It List: Thursday

By Defensive Listening and Nite Maus.

Built To Spill/Dinosaur JR/Lou Barlow And The Missing Men/Disco Doom (The Granada): Dinosaur Jr. with Lou Barlow, is perfection. You're Living All Over Me and Bug are two of the most amazing records that came from the late 80's, and are remembered not necessarily because of instrumental proficiency or mind-blowing songwriting, but because of how they sonically embody the sheer coolness of the American underground at that particular time.

Whenever, wherever a Dinosaur Jr. song plays, there's this split second of anticipation, excitement, and a thought of "Fuck yeah, I'm going to enjoy the next two and a half minutes of being in this shitty bar, because 'In A Jar' is playing." All their songs take you to a teenage place, a slightly angry and very energetic confusing state where very few things matter except for having an odd kind of primal satisfaction that is often underrated. It feels like those days when you were waiting for the late bus in high school because you were too broke to get a car, messing around with your friends in the parking lot, listening to music doing nothing in particular, thinking about getting laid. Sometimes, that's just perfect happiness.

Built to Spill appeals to a different set of needs, with more of a calculated passion. Perfect From Now On and Keep It Like a Secret, wind down the 90's at the opposite end of the same aesthetic spectrum that Dinosaur JR inhabits. Where it seems that Dinosaur Jr. stumble into a fuzzy melodic mess of a great song, it sounds like Built to Spill recorded and produced their tracks a few hundred times over, in order to get everything right. As for the results: they are something worth returning to for the rest of your life. The sound is so north-west, so gusty-cold, slightly bare, but perfectly crafted.

With two bands that are so worth seeing live, I can't imagine this being bad. I wish Dinosaur Jr. wasn't "opening," but I guess this is Built to Spill's tour for their new album so it's their party. -(NM)

Lou Barlow (Good Records): Free in-store at 6 PM. I would actually like to make it to this since I'm not sure if I'm going to make it to The Granada, but I'm still interested in hearing Barlow's newest solo material, and that's something I haven't been interested in for a long time. I wonder if he finds the current "lo fi" debate amusing at all, considering he was a big reason the debate was so passionate the first time around, fifteen or more years ago, but definitely after he released Sebadoh's Weed Forestin' in 1987. That record has aged rather well, all things considered, perhaps in part because many artists still embrace those techniques, but it's been a long time since I've heard any home studio sound on anything Barlow's done. I thought the newer songs on his Myspace page were better than expected, but I wonder why guys in their forties always have to come up with lame names for their backing groups when they do solo projects. The Missing Men? Come on, Lou. Just make up some more silly words, I know you still have it in you. -(DL)

Correction: I was just reminded by Drex who The Missing Men were. Ouch. Now, I actually want to go to this show. I'm an idiot. The Missing Men includes not only Mike Watt, but one of my favorite guitarists of all time, Tom Watson, who played in Slovenly, Overpass, and The Red Krayola. Again, I'm an idiot. (DL)

The Donnas/Max Cady/Peacemaker (Trees): This a benefit show for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I want to add that since almost every lineup tonight is making it feel like Nineteen Ninety Something in here, it's perfect that this show is at Trees. If you want to know a dirty secret, I actually saw The Donnas at The Galaxy Club in that very decade. Yikes. -(DL)

Billingham's Defense System (Fallout Lounge)

Top Notch With Sober (The Cavern)

80's Night With DJ G (Hailey's)

Matthew Gray/Spooky Folk/Jenn Gooch (Dan's Silver Leaf)