THURSDAY 2.11
Dr. Dog, The Bright Light Social Hour
Pennsylvania psych band Dr. Dog visits on the heels of their Feb. 5 album release, The Psychedelic Swamp (Anti-). Like some jam bands—which they are not—they enjoy a bit of whimsy. But even given their onstage proliferation of sunglasses and Hawaiian shirts, their brand of psych is more on a par with lo-fi stalwarts like Pavement or Modest Mouse. It's not the kind of swamp that many psych fans imagine as lush, hallucinogenic wetlands. It's more like a bog of sonic peat moss—not as welcoming, but more basic instrumentally and melodically, in an odd way more given to nurturing aural expansiveness. The use of samples on a song like "Badvertise" shows pop culture as a bad trip, but inspiring a sweet song. Openers Bright Lights Social Hour bring their more artsy take on psych from Austin, Texas. (BS) The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, 8 p.m., $25, DepotSLC.com
SATURDAY 2.13
Metalachi
Reverse-engineer the portmanteau of their name, and you'll know Metalachi's deal: classic heavy-metal songs through a mariachi and banda filter. On their debut album, Uno (Metalachi.com), they rework such metal chestnuts as Dio's "Rainbow in the Dark," Alice in Chains' "Man in the Box" and Guns 'N Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine," replacing lead guitar with brass and bass with a pinche guitarrón. The songs keep their original badass-ness, while achieving a new and different cool. I mean, imagine replacing the pilgrims and American Indians in Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" with conquistadors and Aztecs and temples and still-beating hearts. And then they tackle Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song." Hell, yeah. (RH) The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 8 p.m., $10 in advance, $12 day of show, TheUrbanLoungeSLC.com
SUNDAY 2.14
Nahko and Medicine for the People
All signs point to this self-dubbed "little brown man and his troubadours" being a stereo-typical barefoot, peace-and-love-preachin' group of hippies playing feel-good acoustic music. It's like that, and it's not. While some similar acts can be same-y and ostensibly contrived, Nahko Bear and company are the realness. While they do, indeed, play that barefoot and mostly acoustic music, it's no affectation. Nahko's preaching about things like "transcending the holy makeup" draws from American Indian, Hawaiian and even Hindu philosophy, and he comes off more like a regular dude who just wants to inspire people, and doesn't take himself too seriously. Take, for example, this quote from Wash It Away, a four-part "Nahko doco" on YouTube: "You fuckin' can do anything that you wanna do: with grace, integrity, power and manifesto—gusto? Manifest gusto? Manigusto." But when he is serious, he has a way of distilling his wisdom into just a couple of lines: "I am no master, and I know nothin'/ But I am a servant and I know somethin'." With Jon Wayne & the Pain. (RH) The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, 8 p.m., $20 in advance, $24 day of show, DepotSLC.com
MONDAY 2.15
Cradle of Filth, Butcher Babies, Ne Obliviscaris
Cradle of Filth is the kind of black-metal band that makes genre purists argue over whether or not they really are a black-metal band. Even singer Dani Filth—despite CoF's use of corpse paint, tremolo picking and shrieked vocals—rejects the label, calling it a fad. Yet Cradle of Filth persists, somewhere at a point in, at least, extreme metal. In similar fashion, Los Angeles group Butcher Babies resist pigeonholing, influenced by Slipknot and Slayer but also Wendy O. Williams of the classic punk outfit The Plasmatics, whom BB frontwomen Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd idolize. Do they play metalcore? Groove metal? Nu-post-hardcore? Maybe an amalgam of the lot. Aussie sextet Ne Obliviscaris is at least somewhat easier to classify, adding violin to lightning-fast death metal shredding and double-bass drumming. (DB) The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, 7 p.m., $25 in advance, $30 day of show, TheComplexSLC.com
TUESDAY 2.16
Hoodie Allen, Superduperkyle, Blackbear
University of Pennsylvania graduate Hoodie Allen got his shot at the ever-growing world of hip-hop, took it, and made it. His hat-tip to director Woody Allen is the tip of the irreverence iceberg, with lyrics poking fun at fashion designer Alexander McQueen and Garfield's Odie, and suggesting he'll do anything but abstinence. His latest, Happy Camper (self-released) peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard 200. With him, out of Ventura, Calif., is Superduperkyle. Really? Yeah! Or so he repeats, over and over, in his hit, "Really? Yeah!" With his bright-colored music videos and smooth flow, Superduperkyle is working to earn his title. Also from the Los Angeles area, Blackbear is more R&B than hip-hop, more melodic and minimalist than his tour mates. (DB) The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, 7 p.m., $25 in advance, $30 day of show, TheComplexSLC.com
WEDNESDAY 2.17
Metric
In the Great White North, a nomination for a Juno (read: Canadian Grammy analog) is a pretty big deal. But then singer-songwriter Emily Haines and lead guitarist James Shaw of Toronto rock band Metric also play with Broken Social Scene, one of the most critically lauded Canadian indie bands of the 2000s. Metric's 2013 release, Synthetica, (Mom & Pop Music) netted them numerous Junos, including Alternative Album of the Year and Recording Package of the Year. Their music is smooth and highly produced, but inventive and edgy enough to escape mainstream stereotyping. The follow-up, Pagans in Vegas (Universal, 2015) reached No. 9 on Billboard's Indie Album charts. Even though converting to the metric system has been a bit much for Americans to wrap their heads around, the music of the band Metric is an easy fit. Rochester, N.Y. indie band Joywave opens. (BS) The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, 9 p.m., $32.50 in advance, $35 day of show, DepotSLC.com
TUESDAY 2.16
Jukebox the Ghost, The Family Crest
Formed in 2006, while the trio were still students at George Washington University, Jukebox the Ghost still manages to keep their sound new and fresh a decade later. With each album, the members—who trade vocals on every bright, smooth song—inject new feeling and happy vibes, and their fourth, Jukebox the Ghost (Cherrytree), is no exception. San Francisco group The Family Crest has seven core members, but "The Family" link on TheFamilyCrestFamily.com lists well over 100 other musicians that have contributed to the band's shows and albums, including their latest, Beneath the Brine (Tender Loving Empire). One small band, one big band, one great night. (Doug Brian) The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, 7 p.m., $16, TheComplexSLC.com
WEDNESDAY 2.17
Stephen Kellogg
Shy of turning 40, singer-songwriter Stephen Kellogg had recorded and toured with his band Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers for over a decade, before going on hiatus in 2012 to focus on his solo work. His music is reminiscent of Ryan Adams, maybe slightly more personal and less panoramic. Several years ago, he even delivered a TEDx talk about his career and musical passion, which is infectious. Like many boys growing up in the '80s, he had wanted to be Bon Jovi. Clearly, he wound up somewhere very different—and, one might say, better. Liz Longley opens. (Brian Staker) The State Room, 638 S. State, 8 p.m., $20, TheStateRoomSLC.com
