Courtesy of Merge Records
Telekinesis, 4/17 at the Crocodile
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Misfits Vs. Stooges ~ Wednesday, April 15
How in the hell are you supposed to choose between the Stooges and the Misfits?! Surely a greater case could not be made for punk-rock apples and oranges, my friends.Let's start with the similarities: Both have teeny little frontmen with insane abs who've since moved on to major solo success.Both bands are beyond influential, highly revered, and appropriately mind-numbing in their aggression.But aggression is also what sets these two bands apart. The Stooges' brand of aggro is corrosively sexual, while Misfits-style aggro exists solely for the sake of being aggro. The Misfits' fascination with theatrical horror always seemed to come off a little on the KISS tip and was never quite as compelling, to me personally anyway, as Iggy actually rolling on broken glass. This, coupled with the absolutely terrible, irony-free cover of (uggh, it pains my fingers to even type it) "Monster Mash" currently on the Misfits' MySpace page, would force me to choose the Stooges. Sorry, Glenn. Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike St., 323-9853. 8 p.m. $6.MA'CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR
Telekinesis, Throw Me The Statue ~ Friday, April 17
To see both Telekinesis and Throw Me the Statue in one night is to observe two entirely different but equally successful pop formulas. Michael Lerner, the creative brains behind Seattle's Telekinesis, writes pitch-perfect pop songs. "Look to the East" has swirling guitars and drums that keep a steady beat—and both instruments fall away right before the chorus, giving the lyrics space to show off: "When you talk I cannot see/Everything that's in front of me/All I know what I don't know/And I don't want to let you go," Lerner sings. Fellow Seattleites TMTS, however, turn the pop-song concept on its head. Primary songwriter Scott Reitherman uses spastic-sounding instrumentals—the drum beats sometimes sound like castanets laid over a tinkling and ringing triangle—and hand claps to create completely infectious music layered with near-poetic lyrics: "Strange nights locked inside/I was waiting for a road ahead/I was lying in my Western bed." The result is music that keeps you dancing, even if you can't figure out why. With Say Hi, the Banyans. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave. 8 p.m. $10.PAIGE RICHMOND
Mates of State ~ Friday, April 17
The music written and performed by Mates of State is a metaphor for the ideal marriage. Vocals are sung in harmony and the instrumentals are tender without sounding melodramatic, resulting in songs that are both upbeat and layered. These aren't cheesy love songs about the world's most perfect relationship; they're compositions that reflect a focus on happiness and appreciation more than on tension and disputes. This, then, raises the question: Is the real-life marriage of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel, the band's two members, truly as harmonious as the band's music? It's a hard question to answer, but songs like "For the Actor" give some indication. In tandem, Gardner and Hammel sing: "You put your life on hold as we interest one another/Two steps closer to the level I imagined/I remember when it poured and you sang to me in summer/It's a fantasy." If only all musicians—and lovers—could be so happy. With Black Kids, Judgment Day. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $20.PAIGE RICHMOND
Vetiver ~ Saturday, April 18
Originally a one-man vehicle for singer/songwriter Andy Cabic, Vetiver morphed into a revolving-door consortium before settling on a relatively stable lineup for its two most recent albums. Cabic's working relationship with Devendra Banhart may make it all too easy to place Vetiver under the banner of Underground Folk Played by Modern-Day Bohemians With Long Beards, but Cabic clearly has a voice of his own. Over time, the one-time indie-rock guitarist has incorporated more electric instrumentation, but rather than simply switch between acoustic and electric modes, the band uncovers the vast middle ground in between. Cabic has also managed to preserve the material's quiet intensity even as the band has grown around him. Of course, with such a laid-back attitude to bandmates coming and going, it makes sense that the music has a similarly laid-back, unhurried feel. Vetiver's music has a lilting, pastoral quality well served by Cabic's affinity for warm 1970s production techniques, but it's totally unfair to think of the band as a retro act. Cabic's emphasis on craft may reach to the past, but the final product feels startlingly contemporary. Meanwhile, the highly astute musical interplay between guitarist Sanders Trippe and drummer Otto Hauser, now core members, helps anchor the music and provides the added attraction of a band dynamic to both the band's new album, Tight Knit, and live shows. With Richard Swift, Black Whales. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave. 8 p.m. $12. SABY REYES-KULKARNI
Yonder Mountain String Band ~ Saturday, April 18
Yonder Mountain plays high-energy, highly improvisational mountain music with a modern twist. Like an old-fashioned hootenanny, the atmosphere at a Yonder Mountain show is infectious, particularly when bassist Ben Kaufmann and mandolin player Jeff Austin launch into epic, groove-laced breakdowns.The percussive throb of bass and sweet, thrilling ring of mandolin provide the perfect amount of tension, spiraling around each other, climbing higher and higher like a Shepard scale. It's like auditory THC, which is sure to make Yonder Mountain String Band near and dear to the heart of any true noodling-jam-band fanatic. With Sam Bush, Baby Gramps. Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave, 628-3151. 8 p.m. $22.50 adv./$25 DOS. All ages.NICHOLAS HALL
