The Roots, Hilary Hahn, The Urinals
Also, Barbara Lynn, Stalley, Active Child and others
Dry the River, Noah & Megafauna
BOOTLEG BAR
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Dry the River have been called the next Mumford & Sons, but the British band's backstory isn't the usual folksy fare. Singer-guitarist Peter Liddle began writing songs in his bedroom while at medical school, but when he realized what he had, he traded in his scrubs for Levis and solo status for a proper band. But rather than search the English countryside for his future mates, he called up four guys he'd played with as a teen in the London ska-punk scene. Despite their checkered roots, the band members have rallied around Liddle's graceful songcraft, adding pastoral strings, close harmonies, brushed drums and more to the mix. Dry the River cite gentle giants like Bob Dylan and Paul Simon as a direct influence on their LP Shallow Bed, but they make some strikingly buff, stadium-ready folk rock, as heard on the soaring single "No Rest." —Chris Martins
Also playing:
JACK WHITE at the Wiltern; ONRA, RYAT at the Airliner; BUSHMAN, YOUSSOUPHA SIDIBE at the Echoplex.
thu 5/31
Alexander Spit, CBG, Carter
THE ECHOPLEX
Rising L.A.-to-S.F. emcee Alexander Spit worships at the throne of deceased Bay Area king rapper Mac Dre, but rather than imbue his beats with the essence of thizz (ecstasy), he's inspired by a different brand of intoxicant. Some have called what he does "shroom-bap," a combination of classic rap cadence and organic distortion. Others use the term "trap-psychedelia," where hippie shit meets the 'hood. Regardless, Spit is an ace vocalist with a silk-smooth delivery and his priorities set on such West Coast favorites as women, weed and whips. He's also a challenging producer, as apt to lay languid live guitars over a syrupy string sample ("Real RSWD") as to build beats out of spooky loops and post-punk distortion ("Facemelter"). If his much-whispered-about last mixtape, These Long Strange Nights, is any indication of what's to come, Spit's on his way to some very serious highs in the near future. —Chris Martins
Suburban Spawn, Karl
ALEX'S BAR
Of all the L.A. punk and new-wave bands of the late '70s and early '80s, the Suburban Lawns were truly uncategorizable. The Long Beach quintet's wickedly sarcastic "Gidget Goes to Hell" was a KROQ hit, and its video was even aired on Saturday Night Live, but these former CalArts students also crafted weirder and more mysterious songs, such as "Green Eyes" and the decadently swanky "Flavor Crystals." Not only that, but in a scene populated with iconic performers like Exene and Darby Crash, Suburban Lawns lead singer Su Tissue came off as truly unsettling, staring blankly into the crowd like a shell-shocked casualty. Tonight's tribute band, Suburban Spawn, features former W.A.C.O. violinist Rebecca Lynn, who also performs in the jaggedly arty and eclectic new project Karl? with singer-guitarist Daniel Chavez. Rumor is original Suburban Lawns member William "Vex Billingsgate" Ranson will sit in tonight. —Falling James
Active Child
TROUBADOUR
It absolutely shouldn't work. Melding choral vocals, glittery synths and a stand-up harp (of all things!) should not work. Harps are not cool. Neither are high, wavering falsettos. But somehow local favorite Active Child (aka Pat Grossi) has managed to put together a show that stirs the soul and, dare we say, grooves. How? Mostly because the man doesn't give a damn what you think and is going to play to the choir in his head. Grossi's ambitious debut album, You Are All I See, demonstrates his imagination, but it's not until you witness the songs live that you truly get what he's trying to accomplish. The man is making dance music for robotic angels, while managing to rock out on giant stand-up harp. You'll have to see it to believe it. —Molly Bergen
The Shrine, Zig Zags
BOOTLEG BAR
Get in the van with The Shrine — it'll be the van with the red-eyed wizard, lightning bursting out of every orifice, airbrushed in bleeding fluorescents on the side — and let the spray-paint fumes and hallucinogens fight for control of your mind. This Venice power trio is a band for heads and headbangers both, and its recent Bless Off demo is a big, wet, drippy mess of the kind of rawk smeared across your youth by legendary reprobates like Annihilation Time, Bl'ast and, of course, Black Flag during their die-by-this-riff era. (In fact, Black Flag's Dukowski has even produced The Shrine.) If their upcoming Primitive Blast debut on perfect-fit label Tee Pee is anything like the actual song "Primitive Blast," this will be the summer of heavy. —Chris Ziegler
THE ROXY
Paul McCartney's only son looks more than sounds like his dad: On a pair of recent EPs (newly collected on The Complete EP Collection), James McCartney pursues a cloistered indie-rock vibe that kind of recalls Bakesale-era Sebadoh, of all things. Evidence online suggests he boosts the energy a bit in concert though definitely not to arena-rousing "Live and Let Die" levels. Then again, McCartney hits the Roxy — with a band, it should be noted, that includes guys from Liverpool's underappreciated Dead 60s — mere days after playing New Jersey's Bamboozle fest alongside Bon Jovi, Skrillex and Foo Fighters. So maybe dude'll bust out the big guns after all. —Mikael Wood
Also playing:
SANTIGOLD at House of Blues; GREG LASWELL at El Rey Theatre; HORSE FEATHERS, DEATH SONGS at the Echo; TRAVIS PORTER at Key Club; KATISSE WITH JUDITH HILL at the Baked Potato; SCOTT MARTIN LATIN SOUL BAND at Vibrato.
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