Saturday night at Mango's, Houston howlers Guilt Party will be releasing a cassette, and also bidding adieu in one fell swoop.
Few bands debut a new release and then shut down the store, but the quartet has decided to do so. Joining them tomorrow night will be Weird Party, California touring act Media Blitz, and brand-new band locals Abduktion, which features Houston punk Zelig Mr. Josh Wolf on drums.
"We welcome people to go crazy and throw things at us when we play," says Jacob Majors, who plays bass for the heavily Minor Threat-influenced GP. Check out their stuff here on their BandCamp page.
I spoke with Mr. Majors about GP's swan song, cassette tapes, and the Austin vs. Houston debate.
Rocks Off: Why is Guilt Party shoving off? For good, or is this one of those "In a year we may be on a bill" things?
Jacob Majors: For a number of reasons. Some of us have jobs that don't allow much room for touring. And coincidentally, we're all starting multiple new bands and solo projects, possibly with a few members overlapping.
We think the two cassettes are an adequate contribution to Houston punk/hardcore. They came together in the studio quite magically. Those experiences are hard to replicate. So now it's time to move on.
RO: I like how you are dubbing cassettes as we speak. A lot is made about vinyl's sound, but what do you like about cassette sound?
JM Well we all have cassette players in our cars. If I'm ever at a show and someone is selling a tape, I will pick it up. I love tapes. Vinyl sounds great.
We were actually going to try to press some seven-inches for this show. But something got messed up with the plates so, just like the demo, it'll have to be tape for now.
A seven-inch of this tape could happen in the future, should Jaron (Sayers, GP front man) decide to press one. As far as sound goes, of course tapes aren't going to sound as good as vinyl. But, if you get your recording mastered well and dub it from CD on a relatively nice tape deck, it'll still sound awesome in your car.
RO: What new bands and projects are you guys starting after GP?
JM: Our lead singer Jaron is starting something with Denniz Trauma from Peloton and Fight Pretty called Forced Fem. Our guitarist Halston is already in Peloton and Black Coffee, which is very '80s hardcore. He's also joining a new power-pop band.
I am starting an Austin-based garage-punk band and also a solo raw hardcore project, in which I will recruit friends to play shows and record with me. Our drummer Ford has his electro-grind-noise thing called Electric Sleep too.
RO: Are you moving to Austin then, or just traveling back and forth?
JM: I'm not moving to Austin, but some of my best friends live there. We're getting to the age where it's not so important to play a show every week. So if you make a once-every-one-or-two-months affair, stuff like that becomes possible. Shoot, I go to Austin all the time anyway. Might as well make a band out of it. It will make the money spent on gas more worth it.
RO: I never understood the total Austin hate. I treat it like people in Los Angeles probably treat Las Vegas. I go when I need to, or I need to catch up with friends who live there.
JM: Austin hate is ridiculous. So is Houston hate, or Dallas hate. We all have great cities that offer various things to be enjoyed. You won't catch me talking any shit.
With Weird Party, Media Blitz and Abduktion, 10 p.m. Saturday at Mango's, 403 Westheimer.
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