Pussy was the main topic of conversation when costumed superhero of the naughty bits and nether regions--AKA Blowfly--took the stage at the Fun House last week. Decked out in a sequined "BF" suit, the unmasked man--someone stole his sparkling hood at a previous show--turned love songs into skanky sing-alongs. Examples? Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All" was appended to include the line "Learning to eat out your own self is the greatest love of all," Condoleezza Rice was granted new connections to the "oval office," and all the ladies in the house were invited to get on stage for the "booty bus"--an invisible ride that made their rumps shake. For those whose sense of humor is more South Park than, say, The Office, Blowfly's shock tactics had the diverse crowd grinning, dancing, and drinking along. The elderly niche hitter was especially excited about being signed to a new label--which he called Alternative "Testicles," headed by one Jello Biafra, a man Blowfly claimed gained his first name from fucking so many people his "dick turned to Jell-O." Score one for the crass--but hey, his backing band had the funk down solid, even as their equipment buckled over the course of the night.

From the gutter to the stars: The same night Blowfly was crotch-rockin' it, Jennifer Gentle aimed for the heavens at the Seattle Laser Dome. The Italian psych band scored an artificial sky of colored lights and twinkling galaxies, as the crowded Seattle Center theater oohed and aahed their psilocybin space rock (I think the band played four songs over the course of 50 minutes, hovering gently in Spacemen 3 territory). Laser technician Ivan kept the eye candy coming, as a smoke machine lit green tripwires and amoebic shapes rippled and fell through alternative solar systems. It was a massive display for a band dynamic enough to soundtrack a choreographed light show and then follow that with manic asylum garage rock the next night at Chop Suey. Stay tuned for future Stranger-supported alternative music events throughout Seattle, with and without colored lights.

There was no smoke or mirrors when Mastodon returned to Seattle last weekend--a homecoming of sorts for a band who lived here for a month while recording their epic 2004 metal masterpiece, Leviathan, with our own local producer supreme Matt Bayles. (One of the bouncers did attempt some magic, though, concealing with newspapers an overzealous attendee's showroom upchuck at one point in the show). The night was modern metal at its rawest--no bullshit, no artsy-farsty pretense, just songs like Leviathan opener "Blood and Thunder," one of the most enthralling underworld dirges in recent years. (The fact that they closed with a Melvins cover was all too fitting.) The sleeper hit of the evening, however, were openers Early Man, a band with lyrics about a fighter whose "fists are sticks of dynamite." The guitarist/barefoot drummer duo went straight for early heavy-metal muscle, riding back to capture early Metallica, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden in sinewy tracks with no pointy-headed noodling. Early Man have an EP out on Monitor Records now, with a full length out this fall on Matador records.

Dance party of the week: Yo, Son! is showing no signs of atrophy at its new War Room home. A recent stop at the Saturday night weekly showed two rooms (and a rooftop) full of partygoers dancing and drinking until last call. The $10 cover doesn't seem to be scaring away our dedicated local hiphop contingent--who look much cozier and more comfortable in their new Pike Street digs.

Side projects of the week: Blood Brothers Johnny Whitney and Mark Gajadhar have a new musical outlet called Neon Blonde. Expect an EP/LP debut from them late summer/early fall on Dim Mak (the label will also release a new Blood Brothers EP in July, and that band is playing the prestigious Coachella festival May 1)… Pretty Girls Make Graves drummer Nicholas DeWitt has a one-man band called Dutch Dub. The project gives away one of its influences in the moniker, but it is experimental in every sense of the word. Dutch Dub's debut release should be out soon on Record Collection… And Joram Young from Cobra High passed along the good news that he's playing with CH's Justin Schwartz in a new psychedelic band that we'll hopefully hear from soon.

Feel Good Festival of the Summer: Endfest promises another slam dunk this year. Acts slated to play the commercial station's annual bash include: Queens of the Stone Age, Interpol, Hot Hot Heat, Kaiser Chiefs, the Bravery, the Caesars, Kasabian, Pretty Girls, the Lashes, Mountain Con, Razrez, and more. It all goes down Saturday, June 4, at White River Amphitheater--the only venue around that, on certain summer nights, carries with it that sweet waft of cowpies. The joys of rural destinations.

jennifer@thestranger.com