Last Night: Pale At Warehouse Live

Photos by David A. Cobb

Pale works the camera's at Thursday's pre-show reception.

​Pale, Come See My Dead Person, The Shiny Darks
Warehouse Live Studio
April 28, 2011

Pale is a transparent band. With a new record under its belt on a new label, a national distribution deal, and a well-known Los Angeles-based publicist, the band makes no bones about shooting for the big time.

Thursday night's CD release show was no different, with the band kicking things off with a VIP/media reception in Warehouse Live's Green Room. Despite the hype associated with any band's new album -- countless photo ops, management hassles -- it ultimately comes down to the music, and last night was no different.

After watching local bands slog it out in front of practically no one for so many years, Aftermath loves the fact that many Houston bands have found devoted audiences. Last night's crowd was about half the capacity of Warehouse Live's Studio, which is more than we've seen at some national shows.

Come See My Dead Person

​The Shiny Darks, a band new to Aftermath, warmed up the crowd with its raw and bubbly punk rock. Seemingly Hot Topic-approved, the band -- singer/bassist Paul Mendez, drummer Gem Mendez, with guitarist Quenton Rockwell -- played a handful of songs from its new Stab At Love EP, of which "I Wanna Be A Kennedy" (not a Kill Hannah cover) and "Photographs" were standouts.

However, it was the band's cover of the Ramones' classic "Blitzkrieg Bop" that won over the crowd.

Next up was local collective Come See My Dead Person, a band which first impressed Aftermath a couple of years back at one of the Free Press Houston Block Parties. While the sound seemed bit muddled from where we were standing, no one else in the crowd seemed to notice.

The band's unique, free-form and folksy rock had several in the crowd dancing -- it was easy to see that the band made a few new fans, in addition to the ones they brought themselves.