SHOWDOWN: Take back the fist pump!

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SHOWDOWN: Take back the fist pump!

POSTED: Monday, May 24, 2010, 10:14 PM

Filed Under: Music The Showdown

A concert a day keeps the doctor away.

Monday: The fact that Porktamer use a Venture Bros. clip in one of their songs makes them fucking awesome from the get go. The song spins out of control into spastic math rock and then they totally sample Yes, you know, the song about chess. I might have a huge boner for this electro mine field of a band, and I'm not quite sure how that even works. With OK Ikumi, My Pet Tiger, Forest World and Bouyant Sea, 8 p.m., $5 - $10, Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave. Tuesday: If your brain didn't leak out your ears from Monday's show — or even if it did — youneed to re-coop by hearing Holly Miranda's ambient and dreamy voice. It really is like butta, drifting sweetly across a soundscape of delicate synths, heartbreaking strings and fancy bells. Yes, fancy. With Grooms, 8 p.m., $10 - $12, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919. Wednesday: Admittedly, High Kick can come off a little, well, annoying at first. They have catchy licks and while they aren't singing about blue skies and daises, they have this happy-go-lucky sound that is obnoxious. At first. After just a few songs you may find yourself secretly letting loose and getting into the bluegrass-fused contemporary rock. You may have the urge to play a washboard. With The Groovement and Late Night Drifters, 9 p.m., FREE, Millcreek Tavern, 4200 Chester Ave., 215-222-9194. Thursday: Fang Island are just so damn likable. The Brooklynites make straight forward indie rock with peppy guitar solos. Serious guitar worshippers, here. The lyrics are just kinda there, except when they unilize the ever loved chanting boy choruses, a trick that rarely fails. With Univox, 7 p.m., $10, Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave., 215-423-8342. Friday: It's hard to describe Tim Fite's music since it tends to vary from song to song. At times he's self aware, self conscious and guarded. But then he's weird and witty, with goofy lyrics and light-hearted keys. Fite is described as a singer-songwriter, not because he he's a folkie — he's not — but probably because he sings and writes songs, and that's the easiest way to pin him down. With Wailing Wall, 7:30 p.m., $8, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919. Saturday: Experimental sugar poppers Of Montreal will bring their sweet, other-worldly selves to the TLA tonight, and you should be doing the same. Their beautifully layered harmonies and crazy synths will give even the worst dancer feet of soul. You know who these indie darlings are, so just go, okay? With Noot D'Noot, 9 p.m., $24, TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011. Sunday: The Restarts sound like a live transmission from the gutter. The punks hit hard with fiery guitars and a precious Tim Armstrong/ Lars Fredericksen-style alternating vocals. And both singers have a well perfected Tim Armstrong snarl. So, yeah, theses guys sound like Rancid. They really do. But they do a good job at it with the rebellious choruses and blinding licks that'll make any punker want to take back the fist pump. With Star Fucking Hipsters, Guilt Trip and Population Zero, 8 p.m., $10, The M Room, 15 W. Girard Ave., 215-739-5577.

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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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