THURSDAY 2/21

TacocaT, the Suspicions, Reverse Dotty, the Hungry Pines

(Comet) A parable about TacocaT: A friend of mine and I were backstage at a recent show. TacocaT, on stage, launched into a song. As the rough punk rhythm and muffled vocal/guitar wail seeped through the walls, my friend said, "Oh, this is my favorite TacocaT song!" "This?" I asked him. "This is a Bikini Kill song." "Really?" he asked, looking genuinely surprised. "Yeah, this is their cover of 'Carnival' by Bikini Kill." "Oh." ERIC GRANDY

Shat, Lesbian, BlöödHag, Get Down Syndrome

(Funhouse) It's confusing, right? Four DUDES calling themselves "Lesbian," playing really heavy, sludgy metal with an album titled Power Whore. Oops, make that Power Hör. What-the-F are they trying to say? You know, I DON'T KNOW. What I do know is that their sound is an awesomely confusing super-mix of black metal and prog, with a dash of Krautrock and sludge-doom thrown in—an entirely genre-defying new brand of psychedelic, almost hypnotic metal that stoners and nerds alike can bang to. Think Neurosis in bed with Pelican. Or Venom making out with Boris. Or High on Fire going out to dinner with Isis. You get the picture. Hey, I wonder if the Les'bros know that the Wildrose has live music now. Now THAT would be some genre defiance. KELLY O

Sia, Har Mar Superstar

(Showbox at the Market) Admittedly, I had no idea who Sia was when I wrote a post about her on Line Out a month or so ago. To me, she was just a cute blond lady drawing on her face with Crayola markers on the cover of her new solo disc, Some People Have Real Problems, on which she sings songs that are childlike, playful, and catchy, but unremarkable. Then I learned, via Line Out's unforgiving commenters, that she was one of the vocalists for Zero7 (her work with them was, apparently, "incredible") and one of her songs appeared "in a pivotal moment" on the final episode of Six Feet Under. She's from Australia, and she's been around forever—experimenting with triphop, acid jazz, and adult contemporary—and OMG, you guys, I'm sorry I didn't know. Her record is out on the Starbucks label, and all her history doesn't change the fact that it's unremarkable. MEGAN SELING

FRIDAY 2/22

These Arms Are Snakes, Mouth of the Architect, Past Lives, Helm's Alee

(El Corazón) See Stranger Suggests, page 19.

Exodus, Goat Whore, Arsis, Warbringer, HMP

(Studio Seven) Sayeth Saturday Knight Barfly: "Remember 1985? That's when Exodus released their Combat Records debut, Bonded by Blood. That album's release marked a sea change in my musical interests. The day it dropped, three friends and I took a bunch of acid, hopped in a Dodge Dart, put that album on, and drove to watch Venom, Slayer, and Exodus play at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium—we must've listened to it four times in the car. At the venue, we stole a jug of wine from a banquet room, rolled a T-shirt bootlegger for some Slayer Ts, puffed some brick weed with some cholos, and listened to BBB twice more before heading into the show. When we did, Exodus was playing 'Piranha.' In that moment, I figured out exactly what I was going to do with my life—get stoned every day and listen to thrash." LARRY MIZELL JR.

The Music of Led Zeppelin

(Paramount) A 50-piece orchestra and a "rock" band will be at the Paramount doing horrible Muzak versions of Led Zeppelin songs. There is a pitiful Robert Plant rip-off named Randy Jackson from the band Zebra and the reunited Jefferson Airplane who is singing. He even has Robert Plant hair. The ads for this show use the words "passion" and "power" to describe the music—in other words, it will sound like Yanni. Conductor Brent Havens says, "Vocalist Randy Jackson shrieks brilliantly and delivers a note-for-note interpretation. The music itself is one thing, but Jackson more than captures the spirit of legendary Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant." Conductor Brent Havens is also deaf. The only spirit that is captured here is the spirit of your wallet. The "Kashmir" sounds like burlap, the "Black Dog" is white, and the "Stairway" is to Macy's. They're not "Going to California"; they're going to Bellevue. TRENT MOORMAN

SATURDAY 2/23

Cobblestone Jazz, Dave Pezzner, Nordic Soul

(Nectar) See Bug in the Bassbin, page 55.

The Mountain Goats, Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters

(Neumo's) See preview, page 33.

Speaker Speaker, the Lonely Forest, Hungry Pines

(Vera Project) In 2006, Speaker Speaker won $2,000 (and some gear from Gibson) in The Stranger's Big Shot! competition. That summer, they used their prize money to cross the country to Baltimore, Maryland, and record their debut full-length with former-Jawbox-frontman-turned-producer J. Robbins, who's worked with the Promise Ring, the Dismemberment Plan, and many others. It was a perfect fit and a dream come true for the band. On Call It Off, Robbins brings out the distorted, abrasive side of Speaker Speaker's quick and clean pop-punk-circa-Berkeley-1994 sound. The band have had to sit on the album for almost two years while they found a label (Burning Building) and went on a few tours. But tonight, Call It Off is finally being released to all those fans the band have amassed during their refusal to, heh, call it off. And not to steal the spotlight from them (as they're tonight's stars), but openers Hungry Pines are a fantastically blissed-out shoegaze-meets-Pixies band if the Pixies were fronted by Chrissie Hynde instead of big ol' Frank Black. Their new record should be out later this spring. MEGAN SELING

SUNDAY 2/24

Strong Killings; Palmer, AK

(Green Room at Showbox at the Market) Just a couple weeks ago I wrote about Ships, the newish project featuring the Lashes' keyboardist Jacob Hoffman and former Divorce guitarist Garrett Lunceford. This week, guess what? Those same dudes are in yet another band! This time, they're the live accomplices for Hoffman's Lashes bandmate Eric Howk, who is the main songwriter for Palmer, AK. It's a dreamy, introspective project with lo-fi recordings—"Goodtime" is a bittersweet number with harmonizing vocals delicately dancing with soft piano; "Same Rain or Noelly" has a worn folk feel with strings and quickly strummed acoustic guitar and even a whistling solo. It'll be a nice way to wind down and wrap up the weekend. MEGAN SELING

MONDAY 2/25

Yes, Oh Yes; Blanket Truth; the Pica Beats

(Chop Suey) Like Don't Stop Believin' labelmates the Pharmacy, Bellingham's Yes, Oh Yes are a band who dress up spare pop punk and ragged ballads with lo-fi synths and classic psych pop touches. But Yes, Oh Yes trade that band's out-of-control house-party ruckus for softer, subtler songwriting. Jordan Morris's vocals are perfectly strained and hoarse—part Oberst, part Strummer—and his songs are touching and catchy. Blanket Truth combine ukulele, Omnichord, occasional beatboxing (courtesy of Eli Dam, little bro of Akimbo drummer Nat), and Jon Manning's falsetto vocals to achieve something like the Unicorns' demented bedroom pop. The Pica Beats accent their sweet, twee songs with prerecorded percussion and live sitar; they're looking for a permanent horn section. ERIC GRANDY

TUESDAY 2/26

MSTRKRFT, LA Riots, Lazaro Casanova

(Neumo's) See Stranger Suggests, page 19.

Holy Fuck, A Place to Bury Strangers, the Purrs

(Chop Suey) Fucked up at 4:00 a.m. at a friend's house: Upon seeing some massive, knob-intensive guitar pedals scattered around his coffee table, I say, "What are you, A Place to Bury Strangers?" Well, we all had a good laugh about that one, because that's the sort of lame shit that passes as humor between music critics (thanks for reminding me of that when I was sober, btw). See, A Place to Bury Strangers are the band of one Oliver Ackerman, who makes custom-built guitar pedals as Death by Audio as his day job. Not surprisingly, A Place to Bury Strangers' distortion-drenched shoegaze, reverberating drones, and amplified windups serve as a kind of showcase for dude's wares, demonstrating the awesome power of a good effects chain. But A Place to Bury Strangers are far from showroom dummies; their dark self-titled debut is a sonic landmine, sure to blow up live. ERIC GRANDY

WEDNESDAY 2/27

Chow Nasty, Velella Velella, James Pants, the Gomorran Social Aid & Pleasure Club

(Nectar) Velella Velella are the epitome of party music, and when paired with Chow Nasty tonight at Nectar, the Fremont club's gonna be dripping with glittery sweat. Not that there aren't plenty of other feel-good, get-the-fuck-up-and-dance bands in Seattle (U.S.E, Coconut Coolouts, Little Party and the Bad Business, to name a few), but Velella Velella bring a smoother, sexier vibe to their synth-inclined grooves. Which is not to suggest that they don't also lay it down with some quick-moving, hand-clapping, Dismemberment Plan–on-a-good-day party funk either. "Free Airline Tickets" from the band's Fight Club EP is the starry soundtrack to Club Pop on the planet Mars. MEGAN SELING