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Scott H. Biram performs at Radio Room on Friday, Feb. 5. Photo by Brian Jackson.
Wednesday, Feb. 3
PLAN A: Rhett Miller & The Serial Lady Killers, Leslie and the Badgers @ Belly Up. Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller managed to reinvent himself again last year, and he released a great record that was erroneously ignored. However, anyone bummed that he ditched the alt-country for singer-songwriter pop will find their aural salvation in Leslie & The Badgers. Normally, country bands from L.A. are about as authentic as instant grits, but the band’s namesake absolutely charmed me with her Emmylou voice and Jenny Lewis looks when they played Soda Bar last December. PLAN B: Laura Marling, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel @ The Casbah. Almost a Plan A, Marling was an original member of Noah & The Whale, and she’s all the buzz in the U.K. for her moody folk that channels Judee Sill and Lisa Hannigan. And anyone who bought the Once soundtrack will want to show up early for Nathaniel Rateliff. PLAN C: Anvil, The Suicide Chords @ House of Blues. Equal parts charming and kick-ass, last year’s Anvil documentary gave the hard-rock band the due they deserve. Now, they’ll kick your ass in person.
Thursday, Feb. 4
PLAN A: Vivian Girls, Best Coast, Pearl Harbor @ The Casbah. It’s a full night of lo-fi girl-pop. Pearl Harbor is great, and the headliner has gracefully survived the inevitable indie backlash, but it’s Bethany Cosentino and Best Coast that makes my indie heart flutter. Her single “Sun Was High (So Was I)” is the greatest make-out-session-on-the-beach hipster anthem I’ve ever heard. Whatever that is. PLAN B: Author and Punisher @ Soda Bar. Ever hear industrial doom-metal made by one guy and a bunch of homemade instruments with nary a guitar in sight? Well, I have, and it needs to be seen to be believed. BACKUP PLAN: Portland Cello Project @ The Loft at UCSD.
Friday, Feb. 5
PLAN A: Scott H. Biram, The Dirt Daubers @ Radio Room. Biram is a self-described “dirty old one-man band” from Austin playing killer country blues that should appeal to Black Keys and Hank Williams III fans alike. J.D. Wilkes of The Legendary Shack Shakers heads up The Dirt Daubers, along with his wife and overalls-wearing multi-instrumentalist “Slow” Layne Hendrickson. Together, the Kentucky trio crafts some stomping bluegrass that probably has neighbors in Kentucky gathering around the porch. PLAN B: NOMO, mutantspaceboy, DJ Kader @ The Casbah. Don’t be fooled by their looks. The lily-white, Midwestern boys in NOMO play post-Afrobeat jazz instrumentals complete with a horn section and amplified kalimbas. Skip the Downtown clubs; this is where the real beats and dance party will be. BACKUP PLAN: Maren Parusel @ Lestat’s.
Saturday, Feb. 6
PLAN A: Lights On, Writer, Greater California @ Tin Can Ale House. They might not have as much blog buzz as bands like Beaters and Dum Dum Girls, but I sincerely expect post-punks Lights On to be signed to a label by the end of the year. And try to get there early to snag a seat on one of those couches in Tin Can. Greater California is some lovely psychedelic folk from the LBC that’s perfect for making out with strangers. PLAN B: Jaguar Love, The Dabbers, Spider Fever @ Bar Pink. I sure miss Seattle punks The Blood Brothers. That band kicked so much ass despite frontman Johnny Whitney’s borderline castrato screeching. I wasn’t too impressed with his new band, Jaguar Love, on their first album, but they seem to be settling nicely into some kind of mutant disco-dance-funk-punk hybrid that’s not-so-subtly winning me over. Selling out never sounded so funky. BACKUP PLAN: A Scribe Amidst the Lions, The Burning of Rome, Astra, River City @ The Casbah.
Sunday, Feb. 7
PLAN A: The Thermals, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, Boomsnake @ Belly Up. Portland’s The Thermals churn out enjoyable indie-pop records at a pace that resembles Cat Power on Zoloft. Oh, and, of course, show up early for Boomsnake (see our feature on the previous page). BACKUP PLAN: Fly to New Orleans. Celebrate no matter what happens in the game, because that’s how NOLA rolls.
Monday, Feb. 8
PLAN A: Langhorne Slim, April Smith and the Great Picture Show @ The Casbah. Like Cool J, ladies love Slim. No, he doesn’t have awesome lips or a Kangol, but he does have grandiose indie folk songs in which he loves ’em and leaves ’em, only to return to love ’em again. It’s all a little earnest for my tastes, but I’m probably just jealous. PLAN B: Jake Shimabukuro, Makana @ Belly Up. OK, I’ll admit it: Watching a “ukulele virtuoso” on a Monday night sounds about as appealing as judging a Sublime tribute band competition. But you gotta peep Shimabukuro on YouTube. The guy takes four nylon strings and some serious fret skills and makes it rock. BACKUP PLAN: Mañanaland @ Bar Leucadian.
Tuesday, Feb. 9
PLAN A: Ohioan, Weaver, Kenseth Thibideau, Rafter @ Beauty Bar. I’m very much looking forward to Ohioan (actually from New Mexico), who play some sweet alt-country that sounds like The Band if they had grown up in Bakersfield and hired a horn section. PLAN B: Editors, The Antlers, Princeton @ House of Blues. A solid, if not bizarrely eclectic lineup of groups. I’m not sure who thought The Antlers’ haunting folk should be the meat sandwiched between Princeton’s poppy college-rock and the Editors’ electro doom and gloom, but if your taste varies, this is the show for you. BACKUP PLAN: Justin Townes Earle @ The Loft at UCSD.
