Tuesday, March 12-Wednesday, March 13, Dropkick Murphys, Old Man Markley, Jim Lockley & The Solemn Sun, Bryan McPherson at Terminal 5, $33.50
St. Patrick's Day is almost here. The Dropkick Murphys are in town. If you are even remotely exciting by the pairing of these two events, you sort of have to go for this. Call them one note if you will, but these guys work hard to make rooms full of people chant along with their Irish-music-informed knucklehead-brawling songs, for which the beer distributors of the world thank them. This is smartly unrefined, chest beating stuff, and there's certain days where that's exactly what you need.
Thursday, March 14, Tim Kasher, Birthmark, Future of What at Knitting Factory, $12
Austin, Texas has sucked nearly all the currently active bands to Texas for South By Southwest this week, but there's still a few good reasons to leave your house if you're not heading that way. Tim Kasher would be a worthwhile pick even in the busiest of weeks; the leader of Cursive and The Good Life has built a reputation for slanted storytelling and biting, confrontational lyrics, alternatively set to jagged punk or deftly strummed art folk. His 2010 solo record The Game of Monogamy was a kaleidoscopic exploration of a troubled marriage set to near Broadway levels of orchestral flourish. The man likes to keep his fans guessing, and if this is a chance to see what he's working on next, well, that's way cooler than sweating it out in Texas any day of the week.
Sunday, March 17, Pinback, JP Inc., Music Hall of Williamsburg, $18
San Diego's Pinback are one of those long-running bands it can be easy to take for granted. Whatever breakout moment they had has come and gone, but they've kept on making knotty yet ultimately triumphant indie rock with blue collar regularity. The guitar riffs can feel a bit mathy at times, but these guys are all sweat, blood and tears. Okay, there's rarely actual tears. Maybe just sweat, blood and sighs.
