Music Picks 

REZOLUTION

Good ol’ ’90s-style alternative rock (simple-crunchy guitar hooks, alternately earnest and ironic lyrics, melodic everydude outlook) may not be poised for a mainstream comeback anytime soon, but Salt Lake City’s Rezolution couldn’t care less. Their self-titled debut CD being released tonight buzzes like a vacuum-packed MTV composite circa 1994, mostly living up to the trio’s cited influences of Stone Temple Pilots, Weezer, et al lovingly listed on RezolutionRock.com, where several MP3s can also be found. Good thing, since Rezolution neglected to drop off a copy last week—CD Release 101, guys. Thursday, April 17 @ The Zephyr Club, 301 S. West Temple, 355-2582, 9:30 p.m.

DJ IRENE

DJs are here-today-gone-later-today flashes in the pan? Well, not all of ’em: Last year, “Global house diva” DJ Irene celebrated her 20th year behind the decks with Photosynthesis (Surge), her latest hard ‘n’ fast collection of intense dance-floor tracks. Good stuff—just ask her: “I think it’s one of my best albums,” Irene says. “It’s still hard, but hard where everyone can enjoy it. It’s got some German hard, drum & bass. It has a lot of energy—I go into some trance, too.” German hard? Sounds just a little kinky … Thursday, April 17 @ Axis, 108 S. 500 West, 519-2947, 9:30 p.m.

MIKE DOUGHTY

As M. Doughty, he was the singer-talker behind ’90s alt-rock oddities Soul Coughing—come on, you know you’ve gotta say “Super Bon Bon” out loud now. Mike Doughty, solo artist, currently has but one album to call his own, Skittish, a stripped-down acoustic affair, as well as a book of poetry entitled Slanky. Says the one-sheet, “In a series of prose poems about showbiz, he re-imagines Cookie Monster as a burned-out suicide, and cheesy talk-show host Joe Franklin as a cross-dressing witness to the apocalypse.” It’s a New York City thing—very New York City. Friday, April 18 @ Crimson Underground (Union Bldg.), University of Utah, 7 p.m.

THE MIDNIGHT EVILS

For those who love it loud, hard and grease-pit ugly à la Motorhead, Nashville Pussy and Salt Lake City’s own criminally underappreciated Thunderfist (who, stunningly, aren’t opening this show) Minnesota’s Midnight Evils should be just your cup of gasoline. The blotto quintet’s raging new Straight Till Morning was released last month by Estrus Records, the riff-rawk brand of cool and firm guarantee that a copy will never make its way to the local press—once again, MP3s are the paper hack’s friend. Friday, April 19 @ The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 746-0557, 9:30 p.m. (with Red Bennies and El Guapo).

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT

If nothing else, Rocket From the Crypt’s umpteenth garage-with-horns release, the new Live From Camp X-Ray (Vagrant), is worth picking up for the rambling liner-note manifesto scribbled by John Reis. After dissing “The Heaves” and “The White Strokes,” Reis admits “Vagrant failed to get me a copy [of X-Ray] … I’m not sure it even matters. My guess is that the album sounds pretty much like the previous one and has Rocket’s patented, totally swell white-guys-from-San-Diego sound.” He’s correct on all counts, and RFTC gave him “a whopping 35 bucks” to write it. Welcome to rock journalism. Saturday, April 19 @ Bricks, 579 W. 200 South, 6 p.m. Tickets: 800-888-8499.

RICH MCCULLEY

Fresno (yes, Fresno) expatriate Rich McCulley’s rap sheet lists the usual suspects you’d expect from a self-proclaimed alt-country aspirant: The Replacements, Steve Earle, Wilco, Tom Petty, etc. All valid, but a spin or two of his latest, If Faith Doesn’t Matter (RichMcCulley.com), makes you wonder why Elvis Costello & The Attractions didn’t make the cut—not quite down ‘n’ out roots-rock enough for reference? “I try for the shows to be fun,” McCulley says of his sunny-pop take on alt-country. “I don’t lay my heavy trips on people.” Saturday, April 19 @ The Dead Goat Saloon, 119 S. West Temple, 328-4628, 9 p.m. (with Dirty Birds).

PROJEKT REVOLUTION

It’s edgy because “Projekt” is spelled with a K—can you handle it, man? Projekt Revolution features the interchangeable nü-metal thuddage of Linkin Park (more in-yer-face misspelling), Mudvayne (ditto) and Blindside (not so much), as well as rapper Xzibit (back on track), and it has a patriotic twist: “We feel the need to give back to those making personal sacrifices for our country,” says guitarist Brad Delson. “So we’ve set aside tickets in every city to invite armed-services personnel and their families to attend the shows for free.” Really Brad, haven’t they suffered enough? Monday, April 21 @ The E Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Dr., West Valley City, 7 p.m. Tickets: 800-888-8499.

JUNIOR WATSON

He’s played on 50 albums in 20 years, but only two under his own name (most recently 2002’s If I Had a Genie), making Junior Watson one of the most influentially unknown blues guitarists around—just ask the Liberal Media: “Junior Watson is an instrumentalist so simultaneously right and off-the-wall that ‘genius’ would not be an inappropriate title” (L.A. Times). “Watson unleashes some of the most fiery guitar work since Texas blues upstart Stevie Ray Vaughan. His well-grounded mastery of blues-guitar styles is spiced with wild, cartoonish jumps of logic” (Orange County Register). Monday, April 21 @ The Dead Goat Saloon, 119 S. West Temple, 328-4628, 9 p.m.

MUSIC AS A WEAPON

Not to be confused with Monday’s Projekt Revolution, the Music As a Weapon tour features the interchangeable not-quite-nü-metal thuddage of Disturbed, Taproot, Chevelle and Unloco, and no discount specials for our men and women in uniform. Disturbed’s latest, Believe (Reprise), moved decent units, but everyone still knows ’em for The Sickness, with that oh-so-catchy title track about singer David Draiman getting slapped around by his mommy: “Fuck you, I don’t need this shit!” Ah, the new lyrical visionaries of metal. Tuesday, April 22 @ The E Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Dr., West Valley City, 7 p.m. Tickets: 800-888-8499.

STEVE KIMOCK BAND

As under-the-radar guitar heroes go, Steve Kimock is one of the fiercest hippie-pickers you’ll likely ever hear. He’s logged more time in revered Bay Area jam-bands than Bob Weir has forgotten, but the Steve Kimock Band (which currently includes Living Daylights bass virtuoso Arne Livingston) leans more toward jazz-fusion within hyper-extended instrumentals that, believe it or not, sidestep noodley overindulgence. “The key thing about music is that it happens in time,” Kimock says. “And when you’re playing with time like that, you get to some kind of a flow state with the whole thing.” Wednesday, April 23 @ The Zephyr Club, 301 S. West Temple, 355-2582, 9:30 p.m.

COMING UP

Sum 41 (Bricks, April 24). Pete Yorn (Bricks, April 26). Marcus Eaton & The Lobby (Zephyr Club, April 26). Zwan (Kingsbury Hall, April 28). Kottonmouth Kings (Bricks, April 28). Bonnie Prince Billy (Zephyr Club, April 28). Dick Dale (Zephyr Club, April 30). The Iron Maidens (Zephyr Club, May 2-3). The Atomic Punks (Liquid Joe’s, May 2-3). Quiet Riot (The Ritz, May 3). Dar Williams (Harry O’s, May 4). Opeth (Bricks, May 6). Tomahawk, Melvins (Bricks, May 8). Lamb of God (The Junction, May 8). Grand Master Flash (Suede, May 9). Built to Spill (Bricks, May 14). The Coral (Zephyr Club, May 18).