This Week In Music

This week in music: 5 shows bring the rock and local love to Houston

Oscar nominated singer-songwriter Aimee Mann will perform at The Heights Theater Saturday, January 20.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Museum of Art

For those about to rock, we salute you.

This week in music is chockfull of great rock shows across town, including internationally known touring acts, and a fundraiser show with some of the best local talent of early 2018.

Here are the best of the bunch:

Best place to see critically acclaimed indie-rock
San Diego’s Pinback will perform downstairs at White Oak Music Hall, bringing its electronically tinged indie rock to Houston. The band’s music — think early Modest Mouse — has built a solid fanbase on the back of great melodies, and vocal harmonies created by the duo of Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow. The latter threatened to retire from music a few years ago, and they haven’t produced an album in years, but the band is doing a string of shows, presumably behind the 10th anniversary of one of its most beloved albums, Autumn of the Seraphs.

Pinback performs Friday, January 19, downstairs at White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N Main St. Major Entertainer opens. Tickets are $20 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

Best display of rock 'n' roll swagger
One of the hardest working bands in music, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, returns to Houston after a killer show back in late-2016, this time promoting its best album in years, Wrong Creatures. No band does rock 'n' roll quite like B.R.M.C. these days. The San Francisco trio is almost a throwback to a time where bands wore black leather, and wrote dark songs about temptation, broken hearts, and making deals with the devil. Their new album recalls their still-great first two albums, B.R.M.C. and Take Them On, On Your Own with slow-burners and exhilarating rockers that wouldn’t be out of place on the soundtrack of Twin Peaks. That they have survived band shake ups, and the sudden passing of their sound engineer — who was the father of guitarist Robert Levon Been — is a testament to the staying power of a great live act.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club performs Saturday, January 20, at the House of Blues located at 1204 Caroline St. Night Beats opens. Tickets start at $25 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Best chance to see a real-life Oscar nominee
Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann has had a prolific career. First, she fronted the '80s act 'Til Tuesday (remember “Voices Carry”?), then embarked on a critically acclaimed solo career that found her music adored by Hollywood producers. Her Oscar nomination for her song, “Save Me,” for the film Magnolia, and her subsequent appearance at the awards ceremony, was a surreal experience up against established film songwriters. It boosted her career, and she’s put out several fine folk-rock albums since, the latest being another critical hit in 2017’s acoustic-driven Mental Illness.

Aimee Mann performs Saturday, January 20, at The Heights Theater, 339 W 19th St. Jonathan Coulton opens. Tickets are sold out, but are available on the resale market. Doors open at 7 pm.

Best show to feel good about seeing local bands
Some of the best local bands will come together for a good cause Saturday, January 20, for Ashstock: Radiation Rock. The proceeds of the show will go to local dancer and teacher, Ashley Clos, who is fighting two separate forms of cancer. Thankfully, she has a great lineup supporting her cause, headlined by the fabulous, melodic Wild Moccasins. They’ll be joined by other local acts Buxton, BLACKIE, Narcons, Young Mammals, and Limb. If you want to see what’s going on in the Houston music scene, this is the show to attend.

Ashstock: Radiation Rock kicks off Saturday, January 20, at Walter’s Downtown, 1120 Naylor St. Tickets are only $10 at the door. Show starts at 7 pm.

Best comeback after a dumb move
Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson makes up a canceled show from late 2017, after a piece of his live stage set fell on him. He attempted to climb it mid-show — and had to be carted off to the hospital following the accident. He's back, after recuperating, to bring his brand of oft-controversial, glam-inflected, industrial rock to a sea of Manson devotees. He is touring behind last year’s Heaven Upside Down.

Marilyn Manson climbs the stage on Wednesday, January 24, at the House of Blues, 1204 Caroline St. New Years Day opens. Tickets start at $59.50 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

Marilyn Manson makes up a cancelled 2017 concert after a freak accident at the House of Blues on Wednesday, January 24.

Photo courtesy of Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson makes up a cancelled 2017 concert after a freak accident at the House of Blues on Wednesday, January 24.

music concerts

Movie Review

Over-the-top thriller The Housemaid revels in camp, chaos, and excess

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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