Rock Picks: Cat Power, Mountain Goats, Chapin Sisters

Spectrum at the Echo

The past: Spaceman 3 (1985), Experimental Audio Research (1994) and the most recent Spectrum album proper, back in 1999, A Lake of Tears, in collaboration with Silver Apples. The present: a new album by Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember, an alchemic admixture of vintage synths and '60s avant-garage that's the hardest-hitting thing out of Rugby since, well, rugby. Tonight lands about midway through a world tour that showcases the new material frp, the Birdman Records CD Spectrm Meets Cpt. Memphis — Indian Givers, and Kember promises "a selection of new songs, some classic Spacemen 3 stuff and some older Spectrum material." What's striking about the work is how dreamlike and calm it is even during the most cacophonous blasts of noise and confusion. It's a trip that could go wildly bad (e.g., the track "Owsley"), but Kember takes your hand and opens new windows for you instead of kicking you through them. (David Cotner)

Thee Emergency always hate it when Scotty beams them down into a body of water.

Eden Batki

Magnificent fiends Howlin’ Rain

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• John Payne
• Karin Tatoyan
• Cat Power
• Phill Niblock
• Henry Fonda

The Magnetic Fields at Henry Fonda Theater

Given the extravagant scale of the Magnetic Fields' 1999 CD, 69 Love Songs, whatever came after it was destined to look small. Unfortunately 2004's i , from its lowercase title on, was even more gaunt than expected. Seemingly assembled from the scraps of its predecessor, it replaced the shimmer and flash of the Magnetic Fields' synth-streaked sad hits with scrawny piano-and-ukulele sketches enlivened by stale theatrics. No wonder this year's Distortion is so striking. Wreaths of squealing feedback and hissy reverb swirl around Stephin Merritt’s three-chord wonders. Though only a few of the songs are barbed-wire kissing cousins of the brothers Reid, the slathered noise — not to mention the Moe Tucker–minimal percussion (a sparkling tambourine here, rumbling toms there) — is pure Jesus & Mary Chain. That said, Distortion, with Merritt's unmistakable Ian Curtis–as–crooner baritone, the simplified FM melodies, the mordant wit and knowingly impossible romance, make it unmistakably a Magnetic Fields record. And a really good one, thankfully. Also Mon. (Bernardo Rondeau)

Also playing Sunday:

David Noles

(Click to enlarge)

Shape-shifter Kárin Tatoyan

MAGNETIC FIELDS at Henry Fonda Theater (see Music feature); VON IVA at Alex's Bar; KRISTIN HERSH at McCabe's.

MONDAY, MARCH 3 The Chapin Sisters at the Echo

The Chapin Sisters harmonize with such lush and entrancingly beautiful three-part harmonies that it's easy to overlook their dark side. The local trio first came to attention in 2005 with their somberly icy version of "Toxic," discovering the bittersweet melody that lurked underneath Britney Spears' pop hit, and they similarly turned Madonna's fluffy "Borderline" into a banjo-plucked, achingly lonely country ballad. The Chapins are just as captivating with their own memorable original songs on their debut full-length CD, Lake Bottom LP, on Plain Recordings (which follows two earlier EPs). The waves of sumptuous harmonies that sweep through "Kill Me Now" belie the song's sad lyrics, and those febrile voices twine together soothingly and hauntingly on Abigail Chapin's "I Hate the Moon." Lily Chapin is more down to earth on the homespun charms of "Wash Away," while Jessica Craven's spare, acoustic-guitar-driven "Don't Love You" floats away with an airy melody. It's a family affair: The title Lake Bottom celebrates the Chapins' familial connections — their uncle was the late Harry Chapin, Lily's and Abigail's father is the singer Tom Chapin, and their half-sister Jessica is the daughter of horror-film maestro Wes Craven. (Falling James)

Also playing Monday:

MAGNETIC FIELDS at Henry Fonda Theater (see Music feature); WADDY WACHTEL, BRETT TUGGLE, PHIL JONES at the Joint; METAL SKOOL at the Key Club; CAVIL AT REST, VOXHAUL BROADCAST at Spaceland; AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT, HENRY CLAY PEOPLE at the Troubadour.

 TUESDAY, MARCH 4

Thee Emergency at Silverlake Lounge

Thee Emergency come rumbling out of Seattle, but with their hard-rock guitar riffs, funky-bluesy keyboards and Zana "Dita Vox" Geddes' soulfully passionate vocals, the quintet sound more like a band straight outta the Motor City. Their punky melange of classic rock, R&B and raw garage-rock psychedelia is much closer to the world of the Dirtbombs, the Detroit Cobras and L.A.'s BellRays than anything in the stodgy Pearl Jam or Soundgarden universe. (Hell, Thee Emergency's bassist is even named Nick Detroit.) Their new, aptly titled CD, Solid, rambles over the MC5/Deep Purple collision of "Heartbreaker," and trips out further on "2069 Space Time," as Geddes wails amid the hard-rock wreckage with incandescent power. She shows a seductively mellow side on the violin-spun ballad "My Lament" and the bluesy interlude "The Word," but Thee Emergency generally keep things moving on frantic, sax-charged tracks like "It's All in the Reflexes." Even better is "Attack of the Cobrasaurus," as Matt "Sonic" Smith's loopy guitar riffs become entangled in Dr. Schmeckle's pumping organ while Geddes declares herself the supreme Jezebel of all time. You damn well better believe her. Also at the Scene, Wed. (Falling James)

The Mountain Goats at the Troubadour

For the past two decades, John Darnielle has recorded as the Mountain Goats, creating an avalanche of strummed miniatures notable for their catchiness, fictional bent, and ability to accomplish in a handful of precise lyrics what many short-story writers can't do in 5,000 words. Darnielle's hundreds of songs share characters and themes, travel to exotic lands, dwell on destroyed lives, and manage to capture tough emotions in simple ways — "I know you're changing," he sings in "Snow Crush Killing Song," "god damn you for that." One ongoing cycle, called the Alpha series, concerns a troubled alcoholic couple who clink their glasses "and thick as molasses/ice cold vodka eases in/as the low pressure system brings the breezes in." After a series of autobiographical albums, Darnielle once again finds himself drifting toward (other) damaged characters and capturing their human essences on the Mountain Goats' new Heretic Pride. With Jeffrey Lewis & the Jitters. Also Wed. (Randall Roberts)