It's gonna be hard to pick one must-see show this Friday in Los Angeles. There's Caitlin Rose (see above) on the Westside, but at the Echo, L.A. Record presents a fantastic double bill from Northern California: Hunx & His Punx and Shannon & the Clams.

Much ink has been spilled about the retro stylings of hazy, lazy popettes like Best Coast, La Sera, etc., so much so that some people might be getting a little tired of the notion of current bands with unhealthy doo-wop/Spector obsessions. But as we mentioned a few weeks ago in our Fergus & Geronimo recommendation, it's not the retro but how you do it.

Hunx & His Punx sell themselves as “the first ever 'girl group' fronted by a flamboyant gay male whose dream in life is to sound like a girl.” Shannon & the Clams' Sleep Talk (just released by new-wave garage label 1-2-3-4 Go! Records), answers the question, “What if a bunch of Bay Area punks took John Waters' Cry-Baby as life inspiration?”

Both acts peddle a sweet 'n' scuzzy sound that is a nice antidote to all the gauze-filtered, beardy, Zooey-bebanged, weed-dispensary-fueled neo-oldies from the Southland. With Shannon and Hunx you get grit, sweat, glitter, chants from Freaks and the street-savvy lust that made the Shangri-Las great. Can you dig it?

Hunx & His Punx and Shannon & the Clams perform Fri., April 8, at the Echo.

Clams perform Fri., April 8, at the Echo.

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