HOLY CRAP SO GOOD. Earlier this year, we were pretty keen on the Born Liars’ Go Back One Day 7”, and why not, it was a tightening up (if not branching out) of the sound they rocked out hella on their Exit Smiling debut. With this new 7”, they’ve kept their better halves in the rock garage while buffing out the little bit of twang their boots tracked into the house with a healthy schmear of power-pop bluster. “Don’t Tell Me, I Know” is a cigarette boat pressed into service as a party barge: all speed/all good times. It’s simple four chord verse holds everything together while the lead guitar sparks around the edges, never giving the good times a first chance to catch a second breath.

B-Side “I Don’t Know Why” is a Stevie Wonder cover from 1968, while his creative output was steadily ramping up to the genius of Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. In Stevie’s hands it’s a classic Motown ballad from the height of the classic Motown suit and tie era. The Born Liars capture the bummed out soul of the composition, but bring a worn-down desperation that sounds way more hurt than Stevie’s measured delivery and slick strings.

This is the first release by Ditchwater Records, the recording arm of scene photographer/promoter/Radio DJ/institution Miss Rosa (trivia nerds take note – this is officially the second entry in the Ditchwater catalog, the first being a collection of recordings by now-defunct punks Gay Marriage, though production delays resulted in this 7” actually hitting the shelves first). Anyone who’s seen her Ditchwater photo-zine knows she has a great eye for capturing the wonderful visual grit of our scene. Sounds like she’s got a hitmaker’s ears to match. Recommended.

The Born Liars’ Don’t Tell Me I Know 7” was available for a while at Sound Exchange, though it is alleged to be sold out. You might visit the Ditchwater blog to try and get a copy, or, better yet, get one from the band itself at their show Saturday night with Patt Todd & the Rank Outsiders and Hickoids at Rudyard’s

So. Austin has ACL, we have the International Festival. They have SXSW, we have lots of burger joints. And, in the last couple of years a new joint, Fun Fun Fun Fest has started killing it, and we have… increasingly less free parking. Suffice to say, our neighbors in the Traders’ Villagey direction may not have a light rail, but they do have the sort of enterprising folks who found the right mix of audience, know-how, money, and connections to put on some world class festivals. And the aforementioned is none other this weekend. It’s not always possible to make the trek up there to attend (but this one you really should – it’s alleged to be a freaking gorgeous weekend, and there is no greater hell than roasting in the open sun of ACL. Ok maybe getting pestered on IM all the time by Mike Hardin’s Delicious Milk alter ego while you’re trying to get work done is a greater hell. Save that shit for Rudyard’s comedy night bro).

The complete details are available on the Fun Fun Fun Festival website for those of you going (or on the fence), but if you don’t have a whole weekend to spare and want to take a stab at getting a decidedly more spread-out decidedly less highlight-filled version of the weekend, here’s a guide how (bands playing FFF are in bold):

WEDNESDAY (TONIGHT)
Colourmusic, Flowers To Hide, Giant Princess, The Quietest @ The Mink

THURSDAY
Deerhoof, Dental School, Flying @ Numbers
…And You Will Know By The Trail of Dead, Spain Colored Orange, Heist at Hand @ Warehouse Live
Bishop Allen, An Horse, Electric Owls @ Rudyard’s
Cro Mags(jam), Iron Age, Your Mistake, Roots of Exile, On My Side @ Walter’s on Washington

FRIDAY
Parts and Labor, UME, Black Congress @ Walter’s on Washington
The Cynics, Ugly Beats, Guitars @ Rudyards
Pepi Ginsberg, Airon Paul Dugas @ The Mink
Groupo Fantasma @ The Continental Club

SATURDAY
Minus The Bear, Annuals, 27 @ House of Blues

MONDAY
Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music, Ben Nichols of Lucero, Tim Barry of Avail @ Walter’s on Washington

Did we miss anyone? Probably. But what this attempt at also-ran points out that:

1. We desperately need a credible music festival. They have three, we can’t have one?
2. If you stay in town, you’re going to miss some great stuff from both back in the day (The Dead Milkmen, ALL, Bad Brains,  Killdozer) and SO HOT RIGHT NOW (YACHT, The National, Black Heart Procession, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, St. Vincent, The Black Angels, Islands, Frightened Rabbit, Neil Hamburger, Dan Deacon, The Octopus Project, Dengue Fever, Clipse, Kool Keith, Etc).

So like, go already. OH and if you do, be sure to keep an eye out for The Skyline Network’s Celebrity Correspondent, Mr. Erik Bogle (Bring Back the Guns) he’ll be documenting all the who who and what what for us. We’ll have his full flavored report sometime next week.

Update: Turns out The National is playing here, but at a private party for Rice Students and what not.  Does being a KTRU DJ count?

GOOD MORNING. Hey, there was an election last night. We’re pretty cool with the results, and we’re super stoked that election season is over until tomorrow (FORESHADOWZ). So, in the meantime, let’s back to the ROCK WE CAN BELIEVE IN. Starting tomorrow night, with Deerhoof, Dental School and and Flying ripshawking it up at Numbers. Because you are so beautiful and smell so nice, we’ve got a pair of tickets up for grabs to the show.

To enter, send an email with your name to adifferentryan at gmail dot com. If you’re not a gambler (and, our being in Vegas at the moment, let us offer some advice: don’t gamble, guh), you can still order tickets online from the Superunison site. Don’t dally with your submission, we’ll be picking a winner later tonight. Boogers.

Update: The contest has been closed and a winner has been drawn at random.  Thanks to everyone who participated.  Tickets are still available for sale.  Act fast!

Young Mammals and Mlee Marie - Photo by Ramon "LP4" Medina

Nutballs. That’s the only way to describe tonight. NUTBALLS.

-Jeoaf Monocles on the Halloween Show at Walter’s, which he organized

So. How was your halloween? Dish your memories in the comments.

You would think we could get our weekend update right once in a while.  ADDITIONS:

FRIDAY
Cornbreadd, Yppah, Courtesy, Dunnock, Dick Almighty @ The Backroom of The Mink
This is a free event. Cornbreadd is the MC from Tha Fucking Transmissions, who recently opened up a show in LA for Public Enemy. No Kidding.

SUNDAY
BANDCAMP @ Caroline Collective
Second round in the series, this one with a focus on offline promotion, that is, getting the word out on the physical streets and not on the series of tubes you are currently browsing. Sessions will be led by Kerry Melonson of Satin Hooks, B-Boy Craig and Jacob Calle. 1-3pm. Free. Registration and more information found here.

What can we say, it’s Rusted Shut. Over the course of their long career (and surprisingly shallow catalog), all manner of music writers have fallen over one another to come up with the right combination of nails, broken glass, paint thinner and nausea metaphors to describe the bleak massiveness of their noise-as-composition approach to the sonic arts. And while our contribution to that pile would probably be “like setting a can of matte black spray-paint on fire, stuffing the business end up your nose, and then huffing the explosion,” we feel what’s always been missing from discussions of Rusted Shut is not the music, but it’s basic household utility.

Here in the United States, we are generally obsessed with the role of chemistry in cleaning. Nearly all of our cleaning products, even those that are dubiously labeled ‘unscented’ fall on a distinct palette of smell residues that trigger some neuron or another in our mind to indicate yes, this surface is clean. When you walk into a space that reeks a science-y smell you say “someone cleaned the bejeebus out of this room” and not “it smells like they may have missed a spot.” Some article in some setting that we read lately but now cannot locate (plagiarism avoidance insurance), talked about the rise of microfiber cleaning cloths in Europe, and how they can achieve nearly the same results without using any more dubious a liquid than water. But here in the States we’re not so keen cause we NEED THE SMELL. WE LOVE THE SMELL. It’s not the cloth’s size or embroidered sporting franchise that makes the cleaning so impressive – it’s the tiny (micro even)lil extremities that get all mavericky on the dirt and bacteria. It’s the ultimate home-care example of how the force of cumulative subtleties can be anything but.

And that sort of is how Rusted Shut works on us. Even when we lose sight of what the larger compositional picture is here (or even faith that there is one), we tend not to notice as we’re often most affected by the little sounds that bounce around the wash. So, in a sense, while Hot Sex has is about as subtle as Metal Machine Music played through a jet engine, it plays to the same deconstructavist subtleties pleasure node that gets us all giddy for Pet Sounds.

Plus, surely no single piece of cloth, no matter how micro it’s so-called fibers, could be as great a home-makers helper than Hot Sex.

Got some of your delicious queso hopelessly caked onto the bowl that you served it in at your office potluck? Simply hold the ceramic up to the speaker and watch those OH NOZs melt away. Have a roach infestation? Just open all your cabinets and closet doors, crank up the midrange, and leave the house for two hours. Soap Scum in your shower? Just put down the beer can for a sec and activate the hi-fi. Bratty Panamanian dictator who won’t get out of your embassy? Check. Hinge on the barn door that’s rusted shut? Do we even need to respond to that one?

So while it’s tempting to think that only someone like The Nothing from The Never Ending Story might find Hot Sex an appropriate soundtrack for doing the dishes, every post-rock Rachel Ray worth their home-ec classes knows that a little Rusted Shut goes a long way. Recommended.

Rusted Shut’s Hot Sex EP is a vinyl only release from Dull Knife Records. It contains four tracks recorded during the same sessions as the landmark Rehab full length. Catch Rusted Shut tonight at Sound Exchange, playing their official release show with acid punks The Homopolice. Free show, starts at seven, and ends before everything else Halloweeny gets started.

POLL: Which is the cheaper costume - Sara Palin or that lady that carved the backwards B in her face?  I dunno, but thank god for those two, because now we all have some cheap ways to dress up in a hurry.  Oh crap, what about dudes.  Hipster once again.

FRIDAY
Rusted Shut (12″ Relase Party) and The Homopolice @ Sound Exchange
This gets kicked off about 7pm, and is free (as always) and could involve a free keg (as usually). Regardless, this is a spooktacular way to get your weekend started, cause both of these band are going to freak you out more than if Nader bought a Pinto.

Dannzig, The Monocles, News on the March, Wild Moccasins, Young Mammals (playing as The Pixies) @ Walter’s
We had a full RIGHT ON WRITE UP for this event earlier in the week.

Listen Listen, Benjamin Wesley, Phillip Foshee, Robert Ellis, Bootown and Scatter @ Caroline Collective
We wrote about this event this week too.

Fischerspooner @ Rich’s
Yuss.

Also

• Horror Business, featuring Fredster, Damon, & Bobby DJ @ Boondocks
• Cop Warmth vs. BLACKIE, The Caprolites, Preachers Kids, and 10th Grade Cutie @ someplace out west (get the details from this HUH post)
  
• Creepshow II Halloween Party, featuring Hollywood Black, The Goods, & Slivered @ Rudyard’s
• Willie Nelson @ House of Blues

SATURDAY
Danseparc @ Numbers
John Water’s Themed Spooky Halloween Party. Costume contest as always

Dirty Honey, featuring Brett Koshkin & Special Guest @ Boondocks
Are there any good Halloween soul records? Who cares. DANCE!

Also

• Saturday Secret Show @ Shady Tavern
• Willie Nelson @ House of Blues
• Halffnelson, Wolves at the Door, Female Demand, Desmond Zavala @ Warehouse - 15255 Gulf Freeway Suite 148b
• Pale Young Gentleman, Chase Hamblin @ Avant Garden
• The Beach Boys @ Moody Gardens
• The Hates, The Delta Block, Anarchitex, Room 101 @ Rudyard’s

CutLoose doesn’t just give good hair, they give give good damn. That’s why they’re sponsoring Sensory Overload, a fashion and multi-media event held in conjugation with the 12th Annual Texas Skate Jam and benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The evening includes a 1968-themed style show by Dawn Bell, Duo and Contents, food by Chef Monica Pope and T’afia, the premiere of a skate video and a silent auction. Peep the lots:

bikes from Bike Barn, custom art from Aerosol Warfare, a Discovery Flight, an Outdoor Package from Bayou City Outdoors, a gift set from Houston It’s Worth It, a private tennis lesson at River Oaks Country Club and Sugar Hill Recording Studios.

BIG UPS to both CutLoose and Sugar Hill for being donors to this cause.November 7th 7-10pm. The Drake. 1902 Washington Avenue. Tickets: (713) 520-7401.

PS: If you or your organization has a good cause that you are looking to promote to young, urbane, incredibly attractive and effortlessly stylish people, drop us a line.