Angus & Julia Stone, Tough Tittie, Too Slim & The Taildraggers, Say Hi & Lily Allen
By Jamie Gadette
SATURDAY 4.4
ANGUS & JULIA STONE
Angus and Julia Stone are siblings, just so you don’t imagine the pair singing to each other on their most romantic songs. It’s easy to get swept up in the idea of a married couple swapping day-dreamy lines written without overwrought clichés. The Australian folk/pop artists started out as solo performers and both take turns steering material off their debut album A Book Like This. Julia’s unusual timbre strikes a balance between Joanna Newsom’s wry-fairy voice and a product of Laurel Canyon’s musical salad days. It’s that region’s biggest cash crop, though, that she cites as the thief of innocence: “I blame you Hollywood/ for showing me things you never should/ show a young girl.” Murray Theater, 4969 S. State, 8 p.m. All-ages. Tickets 24Tix.com (with Brett Dennen)
TOUGH TITTIE CD RELEASE
As on their previous Darrell EP, Salt Lake City’s Tough Tittie references on their new album City Weekly’s favorite Backstop ad “Back, Crack and Sac Wax”—a fitting tagline for a record chock full of irreverent rock. With Psycho Mike O’Clock’s drill sergeant bark at the forefront, Tough Tittie’s Becka Boots, Senator Wes Greaves, Double D and Dick Pacific hold down an aggressive rhythm section that, while not quite seamless, drives home the point—which is, of course, to let loose to a ripping-good solo. Pick up a copy of Pink Roid Rage tonight. Bar Deluxe, 666 S. State, 10 p.m. (with Big Gun Baby)
MONDAY 4.6
TOO SLIM & THE TAILDRAGGERS
Onstage, Tim Langford might command a room as his alter-ego Too Slim, but on the street he’s just as helpless as the rest of us—at the whim of this crazy world. “Feel like I’m riding on the last train/ and Hunter S. Thompson is the engineer,” he sings on Free Your Mind, his latest album with the Taildraggers. The Underworlds Records LP is packed with meaty hooks and dirty licks fueled by a bluesy roots/rock & roll swagger that gives the Seattle band an irresistible appeal. Songs like “Devil in a Doublewide” and “When You Love Somebody” immediately inspire fierce boot-stompin’ boogies. Remember that when you’re picking out your dancing shoes. Pat’s BBQ, 155 W. Commonwealth Ave., 7 p.m. All-ages. (also Tuesday at the Wine Cellar, Ogden)
TUESDAY 4.7
SAY HI
On both his material as Say Hi to Your Mom and recent output as the newly truncated Say Hi, Seattle transplant Eric Elbogen sounds comfortably numb—just far enough detached from heartache and longing to spare the artist any sort of serious breakdown. His musings on secret crushes and missed shots at true love are never cliché or overly dramatic; in fact he adds in just enough random details to keep things weird, i.e. interesting. Oohs & Ahhs (Barsuk) sticks in your head and heart, as cheesy as that might sound. The melancholy effect feels so good. Elbogen even throws in a dance jam reminiscent of the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited.” Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7 p.m. All-ages. Tickets 24Tix.com (with Telekenesis)
WEDNESDAY 4.8
LILY ALLEN
Lily Allen’s music is like crack, but unlike fellow British singing sensation Amy Winehouse, she doesn’t appear to be smoking any. The vulgarity spewing pop princess crafts incredibly addictive songs laced with spite and none-too-subtle sexual innuendo delivered with happy-go-lucky flair. “Smile,” the 2006 single that first endeared her to American audiences wraps around a chorus whose meaning sets in after you sing it at the top of your lungs: “At first when I see you cry, it makes me smile/ at worst, I feel bad for a while/ but then I just smile.” Of course, judging by her side of things, dude had it coming. Allen’s harsh honesty continues on her latest full-length It’s Not Me, It’s You on which she seems pretty Zen about personal calamity. When life gives you lemons, play Allen’s “F—k You.” In the Venue, 579 W. 200 South, 8 p.m. All-ages. Tickets 24Tix.com (with Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head)
COMING UP
The Airborne Toxic Event (Murray Theater, April 9); Ting Tings (Urban Lounge, April 9); The Lee Boys (The State Room, April 9); Royal Bliss (Tracks Brewing, April 10); Eric Openshaw Band CD Release (Murray Theater, April 10); Glasvegas, Von IvaThe Hold Steady (Urban Lounge, April 11); The Presets (Murray Theater, April 11); Atmosphere, P.O.S. (In the Venue, April 12); The Original WailersFall Out Boy (Great Saltair, April 13); Clem Snide (Urban Lounge, April 13); B.B. King (Kingsbury Hall, April 14); Travis (The Depot, April 14); Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers (Bar Deluxe, April 15); Lupe Fiasco, Girl Talk (The Depot, April 12); (University of Utah, April 15)
(Avalon, April 10);
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