Music Recommended

edited by Chris Gray


AUSTIN LOUNGE LIZARDS

Symphony Square, Saturday 19

Hey! Who let these smart guys have banjos? Don't they know what banjos do to the IQ? Oh, wait. That's paint thinner. Never mind. Now you can enjoy the Lizards with a clear conscience. Even if you're one of the ones who voted for "Gingrich the Newt," you can probably see your way fit to bring a blanket (and the kids, since this early show will be over before their bedtime) to Symphony Square, if only for the food and drink Serrano's Cafe is furnishing. Who knows, you might even learn something from these guys with banjos and (anything but) Small Minds.

STEPHEN MARSH

Electric Lounge, Friday 18

A former member of the seminal Raul's band Terminal Mind now living and working in the Big Apple, Stephen Marsh recently did a stint off-Broadway with the Blue Man Group (as a musician, not a painted-up trashcan-banging freak). No telling what color he'll be Friday, when cinematic artiste Luke Savisky (Ed Hall) unspools his loops over, around, and probably through the Lounge's newly repaired sign. Marsh calls his solo-with-electric-guitar show "like being lost inside a movie without a script;" see for yourself when the house lights go down between Ultrasound and The Marble Index.

FACE TO FACE

Liberty Lunch, Saturday 19

"Melodic hardcore?" I bet D. Boon flips over in his grave every time someone says that. The best hardcore is melodic, period, and don't let any of those Romper Stompers tell you different. Face to Face know this and have proven it over several 7-inches and two albums (Big Choice, their latest, is out on Victory records). Face to Face don't tour with roadies (now, that's punk rock), but they don't record for Epitaph, either, so they will probably have all their own drums.

INKA INKA

Flamingo Cantina, Saturday 19

I'm sorry to say I know about as much about reggae as I do about animal husbandry, which means I know who shot the sheriff and that's about it. But if I let ignorance stand in the way of a good time, I would never have any fun, like Bay Area reggae-riders Inka Inka promise to be. Supposedly one of the hottest things in the rasta world right now, their new release Myth of the Machine is full of that roasty, toasty riddem people love so well.

GUY FORSYTH

Antone's, Sunday 20

Nothing fancy here. Just Guy Forsyth & the Real Deal playin' the lowdown blues, week in, week out. And you know what? It works, too, as Antone's Sunday night has become a regular stop on a lot of Austinites' social calendars. Pull up a stool, have a drink, and enjoy a midsummer evening's blues party.

LOOSE DIAMONDS

Hole in the Wall, Monday 21

People talk, drink, and eat on Hole in the Wall's stage during the day, and talk, drink, and sing on it at night. Good luck telling the difference Monday, when Loose Diamonds' relaxed, intimate back-porch music (and, doubtless, the beer specials) will make it hard to tell who should be standing and who should be sitting. Connecticut's Reducers open.

INNOCENCE MISSION

Liberty Lunch, Tuesday 22

Innocence Mission's eponymous debut is just about the best soundtrack there is for those enchanting sunrise journeys between Las Cruces and Albuquerque - no small feat for a bunch of Western Pennsylvanians. But the band has changed somewhat since that venerable first offering in 1990. They no longer sound like the Cocteau Twins lost in the desert. IM's latest, Glow, is more like Mazzy Star walking the desolate and mean streets of L.A. circa 1984. They are wiser and tougher. But beneath it all, the shimmer and sparkle remains in spirit. 16 Horsepower opens. - Joe Mitchell

JENNIFER TRYNIN

Electric Lounge, Wednesday 23

Alanis Morissette, Jewel, Joan Osborne, Jill Sobule... jeez, what is this? Girls with guitars year? Yep, and, come December, all the rock trades will tell you (at length) why. But why wait 'til then when you can shell out three bucks and come early to see one of the latest to come along after the (Sheryl) Crow flew, Jennifer Trynin? With a song ("Better Than Nothing") that actually doesn't immediately prompt you to change the station, New England's Trynin is just as deserving as any of the other names up there, as well as those who come later... and there will be more. Wheel opens (at 8:30), and the Asylum St. Spankers play after Trynin.

BATRACHOMYOMACHIA

Candy Factory, Wednesday 23

Say what? Yeah, right. Band member Robert Kennedy tells me it's pronounced "Ba-track-o-mio-machia" and it comes from an ancient Greek epic poem that's supposedly one of the most vulgar works of the classical canon. That's the easy part - Kennedy says describing what they sound like is even harder than pronouncing their name. They perform, among others, the works of local composer Joseph Zitt and John Cage, as well as their own compositions, and are getting ready to record an album mere days after this show at the Candy Factory, 1513 Manor Road.

ALSO PLAYING

Friday: Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Emo's;
T.D. Bell & Blues Specialists, Victory Grill

Saturday: Los Pinkys, Jovita's

Sunday: Don Walser, Derailers, Rosie Burke, Backyard (2nd annual Bee Caves Chili Cookoff); Flies, Crazy Killed Mingus, Techtwil, Blue Flamingo

Monday: 7 Stones, Frantic Mantra, Black Cat

Tuesday: Pam Mayo, Another Cup

Wednesday: Irish Jam, O'Bryan's Pub

Thursday: Flounders Without Eyes, White Rabbit;
Del Amitri, The Caulfields, Liberty Lunch

[an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive]