Rock Picks: Scarcity of Tanks, the Walkmen, Chromeo

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15

Playing Thursday:

C. Taylor Crothers

Sound Tribe Sector 9 await your answer.

Heather Harris

Napalm babies: The Dogs

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BRIAN WILSON at the Grammy Museum; ALAN PARSONS LIVE PROJECT at Grove of Anaheim; THE CRYSTELLES at the Airliner; SEAN WHEELER & ZANDER SCHLOSS at Alex’s Bar; ERIC JOHNSON at Brixton South Bay; STANLEY CLARKE at the Canyon; LEILA BROUSSARD at the Hotel Café; THREE INCHES OF BLOOD at the Key Club; LA MATATENA ROYAL CLUB, LA BANDA SKALAVERA at the Knitting Factory; FIONA APPLE, NIKKA COSTA, BEN LEE at Largo; THE STUDIOFIX at Silverlake Lounge; ENTRANCE BAND, INDIAN JEWELRY at the Troubadour; JACK BREWER REUNION BAND, SCARCITY OF TANKS at Harold’s Place, San Pedro.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16

Sound Tribe Sector 9, Prefuse 73 at the Wiltern

Did somebody say “jam band”? But wait, there’s no Hacky Sack, no tie-dye, and what’s with all those laptops (like four of ’em) onstage? If you haven’t figured it out by now, Sound Tribe Sector 9 are not your average jam band. Sure, they noodle on guitars, but the five-piece are more spacy than crunchy, and when they drop acid, it’s in their synth squelches (à la the Roland TB303) and not in a tab of LSD. Originally from Atlanta, they relocated to Northern California, putting out their first album as Sector 9 in 1999. While they have a sturdy drum-&-bass background, their last album, Artifact, had them venturing out, finding some neo-electro and techno friends in Richard Divine and Bassnectar. The mostly instrumental opus Peaceblaster is their first release on their new 1320 imprint. Glitch master Prefuse 73 is the opening act on Friday, and Glitch Mob opens Saturday night. (Daniel Siwek)

The Muffs, The Dollyrots at Spaceland

The long-running SoCal punk-pop trio the Muffs would be worth seeing live if only to marvel at former Redd Kross drummer Roy McDonald, who plays with the controlled chaos of the late-’60s Keith Moon, battering and rampaging his way through the songs like a stunt man falling down a staircase — always landing on his feet and in perfect time, snapping to attention with the crack of his snare drum. Bounding recklessly around the stage with a Great Dane’s nervous energy, bassist Ronnie Barnett is more than just the lead singer’s occasional punching bag; he’s a knowledgeable music fanatic who’s trapped halfway between being a rock star and a terminal fan-boy geek. But the real star of the Muffs is Kim Shattuck, the group’s main songwriter, lead singer and lead-and-only guitarist. It’s not just that she writes winsomely memorable pop songs; Shattuck underlines her madcap melodies with poison-pen lyrics and sarcastic social observations like an Orange County/Valley Girl mutation of the Kinks’ Ray Davies. Then she buries any trace of pop lightness with her completely pulverizing, fuzzed-out power chords. Hey, hey, they’re not the Monkees: Even with one guitar, the Muffs are loud. Meanwhile, former CSI: NY guest stars the Dollyrots toughened up their pop-punk sound considerably on their 2007 CD, Because I’m Awesome (on Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records), coming much closer to the Muffs’ sublime sonic crunch with exuberant originals like the title track and a pumped-up version of Woodstock-era folkie Melanie’s “Brand New Key.” (Falling James)

Scarcity of Tanks at the Smell

You can never have enough tanks, which is why the Cleveland rocker/ranter/nihilist Matthew Wascovich is bringing out the big guns for his debut Southland shows. His ever-mutating Ohio collective Scarcity of Tanks is augmented tonight by several local heavy hitters, including the subtly sparkling Television-style guitarist Tom Watson (Slovenly, Overpass) and the fully raging bassist Mike Watt (the Minutemen, Firehose, Dos, the Madonnabees, Banyan, the Stooges, the Secondmen and seemingly every other group in the known rock-funk-jazz-punk universe). Cleveland wise guy John Petkovic (Cobra Verde, Death of Samantha) is also part of the gang, in a rare West Coast appearance, although he’s apparently just playing guitar and won’t be crooning any of his own morbidly cynical tunes, which is a pity. (Cobra Verde’s cheerfully titled recent album, Haven’t Slept All Year, is another decadently swanky set of glitter-pomp rockers.) Backed by such disparately cool musicians, Wascovich should provide plenty of anti-entertainment as he howls over free-noise interludes like “Hedge Over Height” and “Recalling Practice,” as well as sludgy post-punk blasts from the Tanks’ new CD, No Endowments (Textile Records), and a thunderously ragged sonic reduction of Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My.” Also at Harold’s Place in San Pedro, Thurs., Jan. 15; and Dipiazza’s, Sat. (Falling James)

The Dogs, Wild Weekend at the Redwood Bar & Grill

The Dogs were not only one of the earliest L.A. punk bands (predating even the Controllers and the Weirdos), but they were one of the first punk bands, period. They released their debut single, “John Rock and Roll Sinclair” (a cheeky, Chuck Berry–fueled shout-out to the former MC5 manager and White Panther Party activist) in 1976, but the trio’s roots actually stretch back to 1969, when they formed in Lansing, Michigan. After relocating to L.A. in the mid-’70s, the Dogs sped up their MC5 and Stooges influences and came up with a new sound that was even harder, meaner and ruder than their Motor City idols on such proto-punk ravers as “Slash Your Face” and “Fed Up.” They also revealed a restless, Who-like melodicism on more ambitions songs like “Younger Point of View” before breaking up in 1979. They reunited two decades later, releasing most of their early lost classics on the essential 2001 compilation Fed Up (Dionysus Records). Even better, singer-guitarist Loren Molinare (who also plays with hard-rockers Little Caesar) and founding bassist Mary Dryer proved their current relevance with an all-new 2003 CD, Suburban Nightmare, a typically fiery assortment of raw-power rockers like the autobiographical “Class of ’70” (when “Iggy was president” and “my big brother” was a “napalm baby ... heading off to Vietnam,” as Molinare sings). Much of the Dogs’ awesome live fury is captured on their new concert DVD, Purity Not Perfection. San Diego’s Wild Weekend started out as a mere tribute band, putting a femme-pop garage-rock twist to their Zeros covers, but their sound was so engagingly unique, they’ve finally started writing their own future classics. (Falling James)