Monday, May 12
Flicker
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

Flicker is the monthly-ish festival of short films that has been happening in Chapel Hill for over a decade now. Under 20 minutes apiece, all originating on film, the perfect way to balance your Luddite tendencies against your short attention span.

Monday, May 12
Government Warning
Invasion
Crossed Eyes
Under Pressure
Double Down, Raleigh

Hardcore. Invasion are apparently from Spain. Note that this was moved from BCHQ to the Double Down at Peace & Glenwood in Raleigh.

Monday, May 12
Spider Bags
The Golden Boys
Girls of the Gravitron
The Cave, Chapel Hill

The perfect Monday-night show at the Cave, as both the Spider Bags and all their fans are the sort of people for whom Monday night is every bit as good a night to drink as the other six nights. Better, even, because the bars aren't as crowded with amateurs.

Tuesday, May 13
A Rooster for the Masses
Strange Faces
The Cave, Chapel Hill

Spirit-of-'83 postpunk/dancepop from A Rooster For the Masses.

Wednesday, May 14
Thrones
In the Year of the Pig
Caltrop
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Thrones is Joe Preston, who was in Melvins, and has also done time/sat in with some of the classic names in west-coast stoner drone: Earth, High on Fire, Sunn O))).

Caltrop & In the Year of the Pig come at things from opposite directions--meticulous massive filigreed riffage on the one hand, dual-drum/dual-bass freakout spazmoid sludge on the other--but they both manage to cut grooves so deep you'll be looking all Klingon in the morning.

Thursday, May 15
Clang Quartet
Boyzone
Indian Jewelry
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Indian Jewelry may or may not be from Texas, and may or may not be part of the sprawling Swarm of Angels collective. The songs I just listened to on MySpace were pretty great in a wall-of-drone kinda way.

Anytime Clang Quartet are on the bill, you're guaranteed a mind-melting time anyway, so . . .

Thursday, May 15
The Cartridge Family
Tir Na Nog, Raleigh

Another local bands/local beers night, this time featuring one of my favorite Raleigh bands, the Cartridge Family. They live somewhere near the intersection of Blonde on Blonde and New York Dolls; they're so good you could bring yr clueless coworkers to this show (as long as you were willing to endure six months of workplace chatter about their new favorite band).

Friday, May 16
The Dead Science
The Hem of His Garment
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

The Hem of His Garment are a collective of varied size & membership, united in the pursuit of transcendent volume.

Friday, May 16
Pox Family Singers
Sweater Weather
Nathan Oliver
Dylan Gilbert
Broad Street Cafe, Durham

This is the annual Pin Projekt show, which is a fundraiser for the Troika Music Festival. Various local artists decorate/modify bowling pins, which are then auctioned off.

Friday, May 16
Joe Romeo & the Orange County Volunteers
Scarlet Rider
Brendan Rice
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Joe Romeo & his Orange County Volunteers have a record mostly done, but there was apparently a little trouble with a label, or something that initially appeared to be a label but turned out not to be, so for now your best chance to hear it is to ask Joe when you see him at Weaver Street, or just go to the show.

Friday, May 16
The Cartridge Family
The Cave, Chapel Hill

In saying good things a moment ago about the Cartridge Family, I neglected to single out Greg Rice's electric piano as a high point, nor did I mention that I still haven't heard their second album, Shine Like a Bottle, because there's some sort of embargo on exporting it out of Wake County. Hopefully they can smuggle some over the line for this show.

Friday, May 16
The Bleeding Hearts
Magic Babies
Sir Arthur and His Royal Knights
Pour House, Raleigh

This is a CD-release party for the Bleeding Hearts.

Saturday, May 17
All Your Science
Rachel Van Slyke
Fictional Detectives
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

This show is at 3:00 p.m; BCHQ says "Benefit for the Durham Bike Co-op! Afternoon show followed by bike ride. Rachel is currently touring the country on her bike!!"

Saturday, May 17
S.C.O.T.S.
Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

It's still more than a month until Summer, but this show feels like the official kickoff of the season. VVLL bring the breezy, bell-heavy girl-group pop, and SCOTS (of course) crank up the humidity with their swampy originals & choice covers.

Saturday, May 17
Red Collar
Hammer No More the Fingers
Pneurotics
The Proclivities
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is a CD-release party for the Pneurotics.

Saturday, May 17
Dexter Romweber and the New Romans
Reservoir, Carrboro

Dexter Romweber and the New Roman's are Dex's large band, generally featuring 2 drummers, 2 guitars, bass, keyboards, and a horn section. For Dexter, a man whose love of Louis Prima goes back to early childhood, the New Romans must be a chance to hear the songs onstage the way they sound in his head.

Sunday, May 18
Dexter Romweber
Billy Sugarfix
The Tremors
Killer Filler
The Cave, Chapel Hill

This is a Zombie Party (!), hosted by local cable-access Monster Creature Feature host Ormon Grimsby. Charlotte's Tremors were an obvious choice, as they routinely rock the monster/zombie makeup shtick already.

Sunday, May 18
Hundred Air
My Dad is Dead
Argyle Denial
Local 506, Chapel Hill

If you google My Dad is Dead Cleveland, you get 1.1 million hits. If you google My Dad is Dead Carrboro, you only get 2300. Yet he lives in Carrboro, and has for most of this century.

He moved here for love, which may explain why all the songs on the last MDID album were so damn lovey-dovey and happy-sounding.

Argyle Denial are Cleveland-ites, and the song I heard on MySpace was a pretty freaking rippin' garage-surf rocker.

Hundred Air are the countryish mope-pop band of Adam Price, who was in the Comas & the Mayflies USA back in the '90s.

Sunday, May 18
Tooth
Javelina
Horsefang
Hell, Chapel Hill

There is no better metal band in North Carolina than Tooth. Period. Full stop.

Stuff to do, week of May 12, 2008