THE SHOWDOWN: Bong hits on beaches

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THE SHOWDOWN: Bong hits on beaches

POSTED: Monday, March 29, 2010, 7:51 PM

Filed Under: Music The Showdown

A concert a day keeps the doctor away.

Monday: Get down with some dense, trippy weirdness with the Cleveland duo, mr. Gnome. They're fully equipped with gentle female vocals set against sandpaper guitars, driving drums and chanting choruses. They make songs that are dramatic and playful, and they'll probably put on the funnest show this week. With Pepi Ginsburg, Tristen, and Charles Latham, $8, 7 p.m., North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 215-684-0808. Tuesday: The band City Center encourages fuzz to creep into their music. Instead of gritty, amped up guitars, they use the fuzz to produce a warmth to their storytelling tunes. They also use loops, bells and spastic noises, eliminating consistency and the possiblity of being background music. With Clean Equations and Controlled Storms, $5 - $10, 8 p.m., Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave. Wednesday: San Fran babies Citay play their spiraling pop at Kung Fu Necktie tonight. With their dreamy guitar wails, they're songs conjure up thoughts of late '60s classic rock, only Citay has filtered out nearly all of this lame parts of that era, kept a touch of the admittedly enjoyable cheese, and reinvented it into something appropriate for today. At 8 p.m., $10, Kung fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919. Thursday: Atomic Square are subtle. They are just barely too poppy — too radio-friendly — in some songs. While on other tracks they get more experimental with acid feedback and drifting bass lines. It sounds like they're not certain where they want to go, which could make their show a fun ride or an awkward paradox of pop and experimental. With Glowfriends, Pilot Cloud, and The Defog, $8, 8 p.m., North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 215-684-0808. Friday: Badasses and murderous banshees, Gunslingers will be bruising drums tonight and — as their album cover suggests — getting blood on the guitars. They boast lightning fast licks, but that doesn 't mean they play songs that barely reach the one minute mark. With touches of black magic and Satanic rituals, they're an evil presence. But play they're albums backwards and it's all rainbows and kittens. With Gentlemen Christ, La Octracina, and This Temper, $8, 9 p.m., The M Room, 215-739-5577. Saturday: Best Coast is the relaxed, female version of Wavves. She makes warm, fuzzy lo-fi made for sunny days and heartbreak. It echos images of the bong hits on beaches with her lyrics of friendships turned relationships turned shit. With Reading Rainbow and Creepoid, $10, 7 p.m., Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave., 215-423-8342. Sunday: The singer of Leopold and His Fiction, Daniel James, has a voice that starts out unassuming, but will eventually grab you and demand attention. The warbley, bluesy and shaken vocals are driven by catchy guitar rhythms and a more than occasional southern rock vibe. At 8 p.m., $8, Khyber, 56 S. 2nd St., 215-238-5888.

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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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