Riverboat Gamblers
Smash/Grab EP
Paper + Plastick

I’ve written about more Texas punk bands this year than I ever thought I would, really, so if I’m going to do it again, I might as well take on the granddaddy of ‘em all, the Riverboat Gamblers, whose new four-song EP, Smash/Grab, is near eight minutes of pure soil n’ snot pop that only they can deliver. In fact, what it really delivers is that old school Gamblers sound we haven’t heard since 2003′s Something to Crow About, that raw, loose, up-tempo ribaldry and shout-along savagery, which ought to wash away any uneasy feelings you may have had toward the commercial leanings of 2009′s Underneath the Owl. Each of the songs here (“The Ol’ Smash and Grab,” “Parasite Friend,” “Maggie Lea,” “Anything But You”) ooze with the manic energy these mavericks have been known to consistently unleash on stage, which means there’s no bells, no whistles, and no slick production. Just sweaty, ageless, gutsy rock n’ roll inspired by — and inspiring — youthful indiscretion one petty crime at a time.

Listen to “Anything But You” from the Smash/Grab EP!

Bad Sports
Kings of the Weekend
Dirtnap Records

More of that twitchy Texan fun courtesy of Bad Sports, a trio of electric Twizzlers whose members also play in High Tension Wires, The Wax Museums, and the live incarnation of Mind Spiders, which means they do one hell of a mean Denton dance. That’s like being caught in the crossfire of flyin’ 45s and hipster quips, and if you’re not ready to get down, you’re at the wrong damn party. Kings of the Weekend, Bad Sports’ second album, pipes a heaping mess of three-chord punk on top of a fluffy n’ fuzzy 60s garage pop cake and sprinkles lyrics about schizophrenia and high school sweethearts over all of it, so chances are you won’t be able to resist the urge to dive face first into this box of 14 mini rock n’ roll desserts and feast on their addictive confection. Outstanding flavours include the sleaze-infused “Off Switch,” the MC5-drenched “Teenage Girls,” and the ego-driven “I’m in Love With Myself,” but the whole batch is positively charged and tastes bad-ass.

Listen to “Off Switch” from Kings of the Weekend!

High Tension Wires
Welcome New Machine
Dirtnap Records

Third album from Texas “supergroup” High Tension Wires, led by Riverboat Gamblers’ Mike Wiebe on vocals and Marked Men/Mind Spiders’ Mark Ryan on guitar/vocals (and rounded out by The Reds’ Chris Pulliam and newcomers Daniel Fried and Greg Rutherford of The Bad Sports), and that’s probably all I need to say because I know you’re already hearing the twitchy, over-amped punk rock  in your head. Like the music associated with any one of the bands involved in this project, Welcome New Machine is full of catchy, fuzzy songs that playfully mix ’77 snark and Berry blues, and the whole thing will leave you reeling like you’ve been beaten with broken skateboard decks by a bunch of frazzled dudes in sweaty cardigans and black-rimmed glasses. It’s all over in about 26 minutes though, and while each of the 12 songs here last as long as bubblegum flavour, they’ve got exceptional melodic stamina, and the electric effects of “Get Weird,” “Incorporeal,” “Backbone,” “Temporary Gods,” “Lose Face,” and “Handicapped Hearts” will stay in your legs for a long time. Live shows are extremely rare with this bunch, so if you want in on some High Tension Wires action, grab a Welcome New Machine LP before they’re all gone.

Listen to “Backbone” from Welcome New Machine!