The Vintage & Handmade Market 
Rafter, who performs at Whistle Stop Bar on Friday, Feb. 26. Photo by Mia Ferm.
Wednesday, Feb. 24
PLAN A: We Were Promised Jetpacks @ The Loft at UCSD. Between The Twilight Sad, Idlewild and Franz Ferdinand, Scotland produces catchy post-punk like France produces smelly cheese. With a bit of a harder edge (see the fist-clenching single “Quiet Little Monsters”), Jetpacks are bound to add to the gross domestic product, and their live show is as spirited as that bar room brawl in Trainspotting. PLAN B: Senator and the New Republic @ Soda Bar. A lush, theatrically inclined pop project from a sentimental Jewish boy from New York. Adam Greenberg makes beautiful pop songs that take the best parts of Harry Nilsson, Brian Wilson and ELO but still manage to not sound earnestly worshipful.
Thursday, Feb. 25
PLAN A: Chain and the Gang, Strange Boys, Heavy Hawaii @ The Casbah. Ian Svenonius looked like the second coming of Ian Mackaye between 1988 and 2000, when he sang in groups like Make-Up and Nation of Ulysses. And while I’m hesitant to call Chain and the Gang his most playful project yet, it’s certainly the most stripped-down, with tunes about gossipy haters (“Trash Talk”) and what is certainly the greatest song ever about the inane questions bands get asked during press interviews (“Interview with the Chain Gang”). BACKUP PLAN: Pharmacy, Gravitorium @ Ken Club.
Friday, Feb. 26
PLAN A: Rafter, Lion Cut, Smile Now Cry Later @ Whistle Stop Bar. Surely, you’ve learned all about the one-woman dance-pop awesomeness that is Smile Now Cry Later (see Page 22 in this week's issue) and also loved Enrique Limón’s hilarious piece in our Feb. 10 issue on the cat-suit-wearing duo Lion Cut, right? Right. But Rafter Roberts’ recent foray into indie R&B (it sounds like E from the Eels backed by Roger & Zapp) makes this the best show for lovers this week. PLAN B: Cash’d Out, Pushin Rope, Off the Wagon @ Belly Up. It’s Johnny Cash’s birthday, and the headliner really is the next best thing to seeing the man in black, himself. Not now—I mean when he was alive. BACKUP PLAN: SPL, Joe Rogers, Metaphase, CRMNL @ The Ruby Room.
Saturday, Feb. 27
PLAN A: Pepi Ginsberg, Pepper Rabbit @ Soda Bar. Pepi lives up to her name (unless it’s pronounced pee-pee) on most of her songs, resembling a playful, poppy Patti Smith with a Brian Ferry delivery. But listen a little closer to the words and you’ll find a wounded soul who isn’t afraid to poke fun at her own misfortunes. PLAN B: Super Mal, Grey Ghost @ Voyeur. This time last year Super Mal probably would have skipped San Diego, so Voyeur scores again by booking the London-based progressive house duo. BACKUP PLAN: Beaters, Apes of Wrath, Shapes of Future Frames @ Tin Can Alehouse.
Sunday, Feb. 28
PLAN A: Zaimph, Steller OM Source, Pacific City Nightlife Vision Band, James Ferraro, Riververb @ Che Café. The weirdest show of the week by far. All the names above are pseudonyms for one-person projects that are on the cutting edge of droning, mostly instrumental electro-noise that is best accompanied by pre-show hot boxing in the UCSD parking lot. Not that I condone that kind of thing. Just sayin’. PLAN B: Scout Niblett, Manuok @ Bar Pink. It’s a little hard to conceptualize how Niblett’s often minimalist indie-rock will be heard over the chatterboxes at Bar Pink, but her new album is so good that I hope she has enough pull in this town that only her fans show up. See our CD review on Page 25 in this week's issue. BACKUP PLAN: Zee Avi @ The Loft.
Monday, March 1
PLAN A: The Hounds Below, Bigbang @ The Casbah. Remember The Von Bondies? If you do, you either remember frontman Jason Stollsteimer as the guy who sang “C’mon, C’mon” or as that guy who got his ass whooped by Jack White (just Google his name—the pic of the aftermath will come up). Well, he’s got a new band and they’re way better, channeling ’50s-era rock ’n’ roll that sounds like Roy Orbison one minute, latter-day Jesus and Mary Chain the next. BACKUP PLAN: The Styletones @ Bar Pink.
Tuesday, March 2
Plan A: Midlake, Matthew and the Arrogant Sea @ Belly Up. Poor Midlake. Their new album of folky soft-rock is getting shat on by the music press. However, I know from seeing them three times that they put on a great show. And anyone who digs on Blitzen Trapper’s slower jams or Akron / Family will love fellow Denton, Texas, sextet Matthew and the Arrogant Sea. Sparse, yet carefully constructed folk that’s been generating a lot of buzz and, unlike the headliner, positive reviews. PLAN B: Shrinebuilder, A Storm of Light @ The Casbah. Comprising members of Neurosis, The Melvins and Spirit Caravan, just think of Shrinebuilder as a bunch of grizzled, old metal dudes (you have to say it like this: duuuuudes) getting their mojo back. Don’t believe me? Check out the seven-minute doom-metal assault of “Pyramid of the Moon” on their MySpace page, turn it up to 11 and then call me after you reattach your face.
