Lightning Bolt is crazy.  They have the loudest, rumbliest, most rocking live show, and it is something not to be missed.  Combine that with the outdoors on a nice spring day- the juxtaposition is sure to be magic!  Plus, you also get to see Pterodactyl, Ducktails, and So So Glos.  AND enjoy street booths manned by NYU students.  Which, you know, might be a good thing or a bad thing.  The music, though, that’s definitely a good thing.

MP3: “Dead Cowboy” – Lightning Bolt

I’ll be honest, I’m mostly recommending this show because it’s free.  But that’s fantastic, because this is a pretty damn good quality show for no money!  You have to RSVP here, and entrance is based on capacity, but Cults are fun and Oberhofer is one of those deservedly-hot-right-now young bands that it seems like we’ve all been talking about for years (but it’s actually only been since October).  Puro Instinct (they used to be Pearl Harbor), well, I think their music is mediocre at best and that people have taken a shine to them because they photograph well, but hey, maybe you like bands that photograph well.  Either way, I think this is going to be fun, and you really have nothing to lose.  Grab a few friends, get there early for the MHOW happy hour, and enjoy some great free tunes.

MP3: “I Could Go” – Oberhofer

Technically, The Crocodiles are headlining this show, but what I would do is go for the first three bands.  The Fresh & Onlys!  Young Prisms!  Bass Drum of Death!  That is some good rock n roll on a nice, big stage with a nice, big soundsystem.  I’ve been listening to a lot of Fresh & Onlys lately, and I’m consistently impressed at the clever way they put their albums together.  They’re the kind of garage band where every song sounds totally different, which isn’t the easiest thing to do.  Check one out below.

MP3: “Dude’s Got A Tender Heart” – The Fresh & Onlys

This show happened, but I wrote this up and forgot to post it.  And the MP3 is really good:

When your average indie music fan is presented with instrumental, more experimental music, I think the general reaction tends to be, “Okay, that’s nice, but I’m probably not going to listen to that, and it would honestly probably be boring to watch an entire concert of.”  They might not admit that out loud, but I’m guessing they’re probably thinking it.  Maybe they sort of like Mogwai, but that’s the extent of it.

Woodsman isn’t something that you’re going to put on in the car on your way to the beach (probably not) or on Saturday night at your dinner party (probably not), but if you want to expand your musical box just a little bit, then this band is for you!  They create instrumental compositions that are most successful when compelled by guitars, though they’re pretty heavy on the electronics, too.  It’s not noise music, but it isn’t as easy as something like Mogwai- nor as difficult as some more out there Sonic Youth.  The music is often pretty and often exciting, and watching them live adds another great element, as you can watch to see how they’re creating the many layers in their songs.  They have a fantastic new track out, and you can download it below or check them out at Cake Shop.

MP3: “Tone Cloak” – Woodsman

It’s an epic battle of two shows this Wednesday, vying for your favors in a Austenian struggle of awesomeness.  Bowery Ballroom is seductively batting its eyes at you with DOM, MINKS, Fergus & Geronimo, and Total Slacker.  A total babe!  How could a show get better than that?  It seems like the obvious choice.  But then Cake Shop comes around writing you love letters with Davila 666, Hunx & His Punx, and Shannon and The Clams, and it’s suddenly clear that Cake Shop is actually Mr. Darcy.  Sure, they’re playing again on Saturday at Glasslands (and with K-Holes, too, but sans Davila 666), but the more intimate venue will make for a much snugglier setting.  And trust me, proximity during a Hunx show is always a good thing.

I can’t let an opportunity to talk about how great Shannon and The Clams are slip away, either.  Girl has serious, serious presence and should be a role-model to young rock and rolling ladies everywhere.  I love her last album so, so, so, so much- demented 50s prom night to the max.  Either night you go, make sure you don’t just show up for the incredible Hunx, but for Shannon, too.

MP3: “Troublemaker” – Shannon and The Clams

Drawing by Meredith Leich

Record Store day is fantastic in theory.  There’s all these bands playing for free and you can go see them and buy new exclusive records and hang out all day and then record stores live forever.  In reality, it’s more like, “Man.  I really want to buy all these records.  What’s that?  Oh right, I work a crappy day job and have no money for food or rent, so I probably shouldn’t buy these records and support bands and record stores, even though I really want to.”  But I say, throw caution to the wind this Record Store Day!  Cake Shop is hosting a fantastic all-day event.  Cape Shok Record Mart will be up and running (so maybe you can get some good deals and save some dough) and there’s even going to be a contest for a $100 bar tab.  That will save you money and get you drunk!  And wait- you haven’t even heard the best part: Eternal Summers, Natural Child, McDonalds, and Widowspeak are all playing!  It’s gonna be a fun day on Ludlow tomorrow.

MP3: “Able To” – Eternal Summers

It’s not too often you get a chance to see fantastic bands above 14th street, or really above Houston for that matter, but this Friday WBAR at Barnard College is putting on their annual WBAR-B-Q.  I went last year- it was cold and rainy and so inside their somewhat gloomy gym, but it was still worth the trek to see Blues Control and observe real stressed-out college scenester wannabes in their natural environment.  A good show AND a good anthropological experiment.  This year, the weather is supposed to be nice and the lineup is even better.  What wouldn’t I do to see Real Estate outside in nice weather?  That’s seriously the best kickoff to spring I can imagine.  Plus, you get Julianna Barwick, Grooms, and Big Troubles.  Well done, WBAR!

MP3: “Suburban Beverage” – Real Estate

The last few days have been all basement bro rock, so here’s something a little different.  Check out Brooklyn-via-South Florida’s Helado Negro aka Roberto Carlos Lange.  He’s on Asthmatic Kitty, the same label as Sufjan.  So if you like that kind of thing, it’s worth checking this show out.  If you like anything a little different, it’s worth checking out, too.  It’s cool stuff.  The record label calls it Latin psyche-funk-folk epic.  Listen below and see him at Union Pool on Thursday.

MP3: “Playas” – Helado Negro

This Wednesday’s show is a real sloppy guitar party at Silent Barn.  I really like all of the Turbosleaze songs I’ve heard- all angular guitars.  That’s pretty much it.  Angular guitars.  Really upbeat songs, too.  Take a listen below; they’re cool.  And they seem like fun live.  I’m not sure if this is your idea of fun, but it looks fun to me.  White Fang are from Oregon, and they play sloppy, gross punk rock and roll.  Think of The Beets except from the West Coast and a little more drunk and with just a slightly smaller amount of humour.  I’m unfamiliar with Jesse Carsten, but his MySpace reveals really lo-fi, occasionally experimental bedroom ditties.  Check it out if you’re not too interested in songs sounding good but are really interested in songs sounding interesting.  I think this show is a fantastic occasion to bro out, and that you should definitely go.

MP3: Untitled – Turbosleaze

Darlings have a new EP out!  That’s good news, especially for anyone who’s ever listened to Yeah I Know. There are truly some puzzling things about this whole indie rock game, and one of life’s biggest mysteries is how terrible, terrible Brooklyn bands keep blowing up and Darlings haven’t yet.  This is one of the best bands in the borough, period.  New song below.  Surf City, from New Zealand, are also worth checking out.  Lots of fast, pop-ish guitar that’s got enough drive to keep it interesting.  I’d never heard of Little Racer before, but their Bandcamp reveals three songs with some interesting guitar parts, if too many childhood-instrument-type musical ideas.  This will be the kind of show you’ll go to, and all the bands will be surprisingly good, and you’ll leave way more satisfied than you thought you would.  You should go.

MP3: “Spit It Out” – Darlings