Live Music Now

These are the 7 best concerts to catch in Houston this week

Before the shows of the week, congratulations are in order for Houston's very own soul act, The Suffers, who celebrated a No. 8 placement on the Billboard R&B charts for the band's new album, Everything Here, in its debut week, before heading off to play a scorching set at the famed Newport Folk Festival. That's a fine way to represent the 713.

This week, we have another big-time Houston performer celebrating an anniversary, big shows from alt-rockers, some New Wave legends, and a buzzworthy act to catch. Here are the biggest and best shows of the week.

CultureMap recommends: Caroline Says
Formed by singer-songwriter Caroline Sallee in Austin in 2014, Caroline Says takes its band name from a Lou Reed song. The group sounds much like that inspiration, with dreamy alt-rock songs, off-kilter rhythms, sumptuous harmonies, and simplistic melodies combining into one infectious brew. The group’s latest, No Fool Like an Old Fool also incorporates elements of acoustic-picked folk that recall Elliot Smith at his finest. Few bands come into town with as much critical acclaim as Caroline Says, including mentions on NPR, Pitchfork, and Stereogum. Find out what all the fuss is about.

Caroline Says plays the Continental Club, located at 3700 S. Main St., on Thursday, August 2. Jessica Risker, Velveteen Echo, and Astragal open. Tickets are $10 at the door. Show starts at 9:30 pm.

Slim Thug celebrates 20 years
One of the major players of the Houston "chopped and screwed" Southern rap renaissance of the late-'90s, Slim Thug went on to commercial success in the mid-2000s, finding fame on the Houston anthem, the independent and platinum-selling single and forever bangin', "Still Tippin'." He's released albums on the massive Interscope label (Dr. Dre runs it now), even appearing on a No. 1 hit for Beyoncé. His height came in 2005, when Already Platinum, hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts. But he got his start putting out mixtapes in the late-'90s, often appearing with other Houston rap stars, Mike Jones and Paul Wall. Thug will commemorate those exciting times in Houston with a 20th anniversary party at White Oak this weekend. No word on if his old cohorts will make an appearance, but don't be surprised if it turns into a guest-filled throwdown.

Slim Thug hits White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Friday, August 3. Tickets start at $44 plus a $15.60 service charge. Doors open at 7 pm.

Panic! at the Disco
Back with their sixth album, Pray for the Wicked, emo-rock survivors Panic! at the Disco (and their grammatically incorrect exclamation point) are currently on an arena tour, seemingly bigger than ever. If you like pomp and circumstance, Panic! has got you covered, with their latest record, including single "Saturday Night," expanding the sound way past their more humble beginnings. But one thing that remains consistent is lead singer Brandon Urie's penchant for over-the-top vocals and professional-grade showmanship.

Panic! at the Disco headline the Toyota Center, located at 1510 Polk St., on Friday, August 3. Arizona and Hayley Kiyoko open. Tickets start at $30.75 plus service charges. Doors open at 6 pm.

Houston International Jazz Festival
The Houston International Jazz Festival celebrates its 28th year, with all proceeds benefiting Jazz Education Inc., which provides "training and educational activities for school age youth in the field of music, using concepts and subjects not fully covered by private and/or public school systems," according to its website. The three-day event features a wide variety of touring talent. Events start in Friday, August 3 at the Kick Off Party and Hot Jazz Night at Sugar's in Missouri City featuring the Summer Jazz All-Stars. Saturday night is the Ladies of Horn and Song at House of Blues with saxophonist Mindy Abair and the Boneshakers, flautist Althea Rene, and vocalist Ashleigh Smith. Sunday is Mayor Sylvester Turner's Scholarship Brunch at the Hobby Center. All proceeds go to a good cause.

The 28th Houston International Jazz Festival runs Friday, August 3 through on Sunday, August 4. Tickets prices vary per day. More information available at the Jazz Fest website.

Imagine Dragons plays another sold out Houston show
For better or worse, Imagine Dragons love Houston and Houston loves Imagine Dragons. It seems like the band bred for shilling stuff plays here every year, selling out bigger venues with each successive performance. This time around, it's Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion hosting the Las Vegas natives, with lawn tickets head-scratchingly going for as high as $145 on the resale market as they promote their latest monster album, Evolve. Be sure to show up early, as the charming, America's Got Talent wunderkind, Grace VanderWaal, starts the proceedings — she quite possibly has more talent than the headliner.

Imagine Dragons headline Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, located at 2005 Lake Robbins Dr. in The Woodlands, on Saturday, August 4. Grace VanderWaal opens. Tickets start at $145 plus service fees via the resale market. Gates open at 6 pm.

CultureMap show of the week: New Wave heroes Erasure
It's hard to overstate the importance of Erasure. Not only were they huge in the New Wave/synth-pop world, but the sexuality of lead singer Andy Bell made them icons on the LGBTQ scene, something revolutionary in the '80s, where being open and gay often was seen as a disastrous business decision. Thankfully, Bell was backed up by Vince Clarke, one of the co-founders of Depeche Mode, and writer of some of that band's early and still great hits, including "Just Can't Get Enough." Clarke brought his airtight pop sensibilities to the monstrous singles, "Chains of Love," "A Little Respect," and "Love to Hate You." This show will be one helluva party.

Erasure shares their storied catalog at the Smart Financial Center at Sugar Land, located at 18111 Lexington Blvd., on Sunday, August 5. Tickets start at $39 plus service charges. Show starts at 7:30 pm.

Pretty fly: The Offspring and 311
There was a time — ahem, the late-'90s — when it was nearly impossible to turn on rock radio and not hear either The Offspring or 311. One was the California punk band that we all thought was the harder version of Green Day; the other was a bunch of bros with a penchant for reggae-inflected rap-rock. The fact is, both bands put out some decent (for the time) singles that still are played on rock radio which treats anything produced before 1998 as the crowning era of all music. And to be completely fair, The Offspring's debut, Smash, was pretty great for a spell with singles, "Come Out and Play" and "Self-Esteem," perfectly channeling teen angst in suburbs everywhere before the band turned into a jokey singles act (see the still awful "Pretty Fly"). As for 311, they have that one tune, "Down." They'll both relive the high points at Cynthia Woods this weekend.

The Offspring and 311 co-headline the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, located at 2005 Lake Robbins Dr. in The Woodlands, on Sunday, August 5. Tickets start at $27.50 plus service fees. Gates open at 6 pm.

New Wave heroes Erasure perform at the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on Sunday, August 5.

Photo by Doron Gild

New Wave heroes Erasure perform at the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on Sunday, August 5.

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Movie Review

New comedy I Want Your Sex saddles an all-star cast with a dull story

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Cooper Hoffman and Olivia Wilde in I Want Your Sex.

Writer/director Gregg Araki has been making provocative movies for nearly 40 years, releasing his debut — Three Bewildered People in the Night — in 1987. Most of them have had plotlines that revolved around sex in one way or another, and for his latest — his first film in 12 years — he’s putting it right there in the title, I Want Your Sex.

Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) is an aimless twenty-something who can’t even afford the rent for his apartment with best friend, Apple (Chase Sui Wonders). Thankfully, he finds a job at the gallery of artist Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), who is open with her sexuality both in her artwork and in her day-to-day life. That soon includes Elliot, whom she convinces to enter into a dominant-submissive relationship with her, with sessions taking place both at work and her home.

Elliot, who’s in a going-nowhere coupling with Minerva (Charli XCX), is more than willing to participate, both because it lets him feel something he doesn’t get normally and because Erika offers a perspective on sex that’s much different from people of his generation. But as he gets in deeper with her, he starts to lose a sense of himself, going down a path in which he finds himself talking to police detectives Zem (Johnny Knoxville) and Zola (Margaret Cho).

Araki does his level best to make I Want Your Sex into a broad comedy, and early on it seems as if he might succeed. The deadpan way that sexual objects appear in the film (a penis-shaped rug in Elliot and Apple’s apartment, a vagina artwork with chewed gum as the medium) make for amusing sight gags. He also makes Elliot the bewildered other in multiple twosomes, with Minerva being the funniest, as she’s way more interested in studying than his ham-fisted attempts at sex.

It’s clear that Araki wants the film to be a commentary on the generational differences about sex, but he fumbles his own idea. It starts with an on-the-nose conversation between Erika and Elliot, and continues with the various dalliances, which seem to be more about making Elliot look and feel ridiculous than giving true insight. Their encounters certainly open his mind about what sex can be, but their one-note nature makes them repetitive and frankly boring, odd considering the acts in which the two engage.

The uninspired storytelling makes the 90-minute film drag way more than it should. Araki includes a few other characters to try to vary the tone of the film, including gallery workers Zap (Mason Gooding) and Vikktor (Daveed Diggs), but their early promise yields little results. The framing device of Elliot’s interview with the detectives never works, especially because Araki completely neuters the personalities of Cho and Knoxville for seemingly no good reason.

The cast as a whole goes to waste. Hoffman is showing the promise of his late father (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and even though he’s appealing here, the material pulls him down. Wilde just made her own provocative movie about sex (The Invite), and this one pales in comparison despite her heightened performance. Wonders, Charli XCX, and Gooding are all young stars who deserve to be showcased much better than they are in this film.

A film called I Want Your Sex is announcing itself as daring and alluring, but this film contains almost none of those qualities. Instead, it’s a slog that only occasionally has something interesting to show or say, mostly relying on the power of its actors to hold viewers’ attention — and failing at even that.

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I Want Your Sex is now playing in select theaters.