Coco Coca, Mute Era, Geist & Samuel Joseph
(Blue Moon) Coco Coca sounds, on paper or webpage, like the kind of thing that would be right up my alley: a one-man guitar and vocals band aided by drum machines, sequenced synths, and loops. On record, Midwestern transplant Coco Coca’s fragile, breaking voice and dark, sometimes aggressive new wave revivalism recall fellow Midwesterners the Faint’s sexed-up electro-goth (and its echo, Bright Eyes’ unfairly maligned Digital Ash in a Digital Urn), although the production values may land a little closer to Beep Beep. Live, at least at a recent show at the Comet, Coco Coca’s equipment-heavy mix got a little out of hand, overdriven guitars drowning out his layers of preprogrammed sounds. He’s an energetic and charismatic enough performer, but he might want to think about fleshing out his songs with some hired goons. ERIC GRANDY

Listen to Coco Coca:
“Continents and Oceans”

“Animals”

CPC Gangbangs - “What Love Is” (featuring Zack Galifianakis)

The Whore Moans, CPC Gangbangs, Coconut Coolouts
(Comet) Have you ever seen that Canadian mockumentary Fubar? Aw, jeeez! I dunno if I love it ‘cause deye all talk like dose guys in junior high from da U-P Michigan dat I used da smoke dope with in da duck park… or ‘cause it’s a funny-as-shit movie about two metalheads, Dean and Terry, and their misadventures with cheap beer and testicular cancer. Either way, you’re wondering WTF this has to do with this Comet show. Not much, except Dean is played by Paul Spence the actor, who is also Paul Spence the guitarist for CPC Gangbangs. I recently saw the Gangbangs at SXSW. Even though I was having a cheap-beer-fueled misadventure of my own, I remember thinking, hoo-wee, CPC are one fun-as-shit punk-and-roll band. KELLY O

Betsy Olson, Ghost Lobby, Hungry Pines
(Neumo’s) Hungry Pines are one of Seattle’s most promising bands and best-kept secrets. It’s not your fault: The local band plays often enough, but they’re usually stuck in an opening slot, taking the stage while you’re just wrapping up your preshow dinner down the street. Now you can experience the band despite a conflicting show schedule—they just released their debut, Golden You, comprising nine stellar songs that drift between pretty, lovey-dovey jams (“Bullring,” “Corduroy”) and layered, spacey experiments that are disguised as approachable thanks to Irene Barber’s alluring vocals (“Blood Eagle”). They’re in the early opening slot again tonight—be there on time, okay? MEGAN SELING

Listen to Hungry Pines:
“Blood Eagle”

“Bullring”

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