Mudhoney Fitzgerald’s, September 30
Mudhoney didn’t invent grunge, or maybe they did, but either way, Mark Arm’s crew has been making some of the gnarliest noise Seattle has to offer for a solid 25 years. Landmark debut single “Touch Me, I’m Sick” and the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP introduced rock to new levels of feedback-clogged hysteria, and Mudhoney has kept on doing it right into the present.
Released this spring, the stout-as-ever Vanishing Point is their ninth studio album overall and fourth since Mudhoney rejoined Sub Pop Records, a remarkable example of label loyalty in this day and age. With Cheap Time. CHRIS GRAY
Hank3 Scout Bar, September 30
Hank Williams III, or Hank3, as he’s known to his fans, is hardly the honky-tonk musician of old. Despite being descended from country-music royalty — he’s the grandson of good ol’ Hank Williams, and his father is the infamous Bocephus — Hank3 has opted for his own path well outside the confines of traditional country music.
Instead, he’s swapped the “Family Tradition” for a hybrid of hellbilly, psychobilly, metal and punk, forging a solo career while also playing with his metal band, Assjack. The ornery sound embodied in anti-country anthems like “Dick in Dixie” initially created more than a few Hank3 skeptics. But those days are long gone now. ANGELICA LEICHT
REWIND: Hank3’s Family Tradition: Doing Whatever the Hell He Wants
Brian Wilson & Jeff Beck Bayou Music Center, October 1
Two very different ’60s icons — a pop savant who saw entire snow globes of melodies in his head, and a guitar whiz who reinvented British blues into something cosmic — are now on the road together for what looks like one spectacular tour, featuring sidemen supreme Al Jardine and David Marks. Word is the program opens with the two onstage together (Beck reportedly loves the Beach Boys’ car songs), a solo set from each, and then trading covers to close out the night.
Knowing those two, that means everything from Pet Sounds and Smile — maybe even Wilson’s 2010 Gershwin tribute album — to Beck classics like “Plan B” and Yardbirds whomper “Rollin’ and Tumblin” is fair game. Not to be missed by classic-rock fans. CHRIS GRAY
List continues on the next page.
Delorean Warehouse Live, October 1
There’s no real merit to grading Grace, DeLorean’s fourth project in as many years, up against the Houston rapper’s previous efforts Hood Politics 2 and Hood Politics 3. 2 may be more personal and nuanced, 3smoother and polished, but Grace is its own monster.
From track length (a beefy 19) to guest features (a Southern cornucopia of names from Bun B to Trae Tha Truth to Slim Thug to Big K.R.I.T.), its lead star is fully engrossed in being comfortable and relaxed inside his own skin. BRANDO
Paul Ramirez Band Continental Club, October 2
A weekly gig is about the best way for guitarists to hone their craft, and Houston’s Paul Ramirez has done just that Wednesday nights at the Continental for more than a year now. It paid off last year with Sex With a Dragon, his debut CD that throws in a little Santana and New Orleans R&B into Ramirez’s stick-to-your-ribs Texas blues-rock and shows some salty reverence towards Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean.”
Dragon breathes enough fire that it doesn’t wilt when held up to the gold standard of recent Lone Star guitarslinger offerings, Gary Clark Jr.’s Blak and Blu. CHRIS GRAY
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This article appears in Sep 26 – Oct 2, 2013.
