Centro-matic, South San Gabriel, Robert Gomez

Suck it, Austin. Will Johnson may have moved from Denton to your overrated yupster hamlet years ago, but when it comes time to debut music from Centro-matic's forthcoming double album, where does he book a show? That's right: Dallas. Austinites will have to wait until the South by Southwest performance to hear the full-band treatment of the new songs. Dual Hawks, slated for official release on April 8, will be a split double CD with one side featuring Centro-matic and the other featuring South San Gabriel, which is essentially Centro-matic, plus guest players, performing quieter songs. A deluxe version of Dual Hawks is supposed to be available at the show. I haven't heard any of the new tracks yet, but anything Will Johnson does is a consistently safe bet. Ft. Recovery and Operation Motorcide from '06 and '07 were just as gloriously ragged as his output from a decade ago. And, since you're going anyway, be sure not to miss Robert Gomez's opening solo set. Hopefully he'll play songs from his forthcoming album as well. -Jesse Hughey
Sat., March 8, 2008