The Ex/Wednesday, March 16
Mia Kirby
Girl time with Warpaint.
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At an all-ages Seattle show at DV8 back in 1999, Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye lavished praise upon openers The Ex, noting that the Dutch anarchist band was currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. A young man in the crowd named James Keblas became friendly with The Ex after the show, and the band in turn introduced him to Peter Weening, founder of the original Vera in Groningen, the Netherlands. Keblas began volunteering at Vera Groningen during his studies abroad, and dreamt of building a similar institution back in Seattle. Twelve years later, Keblas is director of the Mayor's Office of Film + Music, Seattle has its own thriving Vera Project, and The Ex are still making challenging, percussive-heavy art rendered in the spirit of the punk rock that originally inspired this great chain of events. Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., 956-8372. 7:30 p.m. $12. All ages. HANNAH LEVIN
Max Tundra/Wednesday, March 16
This week's pair of Girl Talk shows at Showbox SoDo have been sold out forever, but if you've already got your ticket to Gregg Gillis' dance party, be sure to show up early enough to catch opener Max Tundra. The British musician (real name Ben Jacobs) shares with Girl Talk a keen ear for pop hooks and a hyperactive, cut-up style, but where Girl Talk stitches together the best bits of other people's songs via laptop, Max Tundra assembles his originals while leaping from keyboard to synthesizer to microphone to guitar and back. The resulting songs are quirky, deliriously fractured pop gems. With Girl Talk, you go into the show already knowing every hook—that's kind of the point. With Max Tundra, you might just leave with a few new ones stuck in your head. Oh, one more thing they have in common—wicked-goofy dance moves. With Junk Culture. Showbox SoDo, 1700 First Ave. S., 628-3151. 7 p.m. Sold out. ERIC GRANDY
John Atkins/Thursday, March 17
As a member of 764-Hero, Hush Harbor, Magic Magicians, and The Can't See, John Atkins makes indie music that reminds you why you listened to it in the first place. His lyrics are brilliant yet nonchalant. His melodies are catchy but not saccharine. And the fact that he seemingly has zero interest in chasing the spotlight gives his music that purity we all secretly want from our art. Matter of fact, if I were a musician today hearing Atkins' music for the first time, I would probably just give up. Either that, or just shut off my computer, pick up my guitar, and work that much harder on living life and making great songs. With See Me River, S. Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-7416. 8 p.m. $8. BRIAN J. BARR
St. Patrick's Day/Thursday, March 17
Of all the massive fêtes thrown by this city's Irish pubs on St. Patrick's Day, how many are music-oriented? Sure, chugging green beer can be fun, but the venues that serve it typically attract obnoxious frat boys and at least a few belligerent girls dressed in barmaid costumes. But at Conor Byrne, such patrons are ostracized. The Ballard pub is proud to say it steers clear of green Jell-O shots and Irish Car Bombs. This evening, it hosts a spectacular St. Patrick's Day sans petty nuisances, featuring a solid lineup of local Americana and folk bands (Robert Sarazin Blake's Paddy Whackers, Erin McNamee Band, Whisky Swillers) and good ol' brown beer. Conor Byrne, 5140 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-3640. 1 p.m.–midnight. $10. ERIKA HOBART
Destroyer/Friday, March 18
If you're looking for the perfect soundtrack to that Miami Vice–themed boat cruise you're planning, Destroyer's newest release, Kaputt, is ready for pleasure-cruise play. Main Destroyer (and wild-card New Pornographer) Dan Bejar's previous catalog is full of ramshackle chamber-pop and folky mopes, and Kaputt could very well be ushering in the new-romantic/yacht-rock revival, sounding as if it had been recorded on a yacht floating slowly through a neon-shrouded harbor in the middle of some serious wine-spritzer binges. While Destroyer's scattershot subject matter remains as cryptic and evasive as ever, Bejar has upped the smooth factor in his songs, sounding more relaxed (looking in your general direction, Riunite on ice) and focused than ever atop lush beds of chorus-laden guitar, drum machines, and straight-faced sexy sax solos. With War on Drugs, Yuni in Taxco. Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-7416. 8 p.m. $15. GREGORY FRANKLIN
Headhunter/Friday, March 18
Decibel, Seattle's world-class annual festival of electronic music, has been having such a busy off-season presenting shows that even when one UK bass-music tour cancels—as did this week's scheduled Night Slugs showcase—another is just around the corner in the same week. Bok Bok's loss is Headhunter's gain, then, as the Bristol-based dubstep producer comes to Seattle tonight on a bill co-presented by similarly hardworking local DJ/producer Ill Cosby's Car Crash Set label. Headhunter's tracks do that lumbering, low, half-time dubstep wobble with subdued flair and plenty of breathing room for bits of melody or echoing vocal samples to waft through. He also makes more up-tempo tracks inspired by Chicago juke music under the alias Addison Groove, taking that style's repetitive, cut-up vocals and airing them out over classic, jacking drum-machine patterns and relatively moody synths—so if the party wants to take it there, he'll be ready. With S214, Ill Cosby. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 324-8000. 9 p.m. $12 adv./$15 DOS. ERIC GRANDY
