Rock Picks: Built to Spill, Meat Puppets, Julia Fordham

 Also playing Friday:

HEART at Gibson Amphitheatre; METAL SKOOL, FIREBALL MINISTRY at O.C. County Fair; MARILYN MANSON at Wiltern; GIRL IN A COMA at Alex's Bar; AZTLAN UNDERGROUND at Anarchy Library; ANAVAN, BAD DUDES at Pehrspace; EVIDENCE at Temple Bar; DIRTY SANCHEZ at Viper Room.

Raul Perez

No Age, no eyes

A.J. Dickerson

Star collector Tracy Spuehler

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• Milwaukee
• The Viper Room
• Mr. T
• Jorma Kaukonen
• Pinback

SATURDAY, FEB. 23

A.J. Dickerson

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Star collector Tracy Spuehler

Simon Gluckman

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Kind of blue: Julia Fordham

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Taken by Trees’ Victoria Bergsman finds herself “Under Your Leaves” again.

James Combs at El Cid

Oozing melody with every fiber of his being, James Combs won't be one of folk-pop's best-kept secrets for long. This sharp-dressing troubadour possesses an exceptionally nuanced palette of sadder-but-wiser bon mots and keen observations on the human condition, mostly vis-a-vis relationships. And it's not like he hasn't worked for it: Combs once led the Bloomington, Indiana-based Arson Garden, a power-pop casualty of the mid-'90s alt-rock explosion before striking out on his own in the Bay Area and then L.A. His solo debut, Please Come Down, was pure ear candy, while subsequent releases, especially Nice Dream If You Can Get It, are moodier affairs, though the one constant in all Combs' work is a voice that quivers like the world's biggest nerve ending. The brand new To Know You Is to Save You is a supreme balance of both: catchy overall but with enough vulnerability to make it the perfect headphone album. Beforehand, you can see Wisely do their thing, then Buddy hits at midnight. (Andrew Lentz)

Jorma Kaukonen at McCabe's

I first saw guitar god Jorma Kaukonen play what feels like yesterday, if one's definition of "yesterday" is 39 years ago. He was this skinny kid shredding fuzz-box licks with the Jefferson Airplane. It's a distinct privilege to hear an artist evolve over five decades. Kaukonen's electric work with the Airplane and Hot Tuna could singe your ponytail. It's not surprising that he's mellowed and unplugged as he's gotten older, and it's sheer pleasure that he's gotten better as well. While his tone can still pack a punch, he's gained an ethereality that's equally as psychedelic as, say, "Good Shepherd," but travels a humbler route. That his most recent album, Stars in My Crown (Red House), is a gospel album, mixing the Reverend Gary Davis and Johnny Cash, makes sense. Five decades can give a man a more spiritual - and humbler - perspective. For these two nights, he's joined at the very hip by mandolin virtuoso Barry Mitterhoff. Also Sun. (Michael Simmons)

Also playing Saturday:

MARILYN MANSON at the Wiltern; THE GEARS at the Airliner; SOUND OF THE BLUE HEART at Boardner's; JAIL WEDDINGS at the Bordello; DAVE MASON at the Canyon; PAUL ROESSLER at the Cocaine; THE COUP at Crash Mansion; BLAQSTARR at the Echo; BUILT TO SPILL, MEAT PUPPETS at the Echoplex; PAT TODD, BACKBITER, URINALS at Mr. T's Bowl; GUILTY HEARTS at the Stone; NELLIE McKAY at Bang.

 SUNDAY, FEB. 24

Sin 34, Joe Baiza's Congress Of, The Jack Brewer Reunion Band, Fatso Jetson, Euge at Liquid Kitty

Fronted by the charismatically bratty Julie Lanfeld, Sin 34 were one of the best W.L.A. hardcore combos in the early '80s, cranking out short, fast and flippant Vice Squad-style rants like "Who Needs 'Em?" and "American America." Now they're back with this unexpected out-of-the-blue reunion with their original lineup, including drummer/filmmaker Dave Markey (1991: The Year Punk Broke). Meanwhile, the longtime South Bay jazz-punks Saccharine Trust, whose songs have been praised by the late Kurt Cobain and covered by Sonic Youth, divide themselves in two this afternoon: Guitarist Joe Baiza fronts his frenetically funky and jaggedly jazzy Congress Of project, while singer Jack Brewer reprises his hard-rocking Reunion Band - now juiced up dazzlingly with Freda Rente's soul-stirring vocals - dispensing such overlooked classics as "Why Did God Create Assholes?" (a less-sentimental precursor to "Smells Like Teen Spirit") and the hilarious animal-rights/revenge anthem "Dog's Liberation." Further thrills come earlier with sets from the monstrous, eclectic desert-rock visionaries Fatso Jetson and singer-songwriter Euge, who was once the young punk who so memorably dissed old folks and dirty buses in The Decline of Western Civilization and has since reinvented himself as a globe-trotting folkie. The show starts at 1:30 p.m. (Falling James)

Also playing Sunday:

ROLLING BLACKOUTS at the Airliner; JAIL WEDDINGS at Alex's Bar; JORMA KAUKONEN at McCabe's; THE STUDI0FIX at Mr. T's Bowl; U.S. BOMBS, ORANGE at Safari Sam's; KILLOLA, GIRL IN A COMA at the Scene; ILL INSANITY at Guitar Center West L.A., 4 p.m.

 MONDAY, FEB. 25

Tracy Spuehler at the Hotel Cafe

"You're like a seasoning or a spice that's baked its way into my life," Tracy Spuehler confides on "All the Way," a whistle-driven tune from her third album, You're My Star. The local singer-guitarist bakes her way into our lives with the charming pop of "Unforgettable," which brackets her endearing melody with stop-and-start guitars. At her best, on tracks like the cheery "Orange Crush" and the steadfast "Holding Out for Love," Spuehler evokes the groovy pop-rock of Anny Celsi and the Bangles' Vicki Peterson. At her worst, she teeters too close to the feeble, cutesy pap of Lisa Loeb and Sheryl Crow with such blank and lazy lyrics as "You are my only/You make my heart grow." Spuehler has a facility for sweetly earnest tunes (augmented nicely on the CD with her violin embellishments and producer Liam Davis' low-key instrumentation), but her lesser songs are undercut by simple-minded romantic imagery that could use some, well, spice - and more of the darkness hinted at in the breezy title track, where she gets off on watching her beau get in a fight over her. (Falling James)