THURSDAY 3/6

The Stranger's Young Ones Showcase: Dyme Def, Arthur & Yu, Throw Me the Statue, Truckasauras, Sleepy Eyes of Death, Talbot Tagora, the Physics, the Moondoggies

(Neumo's) See preview, page 18.

Harvey Danger

(Triple Door) If you need any proof that Harvey Danger's big song from 10 years ago still means something to people, that its center of gravity holds, that it will never die, all you have to do is go to the gym. Or wait long enough in the lodge at Steven's Pass. Or turn on the radio in Los Angeles. Or watch that movie it's in. Or that British TV show it's the theme song for. It's always playing somewhere in the world, but it's always ripped out of context. Which is why this weekend's two-night run at the Triple Door will be so wholly satisfying. The first night features the band reproducing Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? in its entirety, with assorted B-sides; the second has them tackling King James Version and Little by Little. It's a history party. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE

Crystal Castles, HEALTH, Past Lives, David Wolf

[After we went to press Crystal Castles canceled because lead singer Alice Glass was injured a car accident.]

(Chop Suey) Last time they came through town, opening for Metric, Toronto duo Crystal Castles were great but totally out of place. Playing to a half-empty Showbox crowd mostly there for Emily Haines's whip-smart indie rock, Crystal Castles' strobing, eight-bit electro-punk fell largely on deaf ears and stiff asses. This time, presented at Chop Suey by underage dance night Club Pop, producer Ethan Kath's broken Casio beats, mangled video-game synths, and Alice Glass's smeared-eyeliner goth wailing should absolutely kill. Sharing the bill is L.A.'s HEALTH, with whom Crystal Castles have a mutual hit in the song "Crimewave"—maybe they'll treat us to a collaborative rendition of it tonight. Opening is Seattle's Past Lives, the post–Blood Brothers dub/punk experiment of Jordan Blilie, Devin Welch, Morgan Henderson, and Mark Gajadhar. Warming things up will be up-and-coming Tacoma-based DJ David Wolf, who's already stacked up an impressive array of remixes including Crystal Castles, Liars, and Of Montreal. ERIC GRANDY

Atlas Sound, White Rainbow, Valet, Dormant

(High Dive) What you already know: Atlas Sound is Bradford Cox of 2007's great blog hype Deerhunter, whose swirling debut, Cryptograms, and bleak addendum the Fluorescent Grey EP actually lived up to all the critical chatter; Cox is a freak of the internet, a denizen of the digital underground whose own blog posts tend toward the NSFW; he strikes a rather shocking profile, due to the wasting effects of Marfan syndrome. What you might not know: Atlas Sound's debut, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel, is an enveloping lo-fi ambient punk dream, a pharmaceutical drift full of layered sound and delayed vocals that double back on themselves as wordless drones; live, Atlas Sound has expanded to include White Rainbow's Adam Forkner (formerly of overly slept-on fantasy-epic shoegazers Yume Bitsu and dub dabblers VVRRSSNN) among other musicians. White Rainbow open, along with fellow Portland Kranksters Valet and Dormant. ERIC GRANDY

Lifesavas, One Struggle

(Nectar) Many Americans don't know that they know Portland's foremost hiphop crew Lifesavas. Many Americans know the music for the GMC commercial that has a massive pickup truck skipping from building top to building top and ripping down skyscrapers, but they don't know that the music is taken from a smooth Lifesavas track called "Gutterfly" from their 2007 album of the same name, released by Quannum Projects (DJ Shadow, Blackalicious). The album exploits the themes and moods of blaxploitation films, but Lifesavas are far from the gaudy glamour of pimps and hustlers and much closer to the seriousness of old-time missionaries. Their mission in this fallen world is to save and spread the soul of hiphop. CHARLES MUDEDE

FRIDAY 3/7

DJ Craze, Klever, Fourcolorzack, Pretty Titty

(War Room) See Album Reviews, page 45.

The Duke Spirit, The Voom Blooms

(Neumo's) Singer Liela Moss from UK band the Duke Spirit scorches and seduces. She pivots on her frame, gets surly, and hunts you until your desires give in. Her vocals range from loud to soft, from gritty to angelic. She's a Debbie Harry who channels Axl Rose. The Duke Spirit's second full-length is called Neptune. The album, named for the god of the sea, was recorded in the desert at Joshua Tree's Rancho de la Luna Studio and produced by the godfather of desert rock, Chris Goss (Queens of the Stone Age, Soulwax, and UNKLE.) The Duke Spirit are totally honed and free-swinging, firing off melodic elements of '60s garage rock while Moss sticks a sweetened blond knife in your heart. TRENT MOORMAN

Harvey Danger

(Triple Door) See Thursday.

SATURDAY 3/8

Macklemore, the Physics, JFK, Wizdom, DJ Marc Sense

(Nectar) See My Philosophy, page 47.

Xiu Xiu, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down

(Chop Suey) It's almost impossible to tell what Thao with the Get Down Stay Down will sound like when they perform live. Their first single, "Bag of Hammers," sounds like three-quarters of a freak-folk song but turns into a chorus too catchy to be dismissed as a Devendra Banhart castoff. The rest of their debut album, We Brave Bee Stings and All, sounds like Cat Power's fun-loving younger sister backed by a full band or a bluegrass outfit hijacked by a punk-rock singer with a burning desire to write pop music. It's unclear which band—the folk, the punk, or something in between—will get onstage, but it should be a pretty fun ride nevertheless. PAUL CONSTANT See also Stranger Suggests, page 23.

Angels & Airwaves, Meg & Dia, the Color Fred, Ace Enders and a Million Different People

(Showbox Sodo) When Tom DeLonge discovered delay pedals and formed Angels & Airwaves in 2005 he said, "Within two years, we'll be the biggest rock act in the world." He called the band's debut record, We Don't Have to Whisper, the second coming of Christ. But Angels & Airwaves still haven't lived up to that hype. For the band's new album, I-Empire, DeLonge's more modest, blaming those infamous statements on the drugs. "I broke my back years ago and got spun out on narcotics," he told MTV. "I went out into the press with all these crazy things." A&A's sound is still no revelation, but at least now DeLonge seems sober enough to know it. MEGAN SELING

Ghidra, Wah-Wah Exit Wound

(Blue Moon) Ghidra have been less active on the local experimental music scene in the last couple of years than they were around their inception in 2000, (a time defined locally by the epochal series Sil2K at the old I-Spy). Still, they remain one of the city's most consistently great free-improv units. A true power trio (just like Motörhead!), guitarist Bill Horist, drummer Mike Peterson, and alto player Wally Shoup ply a breed of neuron-sparking, metal-buoyed free jazz that at times harks back to '80s titans like Last Exit and Naked City, but without ever feeling old-fashioned. Tonight's show celebrates the release of their excellent, flesh-rending new album, The Sound of Speed. SAM MICKENS

The Helio Sequence, the Shaky Hands, Pseudosix

(Neumo's) Back in January, the duo of Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel—the Helio Sequence—released their first album in almost four years. On Keep Your Eyes Ahead, out on Sub Pop, the band hone their knack for crafting strong, shimmering songs that gleam with optimistic melodies. Drums, keyboards, electronic beats, and ethereal flourishes dance together while Summers sings about healing from a broken heart and pushing through adversity. It's a great album, and this is the first show the band's played locally since its release. MEGAN SELING

SUNDAY 3/9

Earth Crisis, Terror, Sworn Enemy, Shai Hulud, Down to Nothing

(Studio Seven) See Underage, page 59.

The Raveonettes, Be Your Own Pet

(Neumo's) On Get Awkward, the sophomore effort from Be Your Own Pet, the band blast through songs about being a bored kid just lookin' to get wasted with unfuckwithable volume and fervor. The bass is dirty, the guitars are distorted, and barely legal singer Jemina Pearl Abegg jumps back and forth between reality and fantasy, singing about how great pizza is one minute, and then bragging about murdering some backstabbing bitch the next. The Raveonettes new album, Lust Lust Lust, is the exact opposite of BYOP's in-your-face attack, all careful composure and soft-spoken sexiness. MEGAN SELING

MONDAY 3/10

Brother Ali, Abstract Rude, Toki Wright, BK-One

(Neumo's) See My Philosophy, page 47.

Gogol Bordello, Skindred

(Showbox Sodo) Until I saw them at last year's Bumbershoot, I never understood the massive appeal of Gogol Bordello. Sure, their Balkanized, populist punk rock was catchy enough, but nothing to warrant the wild-eyed devotion of their fans. Seeing the band live, of course, is a different story. Their outdoor, evening performance at the festival was a near-riot, pot smoke and lazily spinning hippies mixing it up with leather-clad punks and balaclava-sporting crusties, ringmaster Eugene HĂĽtz surfing atop it all with his drum, probably twirling his mustache maniacally. Equally compelling was the band's stripped-down, acoustic afternoon performance in the KEXP studio, which highlighted the band's musical craft and HĂĽtz's goofy comic charm. Still, one hopes for a riot. ERIC GRANDY

TUESDAY 3/11

Leslie & The LY's, Team Gina, LA Kendall, Colby B

(Neumo's) Fuck Fergie and her G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T. Leslie of Leslie & the LY's may have tacky blue eye shadow, ridiculous giant librarian glasses from 1975, and a gold lamé jumpsuit stretched over about 30 extra pounds, but at least she's never peed her pants onstage or collaborated with will.i.am. "Next time when I'm waiting in line and I'm looking really fresh and fine/I'm gonna say ladies, take a good look at Glamour Lady Plus!" she sings on "Real Gold Glamorous." Leslie & the LY's dance beats are as smooth and tight as her lamé, and her lyrics are littered with humor. Gold bless 'em. MEGAN SELING

WEDNESDAY 3/12

Tiny Vipers

(Triple Door) The other night, after midnight, I was walking down a big, empty street with lit-up but vacant banks, half-dark restaurants, apartment entryways, a girl waiting for a bus to the University District, those piscine parking meters, beeping ATMs, freezing wind, the light-black sky, etc., etc. I was listening to Tiny Vipers' Hands Across the Void and feeling a surge of hometown pride. There are things about Tiny Vipers, and not just the softness, the youngness, or the localness, that remind me of Fleet Foxes. Both make me think (for whatever reason) of campfires, and both of them are on Sub Pop, headquartered a few blocks from the street I happened to be on. Hands Across the Void, according to Sup Pop's website, is "empty, spare, and minimal—except where the nuanced, abstract noise implies that someone is on the other side, listening to you listen." I'll buy that. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE