Scene, Heard

After months of waiting, by him at least, Todd Deatherage's new five-song CD is now available for purchase at Deatherage's regular Wednesday gig at Lakewood Bar & Grill. But it's not the record Deatherage has been waiting to put out. This disc is more or less a stopgap Deatherage recorded recently and quickly (with Darlington drummer Steve Visneau and his former Calways bandmate Todd Pertl) so he could have something to sell at shows. His long-finished solo album, which he'd planned to put out on the seemingly defunct 13 Recordings, is now slated for release on Robert Jenkins' Summer Break Records. (According to Summer Break's Web site, www.summerbreakrecords.com, the disc will come out "near the beginning of the year.") Instead of waiting until then, Deatherage decided to go ahead and put out something on his own. Deatherage will hawk the discs at an in-store performance at CD World on August 18; stop by and pick one up. Summer Break, while we're on the subject, will debut with a local-band compilation in the next few months, and in addition to Deatherage, has a record by Hydrophonic Sound Labs on its release schedule. The label is accepting demos: E-mail Jenkins at [email protected]...As it prepares to release Red Animal War's Within the Amber in the coming months, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Deep Elm Records continues its Texas ties with the fifth installment of its Emo Diaries series, titled I Guess This is Goodbye. The disc, hitting stores October 17, features tracks by locals Slowride and Eniac, as well as The End of Julia, which is from Tyler. Expect a bill featuring all three groups around the time of the record's release. We've always heard Deep Elm owner John Szuch is a former local boy himself, and based on the available evidence (Deep Elm? Come on...), we'd have to agree...

The second installment of the Buzz-Oven series should be out in September, following this summer's debut three-for-all release, which included contributions from Slow Roosevelt, Valve, and Red Animal War. The second disc features songs by Baboon, Chomsky, and another band that has yet to be announced; all three groups will perform a few all-ages showcases in November. For more information check out www.buzz-oven.com. Actually, there isn't any new information there at the moment, but we're guessing there will be as the release date approaches...

One local-band compilation that's already out in stores is Garage Nights at Laser Trax Vol. III. The disc, put together by the Arlington-based record label/store/studio, includes tracks by Slowride, Darlington, Scattergun Reflex, 10% Effort, Moxie, and Springfield University. If you're not planning on heading to Arlington anytime soon, go to lasertrax.com instead...

Denton's Hot Link Records has a pair of releases headed down the pike in the next few weeks. First up is Climate's Swallow All Letters, the band's first disc on Hot Link after putting out seven (!) records on its own Special Friends label. Special Friends' catalog (almost exclusively made up of Climate discs) was folded into Hot Link in June; this is the first release since the labels' merger. (If a merger between two tiny labels can even be referred to in such bigger business terms.) Hot Link will also release Asphalt the Recorder's The Duration of Coitus on September 1...

Mike Snider, who books shows at Sons of Hermann Hall and Gypsy Tea Room, is involved in another venture: Jena's All Good Cafe. The restaurant, which will also apparently feature live music, recently held its first annual (and first time we've ever heard of anything like it) restaurant shower, where it invited friends and family to donate secondhand plates, silverware, coffee mugs, glassware, and other kitchen/restaurant items. We're assuming that Jena's (located at 2934 Main) will be passing on the savings to you. Call (214) PIC-JENA...

The next Centro-matic album, titled South San Gabriel Music & Songs, will hit stores sometime in September, released on Erv Karwelis' Idol Records. As always, the group has a few more irons in the fire as well. Also in the works: a split CDEP with Vermont (which features members of Pele and The Promise Ring), set for release on Quality Park Records later this year, and yet another full-length, headed for the shelves early next year. Recording has already begun on the latter project (Disc No. 5, for those scoring at home), and no doubt, another record will be ready by the time that one hits stores. Centro-matic will open for The New Year on August 25 at the Gypsy Tea Room, and August 26 at Austin's The Mercury. By the way, if you want a copy of the band's last album, All The Falsest Hearts Can Try, you'd better hurry: Quality Park is having a difficult time keeping the disc in stock. If you've heard it, you know why...

The Polyphonic Spree will soon begin recording its debut album, reportedly at Last Beat's studio, with a release date tentatively scheduled for the end of the year. The band will perform September 9 at an as-of-yet-undisclosed venue. If you want to see some of the members in action before then, however, head to Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios on August 11. Opening for Enon will be Supergoose, which features Spree keyboard player-percussionist Carlos Jackson (also of The Shells) on bass, bassist Mark Pirro on guitar, and drummer Chris Penn, who co-owns Good Records with, among others, The Polyphonic Spree's Tim DeLaughter...

Speaking of Good Records, and we often are, ye olde record shoppe has a few upcoming in-store performances planned. For starters, Elephant Six collective representative Dressy Bessy will play at Good on August 10 at 6 p.m., a few hours before the band's gig at the Gypsy Tea Room. And on August 17, Queens of the Stone Age will stop by at 6 p.m., prior to its performance at Smirnoff Music Centre the next day as part of this year's OzzFest...

When we mentioned She's Gone Records' upcoming projects last week (including a Darlington EP and a full-length by Sara Radle's Fred Savage Fan Club), we left a few out, mainly because they hadn't been finalized. According to the label's Chad Huffman, they still aren't, but at least one of them -- a tribute to the late, great Judys -- sounds like it'd be worth waiting for. The seven-inch compilation is part of a planned series, also featuring tributes to Jonathan Richman, among others...

Live from The City of Hate: Eleven Hundred Springs performs August 11 at Gypsy Tea Room; Lift to Experience, When Babies Eat Pennies, and Chaos and The Addiction hit Curtain Club on August 10; Lucy Loves Schroeder, Kid Chaos, 41 Gorgeous Blocks, and a handful of other bands play a benefit gig for Life Outreach at a warehouse in Fort Worth (e-mail [email protected] for directions) on August 12. And The Deathray Davies perform at another CD release party for The Return of the Drunk Ventriloquist at the Ridglea Theater on August 12, with Chomsky, Crash Vinyl, and Prize Money, which, as far as we can tell, is Slowpoke's new name...

Steve's BBQ in Denton has added music to menu, alongside its legendary slow-cooked sweet ribs, hosting casual Sunday evening shows. Budapest One's Keith Killoren, Corn Mo, Cavedweller, and Centro-matic have already performed there, and more backyard hoedowns are planned. Head down to Steve's, located on the corner of Bell and Hickory around 7 p.m. on Sunday. It's worth the trip even without the music. As Killoren says, "In this ever-changing world of strip malls and Applebee's, Steve's BBQ is the last bastion of hope for the anachronistic love triangle between me, Mahalia Jackson, and brisket." Damn straight.