Music Picks 

FANTOMAS

Mike Patton (Tomahawk, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle), Buzz Osbourne (Melvins), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) and Dave Lombardo (Slayer) aren’t a “supergroup” in the traditional sense, but little else is trad about Fantomas, either. The band’s fourth and latest album, Delirium Cordia (Ipecac), consists of one 74-minute track called “Surgical Sound Specimens From the Museum,” a throbbing masterwork of twisted doom metal and tense psychological atmospherics scarier than Dawn of the Dead and Bob Dylan’s appearance in that Victoria’s Secret ad combined. THURSDAY, April 15 @ In the Venue, 579 W. 200 South, 7 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 800-888-8499.

TOLCHOCK TRIO

Ghosts Don’t Have Bones (RedTriangleRecords.com) may be the coolest title to drop thus far in 2004, and the Tolchock Trio’s second album, being released tonight, lives up to it. The Salt Lake City threesome expands on last year’s Hello Bird with a keener sense of adventure, more purposeful noise, some well-placed guitar rave-ups and that elusive indie-rock charm the kids (thankfully) still clamor for. Tunes like “Goose,” “Sugar-Coated Hornets” and the epic 14-minute title track burn the speakers in 3-D—yeah, it’s a keeper. FRIDAY, April 16 @ The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 9:30 p.m. Info: 746-0558 (with The Wolfs and Ether Orchestra).

AN ALBATROSS

It was bound to happen in these sped-up, zero-attention-span times: An 11-song album that clocks in at under eight minutes, courtesy of Philadelphia spazz-metal mercenaries An Albatross. Their debut, We Are the Lazer Viking (Ace Fu), features such screaming-for-brevity buzzbombs as “The Revolutionary Politics of Dance,” “Get Faster, Cry For Happy” and “The Vitally Important Pelvic Thrust,” few longer than 60 seconds and all as scaldingly hysterical as Pac-Man backstroking in an acid bath of prog-math insanity. Don’t blink, kids. SATURDAY, April 17 @ Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 6 p.m. Info: 320-9887 (with Emergency Exit Plan).

THE DOWNERS, NOVA

Then again, as album titles go, Shake the Dead and Let the Downers Die (SickBoyRecords.com), the third and latest from SLC’s Downers, is also cool, just not overtly obvious. Shake the Dead, being released tonight, consists of five miserably beautiful songs like “Lousy Weekend” and “Better Off With Nothing at All” that make hurting so bad a rock & roll joy. As a part of a joint CD release, local burner-metal band Nova are issuing their own five-tracker, Witch Hunt (NovaKills.com), also tonight. SATURDAY, April 17 @ The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 9:30 p.m. Info: 746-0558 (with Fifi Murmur).

DEF JUX TOUR

Brooklyn label Definitive Jux is becoming synonymous with raw underground hip-hop, with rising roster stars Aesop Rock and Cannibal Ox usurping more and more space in slick national music mags. Neither are on the Def Jux Tour, but Murs (Los Angeles), Mr. Lif (Boston) and SA Smash (Columbus, Ohio) will hold the media spotlight soon enough. “[Def Jux] artists have a lot to say about the social situation and political climate,” Lif told Pulse. “They’re complex characters who wouldn’t fit in on a major label.” MONDAY, April 19 @ Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 8 p.m. Info: 320-9887.

EVERY TIME I DIE

It’s Metalcore Monday: NYC’s Every Time I Die, San Diego’s As I Lay Dying, Detroit’s Black Dahlia Murder and Virginia’s Scarlet make up one the heaviest touring bills around, despite Scarlet’s lack of a death-related moniker. Likewise, headliners Every Time I Die wear their sense of humor on their ripped sleeve—hence the funny roller-rink video and an album title like Hot Damn! (Ferret). “Anytime I see a band take themselves seriously, whether they’re good or not,” singer Keith Buckley told ChartAttack, “all I think about is Spinal Tap and how dumb they looked.” MONDAY, April 19 @ Albee Square, 115 S. West Temple (basement), 8 p.m. All-ages.

PUNK ROCK KARAOKE

Just a reminder from the 2004 Best of Utah a couple of weeks ago: We’ve come to the point in rock history that there are actually “punk classics,” and you know you want to slam a few brewskies, climb on a stage and belt out something—hell, anything—by the Ramones. Anyone attempting to do this to computerized backing tracks should be stomped, so Egos’ Punk Rock Karaoke night was born: You pick a tune, a band of surly local-punk lifers (known as Poor Boys Rock, or PBR) bang it out live ‘n’ loud if they know it (or even if they don’t), you’re Johnny Rotten for three minutes. MONDAY, April 19 @ Egos, 668 S. State, 9 p.m. Info: 521-5255.

HAMSA LILA

Described by those who dare attempt the task as “Part jam band, part world-music marathon, part spiritual journey ... Within its own realm of nomadic-improv, the group channels global indigenous influence from points including Africa, India and the Caribbean, to create a mesmerizing atmosphere of rhythm, melody, dance, voice and soul.” San Francisco’s Hamsa Lila may be too much show for one club, adding to that already steep mix “costuming, imagery (slides, video and shadow), belly dance, African dance, Capoiera artists and fire dancers.” Damn ... TUESDAY, April 20 @ Halo, 60 E. 800 South, 9:30 p.m. Info: 363-4522.

STELLASTARR

A shade darker than the bands they’re sometimes categorized with in the current new wave of New Wave (Hot Hot Heat, the Sounds, Ima Robot, etc.), New York City’s Stellastarr reference the Cure and Pixies more than the Cars. Last year’s Stellastarr (RCA) belies the work of former art-school students, cinematic and dramatic in the good way. “They’re all intertwined—music, theater, art—and if anything, one helped influence the other,” drummer Arthur Kremer says. “And it still does—we still do all our own art.” WEDNESDAY, April 21 @ Liquid Joe’s, 1249 E. 3300 South, 9:30 p.m. Info: 467-5637.

LITTLE FEAT

SoCal boogie-rock legends Little Feat moved from behind the shadow of Lowell George (the band’s original leader who died in 1979) years ago; the toughest obstacle they face these days is squeezing three decades of material into one set. “If we did ‘Dixie Chicken’ and ‘Willin,’ that will pretty much cover the old bases, and we throw in a lot of new songs,” guitarist Paul Barrere says. “It’s a cross-reference to the last 30 years, it satisfies everybody’s little aches and pains.” WEDNESDAY, April 21 @ Suede, 1612 Ute Blvd. (Kimball Junction), Park City, 9:30 p.m. Info: 435-658-2665.

COMING UP

International Noise Conspiracy (In the Venue, April 22). The Thrills, Sleepy Jackson (Suede, April 23). The Long Winters (Egos, April 24). The Rapture, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (In the Venue, April 24). Ill Nino, 40 Below Summer (The Ritz, April 25). Blondie (Harry O’s, April 26). The Crystal Method (In the Venue, April 28). The Supersuckers (Suede, April 28). Blink-182, Cypress Hill (E Center, April 30). Deerhoof (Kilby Court, May 2). Mistress of Reality (Egos, May 2). Dick Dale (Liquid Joe’s, May 5). Slipknot (In the Venue, May 5). Supagroup (Egos, May 8). Graham Parker, Anne McCue (Suede, May 10).