Michael Gira started out as a stentorian, horror-mongering
frontman for his band Swans. In his Angels of Light and solo
guises, he’s gradually mellowed into a stark, end-times crooner
somewhere between Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake. His pitiless lyrics and
morose music put a death grip on your soul. Gira signed
Larkin Grimm to his Young God label—her eccentric, intimate
vocals; sexually frank lyrics; and weird-folk songcraft on the new
Parplar prove her to be a worthy disciple. (Tractor Tavern,
5213 Ballard Ave NW,
789-3599. 9 pm, $15, 21+.)

Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when...