Co-Managing Editor of, and Spectrum Culture, where he contributed literally hundreds of pieces for a few years. Or if you feel particularly adventurous, you can always witness his odd .gif battles with his friends and enemies on twitter: @Nick_Hanover