Sounds Good: Kurt Vile @ Granada, Bob Mould @ Bottleneck

As many of you probably know, a couple weeks ago Chad Rogers went missing when he went out for an evening run.

He was found dead about a week later at a construction site, so his former colleagues at 96.5 the Buzz put together a concert to help benefit his family.  The show features The Old Crows, Jake Turner, Atlas, Matt Pryor of the Get Up Kids, We Are Voices and Six Percent and goes down this Saturday, August 17th at the Midland.

Tickets are just $10…

Friday, August 16th

Kurt Vile at the Granada in Lawrence

Vile’s previous album, Smoke Ring for My Halo, was a refreshing blast of noisy slacker rock that reminded me of early Beck crossed with a blackout drunk Pete Yorn.  He didn’t tread much new ground on his most recent release, Walkin on a Pretty Daze, opting instead to put out what could have been the second disc of Smoke Ring.  Whatever, both albums are pretty damn great in my book.  I’ve had this one on my calendar for a couple months now, so don’t be dumb – get to this show.

Bob Mould at the Bottleneck in Lawrence

One of the founding members of the legendary Hüsker Dü, Mould has been doing the solo thing for awhile now.  Last year he released Silver Age, a record that earned a respectable 7.6 rating from Pitchfork.  (Side note: how snooty is Pitchfork?  Oh, we use decimals and big words…).  Here’s what Stuart Berman wrote:

“Silver Age arrives as a totem of Mould’s continued influence on today’s mainstream rock (Foo Fighters, Green Day) and indie-level (No Age, Japandroids) artists alike… the album is so true to fuzz-pop form that you might easily mistake it for an unearthed bonus disc of quality Sugar outtakes from those recent reissues; the opening anti-sellout screed “Star Machine” could even pass for a 90s-era comment on mallternative-rock chancers.”