Weekend Music: Man with a Tan

For some bizarre reason I’m in a good mood today, so mostly recommending happy music this weekend.

Yacht rock, political parody, and rockabilly are all on the menu.

We also include some punk and gloom at the end of the post, for all of you grumps out there. 

Looking for a place to catch the Democratic debate tonight (4/14), and pre-game with some tunes?

Legion Bar in Williamsburg is hosting a screening of the debate at 9 pm, preceded by Left Wing Brooklyn Street Fight, a show featuring comedians and the parody singer Alson Moore.

Friday (4/15) has a bunch of shows that will keep your spirits up and shining, starting with Free Cake for Every Creature at Silent Barn. Alas, this does not involve the serving of any actual free cake.

To get over your disappointment, catch the opening acts Florist and Stephen Steinbrink at the Free Cake show.

Both bands are lush, cheery, and mellow, with Steinbrink sounding like a welcome evolution of yacht rock. Here, give a listen!

Speaking of lush, beautiful sounds, Terrace Martin is at National Sawdust  on Friday night too. He brings a nice mix of jazz and R&B together. Sometimes that fusion can be a bit cloy (here’s looking at you, Lionel Richie) but Martin avoids that pitfall.

As Calvin from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend once put it, when asked if he liked “smooth jazz,” responded, “Is there any other kind?”

If you are looking for something a little more up-tempo, it’s Rebel Night at The Grand Victory on Friday, starting at 11 pm. Vintage rockabilly vinyl will be spun until dawn.

Finally, Record Store Day is this Saturday (4/16), and Rough Trade  has its usual strong schedule for the event, including big names like psychedelic rockers The Fleshtones at 4 pm. You also can’t go wrong with energetic funk masters The New Mastersounds at Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday night at 8:30 pm.

As promised, I end with a few concert picks for the angry and disillusioned.

Corrosion of Conformity is at St. Vitus tonight, but don’t plan your whole night around it as advance tickets are sold out, so the door could be a crap shoot. Still, if you are a metal fan, it’s worth a cruise by there to see if you can get in. The band is a longtime favorite of the influential local punk and metal radio show Crucial Chaos on WNYU-FM.

And punk veterans MDC take over Grand Victory on Friday, the last of four bands starting at 7 pm.

I grew up with this band and saw it through its shifting acronyms: MDC standing variously for Millions of Dead Children, Multi-Death Corporation, Millions of Dead Cops, etc.. Those names should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect Friday night.

Here’s an old favorite from them.