January 31, 2013 | 9:33 AM | By

Tonight’s Concert Picks: XPN Welcomes Freelance Whales to The Abbey Bar, Dave Hause opening for Flogging Molly at The Electric Factory, XPN Welcomes The Stray Birds to World Cafe Live, Sour Mash at City Tap House

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Scene, Beaucoup Blue, City Tap House, Dave Hause, Flogging Molly, Freelance Whales, Hundred Waters, Sour Mash, The Abbey Bar, The Electric Factory, The Stray Birds, World Cafe Live

Brooklyn indie kids Freelance Whales head out to Harrisburg for a show at The Abbey Bar tonight.  The quintet followed up their 2009 debut with Diluvia last year.  The sophomore effort sees Freelance Whales expanding their sound and their narrative with more intricate arrangements and a complex sci-fi concept running through the tracks.  What hasn’t changed with the new release is the band’s accessible and appealing indie pop sound that got the buzz started in 2009.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Hundred Waters can be found here.  Below, watch the video for “Spitting Image.”

Philadelphia’s Dave Hause will open for Flogging Molly tonight at The Electric Factory.  The former roadie started local punk outfit The Loved Ones in 2004 with Mike Sneeringer (also of Purling Hiss) and Michael Cotterman (formerly of Kid Dynamite) while working on what would become his solo debut Resolutions in 2009.  In 2012 Hause released a series of five EPs, each featuring two new versions of Resolutions tracks alongside covers of labelmates’ songs.  Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show can be found here.  Watch the video for “C’mon Kid” below and download an acoustic version from The Key archives here.

XPN welcomes The Stray Birds to World Cafe Live upstairs tonight.  The Lancaster trio craft honest, traditionally-based folk music with tight harmonies, wandering fiddle solos and a knack for writing both emotionally charged and fun, lighthearted lyrics.  For this week’s Key Studio Session, The Stray Birds shared four songs from 2012′s self-titled LP and one from 2010′s Borderline EP; stream and download the session here.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show with Beaucoup Blue can be found here.  Below, watch The Stray Birds perform “Dream in Blue” for Folk Alley.

Sour Mash are one of those rambling, hardworking bands that are difficult to pin down because they never stop moving.  But that’s a good thing for us because it means they’re always playing their fast-paced, smile crackin’ bluegrass somewhere.  Tonight, it’s at City Tap House for a show presented by T.J. Kong.  For more information, visit the Facebook event page here.  Below, watch the local band perform “How Mountain Girls Can Love” and stream the newly posted Sour Mash EP on their Bandcamp here.