The only weakness this show's got is non-musical; local fans of loud, challenging and sometimes just plain strange punk rock may be dedicated, but how many will visit Carrollton for an Easter Day show?
Pools is a promising young guitar/drums thrash-punk duo from Rockwall. Wax Museums from Denton plays loud, fast, short and brainlessly fun punk songs that are catchier than you'd expect from titles like "I Eat Vomit" and "Jakoff Rat." The more-established Potential Johns are just as poppy but write songs that are more polished and complex—some even have more than three chords and stretch past the three-minute mark, like "Only Time," which features two guitars playing beautifully complementary melodies.
But the highlight of the night will probably be the only band that doesn't play breakneck power-pop cranked up to 11. Icarus Crane is a Dallas instrumental two-piece that mixes distorted punk-rock guitar with synth noise over dynamic drumming that ranges from mid-tempo, head-nodding funky beats to galloping, hard-core bashing. The result sounds something like Lightning Bolt with a keyboard but no vocals.
The show is all-ages, so you'll have to do your drinking in the car.