Friday 9
Saturday 10
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BOTTLE ROCKETS On the Bottle Rockets’ new album, Zoysia (Bloodshot), front man Brian Henneman continues to play the working-class bard, bringing a rare poignancy to even the most run-of-the-mill situations. On “Happy Anniversary” he attends an ex’s party in “my melancholy trousers and my masochistic shirt,” while on “Middle Man” he bemoans his own personal run-of-the-millness, singing “If I could be a little bit younger, if I could be a little bit older / If I could be a little bit friendlier, if I could be a little bit colder.” The band’s shuffled members a lot in recent years–only Henneman and drummer Mark Ortmann remain from the original lineup–but its formula hasn’t changed much: the mix of Crazy Horse-style stompers and amped-up twang sounds as crisp and powerful as ever. Eight albums into their career the Bottle Rockets seem doomed to second-tier status, but then few seriously populist bands are gunning to be A-list stars. Trampled by Turtles opens. 9:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont, 773-281-4444 or 866-468-3401, $15. –Peter Margasak
KLAAS HEKMAN, VERYAN WESTON See Sunday. Hekman performs with Lou Mallozzi, who made a spoken-word contribution to one track on Hekman’s 2005 solo album, Yolo. Weston performs with Jim Baker, who will play ARP synthesizer. 9:30 PM, Elastic, 2830 N. Milwaukee, 773-772-3616, $10. All ages.
Sunday 11
YOUNG PEOPLE After Young People released their 2003 full-length, War Prayers, guitarist Jeff Rosenberg left, making the band a bicoastal duo of multi-instrumentalists Jarrett Silberman (in LA) and Katie Eastburn (in New York). Their new album, All at Once (Too Pure), reflects that change: it’s darker and more minimal, and piano is more prominent in the absence of Rosenberg’s lyrical squall. Silberman and Eastburn composed the album by sending parts back and forth, which might explain why the songs sound somewhat fragmentary. Eastburn’s wailing vocals are still front and center, but the sparse guitar and keyboard accompaniment, along with Silberman’s thin, muffled drums, lack the dynamic counterpoint of previous efforts. The music’s grown on me, but I miss the band’s old wounded exuberance. Pit Er Pat and Lark open. See also Wednesday. 9 PM, South Union Arts, 1352 S. Union, 312-850-1049, $10 suggested donation. –Peter Margasak
CUTS The Cuts aren’t all the way out of the garage yet, but on their latest album, From Here On Out (Birdman), they devote more energy to catchy melodies than Nuggets-style riffing. Andy Jordan’s squirrelly yelp–he sounds like a giddy, hyperactive Tom Verlaine–is the star of the show, and his meaty retro licks, along with the 70s glam solos of Ben Brown, are stoked by chugging organ from Michael Aaberg. But it’s the quasi-orchestral tunes at the end of the album that blow right by the group’s usual Raspberries-tinged numbers. They kinda remind me of the blue-eyed soul and soft rock of early Hall and Oates–and I mean that as a compliment. Pyrite and the Tax open. 9:30 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, 773-278-6600 or 800-594-8499, $8. –Peter Margasak
