THE SHOWDOWN: Creaky noise excursions

In this week's live music roundup: the Twilight Singers, Creepoid and Crash Test Dummies

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THE SHOWDOWN: Creaky noise excursions

POSTED: Monday, May 9, 2011, 1:00 PM

Monday: I can’t say for sure how many times Creepoid have been featured on The Showdown since I took the reins, but they deserve every mention. After appearing alongside innumerable other groups at this year’s South By Southwest Conference, Creepoid are starting to get recognition on a national level. Bringing things back home is always a warming prospect, especially when the music is a thunderous and captivating as Creepoid’s creaky noise excursions. w/ The Love Dimension, Ancient Creature & Quilty, 8 p.m., $8, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919.

Tuesday: Originally conceived as the theatrical counterpart to Greg Dulli’s Afghan Whigs, The Twilight Singers have since become the alt-rock ruffian’s main bag. After a year-long solo tour, Dulli regrouped The Twilight Singers for a new album, the noir-ish Dynamite Steps. With Dulli’s trademark intensity ramped up by sweeping, cinematic music, the latest incarnation of The Twilight Singers is perhaps the finest yet. If the recent warm patches in the weather have got you feeling all light and bubbly, the perennially gloomy Dulli is certain to knock you back down to his dusky reality. w/ Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, 8 p.m., $17-$19, Trocadero, 10th & Arch Sts., 215-922-6888.

Wednesday: Songwriter Steve Poltz first gained attention during the early ‘90s, when his then-girlfriend, Jewel, had a few hits with his quirky, romantic songs. In the years since the couple’s split, Poltz has carried on with album after album of delightfully sentimental and slyly humorous melodies. Last year’s Dreamhouse found Poltz exploring electronics and lo-fi techniques in tasteful ways. Poltz’s live shows are the stuff of San Diego (and Tin Angel) legend, often stretching into the multi-hour mark and featuring plenty of unreleased songs and stories. w/ Justin Trawick, 8:30 p.m., $15, Tin Angel, 20 S. 2nd St., 215-928-0770.

Thursday: Back in January of last year, up-and-coming Florida rockers Surfer Blood released their debut album, Astro Coast. The record, jam-packed with big guitars and bigger choruses, is tailor-made to serve as the soundtrack to a sticky hot day. Reverb soaks each power chord and joyously passionate group vocals will guide the audience through each anthem. Summer couldn’t come soon enough, and Surfer Blood are doing their part to make sure that this one’s perfectly sweltering. w/ …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, True Widow & Weekends, 8 p.m., $13-$14, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 215-563-3980.

Friday: Thanks to the Reverend Horton Heat (both the singer/guitarist and his band), the world has a surplus of rockin’ country-punk ditties. The group’s most recent LP, 2009’s Laughin’ & Cryin’, was a step more toward the ‘-billy’ end of ‘rockabilly,’ but their notoriously energetic live shows haven’t simmered a step. With nearly 20 years of recorded music under their rhinestone-studded belts, RHH are most concerned with putting on a great performance. Whether that’ll include instrument acrobatics or double-time fretwork is up to the good Reverend himself. w/ The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band & The Young Werewolves, 9 p.m., $18-$27, TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011.

Saturday: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. is bound to garner intrigue based on name alone. And who can blame them? The Detroit duo has been establishing itself as a powerhouse remix factory, tweaking tracks by numerous indie pop favorites. The guys are also prepping to release their debut album in June. Appearances have been rumored to be quite eventful, blending electronica, rock, pop and whatever else the pair has picked up at the record shop lately. w/ Generationals, 7:30 p.m., $10, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919.

Sunday: Before you try to convince yourself against it, let me urge you to go see the Crash Test Dummies. I know, it’s been years since their breakthrough, God Shuffled His Feet, either made you swoon or cringe. The Dummies’ live show is a dramatic voyage through their truly eclectic catalogue, mostly touching on deep tracks and new compositions. Lead croaker Brad Roberts is the ringleader of this macabre spectacle, with singer Ellen Reid providing a lilting counterpoint. Roberts’ banter between songs is uncharacteristically engaging, as he often lampoons his brush with success as well as his graciousness for having any hits at all. w/ Rob Morsberger, 7:30 p.m., $24-$34, World Café Live, 30th St. & Walnut St., 215-222-1400.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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