FRENCH KICKS, YAM, STARFISH PETTING ZOO
(Crocodile) If you have a fondness for melodic New York gutter rock, you generally have to stomach a certain degree of prickish pomposity along with raunchy guitars and whiskey-splashed percussion. This is pleasantly not the case with French Kicks, an East Coast collection of skinny, dark-haired hotties who exhibit all the outward traits of arrogant, sticky-fingered '70s rock, but have kindly left the nihilistic attitude at home. This is not to say they don't have confidence--you must have cojones to allow your love for Alex Chilton to be so prominently displayed--but the Kicks offer all the bombast with none of the bitching, and that's something we could all use more of. HANNAH LEVIN

GOING SOUTH, SUNDAY DRIVER, GRAIG MARKEL
(Sunset Tavern) Graig Markel has one of the prettiest voices in the Northwest. The Summer Fire E.P., his most recent release, is gorgeous in spots and "jammy" in others--if Markel would ever just let go of the compulsion to have session-musician types fill out his already excellent sound, he'd be a thrill to hear at all times. Regardless, he's a solid live performer. JEFF DeROCHE

SEVENTH ANNUAL OLYMPIA EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
(Midnight Sun) This year's Olympia Experimental Music Festival kicks off tonight at Midnight Sun (113 N Columbia St), at 8 pm sharp. Featured bands are Noggin from Bellingham, Olympia's the Replikants, Portland-based Office Product, an Olympia project called Romantic Retard Nation, Seattle's Rebreather, Portland's A-Nat-Hema, Olympia's Untet, and AKA, also from Seattle. Tonight may not be the biggest draw, but should provide plenty of excellent noise. The bill is $6; passes for the entire festival (Fri-Sun) go for $18. JEFF DeROCHE

TIGHT BROS FROM WAY BACK WHEN, THE GOSSIP, THOSE PEABODYS, THE SHRINKS
(Breakroom) While Tight Bros frontman Jared has been known to play a tambourine, Beth from the Gossip plays her hips and rattling personality. The last Gossip show I saw had her out in the audience--without a trace of irony--shimmying around, grabbing people, and forcing the crowd to clap and sway as though we were all at a revival. And we were at a revival of sorts. This young woman--with her huge, rich, soulful voice--is a badass, and coupled with the band's easy, bluesy, garage-by-numbers sound, the Gossip puts on a very good time. JEFF DeROCHE

SPAIN, THE SWORDS PROJECT, MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS
(Crocodile) While most people will be at this show for Spain, whose new record is boring, be sure to come early to catch Portland's the Swords Project. The band's sound is full and lush--there are two drummers, two guitars, keyboards, violin, accordion, bass, and flute, among eight musicians. Though the band sounds almost orchestral in a live setting, the Swords Project's recorded material is anchored in pop sensibility. JEFF DeROCHE

DEL McCOURY BAND
(Tractor Tavern) Bandleader, guitar player, and soulful tenor Del McCoury is not only the living embodiment of the high, lonesome sound of traditional Appalachian bluegrass, but also an innovative architect of its future. Anybody who has heard The Mountain, his collaborative effort with country-rocker Steve Earle, has heard the hillbilly soundtrack to the stomping good times of the future. Buy your tickets quick before the Del-heads snatch them up. TAMARA PARIS

COOKIE, THE RUBY DOE, FRANK JORDAN, FREE VERSE, OUR CITIES FINEST
(Paradox) Five-band bills can be a bit much to take, for audience and artists alike, but this lineup may be worth the sore feet and ears. Frank Jordan is not the son of a basketball-star-cum-underwear spokesman, but a jazzy, chaotic punk trio from California that's showing oodles of improvisational promise. Cookie consistently kicks down blue-collar rawk shellacked in an uncrackable varnish of feminine aggression, while the Ruby Doe is fresh out of Jupiter Studios--tightly coiled and ready to spring from the brainy, neo-metal punk box. And if Free Verse can pull in scenesters of all kinds on a shitty night at mullet-magnetic Zak's, you know the band is doing something frightfully right, as is any young band that combines a healthy dislike for law enforcement with an affection for Pat Boone covers. HANNAH LEVIN

MICHELLE SHOCKED
(Showbox) Michelle Shocked has gone through a lot of changes since the excellent Short Sharp Shocked. She's been born-again and, if I'm not mistaken, unborn-again; she's sued to get out of her record contract partially on the grounds of the 13th Amendment (the one that removed "slavery or involuntary servitude"); she recorded a gospel album and got really invested in exploring "black face" (from the left, of course); and now she's self-releasing her material, and continuing with a career that has been nothing if not noteworthy and admirable. In my humble opinion, Michelle Shocked is not as crackers as this brief, selective history of her recent years would indicate. She's a hero, in fact--honest enough to make beautiful records like Short Sharp Shocked, humiliate herself under the harsh glare of public scrutiny for years, and still persevere, with a rootsy, blues-tinged folk talent that is infinitely more significant than any of those nasty, prototypical Jewel assholes that the industry just loves to jam down our throats. She's got a beautiful voice, she writes heartbreaking songs, and she may or may not be off her rocker--sounds like a recipe for a good show to me. JEFF DeROCHE

SHINEHEAD
(Bohemian Backstage) Fusing reggae, rock, and rap, Shinehead's Unity (1988) had a hand in paving the way for people like Shabba Ranks... and that's saying something! Shinehead has released material since then, but never to any real attention or acclaim. Now he's playing the Bohemian Backstage, and Shabba's probably drinking cocktails and being oiled up by some scantily clad lady on an island somewhere. I say, Shinehead was the man. JEFF DeROCHE

SEVENTH ANNUAL OLYMPIA EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
(Olympia World News) The biggest night of the festival takes place at Olympia World News (116 E Fourth Ave). The bill features Seattle super-producer and electronic wizard Steve Fiske, as well as Columbus, Ohio's Evolution Control Committee. Also on the bill are Seattle's Bran Flakes, Olympia's Dead Air Fresheners (with Chuck Swaim), San Francisco's Gang Wizard, Portland's Jennifer Robin and Glamorous Pat (two separate acts), and Olympia's Big Tom the Lithuanian. The music starts at 6 pm, and will cost you $8. JEFF DeROCHE

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, BRIGHT EYES, MATES OF STATE
(Showbox) Death Cab for Cutie is perhaps the most palatable of all Northwest indie-pop bands. Ben Gibbard's voice is silky, sweet, and always in tune. The band's modest instrumentation is full, finely constructed, and melodious. The lyrics are smart. The records Death Cab has put out are well-produced and addictive, especially We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, which is (still) on the Northwest Top 20 records list. What else can one say about Death Cab for Cutie? Sometimes the band's a bit boring live. See Stranger Suggests. JEFF DeROCHE

USC FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
(Stadium Exhibition Center) See preview this issue.

FOETUS, HOG MOLLY, SHIZIT
(Graceland) In its many incarnations since 1978, Foetus has been the project of Jim Thirlwell, a lunatic genius whose sound experiments with industrial electronics, no wave noise, and even big band perversions, which made him an iconoclastic figure even in the cultural underground of extreme music. Flow, his first studio album in five years, lives up to his eclectic style, even featuring a couple of mutant pop songs ("The Need Machine") and some twisted bossa nova on "Cirrhosis of the Heart." After nearly a quarter century with Foetus, Thirlwell may be evolving into a parody of himself, but that's when he's most unpredictable. DAVID SLATTON

SHINEHEAD
(Bohemian Backstage) See Friday listing.

SEVENTH ANNUAL OLYMPIA EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
(Le Voyeur) The final day of the festival takes place at Le Voyeur (404 E Fourth Ave) and begins early, at 3 pm. Featured are Vancouver, BC/Eugene, Oregon's the Knotty Ensemble, Seattle jam-hero Bill Horist, the Noisettes from Athens, GA, Wood Paneling from Mason County, WA, Seattle's Atropy Minor, Oregon's the Invisible Republic, Olympia's Le Ton Mite, the Experimental Dinner Show, and Fred the Beat Box. Tickets for this show are $7. Tickets for the entire festival, most of which you may have already missed if you're reading this, are $18. JEFF DeROCHE

COLDPLAY, GRANDADDY
(Benaroya Hall) This would be an excellent venue in which to see Modesto, California's Grandaddy, were the show not SOLD OUT. If you can manage to find a scalper, I recommend you do so. This is a great band--one that manages to seal gorgeous back-road Americana, electronic sounds, and frontman Jason Lytle's sparkling imagination into music both challenging and familiar. The reasons to love Grandaddy are similar to the reasons one might love bands like Calexico, and even Palace Brothers. The songs are odd--they occasionally take on weird forms and move into abstract spaces that are difficult to pin down with adjectives. But with breezy, rollicking instrumentation working as a center of gravity, Grandaddy's sound remains somehow grounded, based in rich, thick roots. As for Coldplay, fuck those overrated hacks for selling a gazillion seats that belong to fans of an underrated band that's been making great music for what's going on a decade now. JEFF DeROCHE

THE CHAMBER STRINGS
(Breakroom) See Stranger Suggests.

NEBULA, CHERRY VALENCE, BURNING BRIDES
(Crocodile) With song titles like "To the Center" and "Fields of Psilocybin," you know what you've gotta hit before you go see Nebula, mutha. Two members of Fu Manchu lend stoner cred to Nebula's psychedelic '70s retro rock, laying down chug-a-chug, fuzzed-out guitars over mad, smashing, Metallica-style drums. Vocalist Eddie Glass goes from sounding like Roger Waters to wailing like Axl Rose. Nebula's newest album, Charged (Sub Pop), keeps the testosterone cranked up: The song "Do It Now" actually sounds like a heavy-metal paean to Viagra, with lyrics like, "It's my medicine... let's do it!" This is greasy, head-banging dee-light. TRACI VOGEL

LITTLE RICHARD, LITTLE BILL & THE BLUE NOTES
(EMP) I've always loved Little Richard's gay ass. Damn, that girl has more energy than a cinched sack of wild gay pigs, all greased up, sniffin' each and every fanny in their porcine little faces... hoooo, girrrrrrrl! Hooooo-whee! Li'l Rich plays piano better than Liberace, he looked that way before El DeBarge, and no matter how many damn years pass... girrrrrrrl, li'l Rich can SANG IT! Damn girl, damn! Come AAAWHN! JEFF DeROCHE

LLOYD COLE, JILL SOBULE
(Crocodile) See preview this issue.

IRON BUTTERFLY, BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY, QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE, RAY MANZAREK
(EMP) I guess shows like this are meant to be educational, and good for EMP for putting them on. But if you ask me, going to watch a band that owes its fame to a 17-minute long "jam"--entitled "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" because the singer was too fucked up to pronounce "In the Garden of Eden" (ALL THE WAY BACK IN 1966, NO LESS)--is, frankly, unappealing. It makes me wonder about the people who do go to these shows, and I know shows like this are always very successful in Seattle. Is there really that much nostalgia for anything that may have had a hand in defining '70s and '80s metal out there? Isn't it all just sad at a point? Have fun at this one, folks. Jesus. JEFF DeROCHE

STACEY EARLE w/MARK STUART, LAURA VEIRS
(Tractor Tavern) It's weird to see people of delicate sensibilities who are nonetheless irrepressibly spunky. Stacey Earle (sister of Steve) may be the spunkiest person alive as she sings speedy, infectious compositions whose darker tones brim, like her brother's, on a fast flow of hoe-down energy. Her work resides near his middle range, in what might be called High Country-Pop, and is the perfect accompaniment to large amounts of coffee. Audience response to Earle ranges from adoration to the overwhelming urge to throttle her. Go, if only to mix with the smarter south King County crowd that rarely turns up at a club. This will be a very, um, engaging show. Be warned. GRANT COGSWELL