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Backyard
Tire Fire
Red
Square, Friday
Certain “A” cities of the South thrive on their art and music
scenes: Austin, Texas, and Asheville, N.C., spring immediately
to mind. The latter spawned Americana trio Backyard Tire Fire
about nine years ago; shortly after, they relocated to the
third city in that weird triumverate, Athens, Ga. The band’s
well-crafted, sometimes rowdy rock & roll is of a piece
with Son Volt, but with a fire-breathing guitar-freakout element
that Cracker guitar man Johnny Hickman once compared to the
Flaming Lips. Heady company indeed. The band will come to
Albany in support of their fifth studio release, Good to
Be, with the Basement Band opening. (April 23, 9 PM,
$10, 388 Broadway, Albany, 465-0444)
Scientific
Maps CD release
Valentines,
Friday
We’ve been following Albany popmeister Aaron Smith since his
earliest days as part of Schenectady’s Stars of Rock, and
we’re always stoked when he turns out another batch of quirky,
melodically rich tunes. Hence, our excitement for tomorrow
(Friday) night, when Smith’s long-running Scientific Maps
release Food for Witches. The new seven-song EP has
been in the works for two years now, and in celebration of
its emancipation the Maps have lined up an interesting night:
The band will be joined by an all-star band called Man Scouts,
that features members of several local acts (including Sgt.
Dunbar and the Hobo Banned); New York City comedian Bill Chambers
will also appear. The last time we saw a comedian warm up
for a band, it was at the legendary Starlite Theater. Classic
move. (April 23, 9 PM, $5, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany,
432-6572)
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The
Postelles
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JFK
of MSTRKRFT, the Walkmen, the Postelles
Skidmore
College, Friday
Those Skiddies sure know how to blow an activities budget.
Friday’s big show features an impressive swatch of hipster-approved
indie-rock. JFK (Jesse F. Keeler) is billed here as a member
of Canadian electro heavyweights MSTRKRFT, but you’d also
know him as bassist for sadly now-defunct duo Death From Above
1979. The Walkmen are the toast of the music press anytime
they release new music; even their oddly conceived but brilliantly
executed cover-to-cover remake of Harry Nilsson’s Pussy
Cats was cause for scribes to lose they collective shit.
Next up: the Postelles, a young New York quartet whose old-school
rockin’ sound is made of the same stuff that brought the Strokes
to prominence. No coincidence, as Strokes man Albert Hammond
Jr. produced their lead single. (April 23, 7 PM, $20, Sports
and Recreation Center, 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs,
580-5775)The
Sweetback Sisters
Caffe
Lena, Sunday
Zara Bode and Emily Miller aren’t really sisters, but their
close- harmony singing is so good they sound like they’re
related. Add these two heavenly voices to a quartet of excellent
musicians, and you have the Sweetback Sisters. These up-and-coming
purveyors of a folk music-meets-Western swing sound tickled
Garrison Keillor’s fancy; their first EP earned them a place
in A Prairie Home Companion’s talent contest for young’uns,
er, 20-somethings. Their first full-length album, 2009’s Chicken
Ain’t Chicken, yielded songs that range from serious (the
rueful “They Say Virginia Is for Lovers”) to sunny (“I Want
to Be a Real Country Girl”) to silly (“My Uncle Used to Love
Me But She Died”). They’re as sweet as their name. (April
25, 7 PM, $16, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, 583-0022)
Brand
New, P.O.S., Robbers
Northern
Lights, Wednesday
Despite his band’s name, Jesse Lacey of Brand New was once
quoted as saying “We’re not trying to break new ground in
music. We’re just trying to make good music.” And it’s true:
There’s nothing new about guitar-driven alt-rock focused on
lost love and messy breakups, but there’s something about
the way Brand New does it that works. Since their 2001 debut,
the band have climbed the ladder of late-night TV spots and
glossy magazine mentions, and last year’s Daisy peaked
at No. 6 on the Billboard album charts. Most importantly,
fans can’t seem to get enough. Wednesday’s show, with rapper
P.O.S. and Robbers, is sold out, so we hope you got your tickets
early. (April 28, 6:30 PM, $25, 1208 Route 146, Clifton
Park, 371-0012)
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Noted |
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Elvis
Perkins and Dearland
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It’s
a big, big, big Friday in the Capital Region,
y’all: The Egg brings another killer double bill
with Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks and John
Hammond (8 PM, $28, 473-1845); the estimable
Livingston Taylor sings at Revolution Hall
(7 PM, $35, 274-0553); Styx frontman Dennis
DeYoung sings the songs of his former band,
as well as some of his own, at Troy Savings Bank
Music Hall (8 PM, $35-$55, 273-0038); Black 47
leader Larry Kirwan returns to the area
to play solo and read from his new book Rockin’
the Bronx at the Van Dyck (7 PM, $17, 348-7999);
the College of Saint Rose Jazz Ensemble will
be joined by trombonist Michael Davis for
a big-band concert at the college’s Picotte Recital
Hall (7:30 PM, free, 454-5195); and Russell Sage
College will host Sage-A-Palooza, with music from
the Garden Variety, Travis Gray,
Frankie Lessard, and Young and Divine
(7:30 PM, $5, free for students, 244-2407). .
. . There’s more action on Saturday, as singer-songwriter
Mark Baptiste celebrates the release of
his new CD It’s Not the First Time at Schenectady
nightspot Yours (8 PM, $5, 370-9865). . . . Welcome
to the working week: Black Flag founder Greg
Ginn and the Taylor Texas Corrugators make
a return appearance for Punk Rock Monday at Valentine’s
(8 PM, $8, 432-6572). . . . And worth a short
drive on Tuesday night, it’s Elvis Perkins
and Dearland at the Bearsville Theater in
Woodstock (7 PM, $12, 845-679-4406).
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