Rock/Pop

In all of its potential for presenting flawed and misleading information, Wikipedia pretty much hits the mark when it comes to math rock. The oft-vilified source for universal information calls the genre "a rhythmically complex, guitar-based style of experimental rock music ... characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including irregular stopping and starting), angular melodies, and dissonant chords."

That sounds about right. And it's pretty much the same string of adjectives that most respectable journalists have been rearranging for years when trying to describe the sound. But the legitimate media harbors a somewhat skewed perception of North Carolina's accidental math rock foursome Polvo.

Throughout the '90s, the Chapel Hill-based group seemed like just another math rock band. Their albums were good, earnest and distinctive; but not the stuff of legend. At least they didn't seem so at the time. They were akin to the musical legacy kicked off by Slint in Louisville, Kentucky in the late '80s, which came to a head with Chicago's Thrill Jockey Records scene that dominated indie rock real estate during the Clinton years.

To say that Poison Arrows vocalist Tuk Smith has matured since his days spent jamming on plasticine punk chords with his former band the Heart Attacks isn't quite accurate, but he is more focused these days. The same can be said for the rest of the fashionable young lads who make up Poison Arrows; Mikey Portwood (bass), Joey O'Brien (drums) and Josh Hitson (guitar).

The budding glam punk crew finds former Heart Attacks cohorts Smith and Portwood exhibiting the benefits of digesting a broad swath of rock 'n' roll history that began in the 1950s and comes to a screeching halt somewhere in Britain circa 1975. Trace elements of Nick Lowe, Cheap Trick, the Boys, and Slade bare a distinct mark on the group's strutting guitars and sneering pop songwriting. Portwood decrees that he doesn't want to be thought of as a record collector band, but Smith chimes in to the contrary. "I don't want to make the same mistakes the Heart Attacks made," he says. "I don't want to be thought of as a little kid band. I would like to take it to another level where we actually write good songs and play good songs. To me the Heart Attacks were a gimmick band. I was 19 and we were crazy."

The Replacements turned countless people on to Alex Chilton a couple decades back by naming one of their career-best songs after him, and that track's appearance in Rock Band 2 will surely move new pilgrims to worship at the House of Chilton. But I'm sure he could've mustered a cult even without Paul Westerberg's blessing.

 Long-distance duo SUN CIRCLE--former Chicagoan and "laptronica" artist Greg Davis, who's now in Vermont, and Montana-based Zach Wallace, who also plays bass in Memorize the Sky with another former Chicagoan, reedist Matt Bauder--stick to sustained drones on every track of theirs I've heard so far. One piece on their self-titled debut CD-R is built around intersecting vocal chants--low, guttural notes, drawn out Tibetan-monk style and amplified till they're strident and grainy, a la Tony Conrad--but most of their material is purely instrumental, combining organ, bowed strings, and gongs in slowly shifting epics that sometimes hover and sometimes pulsate vigorously. Beneath its surface each drone swarms with microscopic activity--tiny changes in texture, density, and pitch that keep your ears busy once you surrender to the sumptuous sound.

Britney Spears, who has totally regained her hottie status, is back, and playing the St. Pete Times Forum on March 8. Here's the info:

(TAMPA, FL) - Britney Spears will bring her highly anticipated The Circus Starring Britney Spears 2009 Tour to the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL on Sunday, March 8.  The 27-city North American trek, her first arena tour in five years, follows hot on the heels of Spears' long-awaited sixth studio album, Circus. Emmy Award-winning choreographer and director, Wade Robson, is helming the incredible tour production, which also features special guests The Pussycat Dolls.

Tickets will go on sale Monday, December 8^th at 10:00am and can be purchased at the McDonald's Box Office at the St. Pete Times Forum box office and all Ticketmaster locations, via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000, Ticketmaster Express at 866-448-7849 (automated only self service line) or online at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are subject to applicable service charges and event time and date are subject to change.

The massive AEG campus in downtown continues to expand. In addition to the Staples Center, Club Nokia, the Nokia Theater and the Conga Room (and a bowling alley with the strictest dress code I've ever seen), it's now home to the Grammy Museum. It's only fitting that a museum of an award show ends up in Los Angeles.

Full info about all the opening events after the jump...

Another sign that the recession has been going on a lot longer than a month: Two local record stores are going bye-bye. In fact, Open Mind Music -- which moved to Market Street a couple years back in the hopes of staving off extinction -- is already gone, having shuttered its doors last month. (The store will apparently sell its remaining underground hip-hop, freaky techno, and oddball rock at the Other Shop on Divisadero and online.) Now comes the news that the 24th Street location of Streetlight Records is going kaput after the holidays.

A story at Billboard.com states that rockers Creed are planning a reunion tour in 2009. The band last performed in 2004 before singer Scott Stapp went on to a solo career that fizzled out quickly and the other guys formed Alter Bridge that had limited success.

I guess they got tired of singing the song of a career that goes nowhere and will get back together. The band sold 26.1 million albums -- though I'd debate that most of their songs sounded the same.

Creative Loafing was saddened to learn that long-time Atlanta music fixture and one-time Eastside Lounge co-owner Johnny Ether (Johnny Laubach) has passed away.

Details regarding the cause of his death are still not available. A Lunar Magazine thread addresses some vague details concerning the accidental nature of his death, but there aren't any substantial details to report at this time.