GO LA: Fat Beats, Fat Tuesday and a Fat Comedian

And a fat lot more to do in L.A., February 20-26

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Staff Wednesday, Feb 18 2009

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JUMP! � and that�s an order!

Have you seen this man�s soul?

Aisle be seeing you at Amoeba! See Tuesday.

Get a load of Kyle Gass�s tube socks/flip-flops combo.

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Get Screwed

There are few experiences in life as flat-out rousing as the roar of a true fine reggae sound system, that crazy quilt stack of speakers and electrical equipment painstakingly Frankensteined together with an aim to blast at volumes audible for miles and deliver rumbling bass tones so punishingly powerful you can feel them vibrating throughout the fabric of your clothing. Head-to-toe kicks these are, and when the revered NYC underground selector Tony Screw unleashes his Downbeat the Ruler system, he’s likely to pin you against the wall. For the better part of 40 years, Screw has been scrambling brains with his audio alchemy, and along the way he has assembled a profoundly deep collection of dubplates, the tricked-out instrumental tracks that revolutionized reggae in the early ’70s. Many of those in Screw’s stash are exclusive to Downbeat the Ruler, custom-made discs with rhythms you’ll hear nowhere else. Microphone-mauling talent like U-Roy, Brigadier Jerry, Michigan and Smiley have been magnetically drawn to his side, and Screw has bested numerous system competitors in the soundclash arena — all-out pride wars of hyper-amplified reggae rarities. In the realm of the sound system, it’s all about those 50,000 watts of dig-in-and-sway voltage, and Screw’s Coxsone-inspired methodology is certain to roil your soul, shake your bones and light up your synapses like the fireworks at a royal jubilee. Dub Club at the Echoplex, 1154 Glendale Blvd., Echo Park; Wed., Feb. 25, 9 p.m.; $10 cover; “Special guests are to be expected.” www.attheecho.com.—Jonny Whiteside

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26

MOCK ROCK

Jumpin’ Jack Black and the Gass Gass Gass

Tenacious D’s Jack Black and Kyle Gass are living proof that mock-rocking can lead to a lucrative career as a big movie star. Well, that’s true in Black’s case at least. I remember seeing the two at the Viper Room while waiting for headliner Joey Cheezee to perform, thinking, “These guys aren’t that funny.” Boy, was I wrong. That Jack Black guy can wail like Geddy Lee, and the duo has really catchy, original songs, like “The Search for Inspirado” and “The Greatest Song in the World,” but I still think they is making fun of the music I love. That’s why I can’t totally endorse them. Besides, Gass wears socks with flip-flops, which I also see as a direct personal insult for some reason. They’re good guys, though, doing this benefit for the 24th Street Theatre with comedian Nick Swardson and Craig Robinson and the Nasty Delicious (he’s Darryl on The Office). Club Nokia, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., dwntwn.; Thurs., Feb. 26, 8:30 p.m.; $50-$150; www.24thstreet.org. —L.M.