Rock Picks: Electric Daisy Carnival, Explosion in the Sky, Rodriguez

PHOENIX, AMAZING BABY AT THE WILTERN
Is 2009 the year of Phoenix? All signs point to oui: Though they’ve been releasing records for nearly a decade — check out their excellent 2000 debut, United — these ultrahip French dudes have only recently begun making big waves in the U.S., beginning with their out-of-left-field appearance in April on Saturday Night Live, nearly two full months before the release of their new one, the hilariously titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. As with their pals in Air and Daft Punk, Phoenix’s cool is of the effortlessly stylish variety; in tunes like “1901” and “Lisztomania,” frontman Thomas Mars (whose baby mama is director Sofia Coppola) floats his laid-back croon over gently percolating disco-rock arrangements that give musical meaning to the phrase “cruise control.” Yield to their charms and you’ll be glad you did. Openers Amazing Baby, from Brooklyn, are hipster-hippie psych-pop types from the MGMT mold. (Mikael Wood)

Bill Callahan

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More About

• Ronan Harris
• Hollywood
• Jeff Smith
• Etta James
• Folk Music

Also playing Sunday:

ROCK ’N’ ROLL ’N’ RESCUE BENEFIT FEATURING RAINBOW ARABIA, VOICES VOICES, EXITMUSIC, POLYAMOROUS AFFAIR, OTHERS at the Echoplex; CURSIVE, MT. ST. HELENS VIETNAM BAND, BOX ELDERS at El Rey Theatre; ALLA PUGACHEVA at Gibson Amphitheatre; NECROPHAGIST WITH ENSIFERUM, SUFFOCATION, DARKEST HOURS, WINDS OF PLAGUE, DYING FETUS, BORN OF OSIRIS, ORIGIN, AFTER THE BURIAL, BLACKGUARD, OTHERS at the Grove of Anaheim; LOCAL NATIVES, SAINT MOTEL at the Echo (1 p.m.); RAY J, SHORTY MACK at the Key Club.

MONDAY, JUNE 29

MIKA MIKO, THE STRANGE BOYS AT THE SMELL
Here’s hoping a small chunk of downtown doesn’t explode tonight, as two of America’s most incendiary and promising guitar bands collide/converge on the Smell for a treble-punk extravaganza. We’re talking about Austin’s Strange Boys, first, whose new album on Burbank’s best record label, In the Red (and we include Warner Bros. among Burbank labels, for what it’s worth), The Strange Boys and Girls Club, merges catchy ’60s-era Brit Invasion structures and melodies with the swagger and scruff of Blonde on Blonde–era Bob Dylan. And L.A.’s own Mika Miko will celebrate the release of their great new album We Be Xuxa, released on No Ager Dean Spunt’s PPM label. Also performing are Cerebral Balzy and Protect Me. (Randall Roberts)

Also playing Monday:

JOHN VANDERSLICE, THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH at the Troubadour; ED HARCOURT, THE LANGLEY SISTERS, NICOLE SIMONE at the Bordello; OLIVER FUTURE, CASXIO, ALL’S WRONG AND THE PLAN’S CHANGED, RADARS TO THE SKY at the Echo; VIENNA TENG, KATIE HERZIG, SALLY JAYE, JESSE HARRIS at the Hotel Café; DOUBLE DAGGER, THE CHOKE, LILY MARLENE, DALMACIO DIAMOND, ZOMBELLE at Women.

TUESDAY, JUNE 30

LESLIE & THE BADGERS, THE CHAPIN SISTERS AT SPACELAND
Just back from a national tour, local country-rock dreamers Leslie & the Badgers apparently have some big surprises planned for tonight’s show celebrating the release of their new CD, Roomful of Smoke. “Think Andy Kaufman, if he was a hot country singer in a summer dress. Yeah, it’s gonna be that fucking crazy,” promises the band’s MySpace page. The Badgers really do seem poised on the cusp of something exciting, with dramatic, romantic Dolly Parton–style tracks like “Winter Fugue,” where bandleader Leslie Stevens trills invitingly, “We’re going to lay around here till spring.” Elsewhere, she urges, “It’s okay to trip but don’t fall,” as her Badgers rally around her with roadhouse piano, acoustic folk guitar and old-timey music-hall backing vocals. What makes the songs magical is the way Stevens spruces up the retro country-pop settings with clear-eyed and thoughtfully incisive lyrics. The Chapin Sisters, meanwhile, specialize in blending their uniquely haunting voices on sad and lonely folk-pop ballads like “Kill Me Now” and “I Hate the Moon.” (Falling James)

Also playing Tuesday:

THE STRANGE BOYS, SHIRLEY ROLLS, THE GROWLERS at the Echo; ERIC CLAPTON, STEVE WINWOOD at the Hollywood Bowl; CASSORLA, ALEX & SAM, ANGIE MATTSON at the Bootleg Theater; BEST COAST, MOTHFIGHT, SOFT BLACK, WEREWOLVES at Echo Curio; BOYS LIKE GIRLS, NEVER SHOUT NEVER, THE READY SET at the Knitting Factory.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 1

BILL CALLAHAN, BACHELORETTE AT THE TROUBADOUR
The artist formerly known as Smog, Bill Callahan used to churn out lo-fi four-track cassettes mostly about sitting alone in his room, mumbling in a distracted croak over amp noise and loops, sour guitars, and freeform song structures — great, morbid stuff, and he had a sly sense of humor about it. Further down the road apiece, however, Callahan has pushed an intensely personal roots-folk-country thing onto heavier turf, as in 2007’s Woke on a Whaleheart (Drag City), where he revealed himself as a songwriter of deftly off-the-cuff poetics and keen observational skill in impeccably drawn shades of densely coiled Americana. Amid rather lush and wide-screen instrumental settings that frame his beautifully plain baritone, Callahan’s new Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle is even weightier for its sweet, poignant reflections centered around a theme of sorts: Things used to be dark, then things lightened up, now things are getting dark again — but he’s come to an understanding with the darkness. From New Zealand, Callahan’s label mate Bachelorette has a wickedly unpretentious album out called My Electric Family, an upside-down electro-fied pop to make you happy. (John Payne)