SKARP, COUNTDOWN TO ARMAGEDDON, STREETWALKER, ANHEDONIST, ASYMMETRIC WARFARE
Local grindcore band Skarp rocked the Vera stage at Capitol Hill Block Party like it was a midnight Black Mass instead of a perfectly warm, sunny Friday afternoon. This show celebrates the band's 10-year anniversary. Black Lodge, 8:30 pm
NINTH ANNUAL KEXP BBQ: FOOL'S GOLD, RAINBOW ARABIA, MAD RAD, AND MORE
Big ups to KEXP for stepping up to the plate and filling the weeks-long lull twixt summer music festivals with something fun, outdoorsy, well-curated, and—best of all—free. This roster is a wide-ranging, globe-spanning potpourri. I'm most excited about Afropean noodlers Fool's Gold, local hiphop heavyweights Mad Rad, and Rainbow Arabia, whose recent Boys and Diamonds LP sounds eerily similar to Gang Gang Dance's revelatory Eye Contact. It's got a comparable percussive depth and complexity (duh, it's a Kompakt record), an ass-ton of awesome polyrhythms, and at least one track that rides a staggering, clap-happy beat in the Ishmael Butler mode (listen to "Hai" and tell me I'm wrong). Mural Amphitheatre, 2 pm, free.
TEEN DAZE, CANDY CLAWS, DESERT NOISES, AAN
Vancouver, BC artist Teen Daze is obscenely prolific and a magnetic live performer (even if he is just rocking a laptop). Watching him brim with geeky enthusiasm, punch the air, and jump in place while pumping out his jams is invigorating. Vera Project, 7:30 pm, $8.
