THURSDAY 3/16
BULLET TRAIN TO VEGAS
(Studio Seven) There's a lot of spastic and crazy dance punk out there, and granted, a lot of it is quite shitty, but California's Bullet Train to Vegas have the formula down. Dan Sena's vocals are bratty without being obnoxious, and they convulse over sharp pulses of guitar and bass that make for one hell of a furious dance party. But to keep things interesting, BTTV's party often falls apart mid-song, collapsing into a cloud of well-calculated but still messy post-hardcore noise. Your hips will gyrate, your head will swirl, and it'll definitely make you sweat. MEGAN SELING
KMRIA: POGUES TRIBUTE NIGHT
(Crocodile) See Border Radio, page 31.
FRIDAY 3/17
MUDHONEY, THE MAKERS, THE STABBS, PARCHMAN FARM
(Crocodile) It was 1988 when Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman—struggling to keep an ailing Sub Pop records on life support—coughed up $160 for Mudhoney to record five songs with Jack Endino. The move paid off, of course, with the "Touch Me I'm Sick" single giving the young label a needed cash infusion. That single and the subsequent Superfuzz Bigmuff EP would be largely credited with defining the grunge sound that permeated the international rock scene for much of the next decade. Eighteen years later, Sub Pop is one of the most successful non-major labels in the industry, Jack Endino is an internationally sought-after producer, and Mudhoney are still releasing albums of skuzzy, sneering punk rock. But while business tact and production skill often improve with experience, rock bands that grow old together rarely age as well as the ones that burn out bright and young.
ANTI-FLAG, SMOKE OR FIRE, THE A.K.A.s, THE CASUALTIES, THE UNSEEN
(El Corazón) Anti-Flag's new album, For Blood and Empire, calls bullshit on the White House, the Bush regime, biased media, military recruitment, and war crimes. Along with the album of blistering and anthemic punk rock comes essays to explain the songs and the situations they're about (also available online at www.forbloodandempire.com). But this time around, Anti-Flag's antiwar/antimilitary prose was released on a major label, RCA, which is a subsidiary of Sony BMG. In 2005, Sony was fined $10 million for practicing payola (pay to play), which has inadvertently made it nearly impossible for indie promoters and artists to get their music heard, because some lame radio stations were only interested in working with the big labels that could fork over cash. Also, according to buyblue.org, 53 percent of Sony's political donations went to the Republican Party, but hey, now Anti-Flag's message is getting out to more people thanks to their major-label status! So it's cool, right? MEGAN SELING
MARLENA SHAW
(Triple Door) If you caught Marlena Shaw at Bumbershoot last year, you have no doubt already snapped up tickets for one of these rare Northwest shows by the edgy soul-jazz vocalist. If you missed her, do not make the same mistake twice. With a catalog that includes the '70s classics "Woman of the Ghetto," "California Soul," and "Go Away, Little Boy," Shaw boasts a stylistic range and versatility that outshine many of her better-known peers. Best of all, she has a knack for on-stage repartee that will leave you in stitches. She may have made these cracks about frying chicken and deadbeat ex-husbands a million times, but, like her best-known songs, every time she lets one rip it sounds fresh and off-the-cuff all over again. KURT B. REIGHLEY
MOS GENERATOR, PLASTER, KANDI KODED, KASKADIA, DJ MULLET
(Neumo's) See preview, page 31.
DEF LEPRECHAUN, THE DISCO BALLS
(Sunset) If bands could skate by on inspired names alone, Def Leprechaun would be climbing the charts with REO Speedealer, the Dead Kenny Gs, and John Cougar Concentration Camp. I've yet to witness them in a live context, but if they focus on High 'n' Dry and Pyromania (please, please no Hysteria), they're all right by me. HANNAH LEVIN
SATURDAY 3/18
ONEIDA, KINSKI, PARCHMAN FARM
(Neumo's) See preview, page 34.
SUNDAY 3/19
A LIFE ONCE LOST, DARKEST HOUR, DEAD TO FALL, HIMSA, THE ACACIA STRAIN
(Showbox) See preview, page 33.
MONDAY 3/20
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, ELEPHANT, THE MORNING AFTER GIRLS
(Showbox) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club came roaring out of the gate with the release of their debut album. B.R.M.C. was one of those rare first records that absolutely demanded your attention—a swaggering, feedback- and fog-drenched album that made you want to tease your hair like Robert Smith, pile on the eyeliner, slouch, and sneer. Unfortunately, BRMC's live shows never quite lived up to the energy of the records. (Someone should've bought these cats a strobe light and a fog machine. Or some coffee.) Fast-forward to last year and BRMC's latest offering, the Sunday-morning-soundtrack-sounding Howl. A stripped-down, more acoustic, almost gospel-y record, it's far more stealth and subtle than its predecessors—and a better fit for BRMC's low-key live performances. BARBARA MITCHELL
RICHARD HAWLEY, DOWNPILOT
(Tractor) Sheffield, England spawned some of the most significant '80s electro-pop bands: Cabaret Voltaire, the Human League, Heaven 17, ABC. But it also nurtured young Richard Hawley, former auxiliary guitarist for Pulp and frontman for blink-and-you-missed-'em Britpop act Longpigs. With a resonant baritone that evokes a less histrionic Scott Walker, inventive melodies reminiscent of Jimmy Webb, and an abiding love for '50s rock 'n' roll, Hawley's solo albums are the sort of lovingly crafted long-players that grow to feel more like friendly acquaintances than just digitally encoded slabs of plastic. His latest, Coles Corner (Mute), pays homage to a popular Sheffield trysting spot from a bygone era, in a set as casual yet fortifying as downing several pints by the fireside with old chums on a chilly night. KURT B. REIGHLEY
TUESDAY 3/21
GHOSTFACE KILLAH, M-1, DJ BLES ONE, COMMON MARKET
(Showbox) See preview, page 31.
PENDULUM, THE DOWLZ
(War Room) If there are those trying to keep drum 'n' bass alive by swallowing lungfuls of eccentricity, Australia's Pendulum have gone for a new genre dawn with shameless populism. The huge multi-track clatter, the obvious hooks, and the pulp-future atmospherics have sold them mounds of records and won them a remix on Prodigy's new greatest-hits disc. Best off record, like on last year's hammering BBC Essential Mix, the production's a bit too on the nose, slick like a congressman, to celebrate. The aftershocks of early-'90s jungle are still here, and Pendulum have the right energy to prove it, but the cheap theatrics undercut what could have been worth the hope. GUY FAWKES
WE WROTE THE BOOK ON CONNECTORS
(Crocodile) Whoa, whoa, whoa... mustache rock?! Local boys We Wrote the Book on Connectors are apparently so good that they had to forgo all existing genre names and proclaim themselves "mustache rock." It has nothing to do with Burt Reynolds, however (which is sort of a shame), and everything to do with crunchy guitars, keyboards, and a little garage rock mixed with a little pop. They also have a song about eating cake, complete with a white-boy rap breakdown. It's pretty weird. But hey, they like cake! MEGAN SELING
GOMEZ
(Triple Door) As hard as it is to write something about Gomez, a band who called an album Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline, I'm surprised they haven't mirrored the success of their recent retro-locked peers. With neither the commitment of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion nor the telegraphed charisma of the White Stripes, the band hover in a British indie-lounge cloud of complacent jam music and gravy-in-the-beard R&B. After a flame-out of English acclaim, Gomez have now set their gains on America, but I'm not sure it'll work. They're the Birkenstock of Britain, seemingly too ordinary and too decent to make a mark. GUY FAWKES
WEDNESDAY 3/22
DEUS
(Chop Suey) See preview, page 37.
HEARTLESS BASTARDS, SOLEDAD BROTHERS, INVISIBLE EYES
(Crocodile) Soledad Brothers are sorta kinda Detroit, but really from Toledo, Ohio. They trade in the garage-blues thing to an almost too traditional point, like an alt-country album is visible for them down the road, if you squint. But they've got the suitably scruffy knuckles and sentiments. The more raucous rumble ought to come from openers, Invisible Eyes, who pound out a similar if slightly less destructo, more psych-out swill to modern garage wreckers like the Black Lips. Echoed vocals and relentless Farfisa organ cavort atop punk-slop architecture. If Invisible Eyes lay no new foundation, they do add some sleazy slink and short instrumentals to quake the basic roots. ERIC DAVIDSON See also Stranger Suggests, page 21.
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, BLEED THE DREAM, SCARY KIDS SCARING KIDS, LOVEHATEHERO
(El Corazón) Like aluminum, Funeral for a Friend possess metallic qualities, but just aren't that heavy. The Welsh group, founded in a town populated largely by miners and sheep, sharpened their dual-guitar harmonies on tour with Iron Maiden. However, Matt Davies's vocals are melodic and mild, even during lines such as "that fucker lied to us," and his delivery might be extra-ginger after a February bout with laryngitis. When the tour guide remains calm, turbulent trips seem less traumatic. This mix of a maudlin frontman and a hard-riffing band makes for a cohesive hybrid sound: headbanging with heart. ANDREW MILLER
more
POISON THE WELL, THE FALL OF TROY, HORSE THE BAND, CRITERIA: Fri March 24, El Corazón
METRIC, ISLANDS, THE END OF FASHION: Mon March 27, Showbox
ARAB STRAP, HIS NAME IS ALIVE, PAGE FRANCE: Tues March 28, Neumo's
THURSDAY, MINUS THE BEAR, THE NUMBER 12 LOOKS LIKE YOU, WE'RE ALL BROKEN: Sat April 1, El Corazón
MATCHBOOK ROMANCE, THE EARLY NOVEMBER, CHIODOS, AMBER PACIFIC, WE ARE THE FURY: Sat April 1, Showbox
DEFTONES, THRICE, ATREYU, AS I LAY DYING, GUESTS: Sun April 2, Everett Events Center
THE GOSSIP, THE PANTHERS, MON FRERE, THE EMERGENCY: Wed April 5, Neumo's
MATES OF STATE: Thurs April 20, Neumo's
PAINT IT BLACK, THE LOVED ONES, SHOOK ONES, SINKING SHIPS: Sat April 22, the Paradox
HARD FI, THE RAKES, GUESTS: Mon April 24, Chop Suey
SICK OF IT ALL, STRETCH ARM STRONG, GUESTS: Tues May 23, El Corazón
MINISTRY, REVOLTING COCKS, SPYDER BABY: Sun May 28, Showbox
