The Dog Days of Summer are officially in place, so get ‘em while they’re hot. And if you’re of the opinion (like me) that the best moments of the soundtrack of your life should be set to live music, this weekend will not disappoint.
Tonight (Friday, August 23):
Pixies Cover Night (feat. members of Midday Veil, Ononos, Kithkin, Tea Cozies, and more) @ Chop Suey. 21+. $10 at the door. Show at 9 p.m.
The Pixies’ brand of mutant pop sports so many jagged edges, it’s easy to forget how many durable, honest-to-God songs they crafted. Tonight at Chop Suey, you should get plenty of reminders. Best of all, none of the bands whose members comprise the evening’s entertainment sound at all like The Pixies, meaning the possibility of hearing some radical reinterpretations of classics like “Monkey Gone to Heaven” and “Where is My Mind?” runs pretty high.
Luke Winslow-King, James Apollo, Annie Ford Band @ Columbia City Theater. 21+. $12 at the door. Show at 8 p.m.
It’s gonna probably be hot and a little humid tonight, and Michigan transplant-turned-New Orleans club vet Luke Winslow-King‘s variety of ambling, bare-bones blues should fit that kind of climate to a T. Winslow-King’s one of those roots musicians who sounds like he stepped from a 1930s Mississippi bar, straight into a time machine that spit him out in 2013 (the warm retro environs of Columbia City Theater should feel exceptionally apropos). That he never seems to be trying too hard to sound like he does adds immeasurably to his easygoing charm.
Men Without Hats, The Scarves, Color, Crooked Veils @ El Corazon. 21+. $18 at the door. Show at 8 p.m.
Synth band Men Without Hats will forever and ever be known as the architects of one obscenely-massive hit, “The Safety Dance,” but they actually cut a couple of pretty good pop albums back in the big ’80’s (Rhythm of Youth and Pop Goes the World) bric-a-brac with ploinky synths and propulsively catchy artificial rhythms. Their most recent record, Love in the Age of War, takes a solid step into the New Wave Wayback Machine, but you’ll be forgiven for biding your time until you’re able to do that scissor-armed spastic dance like Ivan Doroschuk and his dwarf buddy in the video.
Saturday, August 24:
Linda’s Fest, featuring Absolute Monarchs, Constant Lovers, Katie Kate, Tilson XOXO, Big Eyes, and Iska Dhaaf @ Linda’s Tavern. 21+. Free. Show at 9 p.m.
It’s the fourth year that Linda’s Tavern will be rustling up some choice local talent for a totally free show. This year, the Fest takes place in the parking lot behind Pine Food Market. The buzz set of the night belongs to post-punk/metal titans Absolute Monarchs, playing their (say it ain’t so) last show. But you’ve also got the similary-corrosive and awesome Constant Lovers, dance-music priestess Katie Kate, the soul-hip-hop-and-more polyglot of Tilson XOXO, short-and-sweet sugar buzz punk from Big Eyes, and jumpily-gorgeous echo-chamber pop music from two-man band Iska Dhaaf.
International Pop Overthrow Seattle Day 3, featuring Peter Fedofsky of Curtains for You, Irene and They Go Pop!, Smile Brigade, Lights from Space, and more @ The Mix. 21+. $10 advance/day of show. Show at 9 p.m.
International Pop Overthrow, a festival dedicated to celebrating pure pop music from all over the globe, landed its Seattle iteration at Georgetown’s The Mix yesterday, and it’ll be parked there tonight and tomorrow as well. Quality acts were/are scattered throughout the three-day fest, but the final night of the Fest includes sets from some of this town’s most choice pure-pop acts. Lights from Space play awesome, toothy power pop that sounds like Fountains of Wayne’s tougher kid brothers, while Smile Brigade‘s 60s-style sunny singalong ditties include a pinch of enchanting psychedelic weirdness. Best of all, Peter Fedofsky, keyboardist/songwriter/singer with Curtains for You, opens up IPO Day 3 at 7:30 with a set of sparkling pocket symphonies that roll Ben Folds, Harry Nilsson, and Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys into one lovely package. Get there early, and stay late.
Sunday, August 25:
Black Nite Crash, Dead Teeth, Yonder @ The Comet Tavern. $7 at the door. Show at 8 p.m.
The fact that Black Nite Crash named themselves after a song by Ride will come as no surprise once you hear ‘em. The Seattle band play their spattering and swirling mix of shoegazer rock and Brian Jonestown Massacre-style psychedelia so sublimely, you’d swear they were a bunch of pasty-faced Brits (that’s a massive compliment). Equal parts danceable and dizzyingly heady, their sound’s infused with just enough urgency to render the familiar ingredients wonderfully fresh.