This Weekend’s Concert Picks: TV On The Radio, Black Lips, Foster The People
FRIDAY, APRIL 8
TV On the Radio + Celebration, Saturn Never Sleeps at Electric Factory (8:30 p.m., $30.50); Univox + Deleted Scenes, Hammer No More The Fingers at Kung Fu Necktie (7 p.m., 21+, $8); Surf City + Bardo Pond, Snowblink at Danger Danger Gallery (9 p.m., all ages, $5-$10)
SATURDAY, APRIL 9
The members of Black Lips embody modern punk rock in the sense that they vomit and urinate onstage, and yet still struggle to offend anyone. Case in point: the band’s supposed detainment in India for indecent exposure during a January 2009 performance turned out to be significantly less scandalous—and interesting—once the rumors were cleared up and the facts set straight. (One could argue that the romantic comedy (500) Days Of Summer—playing at The Sundance Film Festival right around the same time, and featuring Black Lips’ “Bad Kids” on the soundtrack—was actually more offensive than any onstage antics the band pulled in India.) More recently, the band ditched its grimy, self-produced ways to team up with scarf-wearing, Andy-Warhol-look-a-like superproducer Mark Ronson. The new album, Arabia Mountain, is due out in June and will feature Ronson beats, some horns, and a theremin; a few prereleased tracks have an unmistakable Ronson aesthetic, but still manage to maintain Black Lips’ minimalist sound. Black Lips performs with Vivian Girls and Moon Women at 9 p.m. at The Trocadero; tickets to the all-ages show are $17. —Dave Simpson
Also playing: David Liebe Hart + Power Animal, Snow Caps at First Unitarian Church (7:30 p.m., all ages, SOLD OUT); Colin Hay + Chris Trapper, Paul Dempsey at The Keswick Theater (8 p.m., $27.50-$33.50); Ezra Furman And The Harpoons + Tristen, The Apache Relay, Bulletproof Tigers at North Star Bar (8:30 p.m., 21+, $12)
SUNDAY, APRIL 10
Foster The People doesn’t have a proper full-length record under its belt yet—just an EP and some Youtube videos with, you know, several million views. The L.A.-based trio’s biggest song, “Pumped Up Kicks,” is perpetually hailed as an “indie anthem”: a laid-back, electronic, summertime song with a catchy hook. (Don’t let the poppy whistling and video—which features surfers and dancing band members—fool you: the song is actually about an unhinged teen shooting his classmates.) Despite having spent several years writing music for commercials and television shows, frontman Mark Foster seems in no rush to similarly cash in on Foster The People (for the time being); since the band’s formation in 2009, it’s been content with buzz-generating performances at major festivals and success on college radio stations. Questions about how much that will change—if at all—after the band releases its debut full-length, Torches, will have to wait until it comes out in May. Foster The People performs with Grouplove and We Barbarians at 8 p.m. at Kung Fu Necktie; tickets to the 21+ show are SOLD OUT.—Dave Simpson
Also playing: Loudon Wainwright III + Carsie Blanton at World Cafe Live (7:30 p.m., 21+, $28); KT Tunstall + Jesse Ruben at Theatre Of The Living Arts (8 p.m., $20); Birdie Busch + Brittany Ann, Vanessa Reddin, Natalie Acciani at Tin Angel (7:30 p.m., 21+, $10); Capillary Action + HUME, Scott Churchman at Johnny Brenda’s (9 p.m., 21+, $10)