If the collective music of Wooden Shjips, Bardo Pond and Creepoid are any indication, tonight’s show at Underground Arts stands to make the contents of Hunter S. Thompson’s head look like an episode of Happy Days, in what promises to be a thoroughly psychedelic, post-modern experience. First, opener Creepoid lives up to their name with a relatively somber take on the genre, mixing laidback rhythms and distant, echoing lyrics. Bardo Pond is a relative change of pace, in that the music is comparable to listening to a classic rock album through a mushroom cloud. The band pushes the boundaries of how furious a guitar line can be whilst still being considered ambient. Headliner Wooden Shjips, the band that built their name on sounding like a trippier Velvet Underground, have spent the last six years perfecting the balance between head and groove, overwhelming your hips as much as your senses. It’s going to be a good one, folks! Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., 8pm, $12, 21+ – Daniel Ludwig
Other things to help you enjoy this weekend…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Bleeding Rainbow, Batty, SAT Cloud Minder, Metroplex, The Downtown Club, Ape!, SUN Psalmships, Kettle Pot Black, TJ Kong
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Cauldron, SAT Cult Choir
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St. Philadelphia) SAT Blayer Pointdujour & The Rockers Galore
Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden St.) SAT Conspirator
The Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) SAT Crash Course In Science, The Bad Doctors, Void Vision, SUN Plague Dogs
The Barbary (951 N Frankford Ave.) SUN Good Graces
North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) FRI Sleep In, Sheep and The Shears, SAT Commonwealth, Sleepers Lie, Stereo Coma
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Schooly D, Cee Knowledge, Radio Ghost, Cookie Rabinowitz, SAT Adlib, Reef the Lost Cauze, Nico The Beast, J.O. and Ghetto MC of The Uncanny, SUN Rolling Stone Tribute Night w/The Jesse Lundy Band, Nicos Gun, Heat Run, Fleeting Ends, Satellite Hearts, Black Stars
Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) SUN Realysm, Alisa Joe, Just Greg
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Commonwealth Choir, SAT Zach Feingold
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI Light Heat, Myrrias, SAT Mo Lowda and the Humble, Maitland, Air Is Human
The Trocadero (1004 Arch St.) SUN Lör
TLA (334 South St.) SUN Wild Rompit
The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St.) FRI Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) SAT The Snails, SUN Res, Natural Selection
Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd St.) FRI Elizabeth Pugh
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Thee Idea Men, Rasputin’s Secret Police, Combine, Pyramid Minds, SAT James Hearne
The Legendary Dobbs (304 South St.) FRI La Capitana, Superfive, The Donuts, SAT Paige Albrittion Record Release
JR’s Bar (2327 S. Croskey St.) SAT The Howling Fantoids, Retreevers, The Charlie Few
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Matt Gauss Band
Highwire Gallery (2040 Frankford Ave.) SUN Fursaxa
Eris Temple Arts (602 S. 52nd St.) SAT Dental Dames, Horsey, Oral $ex $uicide
LAVA Space (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Repellers, Coffin Dust