Music Picks 

DETACHMENT KIT

A detachment kit is used in dispersing rioting crowds, with tear gas and such. Chicago’s Detachment Kit are slightly less lethal, art school dropouts who rock it classic alt-style a la Wire and the Pixies, among others, but do it on their own hooky terms. Their last album, 2002’s They Raging, Quiet Army, made critics and real people moist; the new Of This Blood (French Kiss), ditto. “We’re not card-carrying members of any particular genre,” singer Ian Menard says. “Actually, my card is all maxed out—what we’re looking for is debt relief.” THURSDAY, June 3 @ Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 8 p.m. Info: 320-9887 (with Bonfire Madigan).

PUNKS VS. PSYCHOS

Wasn’t this tour just here in April? Yes, but with a different lineup—this time around, the raging Hellcat Records showcase includes Horrorpops (Danish psychobilly, with Betty Page ringer Patricia on upright bass), Lars Fredriksen & The Bastards (Rancid man’s punk side project), Nekromantix (more Danish psychobilly, but with a coffin bass), The Disasters (ex-Agnostic Front singer Roger Miret’s new deal) and Die Hunns (not affiliated with Hellcat, but featuring former Nashville Pussy bassist/Amazon firebreather Corey Parks). In other words, it’s even punk-er and psycho-er than the last one. THURSDAY, June 3 @ In the Venue, 579 W. 200 South, 7 p.m. Info: 328-0255.

IRON MAIDENS

All-female tribute bands dedicated to the manliest of metal bands—it’s still the rage. You’ve got AC/DC worshippers like Hell’s Belles and AC/D-She, Black Sabbath devotees Mistress of Reality, Cheap Trick nuts Cheap Chick (who just might make it to SLC someday), and now the re-return of the Iron Maidens, the ultimate estro-tribute to devil-baiters Iron Maiden. The ladies have the Good Headbanging seal of approval from the original, but beware of what could be the next wave: There is in fact a Los Angeles tribute band called Nudist Priest ... and they’re dudes. FRIDAY, June 4-Saturday, June 5 @ Liquid Joe’s, 1249 E. 3300 South, 9:30 p.m. Info: 467-5637.

BOBBY & STEVE

Old-school soul and funk DJ duo (and twins) Bobby & Steve, onetime hosts of KISS FM’s celebrated Zoo Experience in London, are celebrating 20 years of spinning in 2004—no flash in the pan here. B& are know for creating some of the most soulful, jazz-tinged house grooves around, something apparently in short supply “It’s all down to the big bosses who have to keep the majority happy with so-called commercial music,” Bobby says. “There’s a definite void. [But] the whole sound has come back around and we’ve been given a bigger platform to work with.” SATURDAY, June 5 @ W Lounge, 358 S. West Temple, 9 p.m. Info: 359-0637.

DJ MICRO

Ever notice how every other DJ who wheels through on tour is heralded as the “greatest DJ in the world”? But only New York trance specialist DJ Micro gives props to our supposedly sleepy lil’ town. “Although Salt Lake City’s scene has been going for a few years now, those kids go off! The energy is ridiculous,” he told TechnoPlace. “People are rebelling—you catch that vibe as soon as you get into town. It’s the church there. They run the whole state, but the parties go off.” So, what church is that? SATURDAY, June 5 @ Harry O’s, 427 Main, Park City, 9 p.m. Info: 435-647-9494.

DEVENDRA BARNHART

Another art school dropout, New York’s Devendra Barnhart is riding the crest of a quiet critical storm that began with 2002’s Oh Me Oh My, a no-fi collection of stunning, genre-spanning songs recorded on borrowed cassette decks and answering machines. His recent Rejoicing in the Hands (Young God Records) is a step up in recording quality—still proudly analog, though—that moved the Los Angeles Times to proclaim, “It’s been a while since an obsessive, naïve, utterly original musical visionary emerged from a private sanctum into the embrace of the rock cognoscenti. But we’ve got one now.” SUNDAY, June 6 @ Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 8 p.m. Info: 320-9887.

PIEBALD

Screamo’s first casualty? Could have been Piebald frontman Travis Shettel, who in 2002 shredded his vocal chords to the point the band had to cancel tours, including one with (gasp!) Dashboard Confessional. A surgery, some rehab and a funny “Throat Surgery Commemorative T-Shirt” later, the Bostonians tapped as one of Rolling Stone’s Five Bands to Watch are back on the road with All Ears, All Eyes, All the Time (Side One Dummy), an emo-pop party that’s equally smart-ass and smart. TUESDAY, June 8 @ Lo-Fi Café, 127 S. West Temple, 7:30 p.m. Info: LoFiCafe.com (with Jealous Sound and Appleseed Cast).

BRIAN JORDAN

As the guitarist for jazzbo-funk jammers Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe for over 10 years, Brian Jordan (not the Texas Rangers outfielder) knows his way around a fretboard, able to shred within any genre imaginable on a dime. Expect the same, sans Karl and the Universe, but no star trips. “I didn’t start playing because I wanted to be a rock star or make a ton of money,” Jordan told JamBase. “If I wanted to just make money, I would have gone into stocks or been a doctor. Those would be easier money-making options by far!” TUESDAY, June 8 @ Egos, 668 S. State, 9:30 p.m. Info: 521-5255.

COMING UP

Sparta (Lo-Fi Café, June 10). Mary Chapin Carpenter (Red Butte Garden, June 10). Kenny Chesney (Usana Amphitheater, June 11). Rick Springfield (Scera Shell, June 11). Jackass (Egos, June 12). The Damnwells (Lo-Fi Café, June 16). Rocket Summer (In the Venue, June 16). The Streets (Harry O’s, June 18). Richmond Fontaine (Egos, June 20). Asylum Street Spankers (Halo, June 23). Utah Arts Festival (Library Square, June 24-27). 311, The Roots (Usana Amphitheater, June 25). The Dead (Usana Amphitheater, June 29). South Austin Jug Band (Gallivan Center, June 30). Rush (Usana Amphitheater, June 30). Josh Todd (Egos, July 3).