THURSDAY 9/8

WOODEN OCTOPUS SKULL EXPERIMENTAL MUSICK PFESTIVAL
(Various venues) See preview, page 37.

BULLET CLUB, BLACKBELT, ALERT NEW LONDON
(Crocodile) Much like the Ruby Doe, local boys Bullet Club keep the Fugazi fires burning. With tense, terse lyrics and thick, angular math rock blazing in their engines, the band carve out a good little notch for themselves in the Seattle post-hardcore scene. JENNIFER MAERZ

PART MAN PART HORSE, NRDLNGR, NACHOS
(Funhouse) While electroclash was all about status, style, and an inflated sense of self, its degenerate, inbred relative, electrotrash, continues spreading like a dirty joke. With songs like "Nutz All Over" and distorted voices like the Chipmunks on Hennessy, the Nachos are pure party band fronted by D-Lab and his pal Helmet. (Imagine '80s synth pop soaked in toilet humor.) NRDLNGR is a one-man shrine to heavy metal and Devo, with songs about such maudlin issues as monkey birthday massacres. JENNIFER MAERZ

FRIDAY 9/9

WOODEN OCTOPUS SKULL EXPERIMENTAL MUSICK PFESTIVAL
(Various venues) See preview, page 37.

THE DIVORCE, DANKO JONES, TOURIST, DJ CURTIS
(Crocodile) See preview, page 41.

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, THE HIGH DIALS, RICHARD SWIFT
(Neumo's) See preview, page 42.

THE PHARMACY, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, CASY AND BRIAN, BOBCATS
(Vera Project) See Live Wire, page 52.

OASIS, JET, KASABIAN
(Everett Events Center) While Oasis can no longer claim to have the world domination they'd always hoped for (sorry, Mr. Gallagher, but you'll never be John Lennon), they still busted out a ton of worthy Brit-pop hits. This show, however, is really all about the entire package—Jet and Kasabian are both consummate performers, the new cocky kids on the block with the musical balls to back up the bluster. Jet are to mainstream, old-fashioned rock 'n' roll what the Black Crowes were in their prime, while Kasabian bang out Madchester slam dunks and fill the room with a new kind of ecstasy. JENNIFER MAERZ

SATURDAY 9/10

WOODEN OCTOPUS SKULL EXPERIMENTAL MUSICK PFESTIVAL
(Various venues) See preview, page 37.

DEAD MOON, HATER, HE'S DEAD JIM
(Tractor) One of the more memorable shows from the mid-'90s involved Hater, the side project of Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd. Sounding virtually nothing like his chart-topping day job, Hater was a disarming, unhinged, blues-punk attack that left listeners both impressed and a little disturbed. Shepherd has finally finished resurrecting and refining the archival tapes from that project, now entitled The 2nd and released this past spring on local Burn Burn Burn Records. The contributor's list reads like the honor roll of old-school Seattle: Matt Cameron, Brian Wood, Greg Keplinger, and even Bill Rieflin all make appearances. Obviously Shepherd can't reassemble that illustrious cast in its entirety this evening, but the lineup does include Zen Guerrilla drummer Andy Duvall—a fine incentive to attend in itself. HANNAH LEVIN See also Stranger Suggests, page 29.

BOBBY BARE JR, 50 FOOT WAVE, TOM BROSSEAU, THE PALE PACIFIC, IAN KNAPP, THE SATURDAY KNIGHTS
(Crocodile) The whole neo-folk thing gets a little stale when songwriter after urban songwriter starts telling hard-luck tales with a suspicious drawl lifted from somewhere more authentic like the Mississippi Delta or the prairie states. But North Dakota–raised Tom Brosseau has the amber-waves-of-grain kinda cred you just can't fake. We'll give him a pass for his recent relocation to L.A., if only because his melancholy, almost feminine voice—a '30s-era croon that wouldn't be out of place on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack—is so heartbreakingly addictive. Plus, this corn-fed boy knows his way around a six-string. Brosseau's bashful, between-song banter and easy-on-the-eyes looks make his live act even more irresistible. MAYA KROTH

PHO BANG w/THE SNACKS, BOBCATS
(Sunset) Pho Bang has long been a Capitol Hill/Belltown thing, bringing Seattle's best clash of trashy fashionistas, high-class queens, lowbrow punks, and everything in between out for a night of crass camp and unusual music. Tonight they move the freak show over to Ballard, where they promise "bloody film gems from the vaults," convenience-store punk from the Snacks, and ravenous electropop from Bobcats. JENNIFER MAERZ

NIYAZ
(Town Hall) A musical cooperation among two Iranians (vocalist/composer Azam Ali and multi-instrumentalist/composer Loga Ramin Torkian) and an American (producer Carmen Rizzo), Niyaz slickly update Persian and Indian music for well-heeled world-music buffs (tix range from $20–$32 tonight). The talented electro-acoustic unit layer an upscale sheen on musical idioms that likely date back centuries, but the reverence and instrumental prowess here are undeniable. Ali's voice will set a thousand minarets spinning with its sensuous, rich pulchritude. For this tour, the trio is bolstered by oudist Dmitris Mahlis and tabla player Satnum Ramgotra. DAVE SEGAL

SUNDAY 9/11

WOODEN OCTOPUS SKULL EXPERIMENTAL MUSICK PFESTIVAL
(Various venues) See preview, page 37.

JEDI MIND TRICKS, DIM MAK, GUESTS
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests, page 29.

EARTH, GROWING, JACK ROSE & MARISSA NADLER
(Sunset Tavern) Brooklyn via Olympia duo Growing erect exquisite guitar and bass drones that oscillate in the stratosphere along with the best work of Eno, Terry Riley, and Rafael Toral. Guitarist Jack Rose (also of raga-drone mystics Pelt) flings yet another plectrum on the altar of avant-folk guru John Fahey, but he does so with mercurial grace and ravishing skill: Torrents of bejeweled chords flow from his nimble finger-pickings. Marissa Nadler is one of those archetypal fair maidens with Hope Sandoval-esque vocals of chilly susurration and a knack for pretty, plangent folk ditties. Finally, Earth just... are. DAVE SEGAL See also preview, page 45.

3 INCHES OF BLOOD, DIECAST, IF HOPE DIES, HELL PROMISE
(El Corazón) The group 3 Inches of Blood toured with the Darkness, that wink-happy hybrid of Weezer and Enuff Z'Nuff. Their flamboyantly monikered co-vocalist Cam Pipes pals around with Hot Hot Heat keyboardist Steve Bays, who introduced him to the group. Given these hipster connections, headbangers have reason to suspect the Vancouver-based group of ironic intent, but 3 Inches of Blood aren't a musical manifestation of that smirky dude in the mall-bought Iron Maiden shirt who wouldn't know Bruce Dickinson if he poked him in the arse with an épée. Their love of dual-guitar-driven, operatically narrated power-metal songs about orcs and swordmasters is real—as is Cam Pipes's name. ANDREW MILLER

MONDAY 9/12

DARCI CASH
(Chop Suey) On record, Darci Cash make pretty, melodic pop laced with a tinge of bittersweet attitude and endearing male/female harmonies. Reminiscent of acts such as Death Cab for Cutie and the Jealous Sound, the Californian quartet dynamically switch back and forth between beautiful calamity and subtler emotional explosions. On stage, though, they really shine, with tight, sturdy vocals and energetic outbursts and smiles that make the performance the cutest thing you've ever seen or heard. MEGAN SELING

LIVING COLOUR, 1234, TOP HEAVY CRUSH
(El CorazĂłn) For a moment in American pop history, black rock was on the verge of becoming truly big. The period was between 1987 and 1993, and some of the groups that generated this creative surge were veteran punk quartet Bad Brains (the greatest black punk/rock band ever), 24-7 Spyz, Fishbone, and Living Colour, who achieved mainstream success with the single "Cult of Personality." Guitarist Vernon Reid was the brain behind the group, and lead singer Corey Glover was its star. Living Colour released two solid LPs at the end of the '80s and then disappeared for much of the '90s. They made an attempt to reappear two years ago with Collideoscope, but the effort was almost entirely unnoticed. CHARLES MUDEDE

THE BRAVERY, MAXIMO PARK, CROSSTIDE
(Showbox) The Bravery and the Killers are wasting their valuable 15 minutes in the spotlight feuding over who is more authentically rock. That's like Pamela Anderson and Elvira arguing over whose tits are more real. Mascara will surely smear tonight. JENNIFER MAERZ

TUESDAY 9/13

HUMAN EYE, NEW FANGS, GUESTS
(Funhouse) During the dawning of the Detroit "scene," Human Eye singer/guitarist Timmy Vulgar was the mooning goof tossed from the house parties. He forged all his "fuck yous" into the Clone Defects, who released two great space-punk platters before imploding around 2003. This new band is more synth-based, sapped from an undertow of similarly unique if arcane late-'70s paranoids such as Crime and Chrome. There's some retention of the punk stance, but mostly it's a frenzied warp drive with horn bleats that fight with cheap keys, and Vulgar's slurred, stabbing guitar leads, and Liquid-Plumr–gulped sneer. ERIC DAVIDSON

WEDNESDAY 9/14

THE NEVVERS, SAMEER SUKULA AND THE PART-TIME LOVERS, THE EPOCHS
(High Dive) See Border Radio, page 55.

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, GUESTS
(Neumo's) See preview, page 38.