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I honestly feel like I, and everyone else at Boondocks last night, cheated the Wild Moccasins and Sabra Laval: We should have paid to see the show. Including local and touring acts, it was one of the best I’ve seen so far this year, and I saw Shat last Thursday at Rudz. (It’s not easy to top a guy wearing a dildo helmet and singing hardcore.)

I have to send a shout out to Ruthie Rodriguez at The Daily Cougar for her article about the Wild Moccasins, which led me to the quintet, who switch from pop to country-tinged rock with the energy you’d expect to see from a group of under-20s.

This band is easily a Best New Act contender for any music award showcase in Houston this year. From first beat, which the drummer clapped out while standing on his seat, to last, these kids didn’t let up. The dating-duo of Zahira Gutierrez and Cody Swann laid down some of the, well, cutest harmonies over the swinging guitar, bass and drum work of Andrew Lee, Nicholas Cody and Andrew Ortiz, respectively. If you’re looking to see a show as impressive as it is fun, Young Mammals and Something Fierce-style, check out the Moccasins’ next show, March 21 at Walter’s. But for now, check out the video below.

I will never stop singing the praises of Joe Mathlete – ever. And last night’s Matheletes show at the Proletariat proves I may never have to. (Well, I guess unless he kills my mom or something.) Joe and his Mathletes (which includes all four Dimes) danced, jumped, joked and rocked their way through a set of original tunes and cover songs. Joe’s style is like a combination of They Might Be Giants and Atom and His Package. His lyrics about absurd topics, like hornless unicorns and his friend AJ who doesn’t have a car, are backed by poppy, Casio/Korg-infused instrumentation that just, well, puts a smile on your face.

First of all, let me say that no one could ever replace Mr. Brian McManus – and I’m not just saying that because he used to work here.

With that said, last night The Fatal Flying Guilloteens played their first show with new guitarist Erik Bogle, from Bring Back the Guns, and I have to say he rose to the challenge. And though nobody can top McManus’s charm and good looks (oh, um, I mean guitar skills), Bogle certainly didn’t stop the party that is a Guilloteens show. If you’ve been to a Guilloteens show, then you know what I’m talking about, and if you haven’t, I’ll just let the photos and video do the rest of the talking …

The American Sharks
The Proletariat
August 5, 2007

Click here for a slideshow.

A lot of bands use crazy onstage antics and energy to mask the fact that, though their music is good, it ’s pretty mediocre. You see it all the time and these days it’s pretty commonplace and, well, annoying. Anyone can stand on a table, jump on their fans and climb the rafters, but not everyone can set concert chaos to a kick-ass soundtrack.

The American Sharks can.

Comedian Todd Barry has a joke in which he points out his problems with bands that have two drummers. “If you’re a drummer and you join a band that already has a drummer, you’re an asshole.”

For the most part, I wholly agree. However, if a band knows how to make this work, it can be pretty impressive.

Local rockers B. have this down. The band’s two drummers work off each other, so the audience isn’t just hearing the same beat played simultaneously or one good beat accompanied by a weak, unimpressive, unnecessary second beat.

People were circled around Pearland’s B. Saturday night at the venue/crowded hallway Notsuoh. Now, this may be because the instrumental rockers were blocking the only passageway to the bar, but considering most of the crowd wasn’t sporting the red bracelet needed to order drinks, it’s safe to assume most were enjoying the band.