Word on the Street

The annual Sunset Junction Street Festival in Silver Lake has expanded so much in recent years that it's grown far beyond its original roots as a neighborhood fair that booked primarily underground local bands. As the prices have risen sharply at this formerly donation-only event, the consolation prize has been that the promoters have sometimes landed big-name headliners such as the New York Dolls, the Cramps and Sleater-Kinney. This year's lineup doesn't boast such major surprises, and it didn't help that one of the original headliners, soul legend Isaac Hayes, recently died. But, hold on — Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave) is coming to save the day with a tribute to the late, great Black Moses. You also get: the primal, heavily ripping Akron blues-rock duo the Black Keys (pictured) the soulful indie-punk hammering and droning, choppy riff entanglements of Long Beach's ambitious town criers, Cold War Kids; Monterrey, Mexico’s sleek dance-rock assassins Kinky; the maxi-beat-fortified funk and horny horns of Brooklyn’s Antibalas; reunited, hazily low-key country-rock stylists Beachwood Sparks; Broken Social Scene, the sprawling Toronto collective that's launched simpatico performers like Metric and Feist; and several SoCal bands with varying degrees of populist potential, including new-wavey Joshua Tree art-rockers Gram Rabbit, ecstatic harmonizers Bodies of Water and smart-pop rockers Oliver Future. 3700-4300 blocks of Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake. Also Sunday.
Aug. 23-24, noon, 2008