THE SECRET MACHINES
11:30pm, La Zona Rosa Our favorite Krautrock-loving, Zeppelin-idolizing, ex-Texan trio returns. After the success of '04's
Now Here Is Nowhere (Reprise), the Secret Machines played every bar in the U.S. before England found them and pounced. "Alone, Jealous, and Stoned" off their upcoming sophomore release,
Ten Silver Drops (Reprise), drops some of the kick drum in favor of gorgeous melody. –
Darcie Stevens
THE PONYS
12mid, Parish Chicago's Ponys are the total package: Jared Gummere's anguished wail pitched between Richard Hell and Robert Smith, Melissa Elias' keys rubbing salt in his open(-mouthed) wounds, guitarist Brian Case scraping whatever he can off the floor of Wicker Park lofts and Lower East Side flophouses. 2005's
Celebration Castle proved In the Red is much more than a record label, it's a damn manifesto. –
Christopher Gray
CRUISERWEIGHT
12mid, Redrum Annex Multiple Austin Music Award winners for Best Punk Band, Cruiserweight tour constantly and have expanded their sizable fan base well beyond Austin. After four years and two successful self-released EPs, the songs on 2005's full-length debut,
Sweet Weaponry (Doghouse), are poppy examinations of twentysomething life and relationships that highlight the quartet's growing maturity without sacrificing any youthful exuberance. –
Christopher Gray
THE PLIMSOULS
12mid, Exodus The Plimsouls were singer-songwriter Peter Case's early brush with fame, the bubbling base for Southern California New Wave. They ruled the Eighties as kings of the wild south coast. Even as late as 1998, the band's
Kool Trash was a reminder of how passion and punky aggression can drive music. And who can forget "A Million Miles Away," their unforgettable appearance in
Valley Girl? –
Margaret Moser
+/-
12mid, Friends After the dissolution of mid-Nineties rockers Versus, +/– (plus/minus) went from a side project for James Baluyut to, well a project. Modern reference points sit on a line somewhere between the Postal Service and New Order. Old schoolers might hear what happened if Ian Curtis had waited for laptops instead of offing himself. The upcoming
Bloodthirsty Butchers vs. +/– is due this year. –
Michael Bertin
THE GLASS FAMILY
12mid, Caribbean Lights Our local breakout band of 2005, the Glass Family secured their place in Austin's top indie-rock tier with the bedroom symphonies of
Sleep Inside This Wheel (I Eat Records). Lushly orchestrated with piano, strings, and horns, songs like "Stop Dead in Your Tracks" and "Bad News" radiate sadness even as they glisten with hope, occasionally breaking through into peals of pure guitar bliss. –
Christopher Gray
JULIE DOIRON
12mid, Copa Imagine Chan Marshall without the psychosis and with more soul. No stranger to the underground, Doiron has romped across Canada singing and songwriting since the Nineties, having played bass in the psych-folk Eric's Trip. Her seventh release, 2004's
Goodnight Nobody (Jagjaguwar), added more rhythm to the gorgeous melancholy, creating a hopeful view of reality. –
Darcie Stevens
OF MONTREAL
12mid, Emo's Main Of Montreal is from Georgia, which is kind of the opposite of Montreal if you think about it. They also aren't particularly reminiscent of the R.E.M.s, B-52s, or even the Love Tractors that also called Athens home. In fact, if you dug down deep into the genealogy of 2005's
The Sunlandic Twins (Polyvinyl) you might find a copy of
The Village Green Preservation Society. –
Michael Bertin
