WEDNESDAY, MAY 6
The Pack A.D. Becky Black is the best female garage blues singer to come to the crossroads since, well, admittedly, she doesn’t have a lot of company there. But that says more about rock ‘n’ roll sexism than Black’s nasty-good pipes and whip-smart lyrics. You could of course lump this Vancouver duo – Maya Miller bashes the skins and tins, while Black snarls, pleads, canoodles and plays slide – in with the whole Black Keys/White Stripes revivalist thing, but these gals’ sinister/authentic quotient seems less, I dunno, costume-y. With the Mangles and Shine River. Snug Harbor (John Schacht)
FRIDAY, MAY 8
Sol Driven Train Comprised as it is of a fiery, big-band blend of world-beat, Southern fried funk and beach-boy (if not Beach Boys) style harmony, a simple description of the tuneage played by this Charleston, S.C., act might lead you to believe that a ride on Sol Driven Train is likely to end up with a final stop in Margaritaville. Thankfully, that’s not the case. What is here: tight horn arrangements courtesy sax player Russell Clarke and trombonist/guitarist Ward Buckheister, drummer Wes Powers’ tasteful cymbal work, and plenty of bassist Rusty Cole’s jar-tight bottom-end phonk. It ain’t DMB necessarily, but “SDT” would certainly seem to be on the right track. Rusty Rudder, Cornelius (Timothy C. Davis)
Tartufi Musical adventurers Tartufi don’t limit their muse within the confines of indie pop. The San Francisco duo (Lynne Angel and Brian Gorman) flirts with early Pink Floydian experimentation that’s one part noise pop, one part psychedelics and heaps of corky songwriting, all creating sound layer with the assist of live looping. They’re on the road touring in support of recording Nests of Waves and Wire. With LA Tool and Die and The Imposture Regime. Milestone (Samir Shukla)
Zach Deputy Singer/songwriter/guitarist/looper extraordinaire Deputy had his touring truck stolen back in March and lost all kinds of equipment and music. He got the truck back in April, but no word on whether or not anything was in it – I’m guessing not. The amazing part of the story is that Deputy kept on touring throughout the whole ordeal. His truck had plenty of damage done to it and could sure use some love (and money) these days. In exchange, he’ll definitely entertain the hell out of you. Double Door Inn (Jeff Hahne)
SATURDAY, MAY 9
Mice Parade Adam Pierce’s anagrammed band exists somewhere between Tortoise, the Album Leaf, Four Tet, Do Make Say Think and a Brazilian Afropop troupe, but the blend belongs to none of those audio signposts. The impressive dual percussion of Pierce and HiM’s Doug Scharin (ex-Rex, June of ’44) typically drives everything, yet they augment or cushion that attack with synth, keyboard, vibes and nylon guitar melodies that tilt meditative, explosive or playful with equal alacrity. Toss in the occasional indie pop song structure and lyrics, and it’s hard not to find something to develop a big ol’ crush on here. With L.A.’s charming singer-songwriter Tom Brosseau opening (and probably sitting in). Neighborhood Theatre (Schacht)
Gollum Keeping in step with their namesake, the Wilmington, N.C., metal posse goes through schizophrenic mood swings via growly vocals and guitar riffage. Taking cues from Megadeth to various death metal bands, Gollum’s new disc, The Core (Rotten Records), is hell-bent on pounding eardrums. Also on the bill: Black Ritual, A Road Eternal and Dixie Deathwish. Tremont Music Hall (Shukla)
The Belleville Outfit Down-to-earth writing and playing keeps The Belleville Outfit’s Americana twang so, well, honest. The band pulls threads from country, gypsy swing, big band, jazz and folk for feisty fiddlin’ good music. Now based in Austin, half of the sextet hails from South Carolina and the combo is rolling down dirt roads and byways with its new record, Time to Stand, which is set for release this week. Double Door Inn (Shukla)
MONDAY, MAY 11
The Dexateens Quite literally one of my favorite bar bands (said affectionately) on the planet, Tuscaloosa, Ala.’s The Dexateens have been hammering the East Coast (albeit sporadically) for more than 10 years now. A mix of three “rang’n” guitars (to use a term coined by Drive-by Trucker Patterson Hood), country honk and post-punk jangle, it’s a Southern-specific brew accurately described by the band as “Black Flag meets Blackfoot meets Black Oak Arkansas.” As a result, the band’s shows are remarkably free of scene-specific cliques, drawing a cross-section of folks looking for little more than a sure-nuff, sweaty good time. At last glance, the band’s 2008 album Lost and Found was still available on the band’s site as a free digital download; consider it an ass-kicking aperitif for the band’s upcoming Singlewide, recorded in Nashville, Tenn., with vet Mark Nevers, and due this summer. With Tennessee’s The Features and Those Darlins, two bands worth the price of admission all by their lonesome. The Milestone (Davis)
TUESDAY, MAY 12
Flyleaf The hard-rocking Texas quintet is finishing up work on its sophomore album, and it’s about time, too. The debut went platinum, but didn’t give the band much of a chance to breathe. They toured constantly behind it and were definitely getting burned out on playing the same tunes over and over. Hopefully, they’ll showcase some of the new stuff. One can safely assume singer Lacey Mosley is gonna showcase her pipes from whispers to screaming all night long. With Family Force, Paper Tongues. Amos’ Southend (Hahne)
This article appears in May 5-12, 2009.
