Karli Fairbanks, Hell's Belles, Pretty & Nice, Franz Ferdinand & Black Lips | Music | Salt Lake City Weekly

Karli Fairbanks, Hell's Belles, Pretty & Nice, Franz Ferdinand & Black Lips 

Music Picks April 16-22

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THURSDAY 4.16
KARLI FAIRBANKS

Karli Fairbanks sounds like she’s been down this road before—and that one … and that one, too! The Spokane artist is young in years but brings a wise-and-weary old-soul quality to her expansive folk music. A natural born storyteller with music in her blood, Fairbanks has a voice with tremendous range, gorgeous and sultry but fierce along the lines of tough-as-nails performers like Jodie Holland and Jessica Lea Mayfield. On her second full-length album The Breaking Up Our Days, produced by Kory Kruckenburg (Damien Jurado, J. Tillman), she hints at wounds buried deep beneath the flesh but maybe nothing that a little sweet tea or whiskey won’t fix. Fairbanks will round out her multi-instrumental skills (guitar, accordion, piano) with a solid backing band tonight in Park City and again on Tuesday at Kilby Court. Downstairs, 625 Main, Park City, 9 p.m. Tickets: SmithsTix.com

FRIDAY 4.17

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HELL’S BELLES
What’s that? You say you’ve seen Hell’s Belles a million times? Well, get this: The popular all-female AC/DC tribute band is returning to town to play not one but two gigs covering both Highway to Hell and Back in Black in their entirety. That said, do you really need a new reason to catch this tremendous live act? We love Hell’s Belles for being kick-ass musicians, but also for encouraging women to storm to the front of testosterone-heavy rock shows. Like they say, it’s about gender equality—balls-out, even if your pair is metaphorical. Teazers, 366 36th Street, Ogden, 10 p.m.
Tickets: SmithsTix.com (also Saturday at Bar Deluxe, 666 S. State)

MONDAY 4.20

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PRETTY & NICE
“Tora Tora Tora” is one hell of a pop song—the type of song you want to play on repeat, car jamming to its airtight hooks to ease the pain of a post-work traffic jam. Its authors, Pretty & Nice, specialize in short and sweet hyperactive melodies whose vintage sheen summons comparisons to post-punk and new-wave heroes, though pinning them to one legendary idol doesn’t seem fair. The Boston trio reportedly spent a year sorting, rearranging and nudging into place all of the hidden treasures that together make Get Young such a refreshing slap in the face. Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7:30 p.m. All-ages. Info: KilbyCourt.com

TUESDAY 4.21
FRANZ FERDINAND

When a band stretches its sound beyond listener expectations, they’re either praised for their innovation or slammed for messing up a good thing. Franz Ferdinand’s latest album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand landed somewhere between pass and fail with the general consensus being “This is a great group and they’re headed in the right direction.” The record is not flawless, and “Some Girls” is no “Take Me Out,” but it’s catchy and clever. Frontman Alex Kapranos knows his way around a pen—check out Sound Bites, his account of eating on tour—and though his talents aren’t fully realized on Tonight, lines like “you don’t know the pseudonyms I use for you” paired with a boot-stomping drum beat are enough to keep things interesting. None of that same-old, same-old, except onstage where they still bring the energy that electrified audiences in the first place. Venue change: Avalon Theater, 3065 S. State, 7:30 p.m. All-ages.
Tickets: SmithsTix.com

WEDNESDAY 4.22
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BLACK LIPS
Sometimes emotions get the best of you and your band gets kicked out of India, or has trouble crossing the Canadian border, or enrages London concert promoters by having—arguably—a little too much fun. And that’s all it really comes down to: fun, and differing opinions of what exactly fun entails. Because while the Black Lips no doubt push the envelope with onstage antics approaching (but not quite settled in) G.G. Allin territory, beyond the nudity and indecent exposure is a band that just wants to rock out. Widely regarded as one of today’s best live acts, the Atlanta foursome has the potential to outdo Monotonix’s legendary Salt Lake City opening set for the Silver Jews. No slouches in the studio either, the mischievous players laid down some of the tastiest, skuzziest ’60s-era garage rock for their 200 Million Thousand debut on Vice Records, calming critics who feared their jump to the label might tame their fuzzed-out sound. So come for the rumored chaos, stay for the rip-roaring good tunes. The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East 10 p.m. Tickets: 24Tix.com

COMING UP
The Thermals (Urban Lounge, April 23); Knock- Out (Burt’s Tiki Lounge, April 23); Michelle Shocked (The State Room, April 24); Junius (Bar Deluxe, April 24); The Horrorpops (Avalon, April 24); Chris Cornell (Depot, April 25); X-Clan (Orange, April 25); Queensryche (Depot, April 26); John Scofield (Salt Lake Sheraton, April 27); William Elliot Whitmore (Burt’s Tiki Lounge, April 27); Dan Deacon (Kilby Court, April 29); Starfucker (Slowtrain & Urban Lounge, April 30)

OTHER SHOWS THIS WEEK

Dr Cyclops 5th Annual Birthday Bash

Celebrate five years of Salt Lake City’s premier purveyor of horror punk, death rock and psychobilly with an evening of music from the bone yard. One crisp Abraham Lincoln will get you in the door to catch performances by Die Monster Die and Los Angeles-based Murderland, plus free swag, drinks on the kindly Doctor and other grotesque goodies for long-time supporters and newcomers embracing their fear of the dark. Friday 4.17 @ 5 Monkeys


Napoleon Murphy Brock

It’s Zappa-mania tonight and tomorrow at One Mind Studio when Napoleon Murphy Brock joins students of the Paul Green School of Rock to perform material by Brock’s former musical mate Frank Zappa. The Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist held down sax, flute and keys for the legendary artist on some of his most innovative recordings including Thing-Fish. Brock carries on his late friend’s legacy in Dweezil Zappa’s Zappa Plays Zappa. Here’s to future generations singing along to “Titties N’ Beer.” Friday 4.17 @ One Mind Studio


The Toadies

As a near-casualty of the corporate record industry, The Toadies had every intention of washing their hands of a project that yielded the evergreen radio hit “Possum Kingdom.” Something about their take on classic ‘90s-alt-rock resonated with enough folks to justify another go of things, this time teaming up with an independent label to produce No Deliverance, an album replete with all the growl-induced goodness that attracted and sustained the band’s enduring legacy. Tuesday 4.21 @ The Depot

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