Thursday 6.7
ttThe Chariot, Misery Signals (The New Vortex); Aspect 1 (Monk’s); Janeane Garofalo, Patton Oswalt (In the Venue)
Friday 6.8
ttDark Arts Festival (Area 51'see Music, p. 95); Sparta, Straylight Run (In the Venue); Psychostick, Cryptobiotic (Club Vegas); Black Cobra, God’s Revolver (Broken Record); Kid Theodore CD Release (Kilby Court); Our Time In Space (Brewskis, Ogden); Another Statistic CD Release (Velour, Provo)
Saturday 6.9
ttTRUE COLORS: CYNDI LAUPER, DEBBIE HARRY
ttWhether you associate Cyndi Lauper with her smash hit single “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and its heavy rotation on a music-video-friendly MTV (big sigh of nostalgia everyone), or think of her simply as the surprisingly hot baby boomer kicking it live on The Today Show some 20 years later, chances are the totally tubular pop singer holds a special place in your heart. There’s a reason Kodak chose Lauper’s touching ballad “True Colors” to manipulate viewers into purchasing film'the woman has talent and spunk to burn. She’s your wacky best friend or aunt who'much like Annie Potts in Pretty in Pink'makes life just a little more bearable. Lauper is currently spreading the love with fellow legend Debbie Harry, along with Erasure, Dresden Dolls, The Cliks and comedian Margaret Cho in support of the Human Rights Campaign. USANA Amphitheatre, 5400 S. 6200 West, 6:30 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: SmithsTix.com
BABY, THINK IT OVER
ttWhether you’re pro-choice or anti-abortion, there are many ways to address sexual intercourse and its potential consequences. Some activists rely on scare tactics to discourage women from “murdering” their fetuses. Others, namely Judd Apatow, use laugh-out-loud humor to illustrate a couple’s road to parenthood (see the new film Knocked Up for details). Utah’s own non-partisan Progressive Student and Youth Council (PSYC) chose a moderate means of getting the word out on reproductive rights with Baby, Think It Over, an evening featuring local rockers Subrosa (fresh off a five-day tour through Colorado, Phoenix and bee-aye-you-ti-ful Albuquerque, N.M.), noisemakers DigitalLov, Silver Antlers, Aye Aye and, um, Electric Pubes. Don’t think too deeply on this one. Just go. The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, 7 p.m. Tickets: DepotSLC.com
Also Saturday: Dark Arts Festival (Area 51); Cavedoll, The Body (Burt’s Tiki Lounge); Booker T. Jones (Gallivan Center)
Sunday 6.10
ttTHE HANDSHAKE MURDERS
tt“I’ll rip your throat out,” Jayson Holmes threatens'or maybe just observes?'on The Handshake Murders’ “Painted Contortionist,” sounding quite like his own throat has been excavated and run across a rusty grater. So ends another brutal song off the Arkansas metalcore quintet’s new album Usurper, whose content they boast will absolutely “cripple the listener.” To wit, after just four tracks I felt I’d been beaten by an incredibly harsh'but fair'sadist with large, hairy arms. THM appeals to the masochist inside you, me and any audience member who wittingly joins the teeming mass of sweaty, largely underage bodies raising their fists and shouting along to Holmes’ cathartic gutturals tonight. Country Club Theater, 3930 S. Washington Blvd., Ogden, 6 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 24Tix.com (with Destroyer and Gaza)
Also Sunday: Dark Arts Festival (Area 51); MINSK (Monk’s); Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi (Red Butte Garden); Canned Heat (Gallivan Center)
Monday 6.11
ttMXPX (In the Venue); Ashton, This Calendar Year (Kilby Court)
Tuesday 6.12
ttGANG GANG DANCE
tt“Perfectly controlled havoc” is a perfectly apt description of Gang Gang Dance, the experimental group whose eclectic sound reflects not just a transatlantic but perhaps trans-galactic sensibility. This from a band often praised for keeping its heart and soul planted firmly in an almost mythical New York City'a place free of trust-fund hipsters and gentrified buildings. Gang Gang Dance certainly deliver a welcome dose of soul by way of intricately layered organic and electronic compositions whose instrumental segments flow seamlessly into muted banshee warbling. Not to draw comparisons, but if you dig Animal Collective, this show’s for you. The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 10 p.m. Tickets: 24Tix.com (with Mike Barr)
Also Tuesday: Johnny Cage, Cool Your Jets (The New Vortex)
Wednesday 6.13
ttTHE CINEMATICS
ttIf you think you’ve heard The Cinematics before, you’re not alone. I caught the Scottish lads in Texas and initially assumed they were a Doves’ cover band killing time between official South by Southwest showcases. Of course, the two bands come from completely separate parts of the U.K. and Cinematics’ repertoire is technically original, but the group has a familiar sound: brooding, romantic and articulate. Their recently released A Strange Education once again sheds doubt on the theory that something must be new and groundbreaking to strike a chord. Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7:30 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 24Tix.com
COMING UP
ttHeiruspecs (Urban Lounge); Tom Scott (Ogden Amphitheatre, June 15); Tesla (Great Saltair, June 15); Naughty By Nature (Harry O’s, June 15); Nekromantix (In the Venue, June 16); Jesse Malin (Kilby Court, June 16); Umbrellas (Solid Ground Café, June 18); Tortoise (Urban Lounge, June 19); Indigo Girls (Red Butte Garden, June 19); Taylor Swift (Sandy City Amphitheatre, June 21); Lucinda Williams (Kingsbury Hall, June 22); Les Claypool (The Depot, June 23); Deftones (In the Venue, June 23-24); Paul Wall (Teazers, June 25); Sage Francis, Buck 65 (In the Venue, June 28); Eek-a-Mouse (Suede, June 28); Melt Banana (Urban Lounge, June 30)
