Crib Notes

The Sunny Day Real Estate show at Center Stage this Saturday has been sold out for months, but there are plenty of other great shows on which to spend your hard-earned dollars this week. Here’s a list of nine shows going on between tonight and Wed., Oct. 6 that I wholeheartedly endorse, in order of priority.

Of course the smart money is on the Wavves show at the Earl on Sunday night. Recent drama with Black Lips aside, the Wavves  kid puts on a fun show of sweetly damaged California pop melodies ravaged by noise in the most brain-pleasing way. According to singer/guitar player Nathan Williams, the idea behind the group was to create songs that resembled something like Beatles-esque pop filtered through the dissonance of Sonic Youth’s guitar sounds, but due to his lack of skills when it came to recording, the resulting songs more closely resemble something like a mashup of Pavement circa Slanted & Enchanted and the Jesus & Mary Chain circa Psychochandy, wrapped in a Zoloft haze — can’t go wring there. Ganglians and Facehugger open. $10. 8 p.m. Sun., Oct. 4. 404-522-3950. www.badearl.com.

Grizzly Bear needs no introduction, so I won’t waste your time, other than to say that they’re bringing their brand of fey and lofty art pop to Variety Playhouse on Mon., Oct. 5. The show is currently sold out, but keep on eye on the Variety Playhouse’s Twitter page as more tickets are rumored to be made available this week. 8 p.m. Variety Playhouse. 404-524-7354.

Photo by Dale Heise

Tonight Digital Leather plays 529. I’ve yet to hear a recording from this one-time Jay Reatard cohort that I can fully endorse, although word on the street is that the Sorcerer album on Goner is the one to get. Regardless, Digital Leather played 529 a couple of months back and the full-band treatment of what’s mostly the one-man studio project of Omaha resident Shawn Foree, gave sort of a dark, Buzcocks pop edge to these synth-heavy no wave numbers, adding some much needed girth. Thee Crucials and the F’n Heartbreaks open. $7. 9 p.m. 529, 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769.

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By Sunni Johnson

There’s a reason why I don’t go to a lot of shows at the Masquerade. For one, I am not a neu-metal or new punk fan, and I also don’t like paying $8 for a shot of whiskey.

On Friday, April 10, Dan Deacon played in Hell, the downstairs dance club section of the old North Ave. venue. “Dance club” means the audience stands in a strange rectangular area nestled between balconies which anal security guards won’t let you chill on (read: animal pen). That’s ok; it’s not uncommon for the atypical Dan Deacon fan to want to be as close as possible to the dude during his set.

I was skeptical about his white jumper clad backing band but found they only complemented Deacon’s energy raising abilities without overshadowing his electronic melodies that always tend to crescendo into a modernized mosh-pit of neon accessories and dirty hair.

The Masquerade pulled the plug on Deacon and company as the beginning of the ever popular “Crystal Cat” began to waft through the humidity engulfing the room. Apparently, the cause of the severance was Atlanta’s legal curfew for underage kids, of which there were many at the show that night.

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By Jonathan Williams

My first experience with Dan Deacon was at last year’s Corndogorama, when I stumbled somewhat drunkenly into Lenny’s after checking out some of the bands on the outdoor stages. If my memory serves me correctly, he closed out a night that also included local party bands such as Judi Chicago and Noot d’ Noot.

I mostly just remember smiling for the next half hour or so as a guy I never really saw (unless you count the glowing green skull next to him) twiddled various knobs, peddles and electronic instruments while singing in a chipmunk like voice to create some of the most bizarrely entertaining dance music I’d ever heard.

Considering that Deacon performed on the floor, inciting circle pits and other audience participation while many fans observed from the vantage point of the stage, the Masquerade’s downstairs venue known as Hell seems like the perfect place to see him with its raised viewing areas surrounding the dance floor. Do yourself a favor and stumble in somewhat inebriated like I did. His brand of insane electronica and interactive live performance seems like it’s meant to be experienced under such intoxicating circumstances.

Dan Deacon w/Future Islands, Teeth Mountain and Mini Destroy. $10. 9 p.m. April 10. Masquerade, 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178. www.tightbros.net.

Check out more dance and DJ events below the jump. (more…)

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