Music

Gooooaaaal!

Continued from page 1

It was worth the wait. Though most of the album is in Spanish, there's plenty on there for the English-only crowd. Great rock is great rock in any language, and Chango Jackson is one of Houston's finest bands. Chango is both grounded in the classics -- the melodic sense of the Beatles, the psych majesty of Pink Floyd, cool forays into jazz -- and forward-looking enough to have their own sound. And they will also rock your face off with alarming frequency, as anyone who has heard their own "Speak English" or their cover of "Helter Skelter" can attest. (The CD is available from the band or at Sig's Lagoon.)

Sugar Hill Studios and KPFT are up to some cool shenanigans. DJ Rhonda Garner, co-host of KPFT's Radioactive program, is also hosting the Sugar Hill Sessions, wherein she interviews local and touring bands over the air, and the bands also perform at the studio for live broadcast. The sessions got under way in April with a set from Philly roots rockers Marah, and May's installment found indie rockers Ume and Bring Back the Guns in the fabled studio. This Saturday, Todd Snider joins Garner in the studio before he heads over to the Verizon to open for John Prine. Tune in to Radioactive Friday at 2 p.m. for details about the Snider interview/concert.

Aw, hell, this week's as good a week as any to introduce "Here's What They Think About You," a semi-regular glance through the tour diaries of acts that pass through town. Up first is Britain's the Crimea, who played the Engine Room with Ash and the Bravery in March of last year. Here's what they had to say about Houston:

"It's a bizarre place, with a few tall buildings and very little else. Once again, against all the odds, the show goes well. Up until five minutes from stage time, the local crew were still working out which lead goes where and which button switches the PA 'on.'

"After the show, we get a lift to the designated 'after party,' which is a few miles from the venue. We cram seven people into the car of the promoter, Jagi. Andrew's sharing a front seat with Mark from Ash and Owen; Andy, Charlotte and Davey are crammed in the back. Two hundred yards from the club and we see flashing blue lights in the rearview mirror. An imposing police officer pulls up to have a word with Jagi and a bad situation is made even worse when Jagi realizes he's forgotten his driving license (which is against the law in the U.S.). He quickly makes up some bollocks about us being lost tourists and generally manages to sweet-talk the stern policeman. He gets off with a fine and is allowed to drive us to the club anyway. Result."

(And shame on you for lying to the nice policeman, Jagi.)

And what the hell, we've got room for one more, and this one's kinda related. Here's an entry from Denton/Dallas-based Centro-Matic, explaining the disastrous cancellation of their show with Ben Kweller and Death Cab for Cutie at Numbers two years ago: "A bit of advice for aspiring stagehands -- do not plug the lights and the PA into the same circuit-thingy. (I hope I am not being too technical here.) Bad things will happen. Rock shows will not happen. Hundreds of fans waiting for hours in the rain did unfortunately happen. I must say that if the same thing had occurred at a n-rapmetal show, the crowd would not have been anywhere near as gracious in their drenched defeat."

• 1
• 2