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British Sea Power returns, plus rising a rising folk-rock sister act and more
BY CARLY CARIOLI
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Unlike the countless groups on both sides of the Atlantic who have begun tipping their hats to the wan, stylish post-punk of Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen, British Sea Power do not mistake composure for civility. Although their "Remember Me" and "The Lonely" are as archly bittersweet as anything by Interpol, the band have a penchant for brash, squalling noise that’s much closer to the ’90s aggro of Touch and Go and Amphetamine Reptile than you’d expect for an outfit that peppers its lyrics with Ivy League erudition, dresses in vintage military gear, and adorns its stages with props right out of a natural-history museum. Touring behind last year’s The Decline of British Sea Power (Rough Trade), they’re at T.T. the Bear’s Place (617-492-BEAR) in Cambridge on Wednesday and at the Call (401-751-2255) in Providence next Thursday, March 11. There’s a plot to This Town Is Wrong (Rounder), the latest album from the folk-rock sister act Nerissa & Katryna Nields, and it goes like this: "Two misunderstood 13-year-old girls . . . plunge into songwriting to ease the ache of pre-adolescence." That might sound a little autobiographical — Nerissa started her songwriting at age seven — but in fact the disc is a soundtrack to Nerissa’s literary debut, a young-adult novel by the same name set to be released next fall by Scholastic. The ladies have put together a full band for tour stops at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton on Saturday and at the Paradise (617-423-NEXT) in Boston next Saturday, March 13. Adolescence as seen from the remove of adulthood also informs Send Us Your Demons, the forthcoming disc by New York City punk-pop dynamos Dirt Bike Annie, who craft ebullient buzzsaw-bubblegum nuggets for a generation too old to relate to Blink-182 and too young to grow up. They’re at the Abbey Lounge (617-441-9631) in Somerville on Wednesday and at Hampshire College (413-549-4600) in Amherst next Thursday, March 11. In one of the oddest marriages we can recall, Boston’s Dresden Dolls — they of the luminous, decadent Brechtian/Waitsian cabaret act — appear to have signed to the metal mega-indie Roadrunner. We hope Roadrunner doesn’t think it’s signed a goth band. But on the upside, in a pinch, frontwoman Amanda Palmer can borrow make-up from the dudes in Coal Chamber. The Dolls play the Living Room (401-521-5200) in Providence on Friday, then continue on to Axis (617-262-2437) in Boston on Tuesday. And just in case Amanda needs to start scouting around for a thrash rhythm section or something, the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester has a weekend’s worth of metal on tap: God Forbid and Walls of Jericho tonight (March 4), gore lords Cannibal Corpse on Friday, and the "Sno-Core Tour" with Trapt and Smile Empty Soul on Saturday. The Sno-Core bill also hits Lupo’s at the Strand (401-331-5876) in Providence on Monday and the State Theater (207-780-8265) in Portland next Saturday, March 13.
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