THURSDAY 8/21


GLASS CANDY & THE SHATTERED THEATRE, DISPLAY, GUESTS
(Luscious) See Stranger Suggests, page 29.

NEIL HAMBURGER, CANNED HAMM, DR. EL SUAVO
(Graceland) Gentlemen, lock up your wives and daughters. Ladies, pull on a fresh pair of frilly underthings. Canada's finest mismatched, mustachioed vocal duo is storming the town and crowning one lucky lady as Karaoke Queen. Spawned in Vancouver's viciously competitive karaoke circuit, Canned Hamm take the art of singing to a prerecorded backing track to dizzying new heights. With a show that includes denim jumpsuits, a human ventriloquist dummy, interpretive dance, sweat-soaked chest hair, and the Li'l Baby Jesus in a diaper, Canned Hamm will redefine your concept of entertainment. Songs range from the inspirational "Father and Son" to the matron-hungry "In Praise of Older Women" to the darkly unnerving "Boys' Night Out," and skate that tenuous line that barely separates the ridiculous from the sublime. Hipster cynics be warned: You just might crack a smile. DAN PAULUS

DYNASTY, MR & MR & MR & MR EVIL
(Re-bar) A couple of San Francisco's theatrical music acts hit Pho Bang this week--rumor has it with a group of double-dutchers in tow. The last time I saw Mr & Mr & Mr & Mr Evil, they still had a Ms in there and did this funny fake-French thing with fruity accents and black berets. Now that they are a fully manly bunch, their stuff is a mix of sloppy, screamy garage and droning faux metal that I'm sure will come with an extra boost of camp when they play live. Dynasty includes the drummer from Numbers, and the female trio does the electropop thing that's a little too kitschy and girlie for my taste. JENNIFER MAERZ

MAE-SHI, CHANNELS 3 AND 4, FUCK ME USA, OPHELIA AND THE GREAT IDEA
(2nd Avenue Pizza) It's sort of baffling why a band like Ophelia and the Great Idea seem so broadly ignored by our local music community. An academically erratic punk outfit, Ophelia build, bend, and break with dexterous exuberance that exceeds the bulk of this city's middling hardcore ilk, with a sound that pays respects as much to forgotten post-rock luminaries as it does to, say, Unsane or Fugazi. Their uncomfortably ostentatious moniker notwithstanding, OATGI are a modest, exciting, and plainly talented trio--and are about the nicest group of guys you could ever hope to help accelerate your impending tinnitus. With such a list of exemplary attributes, how in the world could Seattle turn a blind eye to the band? Oh, yeah, right--it's Seattle. ZAC PENNINGTON

FATAL FLYING GUILLOTEENS, SNITCHES GET STICHES, THE BLANK-ITS, THE FUSE
(Sunset) When you think Estrus, you think wild 'n' crazy garage rock--the kinds of bands that invite the kinds of crowds that would leave even the diviest bar a wreck because the energy always rushes in that direction. But the Fatal Flying Guilloteens have a sound that's more tightly leashed: an angular, stop-start stutter that pushes them ahead of the pack without sacrificing any of that sweaty je ne sais quoi. Their new record, Get Knifed, is one of the best releases (along with the Immortal Lee County Killers II's Love Is a Charm of Powerful Trouble) the label's put out this year. JENNIFER MAERZ FRIDAY 8/22


MJ COLE, VSOP, RAMA, TOM SWIFT
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests, page 29.

JON AUER & KEN STRINGFELLOW
(Sunset, early) I always get a little nervous when I watch these two Posies songwriters play on the same bill, separately. Like it's Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham before their shit was finally dealt with a couple of years ago. Private Sides, out on Arena Rock Recording Company, features three songs by Jon ("All U People" is a fucking great retro rocker) followed by three from Ken ("Ask Me No Questions," originally written and recorded in 1967 by Bridget St. John, is pretty enough to make you cry). Tonight it all goes public; support your hero. KATHLEEN WILSON

UNION 13, THE BRIGGS, WORTHLESS, D.E.K.
(Hell's Kitchen) D.E.K. have just begun making waves in Seattle, so don't feel left out if you haven't heard of them. But soon, you'll have no excuse if you're a fan of bratty, snotty, old-school punk rock delivered with a sense of humor, because they're gaining exposure (and a fan base) in the area. The band (a quartet of 14-, 15-, and 16-year-olds!) writes songs springing from the typical teen boy mentality: girls, boredom, and frustrating parents (their first recording is called Boner) are some of their themes. And if you're one of those types who need some sort of validation before settling on any sort of decision, D.E.K.'s got your validation right here: The band has been invited to fly down to California to open T.S.O.L's CD-release party in Santa Ana on September 20. MEGAN SELING

PANSY DIVISION, SGT. MAJOR, STUDFINDER, DEALERSHIP
(Graceland) Pansy Division are not the surprise hit of the big gay 2003 summer season. Pansy Division are a perennial, and, as such, easy to take for granted. But this SF ensemble had already been peddling their modest wares--power-chord punk-pop with explicit lyrics--to mainstream crowds (they toured with Green Day in '94) long before Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was in development. With songs like "He Whipped My Ass in Tennis, Then I Fucked His Ass in Bed," the new Total Entertainment doesn't deviate much from their established formula, but the melodies are catchy as ever, and the energetic performances increasingly polished. If you've never liked their shameless mugging or lack of subtlety before, this disc won't change your opinion, but give Pansy Division their due as pioneers; whether you think they should be pilloried or praised for the ground they broke is entirely a matter of personal taste. Kurt B. Reighley

SATURDAY 8/23


THE JOE JACKSON BAND, DAVID MEAD
(Showbox) See preview, page 47.

DEAD MEADOW, SINSKI, THE TURN-ONS
(Graceland) See preview, page 47.

KANE HODDER, DIRTY THIEVES, THE UNIT BREED, MORSE CODE HEARTBEAT
(Hell's Kitchen) See Underage, page 55.

DJ SPOOKY, SIENTIFIC AMERICAN AND MR. PICCOLO, DJ VITAL
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests, page 29.

NEBULA, THE BELLRAYS, POST STARDOM DEPRESSION
(Crocodile) Nebula's new album, Atomic Ritual (out at the end of September), shows the trio at their prime, with a songwriting strength equal to 2001's Charged, an album that made you want to pocket a pharmacy full of pills and a gallon of tequila and drive through the desert at illegal speeds. They're still orbiting the planet Psychedelic and blasting out the effects on their way to the big desert rock kingdom. Also on the bill are the BellRays, a band that boasts one of the most powerful female vocalists in rock, Lisa Kekaula, who belts out the hard soul like Tina Turner for the new millennium. The BellRays' Raw Collection is one excellent album that truly lives up to its name. JENNIFER MAERZ

BANE, THE PROMISE, SUICIDE FILE, 14 DAYS OF TERROR
(Old Fire House) When I'm angry, I clean-- vacuum, mop, dust, and basically scrub the surface area off of everything in sight. After being passed a copy of 14 Days of Terror's three-song demo at a show, I got home and, unable to sleep, put it in the CD player. I only had to listen to the 11-minute disc three times to make my entire apartment utterly spotless. I wasn't angry myself, but possessed by someone else's anger as it bled through the speakers at a disrespectfully high volume for 1:00 in the morning. I have yet to see the guitar-heavy, growling hardcore band live, but if the demo's any indication, it's worth arriving early for. And of course I was going to go to this show anyway--it's frickin' BANE, for chrissakes! Just so long as they play "Can We Start Again," I'll go home a happy girl (if not, however, I'll probably go home and refinish the floors in my apartment). MEGAN SELING

THE CHARMING SNAKES, THEE FLYING DUTCHMEN, THE CURSES, THE SHACKLES
(2nd Avenue Pizza) I'm all for the small alternative spaces hosting shows, but damn, this is a lot of rock for the tiny backroom of 2nd Avenue Pizza. That goes doubly true for a set by the Curses, a nasty, thrashy garage punk band that bruises up their noise with a singer who throws a vocal temper tantrum into every song. Their six-song demo holds more impetus for punching a hole in the wall than a bottle of brown booze on an empty stomach. I love it. JENNIFER MAERZ

SUNDAY 8/24


NORTHERN STATE, NORMAN, ANNA OXYGEN
(Crocodile) See preview, page 43.

FRIENDS FOREVER, DOOMSDAY 1999
(Aftermath Gallery) See preview, page 45.

EARTH, WIND & FIRE
(Pier 62/63) Earth, Wind & Fire is like water--everything you say about the band seems obvious. Water is this, this, and that. Similarly, Earth, Wind & Fire is this (they were a popular and big--in terms of members--funk band in the '70s and early '80s), this (like their funk contemporaries--the Commodores and the Gap Band--they dressed extravagantly), and that (they promoted on the covers of their LPs a frankly utopian, Afrocentric vision). Earth, Wind & Fire produced a galaxy of pop hits. Most of these hits are now popular at weddings (especially white, suburban weddings). When the sun has set over Bellevue and other parts of the Eastside, and the once tipsy moms and pops of the bride and groom are now totally tanked, nothing can stop them from dancing (embarrassing themselves and their loved ones) to "September" or "Boogie Wonderland" or the eternal "Shining Star." CHARLES MUDEDE MONDAY 8/25


THE EXPLODING HEARTS BENEFIT FEATURING THE BRIEFS, THE GIRLS, ROTTEN APPLES, THE CHARMING SNAKES, THE STUCK-UPS, THE EARACHES, THE HEART ATTACKS, THE UNEMPLOYABLES, GUESTS
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests, page 29.

TUESDAY 8/26


MÚM, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
(Showbox) While there's time and room to like Animal Collective's deep noir Talking Heads tempo-warping, what's really at stake is Múm making it back to Seattle after a year without anyone spraying the city with little electronic squirt guns that go wooble-wooble-plink. Finally We Are No One (Fat Cat) remains one of the highlights of a long and confusing 2002, a quiet panorama of sweet keyboards, whispered vocals (female), and rolling, traveling micro-bursts of bass, like Björk's Vespertine if it were nearly as good as we led ourselves to believe. This summer's tour promises a test bed of new material, so fans of big-hearted avant-garde and excellent LP titles like Yesterday Was Dramatic--Today Is OK (top!) will have a chance to get wet, wet, wet. Guy Fawkes

STARLIGHT MINTS, STEVE BURNS, TREASURE STATE
(Graceland) Does your heart need a bigger sweater? Know someone whose heart does? Intrigued by the idea? If so, get on down to Graceland tonight to bask in the playful eccentricity that is the Starlight Mints. (That sweater bit is a line from one of their songs, by the way....) This combo actually shares more with off-kilter kindred indie-popsters Beulah and Sunset Valley than fellow Okie oddballs the Flaming Lips--although in all cases, you'd have a difficult time trying to stand still during the show with your arms folded, attempting to look all cool and detached. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that at least one person in this outfit actually enjoyed being in marching band--and I mean that in the best possible way. Their latest album, the highly addictive Built on Squares, is bouncy, fun, weird, and grinningly, unapologetically dorky. Which, of course, makes it about the coolest thing you'll hear all year--a good thing, since you won't be able to get it out of your head. Barbara Mitchell

WEDNESDAY 8/27


KID606, DJ /RUPTURE, DWAYNE SODAHBERK, KREMLIN DJS
(Chop Suey) See Data Breaker, page 56.

ANDREW W. K., HIGH ON FIRE, VAUX
(Graceland) I feel perfectly comfortable saying that Andrew W. K.'s appearance at Graceland last year was one of the best fucking shows of my entire lifetime. Sold-out and packed to the ceiling (literally), for that one night Graceland turned into a boiling-hot mosh-pit/sauna. Threats of heat exhaustion, dehydration, and stroke weren't worries, however, as I was too busy having the time of my life. Andrew W. K.'s posi-party anthems make it impossible for anyone to hate anyone at an AWK show, so even with bros, skinny white-belts, and jocks all in the same room, it's one big hot-and-sweaty love-fest. And to start the party early, Mr. W. K. will be "guest cashiering" at the Capitol Hill Sonic Boom Records location at 4 pm. He'll be there to sign CDs, party with customers, and hug every fan he can get his arms around. I love that man. MEGAN SELING