Sarah Tomlinson: Blog

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14

Off the airplane (following a flight that offered the trip’s first ultra rock hair sighting: The Melvins) and out into the melee. While eating a veggie burger standing up at a lunch counter, I spied Martha Wainwright strolling down 6th Street (I love Martha!) and then headed in to catch LA’s The Deadly Syndrome kick off the showcase being held by Dim Mak Records, which recently signed them. Their trademark cardboard ghost cutouts, with which they adorn stages when they play, made the trek to Texas intact. And the band sounded better than ever – tighter and looser all at once, the obvious yield of much practice and greater confidence. They unleashed a spirited jubilee of ghost songs and modern fables set to winsomely raucous indie rock with just a touch of the blues, a la The Cold War Kids. They were followed by another LA-based band, Oh No! Oh My!, who are also getting majorly hyped these days. Musically, their songs are well-crafted, catchy indie rock romps, but lyrically, they’re just a little too hokey-jokey for me.

Next up was the Frenchkiss showcase at the bar behind Red Eyed Fly, which has the rustic charm of a tree house. Milwaukee-based three-piece Call Me Lightning delivered a taut, sexy set of hard hitting rock. But the night’s real sensation was the Fatal Flying Guilloteens, who pulled out all the stops during their sweat-drenched, humor-laced set. Trading instruments as easily as other bands share beers, the quartet boasts three natural frontmen, who displayed sharp wits, wild vocals, and the kind of disregard for their own physical safety that always makes for an interesting show. They taunted any bloggers in the audience to “blog the shit” out of their show and mistakenly identify them as being from Canada, since that’s really hip right now, and they really want to quit their day jobs. So here you go guys: You may be from Houston, but you still played a holy shit (!) show.