2008 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

El Orbits (5 p.m.)
Nominated in: Best Cover Band,Best Keyboard Player (Pete Gordon)
www.myspace.com/elorbit

Calling the El Orbits a mere cover band doesn't seem fair; the band, sometimes augmented by satellite members such as Allison Fisher and Pete Gordon, is more like a living jukebox. Singer Tomas Escalante can handle Frank Sinatra as well as Sam Cooke, and hardly a gig goes by when the quartet doesn't bring one (or several) Gulf Coast classic back to life, be it "You'll Lose a Good Thing," "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights," "Tighten Up" or "Treat Her Right." Recently, they've been back behind the hopper at the Continental's revived Monday-night bingo parties. — C.G.

Scattered Pages (6 p.m.)
Nominated in: Best Drummer(Andy McWilliams), Best Neo-Folk
www.myspace.com/thescatteredpages

Scattered Pages are period-piece troubadors, as it were; the kind of guys who might wear porkpie hats without a trace of irony. Musically, imagine if Tom Waits formed a band with Lee Hazlewood's and Gram Parsons's reanimated corpses, with macabre illustrator Edward Gorey providing lyrical and artistic direction. No wonder the trio describes its singular concoction as "whimsical, cast-iron and deathly." — N.L.H.

Fondue Monks (7 p.m.)
Nominated in: Best Bassist (Rozz Zamorano), Best R&B/Funk/Soul
www.myspace.com/fonduemonks

Fondue Monks has generously ladled out its sonic stew of original music for going on 20 years, so it's no surprise the group is once again an HPMA nominee — not bad for two vatos and dos gringos who always put on a hip-shakin', groovin' show. Despite the Monks' multiple Battle of the Bands entries (both recordings and live performances), greater national prominence has unfairly eluded the band — all the more reason Houston should appreciate this institution. Besides three CDs to date, a live DVD will be hitting shelves soon; no word if a bonus segment features bassist Rozz Zamorano's ­ponytail-­grooming tips for men. — B.R.

Arthur Yoria (8 p.m.)
Nominated in: Best Songwriter, Local Musician of the Year, Best Male Vocalist
www.myspace.com/arthuryoria

Arthur Yoria will be the first to admit he doesn't get out much, but his talent, determination and pop-infused acoustic goodness — rich in depth and maturity — help keep the heart of Houston's music scene beating nonetheless. Though he may not share his fans' obsessive love of the iPod, he does respect their opinion; he's asking them to choose ten songs for the new album he plans to release at the end of the year. — B.B.Z.

Sideshow Tramps (9 p.m.)
Nominated in: Best Drummer (Shane Lauder), Best Miscellaneous Instrumentalist (Geoffrey Muller), Best Neo-Folk
www.myspace.com/sideshowtramps

Formerly the popular Rx Medicine Show, the Tramps have been classified as everything from bluegrass to roots to polka, but at the end of the day it's all rock and roll attitude and hell-for-leather hoedown picking and singing, Montrose-style. Thanks to tour slots with Hayes Carll, the Tramps are finally coming onto the radar outside Houston, just as the Press's John Nova Lomax predicted they would when first reporting on them. Small wonder: These Montrose hillbillies leave vapor trails every time they hit the stage.— William Michael Smith

eyeagainst (4 p.m.)
Nominated in: Best Metal
www.myspace.com/ea713

If its MySpace page is to be believed — and everything on the Internet is true, right? — eyeagainst's August 22 show at Fitzgerald's is also its last. No explanation, no regrets and, for that matter, no opening bands (yet). Shame. To call the quartet's metal/hardcore hybrid "uncompromising" would be true, but weak nonetheless. Perhaps "pulverizing" would be better. Still, eyeagainst has outlasted most of the bands (eye) against which it first honed its hyper-penetrative sound. Anyone heard from Limp Bizkit lately? 2001 full-length Sentiments of Her lingers as a souvenir. — C.G.

Black Dog (5 p.m.)
Nominated in: Best Tribute Band
www.myspace.com/blackdogtribute

Hey hey mama, guess to which band Black Dog pays tribute? Considering what a huge year Led Zeppelin had last year, demand for Black Dog's services is at an all-time high. And considering that Zep's reunion last December really does seem to be a one-time-only affair, these Fitz regulars are probably about as close as we Houstonians born after Houses of the Holy are going to get to seeing Plant, Page and company live — and because BD's sets include relative obscurities like "The Rover" and "Tangerine" alongside "Immigrant Song" and "Whole Lotta Love," that's just fine by us. Mostly. — C.G.

Katie Stuckey & the Swagger (6 p.m.)
Nominated in: Best Country, Best Female Vocalist
www.myspace.com/katiestuckey

Although nominated this year for Best Country, Katie Stuckey and the Swagger is a bit more than that; tinges of Americana and rock also poke their heads in and out of its sound. Fortunately for the Swagger, Stuckey, last year's Best Female Vocalist, appears just jaded enough to pull it all together. And if Stuckey's songwriting continues to improve ("You look like a mountain that I want to climb"...indeed), the Swagger has a good shot at filling Houston's alt-country flagship-band vacancy.— Shea Serrano