EXPECT EXQUISIT GUITAR POP
Pernice Brothers
Saturday, April 3
10:00 p.m., Double Door
Chicago
Joe Pernice, the singer/songwriter of the adored Pernice Brothers, is the kind of literary sap whose melodies are so great you can't help but like him. From Ashmont Records, he has released three albums of gorgeous, lush guitar pop, two of which were widely distributed and caused critical salivation. Though good indie-pop bands are about as frequent as Gatorade commercials, by virtue of sincere songwriting and careful instrumentation, the Pernice Brothers have vaulted themselves to the top of the pile. The band's 2003 release, "Yours, Mine & Ours," helped cement its status as pre-eminent pop makers. The album found its way on to endless year-end, best-of lists in December and it's no surprise. As it also was on 2001's "The World Won't End," Pernice filled the album with track after track of the good kind of melancholic, acoustic-based, The Cure-lifting pop 'n' roll. (Truth be told, some less sensitive listeners might find Pernice's minor key-affinity, breathy vocals and lamenting lyrics too much.) That perceivable sadness, though, might have a reasonable source. On his Web site, Pernice wrote, "Like a lot of people post 9/11, I contemplated changing my life drastically. Rock musicians (myself included) can lend themselves to being a bit too self-involved, and the times seemed to ask more of people." What Pernice gave the times was a lasting, memorable pop record. Though he and his five-piece band's show in Chicago won't be a post-9/11 celebration of patriotism, it will be an entertaining display of the best kind of melodic, guitar pop.
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GARBAGE ROCK PERFECTION
The Star Spangles
Sunday, April 4
9:00 p.m., Grog Shop
Cleveland
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To describe The Star Spangles, this critic once told his brother: "They sound like The Ramones meeting The ... like The Ramones ... Yeah. A lot like The Ramones." Hardly a satisfactory description, but little else can be said for the New York City-based quartet. Playing the kind of garage rock that The Vines should play and The White Stripes can now only see in their rearview mirrors, The Star Spangles rock with the kind of abandon everyone assumed The Ramones had. Lead singer Ian Wilson sounds like Joey Ramone with laryngitis and guitar player Tommy Volume apes Johnny's distorted, sixteenth-note rifts so routinely that one wonders if The Star Spangles ever bought any other records. (Not that this is a problem, considering that The Ramones are all right.) The band is not entirely derivative, though, as evidenced by the glut of catchy, up-tempo rave-ups like "Which of the Two of Us is Going to Burn This House Down?" and "Stay Away from Me" that fills the band's 2003 debut, "Bazooka!" If there is justice in the music world, a few more records like "Bazooka!" might propel the four pale New Yorkers onto magazine covers and into MTV videos. Unfortunately, there's not. But fans of tuneful punk rock (think Elvis Costello without the accent or vocabulary and with fuzz-box guitars) will get their money's worth after seeing the four-piece live. Though The Star Spangles are nothing revolutionary, more times than not, that's okay.
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MAKE THE DRIVE
Ben Folds
Saturday, April 3
6:30 p.m., Hill Auditorium
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Ben Folds is the cynic's musician. With songs like "Underground," "Song for the Dumped" and "Rockin' the Suburbs," Folds' wry outlook and sarcastic lyrics skewer pop culture so effectively that his wit is often taken for granted. Many critics (like those reviewers at the ever-snooty, elitist Pitchforkmedia.com) dismiss Folds' common-man philosophy, calling him a self-indulgent and tuneless tunesmith. Though Folds' latest efforts, the "Speed Graphic" and "Sunny 16" EPs, are occasionally bitter and finger-pointing, his fans are drawn again and again to his original sense of melody and stunning songwriting. Folds showed, especially with former bandmates Darren Jesse and Robert Sledge in Ben Folds Five, that he has an uncanny knack for writing unconventional songs about unconventional characters. Rarely does a listener hear Folds use "I." For those who prefer to hear less about how a singer feels, Folds' songs are Randy Newman- or Billy Joel-esque in that: 1) they have pianos; and 2) tell stories, which is really what songwriting should be about. Nevertheless, Folds presses on and is touring despite his preparations for a second solo album, which will complement "Rockin' the Suburbs," his middle-of-the-road first offering. In the end, Folds is the kind of musician you either love or hate. He is snide and snarky. He is cynical. But he remains one of the most profilic, most original songwriters to have made a dent in modern music.-á
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