Mal de Mer Releases Debut 7" Saturday, Plays Sunset Tavern

I'm not sure what brand of friend rock this is, but the crazy kids at Mal de Mer are definitely friends--of me, of the site, of all that. So take this as a personal, rather than journalistic, endorsement. But still, check out the music video for their first single (shot at Pony and featuring locals Nick Garrison and Ade Connere) and tell me this isn't a band you'd be 100 percent behind? Led by singer-songwriter Michael Lee, a former NW teen rocker turned longtime fixture (everyone in Seattle theatre knows him as the charming bartender at Solo, Seattle's de facto Sardi's), the band features members of The Redwood Plan, The Divorce, and Slender Means, and they're catchy as hell. Check them out Saturday at the Sunset in Ballard, presented by KEXP's Audioasis, with an acoustic set from Jen Wood and Hallways. Tickets $7 adv./$8 DOS; 21+.