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Providence MC Sage Francis makes the rounds with Non Prophets, plus a pop-punk extravaganza and more
BY CARLY CARIOLI
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Six years ago this week, a virtually unknown Providence MC named Sage Francis walked in off the streets and bested the likes of Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, and Reks in the inaugural Superbowl MC Battle at the Western Front in Cambridge. He’s since been an unstoppable force in settings from poetry slams to the avant-hip-hop collective Anticon, and in 2003 signed a deal with Epitaph that will bear fruit with a solo disc later this year. In the meantime, there’s Hope, a disc just out on the Warp Records hip-hop offshoot Lex that’s credited to Non Prophets, Francis’s collaboration with fellow Rhode Islander and producer Joey Beats. It’s a lyrically scathing effort with primitive production that recalls the loopy funk fetishes of the early sampling days. And this week Non Prophets bring Hope to the masses, kicking off a tour at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton Wednesday, the Metronome (802-865-4563) in Burlington, Vermont, Thursday, February 5, and at the Matrix (617-542-4077), adjacent to the Roxy in Boston, February 6. Does pop-punk come with strings attached? It does if you’re Yellowcard, who earned a deal with Warner Bros. thanks to a penchant for sunny, energetic tunes — its members are from Florida and Southern California — as well as a wacky gimmick: they’ve got a violinist. Yellowcard hit Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in Winooski Saturday. For pop-punk with no strings attached, there’s always Pennywise, who have ignored major-label siren songs and are still cranking out speedy, caffeinated, politicized hymns on Epitaph. Out in support of their seventh album, From the Ashes, they’re at the Webster Theater (860-525-5553) in Hartford tonight (Thursday, January 29) and at the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester Friday. The Mekons already have a March 11 date booked at the Middle East in Cambridge to celebrate their 25th-anniversary collection Punk Rock (Quarterstick), but tireless founder Jon Langford refuses to rest on his laurels. This week he’s in the area with Ship and Pilot, yet another of his gutbucket roots-rock bands. For this tour, the group includes fellow Mekons Steve Goulding and Sally Timms, with Pere Ubu’s Tony Maimone and violinist Jean Cook along for the ride. They’re at T.T. the Bear’s Place (617-492-BEAR) in Cambridge Friday and the Narrows Center for the Arts (508-324-1926) in Fall River Saturday. If you’d ever wondered what the Fall would’ve sounded like if Mark E. Smith had grown up a bitter redneck in Alabama, you owe it to yourself to see the Country Teasers at least once. They’re an utterly misanthropic outfit from Scotland, not Birmingham, whose penchant for rank obscenity and the occasional race-baiting lyric made them the least-likely band ever to put out a record on the maverick blues label Fat Possum. They’ve only got crankier since their debut disc on the legendary garage-punk label Crypt, and their latest releases, on In the Red, find their cracked country/punk glowering at its most primitive. They’ll play AS220 (401-454-7445) in Providence on Friday.
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