MTNS, NO BABIES, WHITE COWARD, CASY & BRIAN

White Coward, we hardly knew ye. The band clobbered through Seattle (and the pages of this publication) playing torrential and distorted kick-you-in-the-gut rock numbers but have recently announced that tonight will be their last concert. You can count on there being a very loud dirge, and the assorted funereal bannermen on this bill are also worth arriving early for. When Casy & Brian last called Seattle home, they were a squirmy, singing-but-sometimes-rapping keyboard and drums duo that recorded albums entirely about animals (at one time going by the name Catbees). Often sounding like the younger mooncalf cousin of groups like the Blood Brothers or Pretty Girls Make Graves, Casy & Brian left for San Francisco, and six years later, they haven't added any new members or instruments. Their recorded output has certainly gotten heavier (I doubt anyone else's hands could make a Casio sound this ghoulish), but the adrenalized vocals remain. My favorite song of theirs, "Now You're Dancing," I would like played at every party from now until eternity, although you'll have to allow me a moment to mourn that we live during a time when bands feel prompted to instruct concertgoers to dance. No Babies are a maniacal sax-blasting no-wave punk band, also residing in the Bay Area. Black Lodge, 9 pm.

DAN DEACON

Dan Deacon has spent much of his time in the indie limelight balancing between two different acts. There's Deacon the electronic composer, muddling the boundaries of avant-garde and pop music on his albums, and then there's Deacon live, the whizzing dance mage, eschewing the stage for the center of the floor, conjuring up a salvo of lights and limbs and sweat. On his new record, America, Deacon has written a tonally expansive suite of songs relating to the USA; you can hear glories and guilt all at once. Neptune Theater, 9 pm, $13 adv/$15 DOS.