So you need some live music this week and weekend. And that’s not a question but a statement. You need this. Trust me. Well, here are four acts over four nights worth checking out.
WEDNESDAY
Let’s kick off this week of music with Tauk. Give the New York City-based quartet’s Homunculus album a listen. Start right there with the opening track, “Dead Signal,” a tune awash in keyboard and guitar twirls but with a rock-solid foundation. Then keep going. “Afro-tonic,” “Hello Narwhal,” “The Spot” and so on. This is instrumental music that can duck into a detour jam, but the band’s deep groove and pop melodies keep a watchful eye on their instrumental gestures.
Grammy-winner Robert Carranza (Mars Volta, Jack Johnson) is the producer who guided the foursome of Matt Jalbert on guitar, Charlie Dolan on bass, Alric “A.C.” Carter on keyboards and Isaac Teel on drums through the 10 songs of Homunculus, melding progressive rock and jazz with funk and rock.
A festival favorite, having played at Bonnaroo and Hangout Music Festival, Tauk’s members first started playing together in middle school, but it wasn’t until Teel joined the group in 2012 that Tauk’s sound was solidified. In late January, Tauk played a handful of East Coast dates with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. They opened for the Funky Meters in Denver last Saturday. And yes, they do a pretty awesome version of The Beatles’ classic “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).”
So maybe you want to dance on a midweek night. Get to Stickyz. That’s where Tauk will be. There’s no opening act with the music starting at 9:30 p.m. for the 18-and-up show. Cover is $3. Yes, $3.
THURSDAY
First, you should know this White Water Tavern show includes an appearance by Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth. “White-trash power pop” — that’s the genre of music that Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth have perfected. Those guys are the local support for this 9:30 p.m. show.
Who else is on the bill? New York City Queens. Now, this band is not from New York City. Try Houston. The one in Texas. The group plays indie rock, but a kind of indie rock with nods to several other genres. Look at the band’s 2012 album, Burn Out Like Roman Candles. “Roman Candles” is seven minutes of unhurried dream pop, but then “Tell Me All About It” comes along and it’s catchy power pop with buzzing guitars. And there’s more, too, like the delightful pop rock of “Waited for You.”
The final group in this three-band lineup is Roses, the new group from former Deer Tick lead guitarist Andrew Tobiassen, which includes fellow Rhode Island musicians Matt DeCosta and Nick Dawson. Tobiassen left Deer Tick after the recording of The Black Dirt Sessions (the departure was amicable), and his new stuff — like “I See It All” from last February’s Roses EP — is minimalist but pop-heavy rock ’n’ roll. Think of ’70s Lou Reed and Jonathan Richman. Street-smart, jangly and a little dangerous.
FRIDAY
In his “We Do It in a Field,” Texas-bred country artist Granger Smith sings, “George Strait blaring in a Chevrolet, we open up the doors wide and let it play,” before reminding listeners he and his friends rock all night until the sun comes up. This being Arkansas, you should probably know that Smith is a proud Texas A&M grad. Heck, he wrote a song titled “We Bleed Maroon” about his Aggie love and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel pops up in the video for Smith’s “Silverado Bench Seat.” But Smith plays that kind of country music — just poppy enough and just country enough — that Arkansans dig. Consistent, tuneful and heartfelt. Granger released his ninth studio album since 19 in 2013, and Dirt Road Driveway debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes Country Chart.
It’s Smith that comes to Rev Room. Fayetteville’s Backroad Anthem opens the show with its country rock sound at 9 p.m. Tickets for the 18-and-up show are $10 in advance and $12 day of.
SUNDAY
Sunday night might not be your night for going out. Reconsider. Sebadoh comes to Stickyz. That’s right. The band known for such pioneering indie rock albums as 1991’s Sebadoh III and 1993’s Bubble and Scrape (oh, go ahead and throw everything from their 1989 The Freed Man debut to 1996’s Harmacy in there) has reformed with Lou Barlow (the one Sebadoh constant), Jason Loewenstein and Bob D’Amico, and in September 2013, that lineup released Sebadoh’s first new album since 1999 with Defend Yourself. Don’t think of it as a comeback album though. Barlow has said, “We were always going to make another record. There was never any point where we looked at each other and said, ‘That’s it. We’re done.’ We never actually quit at all — we’ve been making music this whole time.” That’s true. Band members have busied themselves with projects from solo albums to Dinosaur Jr. (Barlow’s a member) to Fiery Furnaces to Folk Implosion and more.
Barlow wrote Defend Yourself following the end of his relationship with his wife and partner of 25 years, but there’s still a lot of live-wire indie rock music mixed with lo-fi on the album.
The music starts at 8:30 p.m. with openers to be announced. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 day of for the 18-and-up show.