by JOHNSON CUMMINS

The obvious choice for the night owl tonight, Feb. 2, would be Casa del Popolo, where Touch put the power in “power ballad,” and meet up with Launie Andersohn offshoot band Mushroom Galaxy Walkathon and their “post-punk-pop sonicity” (think Ween).

Friday night marks the launch of Void magazine with Dorian Hatchet at the Friendship Cove. I’ll admit, I don’t know what Dorian sounds like, but if she’s anything like her sister Molly Hatchet, I would expect some good ol’ Southern-fried boogie rock. Hell, yeah! Bring your cousin, you may get lucky. If you miss them Friday night, you can also see Dorian Hatchet as part of the always-rewarding Mandatory Moustache series, Tuesday night at le Divan Orange. Rounding out that local bill is Land of Talk (who were great at the Besnard Lakes show a couple weeks back) and the Lovely Feathers. If this fine array of local talent still hasn’t put the spring in your step, totally wicked poster artist Jack Dylan will adorn the walls of le Divan Orange with a 2005 retrospective of his work.

Saturday night at la Sala Rossa is a big night when “local boys done good” We Are Wolves return home after their U.S. tour. Along with these Fat Possum recording artists will be T-dot’s Creeping Nobodies and No Dynamics. Also on Saturday night, Foufounes Électriques witnesses the return of pop-punkers the Queers with le Volume Était Au Maximum and the Riptides taking up the opening slots, while Gutter Demons fill Petit Campus full of twang and tub thunk, with the greasy rawk of Nitrosonique along for the ride.

On Wednesday night, you should duck into Cheval Blanc and check out the Tortoise-esque sounds of Gyroscope—best of all, it’s free. The Hard Rock Café failed to live up to its name recently when they asked Gyroscope to turn down after two songs as they jammed before a witless crowd munching on Buddy Holly burgers. How dare they possess mementos of the Who, Blue Cheer and Jimi Hendrix. Pussies!

Also on Wednesday, my old buddy and former Doughboys colleague John Kastner teams up with ex-Lemonhead Evan Dando for an unplugged night of pop at the Main Hall. Although both are on the cusp of releasing solo records, I would think that they might pluck out some dusty chestnuts from the good ol’ days. The management, though, has asked that people please keep crowd surfing to a minimum.

Now to end on a bad note. Crackpot guitarist and all-around good egg Chris Burns recently lost all of his worldly possessions when a fire devastated his apartment on Jan. 27. Having no insurance, simply because he lived on top of a store, Burns is left with a goose egg. If anybody would like to contribute a bed, records, stereo equipment, furniture, TV, computer and so on, or better yet, know of some cheap digs he can hole up in, please get hold of me at the e-mail address below.

WHATCHAGOT? jonathan.cummins@gmail.com

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