X, Skybombers, Guns & Rossetti
(Showbox at the Market) More Fun in the New World, X’s fourth (and last great) album, is hands down my favorite from their considerable catalog. It’s a far slicker sound than they’d had before, but goddamn it worked. John and Exene’s vocals go together like bourbon and barbecue—smoky, sticky, spicy-sweet. Like hot vinyl seats and Venice Beach. It’s also the last record the OG lineup played on together—remarkable here because this tour features all four of the originals; hopefully they’ll pick up today right where they left off back in 1983: “Honest to goodness/the bars weren’t open this morning/they must have been voting/for a new president of something….” LARRY MIZELL JR.

Ari Spool went last night, and she has some advice for those of you attending tonight—click here!

(Video is Jeffrey Lewis performing the song “Seattle.”)

The Cribs, Ra Ra Riot, Jeffrey Lewis at Chop Suey
The Cribs are well-connected, sassy, and smart Brit pop boys who hit the States without the usual Brit press flurry. Ra Ra Riot are a jangly American indie-pop septet, whose elated and melancholic songs reference the Police (vocals) and Dexy’s Midnight Runners (fiddle) without sounding retro. But the most exciting act here may be Jeffrey Lewis—he of the antifolk Crass-covers album and the comic-strip “music videos.” Don’t be late. (Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000. 8 pm, $12, 21+.) by Eric Grandy

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