Your Austin Music Minute maven is originally from El Paso, and in the Sun City (at least when I was younger), metal and punk were staples of the musical diet for the underground set. It’s what many of us turned to when we refused to stomach any of the vapid commercial garbage played repeatedly on the airwaves. And it’s what opened doors to more musical discovery, even if it wasn’t always in the metal or punk vein.
This is why something like Chaos In Tejas takes quite a few of us back to our roots. Now in its ninth year, the fest provides an excellent mix of metal, punk, hardcore, hip hop, garage rock and all manner of music with an edge. And even if you’ve never heard of most of these bands before, no worries. This is an opportunity to check them out and enjoy plenty of musical discoveries yourself.
Chaos In Tejas kicks off today and continues through Sunday at various venues around town. Be sure to check their website for band performance schedules. I’d also like to give proper shout-outs to some of my colleagues at the Austin Chronicle for their fantastic Chaos In Tejas recommendations. I’ll toss a few of those out and contribute some myself to this short list:
The Damned, tonight at 1100 E. 5th St. – Hello?! Seriously. One of the greatest punk rock bands to come out of England. Neat, neat, neat.
Iron Lung, tomorrow night at 1100 E. 5th St. – Two-piece grindcore out of Seattle (by way of Oakland) to rip your face in half.
Mind Spiders, tomorrow night at Beerland, 711 Red River – Denton punk legends help you get your meltdown on.
Wiccans, tomorrow night at the Mohawk, 912 Red River – Peeps from Austin and Denton, conjuring hardcore with dissonant melody. So mote it be.
The Men, Saturday night at Cheer Up Charlie’s, 1104 E. 6th St. – Brooklyn punk in your face.
Night Birds – Saturday night at Hotel Vegas, 1500 E. 6th St. – New Jersey surfy punk rock quartet. Maimed for the masses, jerk.
Left For Dead, Saturday night at Red 7, 611 E. 7th St., and Sunday night at 1100 E. 5th St. – Hardcore all the way from Toronto. Reunited and it feels so bad ass.
The Rats, Sunday night at the Mohawk – A rare treat, indeed. Punk and garage by husband and wife Fred Cole and Toody Cole, originally started in 1980, about seven years before Dead Moon came to be. A must-see.
