Vibes blog

The Public Good Featuring John Elderkin and Steve Ruppenthal, former members of the 90’s Chapel Hill, NC pop combo the Popes, the Public Good are a new century quartet with harmonies wrapped around lyrics bemoaning love lost and pitfalls of aging. The songcraft is tightly wound, straddling between hard pop and rock. Sam Esquith and Chris Garges round out the quartet. It should be a fab night of power pop that also includes headliner Don Dixon. Snug Harbor (Samir Shukla)

Mike Doughty Best known as the front man for ’90s cut-ups Soul Coughing, Doughty’s most recent disc, the out-now Sad Man, Happy Man, is a rather straightforward rock platter, as compared to his more eclectic/electric earlier work. Doughty’s way with a hook still shines through, however, and his easily-recognizable pinched vocals and quirky way with words (the dude wrote a hit called “Super Bon Bon,” for crying out loud. WTF?) add further weight to his mewling muse. Put another way, this isn’t a Semisonic or Verve Pipe reunion gig – Doughty’s a real musician (and published poet, travel writer and inveterate blogger) who continues to grow his sound without regard to crowds, cutbacks or commercial concerns. The Evening Muse (Timothy C. Davis)

Revolting Cocks Founder Al Jourgensen will only appear at select shows (not at this gig), but plenty of debauchery and industrial dance and rock mayhem should be on hand as the Revolting Cocks turn the volume to max, with DJs and guitars on high alert. RC began as a side project for Ministry’s Jourgensen, but has, off and on over the years, taken a shape all its own with a rotating crew of like-minded lunatics. With Jim Rose Circus, Left Spine Down and Blownload. Tremont Music Hall (Samir Shukla)

Cycle of Pain The bass leads this pack of screaming guitars courtesy of founder and bassist John “J.D.” Deservio (Black Label Society). The quintet is touring in support of debut self-titled release from this past spring, and although hard rock and metal are the firmament, funk and hip-hop check in on a regular basis. Think metal, AC/DC, liquor and a vocalist channeling Chris Cornell. With Shinedown. Uptown Amphitheatre (Shukla)

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Erin McCarley Singer-songwriter-guitarist McCarley was part of the Ten out of Tenn tour that stopped through town last winter. Since then, she played Bonnaroo (winning over many who caught her set in the beer garden there) and released her latest CD, Love, Save the Empty. Her music has been featured on a handful of TV shows, but that doesn’t make her sappy or commercial. It just means more people are starting to notice her talent. Tremont Music Hall (Jeff Hahne)

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Lita Ford Four score and, well, OK, it wasn’t that many years ago … Ford scored big hits with a duet she did with Ozzy Osbourne, “Close My Eyes Forever,” and a single, “Kiss Me Deadly.” Now, she’s eyeing a comeback with her first album in 14 years, Wicked Wonderland. Yeah, I’m gonna take the wait-and-see approach on this one. Opening for Queensryche. The Fillmore (Hahne)

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Metallica Fans and, most likely, the band would like to forget St. Anger and everything that came along with it. Their latest, Death Magnetic, is a return to form, so to speak, and made most people happy. Long songs that play more like epics than anything radio-friendly. This time around, the band is performing “in the round” which should make for an interesting metal experience. Especially after the dark growling of the opener. With Lamb of God. Time Warner Cable Arena (Hahne)

Third Eye Blind A colleague recently found himself in a flame-war with a representative of this band because he Twittered that “their limp brand of alterna-rock” and “mook” fans had soiled his tenure as a record-store clerk in the late ’90s. (Fact: I suffered similar 3EB trauma working in a record store during that unfortunate era.) But the vehemence of this 3EB rep’s counter-attack suggests the kind of insecurity that comes from a creeping awareness that, hey, that critic asshole may be right, and if so I’ve wasted years of my “semi-charmed life” listening to over-wrought cookie-cutter rock. With Hot Chelle Rae. Neighborhood Theatre (Schacht)

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The Love Language Stuart McLamb, the crooning ne’er-do-well behind this lo-fi pop outfit from Chapel Hill, recently cashed in on all the (deserved) hype surrounding his one-man-band eponymous debut by signing with the neighborhood label, Merge. It’s a smart fit, since his songs have the same timeless-pop quality of former label-mate Stephen Merritt (Magnetic Fields), only filtered through the cheap-o four-track of Robert Pollard (another ex-Merger). It’s almost de rigueur these days to bury your pop in lo-fi detritus for retro cachet, but analog hiss and Phil Spector texture ain’t gonna help if your songs blow – something McLamb need not worry about. With Benji Hughes and Jon Lindsay. Visulite Theatre (John Schacht)

Merzah With lyrics that can be over the top and downright corky, but not often, this South Carolina progressive metal outfit cranks power chords that spew a mesh of ’70s prog rock tossed into growly hard rock and metal. Alternating sung and screamed vocals while waving to Iron Maiden, the double bass drums, keys and guitars get the job done. With Permanent Midknight, Pandah and Telic. Tremont Music Hall (Shukla)

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It’s funny the ways you can stumble upon new music.

A good buddy of mine is from Houston. When we lived together here in the Elizabeth neighborhood, he subscribed to a magazine called Texas Monthly. For a while after he moved out, we’d still get the issues in our mailbox.

Bored one day, I decided to pick one up, flipping through the pages of the May 2009 issue until a short story on a musician named Ryan Bingham caught my attention. After all, it’s not often that a pro bull-rider quits the rodeo circuit to pick up the guitar and tour the country as a country rock artist.

If my friend wasn’t from Houston, chances are I never learn about this Bingham guy. Never would’ve become a fan. And quite honestly, I wouldn’t be going to the Evening Muse tonight for the early evening show to see him play.

Check him out. He and his band, the Dead Horses, make really, really good music straight out of the Lone Star State.

You can thank my buddy’s magazine later.

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Real Estate This generically-named yet musically-astute pop outfit is adept in channeling the Pet Sounds vibes with other experimental pop of the era into downright spacey music. They unfold each song with a laid-back groove that blooms into pop draped in sunshine, usually subtle, occasionally somber, and often intriguing. Also on the bill: Bob Fields, the Spalding Grays and Neon Methods. Milestone (Shukla)

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Blues Traveler In last year’s snug release North Hollywood Shootout, Blues Traveler detoured from their jam highway with songs that are decidedly harder rocking, bluesier and tweaked into concise pop. But John Popper, the harmonica-wielding writer and singer of the long-established quintet, composed the numbers to allow for lots of stretching and eclectic exploration on Blue Traveler’s much adored foundation, the live stage. The Fillmore (Samir Shukla)

California Guitar Trio There’s a reason cooking analogies are so often made in regards to music. They’re both forms of alchemy, really, where one takes specific ingredients and combines them in such a way to make magic happen. The CGT, then, are like those architectural chefs who can cook anything (and better yet, arrange it in such a way that it looks like a work of art), but forget to add that ever important soupcon of soul. Fretheads will be in heaven, but those looking for something truly rib-sticking might do better elsewhere. The Evening Muse (Timothy C. Davis)

Carolina Chocolate Drops The Durham-based CCD (Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson) are a big draw at musical festivals and art-house theaters and museum openings. And why not? They’re great musicians, and they know how to entertain, too. Did we mention that they’re all African-American, and play their native burgh’s rural Southern string-band music? That they interpret standards and traditionals with the same flair with which they pen their own stuff? That they reinterpret the music at the same time they’re re-enacting it, which is no mean feat? Why, it’s enough to set a musicologist’s heart all a-flutter. Bully for them that they’re good enough (indeed, great enough) that all of the Great Black Hope shit doesn’t even matter. The music, as the cliché goes, speaks for itself. McGlohon Theatre (Davis)

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TUESDAY, AUG. 4

Cracker David Lowery’s recorded output with his post-Camper Van Beethoven outfit has suffered in the comparison, but then bars don’t get set much higher than Key Lime Pie. Cracker’s 10th and latest, Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey, is a middle-of-the-pack effort, though Lowery, always an astute culture observer, still has a sharp tongue and lyrical eye. Here, he turns it on eco-survivalists, the teetering nuclear state of Pakistan, the fading promise of the American dream, shell-shocked Iraq War vets, questionable companions and the ’80s American punk scene. John Doe, Mark Linkous and Patterson Hood guest on an album of wistful pot-baked country, ’70s-riff rock and high-BPM punk. Lowery, by the way, recently did a stint as Guest Editor at Magnet, where he praised The Foot Fist Way soundtrack composed by local rockers Pyramid and called “Dog Wild Heaven” one of the “best less-than-two-minutes songs ever.” That’s gotta count for something. Visulite Theatre (John Schacht)

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SUNDAY, AUG. 2

The Crystal Method The L.A.-based electronic duo is touring the circuit supporting their new release Divided by Night. A stellar cast of guests lend a hand on the record including Peter Hook (New Order), Matisyahu and Justin Warfield. Twisting the knobs with massive beats stroked by a moody undertow, the Crystal Method makes the live gigs as intriguing as their studio-prepared recordings. Amos’ Southend (Samir Shukla)

Fireworks If you’re looking to score some Ritalin, don’t ask these guys. This Michigan power-punk band needs it worse than you. With three-chord progressions that just won’t stop and the perfect pace to fit right in on Warped Tour, Fireworks have an energy reminiscent to old New Found Glory. Their sing-along songs and crowd-inclusive chants make for a fun live experience, but maybe more for the lost 15-year-old inside of you. With Four Year Stong, Set Your Goals, Polar Bear Club and Drive A. Visulite Theatre (Sam Webster)

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