The Handsome Family, Daniel Knox at the Tractor Tavern, 9 p.m., $15It’s
Published 7:00 am Tuesday, July 14, 2009
The Handsome Family, Daniel Knox at the Tractor Tavern, 9 p.m., $15It’s easy to play the Gothic country card when discussing the Handsome Family, given Brett Sparks’ tar-like singing and his wife Rennie’s knack for tragic lyrics that often linger on murder ballads. In a nod to the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary, however, the Sparks have turned their keen attention to love songs on their recent eighth album, Honey Moon. It suits them, and within the usual heightened Americana vibe there’s a renewed reverence for lost classics befitting a long-running band that actually knows who Jim Reeves and the Mills Brothers are. “My Friend” is set to a late-night organ crawl, “When You Whispered” manages yet another heartsick duet in a long line of them, and most memorably, “Darling My Darling” ekes emotional resonance out of bizarre lyrics about the mating rituals of insects. Whether performing as a duo or a larger ensemble, the Handsome Family are, now more than ever, an underrated musical institution that feels like a secret shared in hushed tones. DOUG WALLENMen, Team Gina, Your Heart Breaks at Chop Suey, 8 p.m., $12Contrary to popular belief, Le Tigre has not broken up – they’re simply on a long-ass sabbatical, as leader Kathleen Hanna explained in a MySpace blog post this spring, and the trio has reportedly been in the studio with none other than Christine Aguilera within the past month (can’t wait to hear that collaboration). Still, it might be a while before Le Tigre reactivates, and in the meantime you should enjoy Men – the equally feminist and sociopolitical disco-pop/electro-rock outfit formed in 2007 by Hanna’s bandmates JD Samson and Johanna Fateman that sometimes comes across like an even more LGBT-friendly New Order. Of late, the Men live configuration has been Samson along with Michael O’Neill and Ginger Brooks Takahashi, while Fateman’s taken a more behind-the-scenes (i.e. she’s not really touring these days) writing/production role. Regardless, when Men take charge it’s bound to be a hell of a party. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG
