For a band that’s just 2 years shy of being around for 20 years, Mondo Topless has not missed a beat. And when you toss in the re-emergence of the garage punk sound that has been brought on by younger bucks like Tough Shits and The Midnight Beat, Philadelphia could not have a better predecessor that’s still going on strong! Mondo Topless has recently been hard at work on their first new album since 2006’s Take It Slow, and tonight the band is finally ready to have you Freaking Out with its lo-fi, guitar-fueled rock celebration. They’ll be joined by another classic throwback band in The Three 4 Tens, who have been rocking their 60s fetish since the summer of ‘97. The band has formed a tight knit bond with the likes of The Asteroid #4, whose bassist Gregg Weiss offered to release Throw Back Move on his label Lounge Records. And they have even opened up for The Who. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Frankford Ave., 8pm, $8, 21+ – Bill McThrill

When Grammar Debate! finished up their sophmore album Broken Heart Deluxe last summer, we don’t think anyone thought that it would take this long for them to celebrate the fruits of their labor, especially when your frontman is at the helm of concert promotion group Village Green Productions. But you’ll finally get your chance to toast their hard work tonight at Kung Fu Necktie, which we’re sure Joe Lekkas and the rest of the crew will be doing – over and over again. And when the band hit the road and toured the Midwest in support of Broken Heart Deluxe, they did it alongside long-time friends Adam & Dave’s Bloodline who will also be joining them on stage this evening. Ever since the release of their album Boycott Classics and the release of their newest single “Come See Come Saw/Living Gets Easy”, Adam & Dave’s Bloodline have been getting plenty of local love!

 

More things to get you out and about this weekend…

 

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) SAT Mondo Topless Album Release Party, SUN Attia Taylor and Creatures of Prey

 

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) SAT The Swimmers and East Hundred

 

North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) FRI Urban Giants

 

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Infinien, SAT Surgeon and Big Terrible,

 

M Room (15 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Tough Shits, Invisible Friends, The Midnight Beat, SAT Psychedelphia

 

The Khyber (56 S. 2nd St.) FRI The Last Barbarian, SAT Kettle Pot Black and Crills Wilson
 
Tritone (1508 South St.) SAT Broad Street Blues

 

World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI Downtown Harvest and Stonethrown

Blockley Pourhouse (3801 Chestnut St.) FRI The Moxy

 

Danger Danger Gallery (5013 Baltimore Ave.) FRI Far-Out Fangtooth

 

Millcreek Tavern (4200 Chester Ave.) FRI Dirt Worshipper and Deathbeds

 

JR’s Bar (2327 S. Croskey St.) FRI Monolith

 

Murph’s Bar (202 E. Girard Ave.) FRI Thee Nosebleeds and Shakey Lyman

 

The Carriage House (myspace.com/onlyonecarriagehouse or email OnlyOneCarriageHouse@gmail.com) FRI The Spooks, The Great Vibration, Far-Out Fangtooth

Paul Collins’ legendary early band The Nerves continue to be worshipped by new generations of hipsters and music lovers worldwide. And when the rock icon who has been going strong since 1974 comes into Philly tonight, he’ll be playing with three up-and-coming bands who easily embody the free spirit that his band encompassed so many years ago. Every performance of Tough Shits is fueled by a timeless garage rock swing mentality that has the crowd moving along to the beat. And since the band has been hard at work recording a new LP, they might just have some new material to unveil. In the wake of Dark Horse & the Carousels, The Invisible Friends have emerged to provide a barrage of lo-fi ballads like “Pulling Weight” and “No One Son”. Rounding out this lineup The Midnight Beat who take 2010 back to the early 70’s rock sound where guitar twanging ballads own the beat of the night while sounding like Iggy Pop jamming out to Chuck Berry. M Room, 15 W. Girard Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ – Bill McThrill

Tritone’s current showcase is indeed aptly named. In celebration of “Rockers’ 3rd Anniversary”, this well-loved but often forgotten South Street venue sets to crank up the volume starting with Sunny Ali & the Kid. With kick drum zeitgeist and a Johnny Cash-esque drawl, Hassan Ali’s songs fall between fuzzed out psych and punk glazed folk. “Hey You Know What, Jawad?” is a charming snarky shout out with a catchy caustic backbeat, despite its brevity. “Fuck Me” is stripped down and reminiscent of Devendra’s “Rejoicing In the Hands”. Rockers thankfully includes the risky harmonics of The Mighty Paradocs. Meshing hip-hop with punk rock, The Mighty Paradocs’ politics go straight for the jugular, while their riffs screech along with the beat. “Burnin” and “Hollywood Meets Bollywood” revives the pulse of a movement that collapsed in ’76. The buzzing shreds of The Lopez are perfect for slam dancing, bringing to mind The Misfits plus Le Tigre, leaving listeners smitten with tracks like “The Ballad of DCB” and “Gates of Heaven”. Each band is ready to sonically assault you, prepare accordingly. Tritone, 1508 South S., 9pm, $5, 21+ – Dianca Potts

The former Austin rockers and now Philly natives The G are ready to open up an old-fashion can of whip-ass tonight at North Star Bar when the dudes and dudette warm-up the crowd for The Willowz, Imaad Wasif (feat. members of Shipping News) and fellow locals Busses. Hold my gold bitches, there is going to be a throw down! North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 9pm, $10, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman

 

How to describe a band like My Mind without making too many comparisons? Because that’s the music writer’s bane, you know, using too many comparisons. You want to use them because it’s just so easy, but at the same time, you want to judge the band on its own merits. Anyway, the phrase "Ted Leo on lots of drugs" keeps coming up in the back of my brain (er…mind?). By that I mean, on one hand there’s a lot of old school punk attitude going on, and with most of their songs breaking just over the minute mark (except the nearly eleven minute "Football Boys"), you can’t help but think of something like Wire. On the other hand, there’s also this British Invasion vibe, sunny vocal melodies rising just barely above the surface of some scrappy, fuzzed-out guitar. These two elements are then simmered into a disorienting, lo-fi explosion. They recently released Path Masher 7" on Philly’s own Badmaster Records. Head on over to the M Room where the guys will be rockin’ with the The Styrenes and Kohoutek. M Room, 15 W. Girard Ave, 8pm, $10, 21+ – Joe Poteracki

Free Energy just announced new spring tour dates in support of already much-buzzed-about Stuck on Nothing which will hit the stores Tuesday, May 4th, 2010. It includes tours with Mates of State, Jukebox the Ghost and Drink Up Buttercup as well as stops at Toronto’s NXNE and Daytrotter’s Barnstormers III shows. They’ll also be traveling to Japan in August for the Summer Sonic Festival so expect plenty more international and national dates to come! – H.M. Kauffman

Just wanted to thank everyone who helped to pull our Best of Philly Showcase together through all the headaches and heartaches, especially Reading Rainbow, Grandchildren and Levee Divers, who all absolutely rocked the house (or warehouse) in their own unique way! Also, I can’t forget the good people at The Ox for opening up their home/venue to us – props to Vincent for helping to make the night run so smoothly and of course, Jorgan (Da Man!) for putting together and doing such a phenomenal job with the makeshift sound system! You made it easy for me to finally chill out and have a blast (so much that my body shutdown for 11 hours afterwards). I can’t wait until The Ox’s house system is built. I have complete confidence that it is going to be sweet. And finally thanks to everyone who could find this place and made it out to support! I hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did. We look forward to seeing you again next year. Cheers! – Q.D. Tran

So I was watching this band play at SXSW at a Canadian showcase quietly enjoying the sounds of our neighbors from the north. These congenial albeit Texan men dressed to the nines in leather (the cowboy kind) were discussing something about what I can only assume was NRA-related when one of them said something along the lines of “I don’t even know who the president of Canada is”.  This caused a spunky young woman to turn on her heals and get all up in their grills about not knowing his name let alone the fact that it’s a “fucking Prime Minister, not a President”. At this point I am still keeping to myself, but this little firecracker insisted on making me part of the situation by asking if I knew who he was. “Of course I do,” I said (I have no idea), and she gave me a nod of recognition and made me agree on the fact that these dudes were “total fucking assholes”. The reason I bring this story up is because this ball of energy I speak of is the singer and bass player for Montreal-based Think About Life who are coming to JBs tonight to add some fun to this generally gloomy day. Local spastic funksters Prowler are going to be opening the show. They have a sound that seems to combine Modest Mouse-styled vocals over genre bending jams that touch on soul, funk, rock and straight dance. Allow for these guys to speak for themselves when they are sure to get some bizarre party started tonight. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ (Photo by Ryan George) – Adam G.

Psych-folk darlings Bells Bells Bells are nearly as haunting as the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Reviving the dread of his gloomy Romanticism, this band of rockers isn’t afraid of the dark. Taking their namesake from one of Poe’s poems, their latest release A Ghost Could Live Here is full of eerie reverb, soaring chords, and chilling lines. Fronted by lit lover Amandah Romick, Bells Bells Bells’ vocals have an operatic nature. Well-read and far from shy, their tracks are inspired by fictitious and real legends alike. From the unfortunate fate of a canine cosmonaut in “Lakia, An Astronaut,” to the organ dirge of “Housekeeping by the Lake,” Romick and her bandmates are mesmerizingly
ethereal, through enchanting riffage and bewitching reprise. Performing live on XPN for Y-Rock’s Philly Local Show, catch Bells Bells Bells in the studio tonight with Jake Rabid from 8-9pm. – Dianca Potts