This Thursday, October 2, Brooklyn’s High Places roll into
Fremont’s Nectar Lounge, fresh off the release of their beautiful and
long-overdue debut full-length—and they’re bringing another
exciting out-of-town act with them.
Baltimore band Ponytail are like rock and roll for
cavemen—drums stomp primitively and songs burst into towering
fires of sound. Sometimes their tension builds beautifully, but it’s
just as often ugly and chaotic. Guitars jolt from piercing,
lightning-fast, space-launched fret freak-outs to crushing,
larger-than-life rhythms. Perfectly spastic lead singer Molly Siegel
intensifies their already war-shocked music with indecipherable
screaming, crying, and yelping on the front line. Their sophomore
album, Ice Cream Spiritual, is one of the best albums I’ve heard
all year. High Places must have the utmost confidence in their live
show, because Ponytail are going to be a powerful act to follow.
On Saturday, October 4, Portland’s Wooden Indian Burial
Ground play the Fusion Cafe, bringing with them a unique brand of
folk music that’s as sad as it is fun and quirky. “Let’s Open Another
Bottle”—a story of drinking to ward off the pain of a fractured
heart—draws listeners in with teary-eyed guitars and harmonicas.
But when the alcohol has seemingly served its purpose, and the band’s
chant of “a broken heart is a hard thing to cure” rises up as if an
entire bar were singing along, breaking up doesn’t seem so hard as much
as it seems like an excuse to party. 
ALL-AGES CALENDAR
Thurs Oct 2: High Places, Ponytail, Oh Man! at
Nectar, 8 pm, $10.
Fri Oct 3: Why?, Restiform Bodies at Vera Project,
7:30 pm, $11 ($10 w/club card).
Fri Oct 3: If I Were a Gladiator, Avarice, Sihaya,
the Stags at the Old Fire House,
8 pm, $6.
Fri Oct 3: Seahouse, Masters and Johnson, Broken
Vinyl, Meteorites Attack! at Ground Zero Teen Center, 7 pm, $6 ($5
w/can of food).
Sat Oct 4: Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Temple
Vibe, Autopilot Is for Lovers at
Fusion Cafe, 8 pm, $3.