Education of the Modern Doctor: Marcus Welby vs. House 
Eleanor Friedberger
- Photo by Rebecca Bengal
Wednesday, Feb. 1
PLAN A: Twin Sister, Ava Luna @ Porter’s Pub (UCSD). Even if you can’t stand all that ’80s-tinged indie-pop that’s been flooding the blogosphere in recent years, you’re bound to find Twin Sister irresistible. Their 2011 debut, In Heaven, was undeniably cute and ridiculously catchy, full of sweet melodies and funky grooves that’ll have you making bespectacled hipster babies in no time. PLAN B: Crosses, Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross, Secret Empire @ The Casbah. Crosses, the trio otherwise known as †††, features Deftones singer Chino Moreno and Far guitarist Shaun Lopez, but don’t expect any alt-rock from these guys. Rather, they make brooding electropop that sounds like Duran Duran if it were darker and more obsessed with cross imagery. BACKUP PLAN: Dale earnhardt Jr. Jr., Tourism @ Soda Bar.
Thursday, Feb. 2
PLAN A: Eleanor Friedberger, Dominant Legs @ The Casbah. The Fiery Furnaces have made some highly abstract music, but frontwoman Eleanor Friedberger moved toward traditionalist pop on last year’s solid solo debut, Last Summer, incorporating classic-sounding pop hooks and soft-rock-style sax solos. Still, her quirky vocals help make the album indisputably Friedbergeresque. PLAN B: The burning of Rome, Sleep Lady, The Roads @ Soda Bar. The burning of Rome are about to release a new album—and a craft-brewed beer to go with it, care of Pizza Port Ocean Beach (see more here). But their over-the-top carnival rock is best experienced during one of their zany live shows. BACKUP PLAN: The New Kinetics, Warring States of Mind, Bangladesh, Interrobang @ Tin Can Ale House.
Friday, Feb. 3
PLAN A: Doomtree, Audios @ The Casbah. Featuring some of the game’s unique rappers, Minneapolis collective Doomtree does hip-hop a little differently than most: Among their projects is the Wugazi 13 Chambers mixtape—in which they mashup Fugazi and Wu-Tang Clan—and a remix EP of songs by soft-rockers Gayngs. More recently, they banded together to offer up distinct beats and abstract rhymes on the solid album No Kings. PLAN B: Mutemath, Canon Blue @ 4th & B. Blues-rock bands are a dime a dozen, but it’s not often that you come across one that’s as tight as New Orleans outfit Mutemath, whose razor-sharp licks and tightly wound rhythms leave you transfixed. BACKUP PLAN: Deep Rooted, DJ Artistic, Nosuckerdjs @ Bar Pink.
Saturday, Feb. 4
PLAN A: The Soft Moon, Cold Showers, DJ Mario Orduno @ The Casbah. If the guys in Bauhaus had fried their brains on gallons of LSD, they probably would’ve ended up sounding like San Francisco’s The Soft Moon. With its psychedelic synth drones, creepy murmured vocals and unrelenting four-to-the floor beats, the band’s narcotic post-punk is as sinister as it is mesmerizing. PLAN B: Beaters, Tropical Popsicle, northern Tigers @ Soda Bar. After going on a long hiatus, Beaters have finally dropped their debut LP, Fishage, a 26-minute burst of mutated punk intensity. There’s no saying what this wildly unpredictable local band will do next, so catch them while you can. BACKUP PLAN: Talkdemonic @ The Loft at UCSD.
Sunday, Feb. 5
PLAN A: Planetoid, Problem with Dragons, Bantam Feather, Dagnir @ Soda Bar. The live-music options for this Super Bowl Sunday are pretty dire, but Planetoid has you covered if you’re in the mood for campy stoner-rock. With their goofy stage costumes and even goofier backstory—coming from the year 3032, they’re aiming to enslave the human race via rock music—they give Spinal Tap a run for their money. BACKUP PLAN: Cherry Poppin’ Daddies @ Anthology.
Monday, Feb. 6
PLAN A: Alice Smith, Cory Chisel @ The Casbah. Alice Smith might be in her mid- 30s, but she already has the rich, confident voice of a veteran soul singer—just listen to her soaring cover of Cee Lo Green’s “Fool for You.” But this Epic Records defector doesn’t want to be pigeonholed, and her eclectic songwriting also shows an ear for Burt Bacharach and ’60s pop.
Tuesday, Feb. 7
PLAN A: Dr. Dog, Purling Hiss @ Belly Up. As you’ll read in our feature, retro-rockers Dr. Dog really let loose on their new album, Be the Void, expanding on their sound with samples, electronic drums and even something called a “meatball palace.” Pretty intriguing, right? BACKUP PLAN: Indian Jewelry, Jewels of the Nile, Dancing Strangers @ Soda Bar.
Email peterh@sdcitybeat.com or follow him on Twitter at @peterholslin.
