Your best bets for this weekend's musical shenanigans:
Frontier Brothers, Luke Boor, Acadia and the Asteroid, Coming Down, Epitas Gypsy Tea Room. Friday, Sept. 8. $10-$12.
The hasty closing of the Dallas Door site to make room for condos (there's a joke in there somewhere about closing one door to open another, or something, but DC-9 is too allergy-laden to come up with it) has also pushed up the re-opening of the Gypsy Tea Room space (owned, of course, by the Door folks). Sentimentality would probably lead us to point out this show as a keeper, but since the Frontier Brothers are playing it's a genuinely good pick. These Austin/Fort Worth folks rock a quirky little piano-centered vibe, kind of like Randy Newman if he didn't take himself so seriously or Ben Folds with more ragged, punkish edges.
Theater Fire, Oso Closo, Buttercup Wreck Room. Friday, Sept. 28. $5.
You already know all about Theater Fire's timeless, soulful tunes that waltz around genre like a genteel Southern lady. What strikes us about this show is its variety--Theater Fire's slow-tempoed throwback, plus Oso Closo's updated prog rock wherein strange piano lines are followed closely by echoing guitar, plus Buttercup's quiet love-pop. I'd skip the latter unless you're curious; it's a bit cloying. Theater Fire and Oso, however, should be an interesting juxtaposition.
Sawed Off Sick (CD release), Blarney Street Hooligans Darkside Lounge. Friday, Sept. 28. $7.
Sporting lyrics like, "Farmer's daughter, won't you put your pitchfork down/ I ain't gonna hurt you baby, gonna till your fertile ground," Sawed Off Sick's new album, Den of Iniquity, is a hard rock lover's dream. Singer Nickatomic's voice draws allusions to everyone from Diamond Dave to Ronnie James Dio, with scuzzy guitars and a rockabilly backbeat to boot.
Laptop Deathmatch Second Anniversary Minc Lounge. Friday, Sept. 28.
Electronica battle of the laptops, take two--all you need to know.
Sean Kirkpatrick, Faux Fox, Chris Garver Secret Headquarters. Saturday, Sept. 29. $5.
This one's a homerun. The Paper Chase's Sean Kirkpatrick knows how to work a piano, coercing melodies outta the thing with a deft touch and sensitivity that remains gorgeous without being cloying in the leat. Faux Fox, on the other hand, knows how to work an audience, with left-of-center post-rockish punk dance tunes and onstage contortions. -- Jonanna Widner
