Hockey ~ Wednesday, January 13
Meg Bryan
Ben Barnett’s new band, Blunt Mechanic.
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Portland's Hockey is already a huge hit in the UK, and it probably won't be long before we follow suit over here. The quartet's music might be considered something of a cross between the Talking Heads and the Strokes, with its jumpy rhythms and singer Benjamin Grubin's mumbly, Casablancas-esque vocals. It's really too easy to see the appeal here—the exuberant groove of "Learn to Lose" and the irresistibly sexy shuffle of "Work" are seriously catchy, and kinda psychedelic and soulful enough to keep the hipsters happy. Hockey's already been billed as a New Wave revivalist band—and in a consciously self-aware spirit, tracks like "Too Fake" poke fun at the very sheen of cool that the song's pulsing beat exudes ("I've got too much soul for the world"), while "Song Away" name-checks Roxy Music and goes so far as to claim "I like to let you know I'll always be straight with you." It's all meta as fuck, but since these beats sound as good as they do, we'll bite. With Asa Ransom. Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., 956-8372. 7:30 p.m. $9. All ages. E. THOMPSON
Blunt Mechanic ~ Friday, January 15
After prolific Portland act Kind of Like Spitting called it quits in 2006, frontman Ben Barnett began spending the majority of his time as the Music Director of the Paul Green School of Rock. For Barnett to take nearly four years between releasing an album—any album at all—must've been a serious shock to all the Kind of Like Spitting fans accustomed to the band's constant flow of releases. Happily, Barnett's back with a new band, Blunt Mechanic, and the band's first official effort, World Record, is uncharacteristically uplifting, which suggests that Barnett has come to terms with a few things and laid his penchant for pathos to rest along with his former band. World Record contains all the rough-hewn charm we've come to expect from Barnett, complete with the occasional burst of static. In other words, it sounds more or less like Kind of Like Spitting on Zoloft. With Mal de Mer. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 324-8000. 9 p.m. $8 adv./$10 DOS. SARA BRICKNER
Jaguar Love ~ Friday, January 15
It's been some years since the whole post-hardcore/screamo thing died (Thursday? Taking Back Sunday? How quickly we forget... ), so it's nice to see Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato of Jaguar Love moving in a different direction. After exchanging third member J. Clark for a drum machine last year, the duo will release their second full-length this spring, an album promised to be less Blood Brothers, more Daft Punk and New Order. And if "Up All Night," the new track that hit the Web last fall, is any indicator, it's going to be one snappy record. It's a relentless song, intro'd by a squealing synth and completely dominated by Whitney's trademark shrieking, glass-threatening vocals—but there's more of a sense of control at work here, from the purposely agitating bridge to the way Votolato's sputtering guitar licks perfectly reinforce the melody's easy groove. Factor in the relevant lyrics—"We stayed up all night with 40s in our hands/Watching Paris burn and bombs fall on Afghanistan"—and it looks like we've got a new favorite party anthem. With Slender Means, Nazca Lines, and Blood Cells. Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., 956-8372. 7:30 p.m. $6 adv./$9 DOS. E. THOMPSON
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band ~ Friday, January 15
Lyle Lovett has, for more than a decade, worked in a format he dubbed "Lyle Lovett and His Large Band," in which he performs brassy country music with a coterie of 15 or more musicians. The Indiana outfit known as Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band similarly takes a bit of license with the implications of their moniker, but in a decidedly more ironic way; no matter how you count, three people does not a big band make. But a big racket does, nonetheless, issue from the guitar-playing Reverend, his wife (who plays, uh, washboard), and his drummer brother. Their raw, hard-driving country blues is a far cry from anyone's expectations of a big band, but just as labelmates and patrons Flogging Molly have transcended Irish punk rock beyond Boston bars, the Peytons gleefully bash out numbers like "Wal-Mart Killed the Country Store" in a way that's both steeped in tradition and appropriate for this New Depression. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E., 381-3094. 8 p.m. $10 adv./$12 DOS. JASON FERGUSON
Grudge Rock ~ Saturday, January 16
Grudge Rock defies the notion that battles of the bands invariably suck. In most instances, the term conjures a sad image of a bunch of horrible-to-mediocre bands for whom winning a cheesy contest is likely the highest level of acclaim they can hope to achieve. Here, two established bands attempt to win the crowd's affection in a Family Feud–style game-show contest. The winner gets the door money; the loser gets "cool prizes," which is better than nothing. This edition features synth surfers Head Like a Kite going head-to-head against the lo-fi pop buoyancy of BOAT. It'll be a close one, but no matter who comes out on top, it's safe to say that everyone will get to leave feeling like a winner. Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-7416. 8 p.m. $10 adv.SARA BRICKNER
