Crucial Concerts for the Coming Week

Anthea

Pedernales Station, Saturday 19

Head-down, relentless groove, acid-squelching tech and minimal house are all Anthea Nzekwu hallmarks. The globe-hopping, UK-born DJ built notable bona fides at Phonica Records, a London shop that networked the budding tech house aficionado with producers she’d collaborate with (Astral Travel is Anthea and American producer Oshana) and helm labels with. In addition to A&Ring for Berlin’s Broquade Records, Anthea gathers like-minded house heads on her own Partisan imprint. A Black woman jockey in a sea of white men, she’s an exception to the usual face behind the decks, carving her own space from sets distinguished by the old-fashioned DJ currency: great tracks. From ticking, bubbling tech house to curation for work spanning classic house, cyber tropical, breaks, and elements of industrial, Anthea seamlessly mixes a lyric- free workout soundtrack. Austin-based label Ubiyu hosts an intimate, late-night shindig for marathon party people – or at least those who can hang on until 4am. – Christina Garcia

Terry Allen & the Panhandle Mystery Band

“I’ve always been interested in the stuff you don’t see in a person, the other side of something, of an idea or an object or a motion,” Terry Allen told the Chronicle in 2020. That curiosity to plumb into the veiled essence of the world scours the West Texan’s artwork and songwriting – playful, poignant, and transformative. In conjunction with his video exhibition “MemWars,” currently showing at the Blanton, Allen brings his blockbuster Panhandle Mystery Band back to the Paramount for a night of stories behind his indelible songs celebrating outsiders and dreamers and the dust-swept Southwest. – Doug Freeman

The Greeting Committee

With only four months under the belt of sophomore album Dandelion, the Greeting Committee takes on Red River’s predominant stage. Forged in their KC, Mo., hometown (go Chiefs!), the quartet showcases rapid, ripening maturity, bringing balance to life’s impending loneliness and heartbreak through soft, groovy rock. Rising pop princess Oston joins the lineup, loaded with punchy vocals and playful beats, sure to warm up the crowd with bobbing heads and swaying bodies. Austin’s favorite bedroom haze, Indoor Creature, kicks off the shindig. – Morgan-Taylor Thomas

Hellfury, Böndbreakr

An angry and aggressive melding of metal and punk? Ferocious frontwomen screaming about social issues? Seeing a rock show on Sixth Street again? All this and more this Friday at the historic Flamingo Cantina. Fiery locals Hellfury thrust their brand of thrashy punk into you like a knife, addressing matters like reproductive rights and social justice. Fighting alongside them is Austin’s own Böndbreakr, a second helping of female ferocity, throwing their unpredictable blend of hardcore punk in your face like a fist, schooling you on matters like sexism, inequality, and issues affecting POC. Local Oi! boys Scoundrels open up the party. – Robert Penson

Dorian Electra

And so hyperpop arrives at its Stone Temple Pilots moment. Don’t be mistaken, the post-genre had a grand run causing mass confusion. Its foundational artists spouted queer theory and Marxist ideology even as they doodled affectionate/ironic xo’s around the W. Bush era’s least reputable corporate club music. But as the movement notches Billboard writ-ups and co-signs from antisemitic YouTubers, maintaining its punk-rock reputation is gonna demand more than some harsh, metallic snares, a couple distorted synth leads, and a handful of #veryonline lyrics warbled in the slurry, cloaking androgyny of Auto-Tune.

It’s gonna require an agenda … World Tour.

Dorian Electra could never sell out for the same reason Frank Zappa couldn’t. Their furious satire of online bigotry and culturally enforced gender norms is too interwoven with their calculatedly outrageous epicene persona to ever achieve depressing cross-appeal. Recent songs take specific aim at neckbeard homophobes, reappropriating 4chan’s Joker imagery and Mountain Dew energy only to blow it back in a Dorito dust cloud of grindcore intensity. Coucou Chloe opens, her cryptic murmur rap offering ominously subliminal contrast to Electra’s maximalism. – Julian Towers

Olson St. Clair

Last year, drummer Jeffrey Olson and trombonist Michael St. Clair released one of Austin’s most intriguing records: Western Free, an imaginative but accessible free jazz statement. Joined by saxist Dave Sayers, synthesist Wiley Greene, bassist-about-town Sam Pankey, and local experimental supremo Bob Hoffnar on pedal steel, the duo pushed the envelope in ways older generations might not have considered, while still upholding the tradition – modern jazz in a nutshell. Local gigs don’t happen that often, so this is a show to take advantage. Jazz-soaked singer/songwriters Wilson Marks and Guma (aka KOOP Radio host T.J. Masters) join the fun. – Michael Toland

This article appears in February 18 • 2022.