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Pearls
and Brass
Valentine’s,
Thursday
How’s this for a straightforward band description for Pearls
and Brass, from online critic Michael Crumsho: their latest
album, The Indian Tower, “is pure, classic proto-metal
boogie played by guys who honestly seem to live this stuff
in the best possible way.” So they’re rockin’ and sing about
rockin’ and chicks and hangovers and beer and chicks and rockin’.
Got it? The Lehigh Valley (Pa.)-based trio have been having
at it for a decade, so when it comes to all the aforementioned
topics, they must mean what they rock. Or, as Crumsho also
wrote, “Pearls and Brass have your ultimate Friday afternoon
‘just got paid today’ soundtrack.” So, to sum up, tonight
(Thursday) at Valentine’s is your Friday this week. Also on
the bill are heavy dudes Great Day for Up. (July 13, 9
PM, call for prices, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
The
Turtles, the Buckinghams
Albany
Riverfront Park, Thursday
Formed in the ’60s by Howard Kaylan and Mark Voman (better
known as Flo and Eddie) at the age of 15, the Turtles decided
to satisfy their audience (mostly comprising college students)
by adding obscenity (foul-mouthed lyrics and genital gestures
with cutlery) to songs such as “Money” and “What’d I Say.”
So it’s interesting that the band produced Billboard hits
like the sappy “Happy Together,” “She’d Rather Be With Me”
and “Elenore.” Every band has to start somewhere. The Turtles
have a true oldies sound, and their Web site claims that “they
were the closest America ever came to having a Beatles.” Tonight
(Thursday), the Turtles will play their hits from the 1960s
at Oldies Night at Alive at Five. Opening will be the Buckinghams,
another group that formed as teenagers in the ’60s with music
that “fuses their classic sound with a punch and rhythm for
today.” (July 13, 5 PM, Albany Riverfront Park, Albany,
434-2032, www.albanyevents.org).
 Wilco,
the M’s
The
Pines Theatre, Sunday
Wilco, who’ll perform at North-ampton’s Look Park this week,
released their first live album, Kicking Television—Live
in Chicago (Nonesuch) last November to critical acclaim.
The album (and accompanying DVD) has been called a “stunning
document of one of the best live bands currently in existence,
recorded during homecoming shows at Chicago’s Vic Theater”
by Q Magazine. Q also listed KTV in their “20
Best Live Albums of All Time” feature. Not to worry, though,
if you’re already aching for fresh stuff from the alt-rock
stars: According to sources close to the band, their next
album is due out in the spring of 2007. The M’s, whose music
has been described by The Meter’s Bob Mehr as
“a charmed collision of the Kinks, T. Rex, and even some of
Sabbath’s trippier tendencies,” will open the show. (July
16, 6:30 PM, $35, Look Park, Northampton, Mass., 413-584-5457)
Bowling
for Soup
Saratoga
Winners, Tuesday
After more than a decade in the biz, Wichita Falls, Texas-based
punk band Bowling for Soup are reaping the rewards of their
hard work. Though the band had built a following for themselves
over the years with a heavy touring schedule and their debut
full-length album Rock On Honorable Ones (not to mention
earning a Grammy nom for their 2002 single “Girl All the Bad
Guys Want”), Bowling for Soup finally became a household name
when their ode to the year “1985” from 2004’s Hangover
You Don’t Deserve burst onto the Top 40 radio stations.
Check ’em out when they headline a power-punk extravaganza
at Saratoga Winners this week. Also on the bill: Lucky Boy
Confusion, Punchline, Army of Freshmen, the Nightlife. (July
18, 7:30 PM, $15, 1375 New Loudon Road, Latham, 783-1010)
 Richard
Buckner
Valentine’s,
Monday
Last time Richard Buckner came to town, he delivered one of
the most notorious stink-bombs in Capital Region history,
according to many in attendance. His 2002 performance at the
WAMC Performing Arts Studio was described as “ramshackle,”
“flawed” and “sprawling”—and that was by someone who actually
liked it. Others simply said the opening act (the Kamikaze
Hearts, at the time merely buzzworthy) blew him off the stage.
Buckner hasn’t exactly been in hiding for the last four years—he’s
released two more studio albums since, including the new Dents
and Shells (Merge)—but his return certainly is auspicious.
Sneaking in on a Monday night? Did he think we wouldn’t notice?
We’re anxious to see which Buckner shows up for this one,
as he’s also responsible for one of the best small-venue performances
we’ve ever seen (in 2001, at the much-missed
Larkin). But he best watch his back: The buzzworthy Luxury
Flats are scheduled to open. (July 17, 8 PM, $10, 17 New
Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
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Gary
Puckett, the Box Tops
Empire
State Plaza, Wednesday
We sure are glad to see Big Star frontman Alex Chilton back
in action, especially after that uncertain period following
Hurricane Katrina. (Chilton had a home in the French Quarter
of New Orleans, and was “missing” for more than a week following
the disaster.) Of course, he’ll be with his first group, the
Box Tops, so we don’t expect he’ll go off-course and play
“The Ballad of El Goodo” or anything like that, but a few
notes of “The Letter” and everything will be fine. (Anyway,
we’re just hoping he’ll sign our vinyl copy of #1 Record.)
With the inimitable Gary Puckett on hand to sing his oldies-radio
staples like “Young Girl” and “Woman, Woman,” this Wednesday
should be one of pleasant reminiscence—with beer trucks. (July
19, 7 PM, free, Empire State Plaza, Albany, 877-659-4377)
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Noted |
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cracker
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Jam-alicious
upstaters the Heavy Pets will get their
groove on at Red Square tonight (Thursday) (9
PM, $5, 432-8584). . . . It’s the battle for the
scariest-sounding band name when the Sounds of
the Underground tour stops at the Mid-Hudson Civic
Center today in Poughkeepsie with As I Lay
Dying, In Flames, Trivium,
Cannibal Corpse, Terror, the Black
Dahlia Murder, Behemoth, the Chariot,
Through the Eyes of the Dead and GWAR
(2 PM, $35, 845-454-3388). . . . Rockin’ Amsterdam
(N.Y.)-based group the Lone Peaches will
perform at Northern Lights on Thursday; Green
Hill Tribe and 2096 are also on the
bill (7:30 PM, $8, 371-0012). . . . Cracker
will also stop in at Northern Lights on Saturday
in support of their brand-new disc, Greenland
(7:30 PM, $15, 371-0012). . . . Jupiter Circle,
the ensemble group whose music is described in
the Saratogian as “nocturnal dreaming infused
with a dose of jazz-groove,” will play at Caffe
Lena on Sunday (7 PM, $14, 583-0022).
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Classifieds
