Gram Rabbit

Back when I was a lowly Eugene Weekly intern, my editor gave me our press copy of Gram Rabbit’s 2004 debut record, Music to Start a Cult To. Since then, I’ve relegated a lot of albums to my external hard drive to make space for new music on my ancient, mp3-clogged iBook, but Musicmakes the cut every time. With its eclectic combination of dance party electro, countrified rock and roll songs and sultry, Goth-esque vocals courtesy of Jesika von Rabbit, there’s nothing predictable about it. And subsequent albums, particularly Gram Rabbit's third and latest effort, RadioAngel & the RobotBeat, continue to defy the notion that a band should pick a sound and stick with it. Why should they? They’re from Joshua Tree, California, which is (sorta) close to L.A. and the desert; why shouldn't they cram cowgirl ballads, disco songs, metal songs and a few sexy slow jams onto the same record? Sure, the band’s lofty aspirations mean that sometimes, a song fails due to cheesy lyrics or an uninspired melody, but so what? Mostly, their music is awesome—particularly the cowboy stuff and the disco party jams— and in this case, the something-for-everyone approach works spectacularly well. With Lotus. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 9 p.m. $10 adv./$12. SARA BRICKNER
Wed., April 16, 9 p.m., 2008