Biscuit Boys -- Maybe they're sticking toes in their own mouths by calling their music "mountain music for city folk." But it's a proper catchphrase and they brush aside comparisons by delivering the goods of traditional bluegrass and roots music with gusto. It never hurts to have another band that's made their way to Nashville, by the way of Charleston, to enlighten the country-city folks in that paint by numbers town. With Patrick Fitzsimons. The Evening Muse (Shukla)
Stelle Group -- Some folks look to the North Star for guidance, others look to Big Star. And while Alex Chilton and Co. certainly seem to be an influence, the cosmic rock rumble the Columbia, SC, band purveys certainly wouldn't seem out of place on AAA radio playlists either. Filled with all manner of crackle and hiss (and horns!), the music is a perfect accompaniment to Chuck Mims' lyricism, concerned as it is with the relentless ticking of time and the clanking of closed doors (usually in one's face). New recordings show the band attempting a balance between their past, more straight-ahead storytelling songs and a newer, more atmospheric brand of country-rock. The result is rather inspired, I'm happy to report. With Black Eyed Dog. Double Door Inn (Davis)
THURSDAY 5.29
Longwave -- The band's vision of modernist rock is filtered through mood rings, echoes and Brit-pop. Apparently a new disc, The Strangest Things, is on the horizon and the early tracks invoke a solid recording of textured sound and lyrical panache. With Bellglide and First Night On Earth. Tremont Music Hall (Shukla)
FRIDAY 5.30The American Plague -- The thud of guitar, bass, and drums digs in and stays in as the trio from Knoxville rake in many elements. Glam, hard rock and garage rock free-for-alls are thrown in the mix, all under the guise of adrenaline-charged rock & roll. It's a simple, rocking tribute to the Stooges and other like-minded noisemakers. With The Labiators. Fat City (Shukla)
Babyshaker -- Were it a Friday night -- whoa, it is! -- and I was wanting to catch a good colorful, energetic rock show to let off some steam, I'd say to myself, "Self, you could do a hell of a lot worse than to go see the glam/punk/garage rock of Scott Weaver and Babyshaker." And I'd be telling the truth, too -- something that doesn't always happen when I talk to myself. With the Scrubbies. The Steeple Lounge (Davis)
Jets To Brazil -- The more radio-ready side of Blake Schwarzenbach from Jawbreaker, JTB mine the same sort of plaintive almost-emo field that kids everywhere are eating up from Matthews to Massapequa. In the name of concept rock, their last album, Perfecting Loneliness, features more epic-length tight T-shirt Riffage & Wail than on past, more pop-leaning Jets albums. Still pretty good live, though, where said emoting still seems rather urgent.With Retisonic. Tremont Music Hall (Davis)
Underground Radio CD Release -- This might be the best chance all year for the uninitiated to check out a nice cross-section of Charlotte-area rock. To boot, it's a hell of a deal -- five dollars admission gets you 12 bands and a 17-song CD. Artists set to appear include Bellglide, Parklife, Jennyanykind, The Talk, Poprocket, Marat, Alternative Champs, Hazel Virtue, Leisure McCorkle, Filmschool, The Breaks, The Never, and The Houston Brothers. For more, go to www.morisen.com or check your friendly neighborhood search engine. Visulite Theatre (Davis)
SATURDAY 5.31
Dynamite Brothers -- The Dynamite Brothers have an excellent new one out, Clap Along With The Dynamite Brothers, a hot slab of wax (OK, plastic) full of hot rod harmonies, burnout riffs, and smoky choruses that simultaneously conjure up images of Iggy Pop and "Big Daddy" Don Garlits. Hot shit, this is. Along with the Dynos are Charlotte's own Semi-Pro, once and future kings of Southern-fried California-style buddha rock. The Steeple Lounge (Davis)
SUNDAY 6.1
Dar Williams -- She's built a well-deserved -- and hard-earned, through thousands of touring miles -- reputation as one of her generation's most inspired songwriters. Williams takes in and reflects so much of America, she becomes a hard-to-pin-down, walking contradiction: essentially an acoustic folkie, she writes and sings great pop music, too; she's aligned with the handicrafts/vegetarian side of US culture, although the buzz about her really took off on the Internet; a self-described "second generation hippie," she has an independent, even punkish attitude toward her career. She's smart, she's funny, she's melodic and her background in theater and religion shows up often in her passionate, clued-up lyrics. With Marty Lloyd. Neighborhood Theatre (Grooms)