THURSDAY 6/23

RAZREZ, INFOMATIK, ROMANCE, DJS DEAD AIR AND CURTIS OF THE JEUNES
(Chop Suey) As Portland home electronics salesman Tom Peterson would say, "Free is a very good price." And free is the cost of this birthday party (for pop/garage DJ Mama Casserole and Razrez frontman Aykut Özen) and great local-music showcase. We've recently run pieces on both Razrez and Infomatik, so here's your chance to see two prominent local post-punk forces unite. And it's free, cheapskate. JENNIFER MAERZ

J. TILLMAN, THE STARES, SERA CAHOONE, THE MALDIVES
(Tractor) With beats that hit more often like resting heartbeats than electric shocks, the Stares aim to create movement that's more mental than physical. Singer Angie Benintendi's feathery vocal delivery works best when blanketing a small pop orchestra of horns, piano, violins, and cello. She trades frontperson responsibilities with the boys in the band; together they weave a lush landscape of early-morning indie pop. JENNIFER MAERZ

FRIDAY 6/24

THE SOUVENIRS, THE SWAINS, THE WAKEFIELDS, HEARTBREAK USA, RUBY DEE AND THE SNAKE HANDLERS, JACKSON TAYLOR BAND
(Crocodile) See Border Radio, page 81.

CARO, BRUNO PRONSATO, JERRY ABSTRACT, TED DANCIN
(CHAC Lower Level) See Data Breaker, page 87.

CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS, DEAD SCIENCE, DADA SWING, YOUNG MOHERS OF THE SIERRA MADRE
(911 Media Arts Center) See Stranger Suggests, page 59.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS, JOHN DOE
(South Lake Union Park) Let us give thanks that John Doe, dashing frontman for seminal L.A. punks X and alt-country OGs the Knitters, is content to simply flirt with the whore named Hollywood rather than reject music for an undoubtedly rewarding career as a character actor. Because otherwise, fans would not be blessed with albums like his latest solo outing, Forever Hasn't Happened Yet, a stark and stunning 11-song collection that recalls latter period X. Longtime collaborator Exene Cervenka even co-wrote one track ("Hwy 5"). One could easily be distracted by the stellar guest list—Neko Case, Dave Alvin, Grant Lee Phillips, and Kristen Hersh—but when you give a listen to pared-down ditties like "There's a Black Horse," or watch him put his band of young bucks through their paces live, there's no question who the real star of this show is. KURT B. REIGHLEY

THE MAKERS, THE APES, ZZZ, RABBITS
(Sunset) Amsterdam duo zZz ply blustery garage rock that sounds like Iggy Pop fronting '80s Nuggets fetishists the Lyres, or, alternately, a burlier Suicide. Their debut album, Sound of zZz (Howler), gives you the impression drummer/singer Bjorn Ottenheim and keyboardist Daan Schinkel enjoy breaking bottles of lager (after consuming the contents, of course) and slashing themselves to within a centimeter of their lives. Schinkel dominates the disc, wielding the dirtiest, craziest organ sound since '70s Swiss psychonauts Brainticket. The Apes also deploy a voluptuously roaring organ attack, but they prefer to swerve in rococo tangents. The Washington D.C. quartet often sound like a madcap jam session between Deep Purple and Alice Donut. The Apes' new album, Baba's Mountain, contains helter-skelter, goth-metal psychedelia with deceptively catchy hooks. DAVE SEGAL

COUGHS, WHITE MICE, LOVE OF DIAGRAMS, MIKAELA'S FIEND
(SS Marie Antoinette) Coughs are a terrifically noisy rhythm'n'grind six-piece. They do a number with percussion on made-up instruments and bloody lady vocals. (And I promise midway through you won't ask yourself when it's gonna be over.) Apparently prompting cantankerous no-wave gatekeeper Weasel Walter to deem them "the last good band in Chicago," Coughs' latest album, Fright Makes Right, was initially released by the Mythologie label run by Rob Lowe of 90 Day Men/TV on the Radio. Now it's gotten a re-release by Load Records, the Baltimore label with the most consistent extreme, out, noise, performative, fancy-pants, dirty-ass, and power-drills-in-your-eardrum catalogue in America. Unsurprisingly, Load also releases billmates White Mice. They're hammering, psychedelic black-metal with electronics, made by punny folk whose agenda is visually conveyed by their murdered white mice costumes. Satanic plushies: um, take note? JULIANNE SHEPHERD

THE MEAT PURVEYORS, ETHAN AZARIAN
(Tractor) This Austin band never ceases to amaze me. They can tear up a stage like just about no one else using banjo, mandolin, and fiddles with three-part harmonies. They can do serious and they can do hilarious—The Madonna Trilogy, a 7-inch that included "Lucky Star" and "Like a Virgin" is a fantastic example of the latter. Guitarist Bill Anderson's originals hold their own quite well beside covers of Bill Monroe's "One I Love Is Gone" and Johnny Paycheck's "It Won't Be Long (And I'll Be Hating You)," which is no small praise. NATE LIPPENS

IZABELLE, RAZREZ, CLOUD CULT
(Paradox) Imagine one of the Saddle Creek label collective (say, Now It's Overhead) more interested in jumbling genres than strictly sticking with indie rock and you get the starting point for Cloud Cult. The Minneapolis act adorns a mix of wistful and sing-from-the-rafters pop with a colorful palette of electronics that spins, whirs, and reflects like bright pinwheels across the landscape of Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus. Frontman Craig Minowa gives loss a bit of levity, too, using the album to motivate himself beyond the death of his young son and embrace living to the fullest ("You best learn to live while you're alive"). Great stuff. JENNIFER MAERZ

SATURDAY 6/25

AQUEDUCT, MOUNT EERIE, MON FRERE, FANKICK!
(Mural Amphitheatre) See Stranger Suggests, page 59.

DJ COLLETTE, MISS FUNK, EMILY SONG
(Chop Suey) See Data Breaker, page 87.

DITTY BOPS, BLANCHE, PURTY MOUTH
(Crocodile) It should be interesting to see what months of touring has done to the Ditty Bops's cabaret pop—if their shows in support of more famous lessers like Tegan and Sara (and Tori Amos, who they'll be hooking up with in the fall) has led them to embrace or dilute their irreducible theatrical thing. But it's great that they're playing on a bill like this, with Blanche, who can't possibly fly below the Arcade Fire–lovin' radar for long, and Purty Mouth, the gayest smart country band (or is that vice versa) in town. SEAN NELSON See also preview, page 67.

BANE, EVERGREEN TERRACE, CURSED, VERSE
(El Corazón, early) In 1982, the compilation This Is Boston, Not L.A. became the defining document for old-school Beantown hardcore. Stylistically similar to the D.C. variety, with hyperactive drumbeats and high-volume, patiently enunciated vocals, the Boston brand was more combative, with singers taunting jocks and drunks in pinched accents. Musically, Bane stays true to their hometown's template, dealing in throwback two-minute blasts. Lyrically, though, they turn inspirational slogans and unity-recruitment entreaties into a positivity platform. In a scene now dominated with prematurely jaded brats and precocious prog-metal virtuosos, it's refreshing to see a 10-year-old group still expressing pep-rally enthusiasm for its genre while playing by loud-hard-fast rules. ANDREW MILLER

BACKYARD BABIES, THE CHELSEA SMILES, BLACK HALOS, TOP HEAVY CRUSH
(El Corazón, late) It's funny that a band all the way from Sweden could sometimes sound so much like So Cal's Social Distortion—but the Backyard Babies do little to hide their influences. Among the other filthy California rock thoughts cluttering their musical minds, the Babies also hark back to the glam-tinged days of Hollywood hair metal, making each guitar solo more bombastic than the last. It's no surprise that they were the European support act for Velvet Revolver. JENNIFER MAERZ

DRESSY BESSY, THE JESSICA FLETCHERS, TENNIS PRO
(Sunset) To grossly generalize, contemporary Scandinavian psychedelia seems to have a sunnier disposition than that emanating from American and British rehearsal rooms. Case in point: Oslo, Norway's the Jessica Fletchers. The quintet assiduously scrub the genre of its seamier qualities on their sophomore album, Less Sophistication (Rainbow Quartz). Incurable optimists, they infuse psych with a winning, grinning buoyancy and a melodic sensibility closer to Elephant 6's poppier faction than to Acid Mothers Temple and their nerve-frazzling ilk. Over 11 songs you can take home to mother, the Jessica Fletchers prove they'd rather melt hearts than blow minds. DAVE SEGAL

THE MEAN REDS, WIRES ON FIRE
(Studio Seven) Sometimes it's best when a band is scrappy as hell live and clearly still angst-ridden about growing up somewhere moderately (strip-mall) shitty. The Mean Reds' enig-magnetic frontman, Anthony Anzalone, drenches his often snotty, dismissive words in a creaky, sensual howl that's as postured as it is heartfelt. With time, the Mean Reds' live show has gotten markedly more explosive and retarded. The band may well be testing out new stuff from their upcoming August release, but I just want to hear "Get Ur Face Out of My Grill!", largely because of the title. Did I mention they all have moppy hair, look like they're 12, and usually play in underpants, sweatbands, and fuchsia spandex? Or that one rumor says they got kicked off Warped Tour for pissing off the stage? JOAN HILLER

SUNDAY 6/26

LE FLANGE DU MAL, EZEE TIGER, BILL HORIST
(Funhouse) See preview, page 70.

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS, CASTANETS, WOODEN WAND AND THE VANISHING VOICE
(Gallery 1412) The band most likely to score a remake of The Wicker Man, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice bathe their music in a sacred, pagan glow. This psych-folk collective conjure the intimate, mystical drone gravity of the Tower Recordings and Avarus and apply guitar, piano, and flute into the sound field like Joan Miro painting his spidery, oblong figures. In an interview on foxydigitalis.com, WWVV member James Toth outlined his band's ethos: "The concept was/is to cultivate the Not Knowing. Harness the energy/excitement of what we imagine the first Fleetwood Mac rehearsal would have sounded like, or what the first Deep Purple rehearsal would have sounded like... So we just close our eyes and pretend it's the Song Remains the Same or the Mirage Tour or whatever. It's bliss." See preview, page 67 and Stranger Suggests, page 59. DAVE SEGAL

DJ RICHARD FEARLESS
(Easy Street Records, Queen Anne) The main creative force behind Britain's Death in Vegas, Richard Fearless seems like the kind of guy with lots of great, obscure wax in his collection. Judging from his band's last four-album catalog and DIV's Back to Mine mix disc, he can be expected to spin a high-quality assortment of Kraut rock, psychedelia, post-punk, funk, dub, Italian soundtrack music, and country rock. He may even dust off some moldy Big Beat platters. In other words, show up in your most alert trainspottting mode. Tonight Fearless performs a free in-store DJ set. DAVE SEGAL

PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS, BEAR VS. SHARK, BULLET TRAIN TO VEGAS, NAVAJO CODE, THE CRUTCHES
(El Corazón) At first, Bear vs. Shark's new record, Terrorhawk, sounds like Hot Water Music gone post-hardcore/math rock. The guitars fluctuate between abrasive attacks and sweeping loveliness, just like the bi-polar vocals, which switch back and forth between being pissed and even more pissed. The band also throws in lush piano and horn action to keep you confused (which by the fifth song you totally are). And then when you hear the jazzy "Entrance of the Elected," with the crazy turbulent chorus and guitars that make your eyes roll back in your head, you really don't mind the instability because it's been a long time since a record has kept you guessing like this. MEGAN SELING

MONDAY 6/27

SHAWN SMITH, NOVATONE, DJ CHERRY CANOE, GUESTS
(Neumo's) YouthCare, the local nonprofit that supports homeless youth, has added one more project to its list of charitable contributions: It's releasing a compilation CD. And tonight's show, featuring Shawn Smith, Novatone, and members of the Walkabouts, celebrates the release of the record, which will be available in stores June 28. The album, Out of the Rain, boasts 10 tracks, featuring songs from tonight's performers, as well as Reggie Watts, Supersuckers, Kinski, and others. Money raised from CD sales will go to YouthCare's Barista Training Program, where kids can learn on-the-job skills as well as have access to job placement opportunities. For more information, visit www.youthcare.org. MEGAN SELING

TUESDAY 6/28

INSPECTAH DECK, AFU RA, PLANET ASIA
(Chop Suey) See preview, page 68.

WEDNESDAY 6/29

RACHID TAHA, RAGA 2 RAP, DAREK MAZZONE
(Chop Suey) France-based Rachid Taha is doing more than anyone to fuse Algerian rai with Western electronic-music production. The potential for such endeavors to sound clumsy and overly slick is great, but Taha—with aid from producer/guitarist Steve Hillage (Gong, System 7)—manages to avoid those pitfalls and gracefully engineer a flavorful East-West conjugation. Taha passionately sings in guttural Arabic, French, English, and Berber over high-energy breakbeats and global techno rhythms, enhancing the synthetic drums with Maghrebian and Egyptian percussion. Although he occasionally succumbs to maudlin melodies, Taha metaphorically keeps grains of desert sand in the silicon, bringing a satisfying friction to his music. DAVE SEGAL

OLIVER MTUKUDZI & BLACK SPIRITS
(Triple Door) Operation Murambatsvina (or Operation No Tolerance to Filth) was instigated by the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, to kill what economists call the "informal sector." The informal sector is composed of micro businesses that operate outside of the state structure (meaning, they don't pay taxes). Mugabe, who killed Zimbabwe's formal sector, is now bringing down what is left of a very weak economy—the informal sector. The point is this: There is a sad but beautiful song by the veteran afropop singer and composer Oliver Mtukudzi, who is only second to Thomas Mapfumo in fame, called "Ruki." (Ruki is the Shonanization of the English word "lucky"—the L sound does not exist in Shona.) "Ruki" is about how every good thing that happens in life is a matter of luck. That is the most you can hope for—being "ruki." Now, during the colonial period, black Zimbabweans were not lucky; and under the present postcolonial period, black Zimbabweans are still not lucky. When will my people ever be ruki? CHARLES MUDEDE