BEN THOMAS CD RELEASE
(Tula's) Ben Thomas' new CD is called The Mystagogue, and although I don't know what that means, I do know a few things about Ben Thomas. First off, he's a self-described "math geek" who claims to look at music and see nothing but a constant stream of numbers (think The Matrix). But that bit of mystagoguery, if I may, is leavened by an improving sense of showmanship that culminated in his expert handling of his large Bumbershoot audience this year. In fact, he even managed an onstage costume change at the festival (a rarity for jazzers), stripping down to an AC/DC-like outfit of a cutoff T-shirt and that hat Angus Young wears. Look for Thomas to provide good jazz and enough strength of personality to knock a bit of the stuffing out of Tula's. NATHAN THORNBURGH

APES OF WRATH, FRENCH KICKS, CABRINI GREEN
(Breakroom) The French Kicks play what is unmistakably honest rock and roll. Equal parts attitude, beautifully sloppy riffs, three-part harmonies, and dead-serious irreverence, the French Kicks remind me a little of Big Star's greatest moments. With a new album due out in November (but available at shows now), the French Kicks are poised to take the country by the ears and deliver a much-needed dose of the truth. NATE LEVIN

MOUNT ANALOG, CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS, DISJUNKT, INTONARUMORI, BILL HORIST
(OK Hotel) In typical OK Hotel fashion, the bar's Thursday night lineup is long enough to be a battle of the bands. The gaggle of avant-garders probably won't duke it out, but if they did, I'd put my shekels on guitarist Bill Horist, who takes the stage like a flanger-enabled robot, shooting deadly, disjointed musical riffs into every corner of the room. Intense weirdness and intense chops are what make Bill Horist so money. NATHAN THORNBURGH

PETE TONG
(Last Supper Club) Unlike America, the U.K. treats dance music as a viable Top 40 option, constantly charting house cuts and making bona fide celebrities of DJs like Paul Okenfold, Sasha and Digweed, and Carl Cox. Many would say England owes much of this to BBC 1 Radio superhost Pete Tong, who is honestly a better cultural innovator and music personality than a DJ; his wildly popular Essential Selection releases are nothing more nor less than a cursory mixing of the year's biggest and baddest house and garage tracks--many of which he himself helped break on-air. His name, meanwhile, has become synonymous with the largin'-it lifestyle of pills, thrills, and the Ibiza-jetting party that never ends; he's enough of a national icon to have joined the cultural lexicon with the oft-heard expression, "It's all gone a bit Pete Tong." All the more reason to wonder what the heck he's doing in indie, windy Seattle on a weeknight. LEAH GREENBLATT

SODAJERK, CARMINE, JACK THE HOTROD
(Central Saloon) The term "radio-friendly" is rarely used as a compliment, but Carmine have earned that democratic designation in a positive sense: Their songs are catchy enough that they should be blaring from cars across the nation, they're rock enough for the dudes but sensitive enough for the gals, simple enough for the non-Mensa crowd without being too simple, and just plain fun to rock out to. Their self-released album For Fun, Study or Profit is pretty darned good, but the live show is where they really shine. BARBARA MITCHELL

SLOBBERBONE, RADIO NATIONALS, RICHMOND FONTAINE
(Sunset Tavern) I've just seen the English National Theatre version of Hamlet. Thought I'd mention that here because (a) I wanted to impress upon you my cultural knowledge, and (b) ol' Ham himself would have been impressed by the bawdy, alcohol-tinged melancholy of Slobberbone's music, if that scene in the graveyard was anything to go by. Okay, so the 'Bone aren't histrionic nor particularly traumatized--preferring instead to infuse their Texan new country songs with an almost punk rock confessional style of storytelling--but they've sure got class. And with over 250 shows a year, you just know these pedal steel-boasting boys are gonna be tighter than Ophelia's ass. EVERETT TRUE

PLUMB
(Christian Faith Center) Far be it for me, as a Jew of sorts, to recommend any show at the Christian Faith Center, but I'm going to anyway. That's because Plumb represent the vanguard of contemporary Christian music, which has suddenly awoken to alternative rock and started making better music with smarter lyrics than ever before. That means you often have to listen closely before you realize that all their lyrical imagery points back to Big Daddy Jesus. You may not find me at the show, but don't think I won't be at home downloading their catchy tunes on Napster. NATHAN THORNBURGH

EMMYLOU HARRIS
(Benaroya Hall) See page 47.

PHAT SIDY SMOKEHOUSE, CUTTHROAT .09
(OK Hotel) Phat Sidy Smokehouse sell themselves with over-the-top funk imagery, but as with Maktub, their music actually lies somewhere between hard rock and R&B. Their summer tour as the opening act for the Steve Miller Band may have seemed incongruous, but to their credit, the group made it as far east as Ohio, which is much farther from the 700 Club than Seattle's soul groups usually make it. Their musicality is actually ready to take them all the way to the East Coast, but they might want a more unified sound and pithier lyrics before they buy those tickets to NYC. NATHAN THORNBURGH

MR. T EXPERIENCE, AMERICAN STEEL, THE EYELINERS
(Graceland) How could your heart not skip a beat when the Mr. T Experience play their quirky and sarcastic little pop songs? "Miracles and lucky charms made the girl of my dreams the girl in my arms/Push will come to pull tonight/and I'll have my hands full tonight/and everything'll be real all right/because she's coming over tonight." With lyrics like those, it's almost impossible for a girl not to stand back while batting her eyelashes hoping the handsome Dr. Frank looks her way. MEGAN SELING

THE GITS CD RELEASE, GAS HUFFER, HAFACAT, THE PINKOS
(Elysian) This is a party to celebrate the release of Seafish Louisville, the fourth Gits record, and the third since Mia Zapata's tragic death in 1993. The album consists of their energetic and well-recorded 1992 RKCNDY performance, which was filmed for the documentary Hype!, as well as early singles and other unreleased material. Zapata's voice is rugged, raw, and unfettered--providing a perfect opportunity for Seattle latecomers like myself to actually hear what the mythology is all about, and for old-school Seattleites to have a moment with something that so many of them have obviously cared about for a very long time. Gas Huffer, Hafacat, and the Pinkos (featuring Steve Moriarty of the Gits) will be performing. If you like punk rock at all, do not miss out on this important piece of history. JEFF DeROCHE

NADA SURF, U.S. CRUSH
(I-Spy/Nation) It would be easy to write Nada Surf off as another candidate for the inevitable K-Tel One-Hit Wonders of the Mid-to-Late-'90s compilation. Their appropriately titled song "Popular" was so inescapable back in '96 that many people still cringe at its mention. However, there's much more to the band than you might expect if you adhere to the "one-hit-equals-they-suck" theory: In fact, their new album, The Proximity Effect, is full of intelligent, well-crafted, eminently hummable songs that would be a shame to write off. BARBARA MITCHELL

DATACH'I
(Crocodile) See page 45.

BILLY TIPTON MEMORIAL SAX QUARTET, GUARDIAN ALIEN
(Sit & Spin) The Billy Tipton in question was a longtime jazz sideman who found fame after death when the coroner realized he was actually a woman (that's why they make the big bucks). Anyhow, the Billy Tipton Memorial Sax Quartet isn't famous yet, but they do have a bit of life after death, having survived multiple lineup changes and, of course, the continual assumption that women's jazz is somehow a lesser genre. Well, that's a fuggin' lie: These women swing. NATHAN THORNBURGH

MAH JONG, BLUE MEADOWS BAND, NOXIOUS WEED INSPECTOR
(Central Saloon) Noxious Weed Inspector enjoy a mix of styles, but my chief memory of them is their stage attire, which involved what appeared to be rubber plants (that's plants made of rubber, not hevea brasiliensis). GENEVIEVE WILLIAMS

AGNOSTIC FRONT, VOODOO GLOW SKULLS, STRAIGHT FACED, ALL, DELUSIONS, PIN-UPS
(Graceland) Long before Green Day or Blink 182, there were the Descendents. Reigning mavens of potty humor, the Descendents were smashing political correctness before it was even a term in our vocabulary. Then the Descendants became All, and All have carried on the tradition of setting the standards by which people can judge their own failure to ever grow up. Perpetual Adolescence (dare I say pre-pubescence) is a science in these guys' hands. Three-chord punk at its finest and most essential. Angry political-punk grandfathers Agnostic Front headline. NATE LEVIN

DEDICATED PRESENTS KIMBALL COLLINS AND SANDRA COLLINS
(Showbox) Trance gets no respect, but makes-do with reams of wildly undiscriminating raver love. Consequently, the ridicule of lauded tech-step/electro/garage peers is like water off a (very rich) duck's back; the kids are coming in droves and the gigs don't stop, so what do they care for critical props? The entirely unrelated Collinses are two of the biggest names in American trance, though the synth overload of Florida's Kimball is far closer to the textbook definition of the genre than bicoastal club superstar Sandra's rougher, tougher progressive house edge. Bring on the VapoRub. LEAH GREENBLATT

BRIGHT EYES, HER SPACE HOLIDAY, THE PROM
(Paradox) See page 47.

LO-FIDELITY ALL-STARS
(I-Spy) These Fatboys-in-training--though more rough-edged than the maestro himself, and far less efficient as a hit-making machine--know how to stick swirly rock, old soul, and other esoterica into the Big Beat blender and come out with something tasty, if low on actual nutritional value. Their recent On the Floor, At the Boutique, which joyously tweaks and squonks no-diggity Blackstreet, Kurtis Blow-ish old-skool throwbacks, and wink-wink '80s revivalists Les Rhythms Digitales into the ultimate party soundtrack, is pure fun--just the kind of git-down mix you only wish they'd stuck in the CD player at the last Macarena-happy wedding reception you had to sit through. LEAH GREENBLATT

DAVID MALLETT, KATYA CHOROVER
(Tractor Tavern) Leave it to country-folk singer-songwriter David Mallett to write a sweet, tender ballad about... whiskey. Yes indeed, on Ambition, his latest release, it's hard to tell whether Mallett's being serious with "Whiskey Talkin'' or having a little fun with his audience. This kind of duality has served him well over his decades-long career, which began with Johnny Cash covers at various venues around New England. Mallett's songs are catchy; you can hum the chorus after one listen. That might explain why he's been covered by everyone from Pete Seeger to Emmylou Harris. If he's occasionally a little adult-contemporary for some tastes, his songwriting and musicianship still possess all the hallmarks of a well-honed craft. GENEVIEVE WILLIAMS

THE THE, P. J. OLSSON
(Showbox) Matt Johnson has been crafting The The's intelligent, darkly beautiful music since 1979, and, as his latest effort, NakedSelf, clearly shows, is in no danger of experiencing any kind of creative drought. You can download tracks from that album for free at www.thethe.com--but don't miss this opportunity to experience what it feels like to keep music evil in the best possible sense. BARBARA MITCHELL

CIRCLE, SAMO
(Rainbow) Started back in 1991, this Finnish band combines electric washes of spaced-out melancholia, math-rock-driven guitar riffs, Benedictine monk-like drone chants, and prog-rock repetitions with live techno beats to create a lush environment for doing what Seattle does not do best--party. Opening up for Circle are SAMO, a local group who punch out live industrial and techno concoctions in the stylings of their hero, Squarepusher. KREG HASEGAWA

CHRISTIAN McBRIDE QUARTET
(Jazz Alley) Earlier in Christian McBride's career, his P.R. people were handing out publicity shots that made him look like Urkel, which could have been a serious problem in the image-conscious East Coast jazz set. But Christian McBride was already playing hunky, beautiful acoustic bass long before his own looks caught up with the music. Now he's a complete musician, hard on neither the eyes nor the ears, and has become the kind of bass player that Paul Chambers was in his day. At just 29 years old, McBride is poised to earn his place, along with Branford Marsalis and a few others, as a future legend of jazz. NATHAN THORNBURGH

BAD RELIGION, THE PROMISE RING, IGNITE
(Moore Theatre) There's a certain amount of poetry involved in pairing Bad Religion and the Promise Ring: It's almost as if the old-school socio-political punk rock vanguard is handing over the reigns to the new class of interpersonally oriented emo-core kids. But it also makes musical sense. Both bands are masters of intelligent, streamlined, effortlessly catchy pop-based punk rock--the kind of music that's so good it makes any message involved go down easy. A winner, any way you slice it. BARBARA MITCHELL

CHRISTIAN McBRIDE QUARTET
(Jazz Alley) See Tuesday listing.