Five Houston Supergroups We'd Like To See

Marc Brubaker

The Tontons

​Houston has become a cornucopia of musical talent. With so much goodness going on, it would be selfish to wish for more. So here's us, being a selfish ass and daydreaming about what could be Houston's greatest supergroups.

MR. X
Surf/Spy

The first group we imagine would sound sort of like a cross between Dick Dale, Man... or Astroman?, and Henry Mancini with a little Shirley Bassey thrown in. Surf-style guitars and slinky, sultry melodies would combine to form a spy band the likes of no other, crafting the soundtrack for any underwater speargun fights you may get into while wearing a tuxedo.

Of course, vocal duties would be shared by The Ton Tons' Asli Omar and Umbrella Man's Nick Gaitan. Gaitan would handle the upright bass as well, and on guitar we'd have The Suspects' Alan Hernandez. The Luxurious Panthers' Red Man would round out the list with some fierce up-tempo drumming.

Oh yeah. Put the guys in dark suits with skinny ties and glam Asli up like a Bond girl, and this act could really go places.

Asli Omar (The TonTons) - vocals
Alan Hernandez (The Suspects) - guitar
Nick Gaitan (The Umbrella Man) - upright bass, vocals
Red Man (The Luxurious Panthers) - drums

Marco Torres

Tax the Wolf's Alan Garza

​
THUNDERHEAD
Grind/sludge metal

We've had this idea for a while. There are some good hard-rock and metal acts with two drummers - ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Kylesa, The Dirtbombs - but we've never seen an act with just the rhythm section, doubled. That's right: Two drummers, two bassists, and no other instruments.

If done right, can you imagine the primitive, tribal power such an arrangement could wield? One guy working high on the bass neck, one guy hitting the lowest notes possible, and on the drums one guy keeping the beat while the other pounds the toms. We could even set up a bunch of random detritus onstage like pipes and metal posts and crates and have one of the drummers bash that shit up in time to their craziest song.

It would be a hell of a live show indeed. We'd need bass players of supreme competence, yet who also know how to rock, so we're thinking Cason Sicking from Floorbound and Alan Garza from Tax the Wolf. As far as drums go, we'd need a couple of metalheads working the kits, so let's go with Metavenge's Brandon Galvan and Omotai's Anthony Vallejo. God, somebody please make this happen.

Alan Garza (Tax the Wolf) - bass
Cason Sicking (Floorbound) - bass
Brandon Galvan (Metavenge) - drums
Anthony Vallejo (Omotai) - drums