Live Music Roundup: Friday, July 10

Rankin

The Veils play Chop Suey tonight

It's quite fitting that Joan Jett and Morrissey were both instantly impressed by Girl In a Coma. (Jett signed them; Morrissey invited them to open for him.) Like both of those icons, Girl In s Coma keeps one foot planted in crunching punk-n-roll and the other in dreamy pop. The difference: frontwoman/songwriter Nina Diaz possesses a powerhouse voice that rivals rock's all-time greats. Diaz's sultry, rich singing is extraordinary unto itself, but she also excels at throat-scratching grit, mixing the two styles so that they go together as naturally as chocolate and peanut butter. Diaz allegedly knocked her two bandmates dead with her abilities at the ripe old age of 12. Now 21, the wisdom and craft in her songs still belies her age. She titled the band's 2007 debut, Both Before I'm Gone, for example, after James Dean's quote about learning to be an artist and a person. SABY REYES-KULKARNI

Pterodactyl, Man Party at the Comet Tavern, 8 p.m., $6

Bass-less Brooklyn trio Pterodactyl don't waste any time before tearing into flinty, precision psych rock worthy of Oneida, to whose Brah Records imprint the band is signed. Swarming with spitfire guitars and overactive drumming, every song is a mad jumble of off-kilter warbling and smeared reverb, which is exactly as much disorienting fun as you'd expect. Between a self-titled outing in 2007 and this year's more evolved Worldwide, Pterodactyl have refused to suffer the primitivist confines suggested by their name, instead pursing an artful ruckus that's reliably packed with intricate melodies and shuddering shifts. Dig into a fraught anthem like "First Daze" - free for the grabbing at pterodactyl.info - and just see if you don't feel yourself coursing with restless energy afterwards. Now picture Pterodactyl live, with such eerie vocal harmonies and math-damaged density climbing ever towards the heavens. DOUG WALLEN

The Veils, Foreign Born, Other Girls at Chop Suey, 8 p.m., $12

Sophisticated and tuneful yet incurably downcast, London's the Veils have an intriguing frontman and mainstay in Finn Andrews, son of XTC keyboardist Barry Andrews. A trio of albums on Rough Trade, including last spring's Sun Gangs, have made the most of Andrews' tortured unease, all while the backdrop has shifted from baroque torch songs to jerky post-punk and ruddy rock. Joining the Veils on this tour are L.A.'s Foreign Born, who landed on Dim Mak in 2007 with a proper issuing of the band's self-released debut, On The Wing Now. Yielding the indelible opener "Union Hall," it promised great things. Now on Secretly Canadian, the quartet comes dangerously close to fulfilling that promise on the new Person To Person, which doles out charming licks of both Afrobeat and '80s Britpop like Orange Juice and Aztec Camera. Still syrupy with reverb, Foreign Born are up there with White Rabbits in the race to match the Walkmen's brooding appeal. DOUG WALLEN

Blutonium Boy, Flarup, Used and Abused, DJ Ryle, Nympho, J Renegade at Neumos, 8 p.m., $20, all ages

German jock Blutonium Boy's granite-hard sound is made for after-hours parties: only the truly twisted are capable of appreciating it. This isn't to say that he's unlistenable, but it is to say that his interpretation of electronic music is tough stuff. It drives deep and stays there. Thing is, he's probably just as well known for his forays into trance under the alias DJ Session One, which may be his way of admitting that the fascistic, power-mad style he rocks under his other moniker is even difficult for him to swallow. His bass-centric productions made him a hit on the European rave circuit, and one suspects that much of his fan base still comprises many of these folks: all-night wackos whacked on pharmaceuticals. Which means that, yes, Blutonium Boy knows how to put on a show that appeals to more than just your ears. KEVIN CAPP

1 comment(s) / Comment

Meghan says:

Forgot this one! The bands kick some ass.

http://thecrocodile.com/index.html?page=calendar&event=1641516

Posted On: Friday, Jul. 10 2009 @ 12:01PM

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