[The Valley is a big place, and it puts out more interesting music than we could ever hope to cover. Every week or so, Mike Bogumill will use this space to cover a little more of it. In this week's edition: Music videos from Jock Club and Playboy Manbaby and an entirely unintentional music festival in downtown Phoenix. - Ed.]
Local Music Video Twofer
Playboy Manbaby - "Funeral Pizza"
The first official Playboy Manbaby music video features Brad Neely-esque characters acting out a Daniel Clowes-esque narrative against a backdrop of highly processed foods. Take a shower and re-evaluate the trajectory of your life after watching.
Jock Club - "Mr. X: Secret Agent"
This Jock Club video provides a foggy glimpse into the glamor, glitz, and grit of the Tempe dance underground. It's a place that can be secretive like club scenes of old, but, instead of calling a hotline, you have to be friends with the right people on Facebook to find out where the party's at.
The Unofficial, Unplanned, and Unintentional Downtown Phoenix Indie Rock Fest
There are weekends when downtown is relatively dead, where the only options for leisure are to get a coffee and read a book at Jobot or drown your boredom with alcohol served at Lost Leaf or Carly's. Then there are weekends where three really good shows happen almost within a one-mile radius. This weekend is such a serendipitous occasion. Here is an overview of what is happening:
P.O.P. Convention
The P.O.P. Convention is an exhibition of some of the best pop music Arizona has to offer. The highlight of the show is Phoenician pop Illuminatus Tom Filardo playing a set with a band of "AZ All Stars." Along with that, expect music that makes you feel joyful and young.
More importantly, expect Otter Pops.
Read More: Watch Filardo's "I Don't Getcha, Kid"
Show Details Tom Filardo and Friends Amadou's Crew Dragons DanDan Noodles Jamie J.
The Trunk Space 6:30 PM All Ages
Blanche Beach/Drainbow Tour Kickoff
Local fuzz-pop trio Blanche Beach and its heavy, droning sibling band Drainbow are setting off on an 11-day West Coast tour at the end of May. This show is functioning not only as a send-off, but also as a release show for Blanche Beach's new cassette on Tagobella Records. Expect loud things augmented by pedals that make things loud in an altogether different way.
Show Details Blanche Beach Drainbow Man Hands Bolts
Lawn Gnome Publishing 6:00 p.m. All ages
Instructions EP Release
I feel like "math rock" is a term that unintentionally implies separation. It evokes, for me, either the idea of bands with noodly guitars and irregular time signatures inherently being more sophisticated than less "mathematical" bands that play in 4/4 time, or music catered to reclusive nerds seeking to eschew the fun-having tendencies of their peers.
Instructions is a band that gets called math rock a lot. The music is actually pretty sophisticated, but it doesn't exist in an elitist math rock vacuum. The band can get pretty poppy, and I've mostly seen them on bills with "fun" bands. The release show for their most recent EP should be a similar occasion. Expect some bands that make you want to pogo and other bands that make you want to contemplatively sway around.
Show Details Instructions Playboy Manbaby Boss Frog Hasty Escape Stags The Brothers Cosmos
Pi House 314 East Roosevelt Street (right next to the "CANVAS" sign) 7 p.m., all ages
These shows aren't part of a real fest, and you can't buy a wristband that will get you into everything, but bouncing between shows is perfectly feasible. I've illustrated this clumsily in Google Maps. Or you can just go to one of the shows, if that suits you. Either option is better than staying home.
