By Don Allred
New Bomb Turks
New Bomb Turks are dogs of homework and other hell, via OSU degrees, while scientifically raking their garage punk garden with the most piquant compost. Indeed, why settle for covering obviously classic Joy Division, when you can serve JD’s tribal embryo, Warsaw, next to primetime Aerosmith, and your own pungent progeny? Drummer Sam Brown recently beat the daylights much deeper into ex-Cowtown bard Tim Easton’s perceptive Porcupine. Their sound is still corrugated, and not nearly cardboard!
08/01 @ The Ravari, 2661 N. High St.
9 p.m.
Little Big Town
Little Big Town tunes Nashville country pop to English folk-rock, often via UK-to L.A.’s Fleetwood Mac. LBT’s men and women all sing lead, also in multiple harmonies
(four-part’s rather vivid). Covering the Innocence Mission’s “Life in A Northern Town” last year, they sought to blend English folk-rock delicacies with the unmistakably country, breakfast-special vocals of colleagues Sugarland—and succeeded, creatively and commercially. Their writing’s steadily improving, but their sound leads to their sharpest visions.
08/02 @ The Celeste, 717 E. 17th Ave.
7:30 p.m.
Glen Campbell
2008's Meet Glen Campbell offers songs by rockers, like Tom Petty and U2, plus performances by rockers, like Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander and Rick Neilsen. It’s worth checking, especially when orchestrations, recalling Campbell’s (non-rock) ‘60s hits, meet the Replacements’ moodily compatible “Sadly Beautiful,” and the Velvet Underground’s ‘60s non-hit, “Jesus.” The Velvets, better known for the earlier “Heroin,” sounded spooked/intrigued by their newly apparent need. Long-time born-again/rehab vet Campbell unblinkingly seconds that mixed emotion.
08/04 @ The Celeste, 717 E 17th Ave.
7:30
Beres Hammond
Reggae perennial Beres Hammond’s voice has aged gracefully, with a little more huskiness and shading passing through his romantic invitations. Sure, they’ll still be accepted; that’s how he’s learned about life’s little ups and downs. Poignant implications and canny timing also keep this pioneer of the “lover’s rock” persuasion stocked with evocative electro-beats, in ballads as well as dancehall encounters. A Moment In Time brings vintage buzz to new situations, under a restless moon.
08/05 @ The Alrosa, 5055 Sinclair Rd.
8 p.m.
Darius Rucker
Darius Rucker’s basso vibrato collegetown/beach band nostalgia sand-blasted through 16 million copies of Hootie & The Blowfish’s 1994 debut album, Cracked Rear View Mirror, and all you could do was roll with it. Hootie’s rootsy sing-a-longs schooled Rucker’s gradual crossover to country. His latest album, Learn To Live, is pop-rock-friendly, like much modern country. Still, Nashville stars like Alison Krauss, Vince Gill and Brad Paisley help keep Rucker’s always-warm barstool in orbit through the neon reflections.
08/09 @ Crew Stadium, 1 Black & Gold Blvd.
7 p.m.
Dungen
Sweden’s Dungen were psychedelic heroes of incandescent European shows long before their 2005 landmark, Ta Det Lungt, blew some American minds. Gustav Estjes has recorded several Dungen releases solo, but on the succinctly, sweetly sizzling 4, he trusts his touring band. Here, drums boil through shuddering bass, while Estjes’ jazz-wise piano discreetly mirrors translucently shred-ready guitar chords, stretching up to summer fjords (or whatever they’re called in Swedish, which sounds soulfully French when Estjes occasionally sings).
08/12 @ The Summit, 2210 Summit St.
8 p.m.
Keith Urban
By 2006, country star Keith Urban seemed haplessly trapped in tabloid headlines. But he entered rehab that year, and each subsequently mega-successful album delivers detailed updates, which can’t come easily. There’s also a dutiful “uplift,” perhaps more credible if sparked by his unfiltered guitar. That’s what first got this New Zealand-born, Australia-raised, Dire Straits/Fleetwood Mac-inspired picker to gigs with country-widening icons like Garth Brooks. And the notes still fly through his life on stage.
08/14 @ The Nationwide, 200 W Nationwide Blvd.
7:30 p.m.
Cat Power
Indie balladeer Cat Power’s early mysteries seemed too fragile and complicated for anyone outside her cult. Yet even us infidels had to get on board for the cosmic Americana cover rotations of last year's Jukebox. These Memphis-flavored, mentholated meditations are lyrically launched by “New York, New York” ‘s bluesy new hip-hop beat. Power also fervently floats Hank Williams’ “Ramblin’ Man” into reincarnation, as “Ramblin’ Woman.” Appropriately so: tours once brought breakdowns; now they grow more glories in her stories.
08/16 @ The LC, 405 Neil Ave.
6:30 p.m.
The Breeders
In the late 80s, as former OSU student Kim Deal got downgraded by the Pixies, her Breeders side project became serious, and identical twin Kelly signed on. “Cannonball“ sounded like a cannonball, mock-wobbling into its status as a bullseye 1994 hit single. They’ve never stopped challenging their gift for pop. “Fate To Fatal," the title track of their recent EP, finds its own feathery way down a death metal staircase, and through a roller derby video.
08/23 @ The Newport, 1722 N High St.
7 p.m.
Modest Mouse
"I love me some Terry Gilliam!” Modest Mouse main man Isaac Brock exclaimed recently. Hopefully, Monty Python's Life of Brian (and other mad classics) director Gilliam may yet helm a Modest Mouse video. Heath Ledger did, and Gilliam, like the Joker-playing Ledger, is perfect for the Mouse’s fractured fairy tales. Drolly doleful Mouse tunes ring like alt-rock altars falling. New single “Autumn Beds” finds MM awaiting sentencing for unspecified crimes, with a banjo’s rising chime brightly guiding “lowest” points downhill.
08/24 @ The LC, 405 Neil Ave.
7 p.m.
Adam Lambert
Sonically, and in defeat-as-victory (through even more melodrama), surprise “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert, screamy dreamboat with the semi-operatic range, recalls comparatively few. Principally, pre-rock teen idol Johnnie Ray, media-crowned “the Atomic Swami” for his magic vocal fireworks. Although Lambert’s more exultant: “Rhinestones on my eyelids, bitch!” was his word to Rolling Stone, and “Idol.” Posted pre-“Idol” demo tracks flash rock form as well as spirit. Newly recorded work reportedly includes stylistic experiments, some of which he’s unveiling on tour.
08/25 @ The Schottenstein, 555 Borror Dr.
7 p.m.
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