Rock Picks

The Donnas at Safari Sam’s

Do you really need a Donnas ringtone? Because you can buy them on the Donnas’ Web site, and then every time the chorus of one of their big hits blows up your celly, maybe your friends will go, “Oh, hey, is that the Donnas?” Initially, when they popped out of Palo Alto as shaggier, chestier Ramones still lacking their high school diplomas, they worked a decent shtick, a straight-faced punk lite. They mimicked years of bounce-punk before them, and the focus on boys and parties was flawless. But instead of respecting the natural trajectory of teenage rock (get better or die off), they cozied up to major-label mediocrity and toyed with hair metal, evolving in only the most apathetic and disappointing way. Their oeuvre differs only artificially — ultimately, it’s the same monotonous teenage playground, one that’s become worse for wear. (Kate Carraway)

From the painted desert: Secretary Bird (Photo by Dan Monick)

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More About

• Sammy James Jr.
• Mr. T
• Paul Cantelon
• Angela McCluskey
• Music Festivals

Also playing Saturday:

WARPED TOUR at Ventura Country Fairgrounds, 11 a.m.; MOVING UNITS at Henry Fonda Theater; MONSTERS ARE WAITING, THE ADORED at Kolor Graphics Bureau; RADARS TO THE SKY at the Echo; STEVIE WINWOOD at House of Blues; L.A. GUNS, LOVE-HATE, LITTLE CAESAR at Knitting Factory; CECILIA NOEL at Malibu Inn; BACKBITER, CHIP KINMAN & P.C.H. at Mr. T’s Bowl; YEAR LONG DISASTER at Spaceland; PRINCE at Hollywood Roosevelt.

SUNDAY, JULY 1Joan Armatrading at John Anson Ford Amphitheatre

Joan Armatrading arrived on the music scene too late for the post-Woodstock sensitive-singer-songwriter boom and too soon for the Lilith Fair festivities. The late ’70s and early ’80s were an awkward time for intelligent introspective musicians, and Armatrading was too musically idiosyncratic to fit into a convenient pop box. She combined folk, rock, reggae, R&B and even new-wave elements into music identifiably her own. Emotionally resonant songs like “I’m Lucky,” “The Weakness in Me” and “Me Myself I” gained her a loyal following. After operating under the American-music radar in recent years, she currently finds herself topping the Billboard blues chart with her recently released disc, In the Blues. While she’ll be showcasing her new blues-based material at this show, Armatrading hopefully will perform some old songs that her fans hold with much “Love and Affection.” (Michael Berick)

Also playing Sunday:

BLUE HAWAIIANS at the Bordello; LEMONADE, FOOL’S GOLD at the Echo; RED STORE BUMS, VIERNES 13, LA RESISTENCIA at Knitting Factory; ROSIE FLORES, VICTOR KRUMMENACHER at Safari Sam’s.

MONDAY, JULY 2 Playing Monday:

FALL OUT BOY, +44, COBRA STARSHIP at Honda Center; WADDY WACHTEL, RICK THE BASS PLAYER at the Joint; LACO$TE, SAD PANDA at Pehrspace; GHOST LULLABY, PEACHFUZZ, JESSIE DELUXE at Safari Sam’s; ESKIMO HUNTER at Spaceland; QUINTO SOL at Temple Bar.

TUESDAY, JULY 3 Earth, SunnO))) at El Rey Theater

HEAVY METAL! CAPITAL LETTERS! IN GERMANIC SCRIPT! That was then, this is now. S.E. Hinton references aside, today’s heavy metal is propulsed by a youth more in love with the power of low-end bass than it is in hate with the world. Earth, purveyors of a heaviest strain known as doom metal, create a sound not unlike those great iron gates of the afterlife scraping open to suck in souls, and count current member Slim Moon and, at one point, Kurt Cobain among their ranks. Both Earth and SunnO))), the New York duo of Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley, look to Sunn Amplifiers as their aesthetic Big Bang — amps invented by guys from the Kingsmen, who did “Louie Louie” and whose effect on rock (and, by extension, metal) is heard even today, the tolling of an enormous, incessant bell. (David Cotner)

The Chapin Sisters at the Echo

Is it just me, or does it seem like every celebrity these days is the nepotistic spawn of some earlier celebrity? Is being famous the American version of royalty or a caste system — no commoners need apply? The Chapin Sisters often get accused of having made it in show business (whatever that means) only because Lily and Abigail Chaplin are Harry Chapin’s nieces, while their half sister Jessica Craven is the daughter of film director Wes. I’m not sure how their family connections helped the trio learn to sing with such wondrous harmonies on their beautiful new picture disc on Manimal Vinyl Records, a split 12-inch EP with Winter Flowers. “Let Me Go” starts with starkly elegant a cappella harmonies before a somber acoustic guitar, subdued keyboards and lonely tambourine come in. “Slow Devotion” is glassy and fragile, a simply lovely love song that’s worlds away from “Cat’s in the Cradle.” (Falling James)

Also playing Tuesday:

THE SHAKES, THEE MAKEOUT PARTY at the Bordello; PARIS LOVES L.A. at the Derby; CARLOS GUITARLOS, DALE PETERSON, RONNIE MACK at El Cid; LEMON DROP KICK, VOODOU, RED HEARTS at Mr. T’s Bowl; THE BINGES, THE VACATION, YEAR LONG DISASTER, TOKYO SMOG at the Roxy; TALKDEMONIC at Spaceland.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4The Farce of July at Self-Help Graphics

The democratic ideal that inspired Independence Day would probably be worth celebrating if it had originally been extended to the dozens of nations and cultures who were on this continent first. Instead, it’s just fancy red-white-&-blue window dressing to mask several hundred years of attempted genocide and cultural ethnic cleansing; the American experiment in democracy should be considered an ongoing failure until it includes genuine power sharing with the so-called Native American tribes. (And, no, casinos don’t count as equality.) It’s in this spirit that Self-Help Graphics hosts the annual “Farce of July” festival with workshops, readings, and a wide-ranging lineup of new and classic Eastside bands. “Living off the poor man’s labor/sucking all our spirits dry,” the Brat’s Theresa Covarrubias sang in the early ’80s. “We say this democracy is laced with their hypocrisy.” The Brat were one of the most important bands to emerge from the East L.A. underground scene, combining the punk attack of songs like “High School” with such melodically yearning tunes as “The Wolf.” They’re joined by heavy-rocking rap-punk warriors Aztlan Underground and Resist & Exist, “experimental progressive” punks Mystery Hangup, and Quetzal, who subverted the romantic illusion of Manifest Destiny with good humor on their recent CD, Die Cowboy Die. The festival starts at noon. 3802 Cesar Chavez Blvd., E.L.A. (323) 881-6444. (Falling James)