Last year saw the Los Angeles band Silversun Pickups hurdling through the blogosphere, as the group’s 90’s throwback tracks from its debut EP, Pikul (released on Hollywood indie label Dangerbird), circulated among rookie bands and fans alike, up and down both coastlines. Echoing early nineties alternapop before it all degenerated toward the lowest common denominator, SSUP —as the abbreviation-crazed internetters would have it— is reminiscent of bands like Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Sleater-Kinney, and the Smashing Pumpkins. In fact, guitarist/singer Brian Auger may be even sweeter-voiced than his female counterpart Nikki Monninger, able to sound at times like Sleater-Kinney or L7 and at others more like Billy Corgan. The Pumpkins comparisons do abound, and not unfairly, but a listen to the latest release on Dangerbird, Carnavas, might bring to mind even catchier power pop a la Placebo or Matthew Sweet’s better efforts. The ridiculously catchy “Lazy Eye” is one of those too perfect songs that’s in danger of overplay from day one, and it’s heavy rotation will probably bring a lot of new fans to the show. It’s no one hit wonder though: The whole album holds up terrifically, even with the shadow of a great track like “Lazy Eye” looming over the rest.

Descended from late 20th century roots-rock purveyors the Saddletramps, Canadian Americana band Loomer makes the trip down from Toronto Friday night to share the kind of music that’s been selling out rooms in their hometown. The six-piece band—Scott Loomer, Andrew Lindsay, and Brian Duguay on vocals and guitars, with Mike Taylor on keyboards, and rhythm section John Dehaas and Iain Thomson—has been around since 1999, but they really kicked things up a notch with the self-release of Love is a Dull Instrument a few years back. The album garnered very positive reviews, both for singer/songwriter Scott Loomer’s great material and for the band’s polished delivery. The disk served as a springboard to the UK, where a successful tour solidified a strong English following. (Eh, Wot?! English Americana?!) But don’t for a minute think that there isn’t a “Buffalo connection” at play here. Turns out our own Jim Whitford has been playing pedal steel with Loomer in Toronto. He’ll also be with them at Sportsmen’s, and he’ll accompany them on a three week UK tour this August, as Rounder Europe releases their current album, Songs of the Wild West Island across the pond. This will be a great night to go out after the Sabres game and hear a hot band from Toronto. And buy them a drink, please, because a recent visit to the Maple Leafs’ web site shows it hasn’t been updated in weeks, and features a forlorn-looking crawl touting the upcoming NHL draft. Pitiful.

John Bacon: Duos is a performance in celebration of the release of the CD Boxing Days, a spontaneous collaboration between percussionist Bacon and jazz pianist Paul Bley. Although Bley will not be at this particular show, five renowned musicians will take turns in his place accompanying Bacon: Jan Williams (percussion), Bernard Woma (gyil, djembe), Jonathan Golove (electric cello), Joe Rozler (keyboards, guitar, voice), and Steve Baczkowski (woodwinds). A staple of the Western New York music scene for over twenty years, Bacon holds a masters degree in music and currently teaches Jazz and Percussion at SUNY Fredonia and Villa Maria College. His company, Multi-Jazz Dimensions co-produced the latest release, which was recorded in Rochester, NY. Bacon’s music has been performed by an assortment of talented musicians, including the modern music legend Leroy Jenkins. This perfrormance boasts a versatile accumulation of talents, including several residents of Buffalo and a citizen of Ghana (Bernard Woma.) The musicians will present an evening of percussion, cello, winds, vocals, and electric and African instruments. Presented in cooperation with Hallwalls, Soundlab, and Multi-Jazz Dimensions.

New York City-bred solo artist Jeffrey Lewis and the upstate band Dufus (pictured) will be performing with Rochester-based Gaybot, in a showcase of the growing anti-folk movement. Anti-folk is a punk related sub-genre, a hybrid of American folk and rock music exemplified by bands like the Moldy Peaches and artists like Devendra Banhart. Utica native Seth Faergolzia began the band Dufus in 1997, and has since entertained audiences with constantly changing line-ups including up to 30 people at times. The idea of Dufus was to move into a city, build a band, perform and move on to another city, constantly moving and growing nomadically. In doing so, a new creed of music has been created, and each performance is the result of the collective imagination of the unique individuals involved. These performances range from stripped down acoustic jams to full band symphonics, while still presenting the aura of free-jazz meets Frank Zappa in a medley of organized confusion. Lewis is making a similar splash in the anti-folk scene, sharing bills with artists such as Thurston Moore, the Fall, Frank Black, the Fiery Furnaces, Daniel Johnston, and the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. Gaybot’s eclectism rounds out the show, which will be followed by Michael Meldrum’s usual Monday Night Singer/Songwriter Showcase, featuring Emily White who comes all the way from Chicago.