Tonight's lineup of mellow singer-songwriters isn't likely to cause a riot on the Sunset Strip, but there should be some charming moments by these potential pop stars. Tulsa singer Amy Kuney was kidnapped by rebels when she was a teenage tourist in Guatemala, but she has seemingly recovered from that ordeal with few traces of tragedy or terror in her gentle piano-pop tunes. Her musical backing is quite mainstream, but there are hints of depth and soulfulness in power ballads like "Hope a Little Harder." She even reveals a social conscience in "Gasoline Rainbows," which shares lyrical imagery with Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger's recent "Rainbows in Gasoline" but is actually about last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. One Tree Hill star Kate Voegele is less lyrically ambitious, but songs like "99 Times" have more of a punchy pop-rock appeal, although they're not quite weird enough yet to qualify as guilty pleasures. (Falling James)
JAMES INTVELD AT JOE'S GREAT AMERICAN BAR
James Intveld is a tireless country music crusader, an artist whose own passionate devotion to the idiom is matched only by his remarkable talent as vocalist, songwriter and guitarist. Onstage, Intveld's steely, cool sincerity and effortless command guarantee that every performance is fraught with both on-the-spot spontaneity and taut technical control. This unusual mix is no small trick to pull off and, in his hands, never fails to incite passions, pack the dance floor and ensure that everyone has a helluva good time. Intveld, who now divides his time between Hollywood and Nashville, has long since ascended to undisputed status as this town's premier honky-tonk idol, and it seems likely that Music City soon will be compelled to follow suit. (Jonny Whiteside)
Whispertown. See Wednesday.
Plan B. See Thursday.
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Also playing Saturday: THE SMELL'S 13TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION at the Smell; EXENE CERVENKA at McCabe's; BIZZART, W.H.I.T.E., LSD EXPERIENCE at Midnight Picnic; ANDY CLOCKWISE at El Rey; THE SLACKERS at Key Club.
SUNDAY/JANUARY/9
THE ANNUAL ELVIS PRESLEY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AT THE ECHOPLEX
Time yet again for this remarkable three-ring celebration of early January's very own rock & roll red-letter day, the birth of Elvis Aron Presley. Organized by local hepcats Art Fein and Ronnie Mack, with all proceeds going to the Union Rescue Mission, the annual Presley nativity tribal ritual is never lacking in big-beat voltage, surprise big-name drop-ins and unpredictable bonus thrills. Tonight's bill of fare runs the gamut, from Presley contemporaries (rockabilly originator Ray Campi) to the superb, semi-avant-torch sizzler Lisa Finnie, from Bakersfield's stomping Dusk Devils to King Cotton's orgiastic blues wrangling, honky-tonk mayhem mavens the Groovy Rednecks and the magnificently indescribable primitivism of the South Bay Surfers. Expect a kaleidoscopic cornucopia of kicks, all served up in hot and avid honor of rock's fallen-but-never-to-be-forgotten King. As Elvis himself once said, "Flippy. Real Flippy." (Jonny Whiteside)
Also playing Sunday: LOVE GRENADES at the Echo; JOHN THILL, COMFORT SLACKS at the Smell; MICHAEL DAVIS (FEATURING DAWES) at the Bootleg.
MONDAY/JANUARY/10
THE CIVIL WARS, WHITE SEAAT BARDOT
The Civil Wars' John Paul White and Joy Williams are the South's answer to She & Him. He's tall, dark and guitar-toting; she's small, demure and adorable. They're solo artists in their own right, and as a pair they breach an emotive space otherwise unreached by either. But while She & Him specialize in lilting Laurel Canyon folk, their sub–Mason-Dixon doppelgangers trade in the viscous, country-fried kind. White hails from Muscle Shoals, Ala., and Williams lives in Nashville. They made waves with the Poison & Wine EP in late 2009, but early 2011 will see the release of an extremely promising LP debut, Barton Hollow, which looks to strike a keen balance between bold production and backwater soul. The Civil Wars' star is rightly rising, but we're mainly going to see White Sea, the band fronted by M83 vocalist Morgan Kibby. The L.A. quintet is responsible for a broad experimental pop encompassing big '80s drumming, spooky synths, burbling bass lines and vocals that soar and swoon. (Chris Martins)
Also playing Monday: GROUPLOVE, WHITE ARROWS at the Bootleg; PICTUREPLANE, TEENGIRL FANTASY at Central Social Aid & Pleasure Club.
TUESDAY/JANUARY/11
PICTUREPLANE, TEENGIRL FANTASY, TERMINAL TWILIGHT, KILLING SPREE DJS AT THE ECHOPLEX
Local DJ, scenester, porkpie enthusiast and party promoter Franki Chan is back in action. November saw him revive his influential, formerly electro-centric club night in sequel form — Check Yo Ponytail 2 — and January sees him proving that decision's merit in spades. This night's bill is extremely well curated: L.A.-based opener Terminal Twilight makes a sleazy, icy sort of creeping minimal disco buttressed by bewitching female vocals. Next up is Oberlin, Ohio's Teengirl Fantasy. This duo leans toward the more psychedelic side of the chillwave movement, preferring soulful R&B vocals (sometimes live, sometimes sampled), soupy synthesizer play and four-on-the-floor bass kicks. Denver's Pictureplane, aka Travis Egedy, headlines. Egedy initially made a name for himself throwing warehouse parties in his hometown, so it's fitting that his music maintains a dingy danceability. Influenced by house and trance, he slings a unique brand of industrial-tinged beat often accompanied by snippets of pop vocals. Darkwave enthusiasts Killing Spree DJs will spin throughout. (Chris Martins)
GRUFF RHYS AT THE BOOTLEG
