… Wreck Room owner Brian Forella has seen a lot of bands – local, national, whatever. He doesn’t administer praise often, so when he stands sober in his club, looks you in the eye, and, as The Burning Hotels are playing their inaugural show at his club, says they’re the best young band he’s seen in about five years as he swipes the air with his hand and looks away dramatically (to preclude any sort of rebuttal), you know he means it. High praise, indeed. Through a limited release of a wonderful three-song e.p. recently, the Hotels had generated the kind of buzz normally reserved for super groups. Even before the Hotels hit the Wreck’s stage, they were already booked at Axis (120 S Main St, FW; 817-870-AXIS) to open on Monday (Nov 28) for 30 Seconds to Mars, a little emo-ish band whose frontman happens to be former teen heartthrob and current famous actor Jared Leto (My So-Called Life, Alexander, Fight Club). At the Wreck gig, after the first two songs – which were kinda rough – the band settled into a nice groove. The best part was that, unlike most young groups, the Hotels shifted tempos and keys often enough to lend the proceedings some dramatic heft. Drama? Drama major Jared Leto? Coincidence? Hmm.
… Another young band with a lot of buzz (though not Burning Hotels-level buzz … yet), High School Assembly is like a really cool jalopy but one whose engine is fueled by ex-members of Voigt and whose long, lean body has assumed the shape of former OH-no frontman, Steven Holt. They’re just one of what seems like a hundred marquee bands playing the Aardvark (2905 W Berry St, FW; 817-926-7814) this week. Tonight (Wed), it’s The Revenge of the Nerds Tour with Eminem-sounding rap-slash-novelty act MC Chris. (Sample song titles from Chris’ Life’s a Bitch and I’m Her Pimp disc include “DQ Blizzard,” “Robotussin,” “Pop Punk is Dead,” “Fuckin’ Up My Christmas,” and “Bench Warmer.”) The next day – Thanksgiving – is alt-country star Collin Herring and contemplative singer-songwriter Tim Locke (who also co-fronts alt-rockers Coma Rally and fronts genuine C&W act Calhoun). Friday is The Color of May (a.k.a. Better Than Coldplay). And Saturday is the big show, with Manfactory, The Chemistry Set, and the ex-Voigt/ex-OH-no project, High School Assembly.
… Less than a Planck length away (or the size of an average Potbelly’s sandwich), the Aardvark’s West Berry neighbor, the Moon, has Chatteron’s Kevin Aldridge and Horses/Oliver Future’s Jordan Richardson tomorrow (Thu) and, on Friday, C&W upstart Jason Eady, whose band members include members of Chatterton and recently defunct Woodeye, which played its final show last week at the Wreck Room, where the Burning Hotels played its first. Coincidence? Hmm.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
