In a recent story meeting, I mentioned The Pass & Provisions to my fellow staff writers here at the Press. Assistant music editor and all-around pop culture buff Craig Hlavaty quickly threw out there: “That sounds like a screamo band.”
“In fact,” he continued, “a lot of these new restaurants have names that sound like bands.”
“Oxheart!” someone else at the table threw out.
“Uchi”! yelled another.
And before long, Hlavaty and I had compiled an entire list of Houston restaurants that sound like band names. Below is Hlavaty’s take on what those bands would be. Find out which restaurant would be your dad’s friend’s ZZ Top and Stevie Ray Vaughan cover band, and which would be a four-piece Houston hardcore group that only plays every year or so.
An early ’00s screamo band, like Thursday or something. Hearts on their sleeve fellas who wore guyliner, repped the Smiths.
The Hay Merchant
Sort of like Mumford and Sons. Lots of wool and tweed, with a pop-punk past hidden under their woolen shirtsleeves. They opened up for New Found Glory when you were still in AP English, kind sir.
Cuchara
A secret, wildly-popular Latin rock group that Anglos shrug at but there are men who go to their shows and sob uncontrollably and have their entire backs tattooed with their lyrics.
Mongoose versus Cobra
Remember The Locust? That really scream-y, spazz-punk electro band? Did songs about ghost farts and Abraham Lincoln’s gynecologist? That’s MvsG. People grew out of them after freshman year in college, now wistfully rub their hands over their albums at Cactus on the way to buying the new Arcade Fire EP.
Spindletop
It was your sorority friend’s bachelorette party and she wanted to go honky-tonkin’ and
finally wear those boots she got at the rodeo, so you went to Big Texas and this band
Spindletop was playing Dierks Bentley covers and you kinda sorta made out with the
bassist. No big deal. He was cute.
Oxheart
An Oi! punk band, that plays song about working-class struggles and sport giant mutton
chops. They opened for the Business at Walter’s On Washington.
Straits
That’s my George Strait cover band, duh.
Plonk
An early ’90s Houston punk band that played the old Emo’s and Instant Karma. They broke up in 2000 and two of the members now coach youth soccer in Katy.
Uchi
Uchi is a really cute Japanese solo artist who drives all the skinny indie boys wild with
her songs about ice cream and kissing.
Double Trouble
Double Trouble is the name of your dad’s friends’ band that plays SRV and ZZ Top covers at ice houses in La Porte.
Underbelly
Underbelly is a four-piece Houston hardcore group that only plays every year or so. They have a lot of songs about respect and shit.
Pondicheri
Indie-darlings of the highest order. Akin to Passion Pit. The night that they played
Fitzgerald’s, the bar sold out of Sprite and there was a long line of parents picking up
their kids off White Oak.
Kata Robata
These guys play Scout Bar once a month and would like to think of themselves as Houston’s answer to Linkin Park, but they really sound like Trapt. They never quite got the hang of using turntables in their live shows, so now their DJ just plays an unplugged electric guitar in the corner.
Down House
“So you mean if we dress like Kings Of Leon we could get mad handies in the pool at ROAK?”
Mellow Mushroom
Remember that guy in college who wore Sublime shirts every day to class and switched to a hemp Bob Marley hoodie when it got cold outside? He tried out for Mellow Mushroom and the band thought he wasn’t mellow enough.
Gratifi
Jesus, why don’t these guys just marry everyone in Incubus and make little Incubus babies already? Their lead singer blatantly hits on your girlfriend on Facebook and likes all of her Instagram pics.
The Queen Vic
Man, you would think that the whole Brit-Pop thing would have died after Blur finally made it to MTV, but no. For guys who grew up in the Woodlands, they manage to sing with impeccable British accents.
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This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2012.