FRI 7/9: Film & Music

As seen below: If you're not working today, there is free admission at the Franklin Park Zoo today. In fact there's something free to do every Friday for the next couple months.

There is a lot of good stuff this weekend (e.g. The Lemonheads and Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers at a free Newburyport festival, a minor-league double-header at Fenway, "Micro-Mini Car Day" at Larz Anderson Auto Museum), so I hope to get more up on the early side.

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FRI 7/9 (and SAT 7/10)

8pm
"Kick-Ass"
at Room 100, Bldg 26, 60 Vassar St, Cambridge (MIT Campus)
FREE

Without reading the comic-book, the movie had its moments. The characters are more realistic than any others in the genre, and the action was pretty damn good. If there's a sequel, I'd want to see more Hit-Girl.

I watched it for free, then I paid to see it on something larger than a monitor. Now you don't even have to pay!

FRI 7/9

9pm
The Action Verbs, Leave by Six, Eddie Japan, Voodoo Screw Machine
at Church, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston (Fenway)
$10 / 21+

The two bands that are the most interesting are Eddie Japan and Voodoo Screw Machine, who are probably playing first.

I kinda wish that Eddie Japan wore ties at every gig like their promo pic, because the music has so much of a 60's vibe when bands would look classy. Perhaps it's the prominence of the trumpet, but I hear lounge and soul influences in the mix; and the vocals are expressive and dynamic. They quoted me as saying it's "...impressively developed pop", and I stand by that.

Voodoo Screw Machine seems to put as much effort into the spectacle of their performance as the music itself -- and the playing is solid. Besides their own hard rock, the band is going to play a bunch of songs from Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult, and Black Sabbath. Could be pretty fun.

There's also nothing wrong with the rock of Action Verbs and Leave By Six. It's catchy stuff you might like.

FRI 7/9

9:30pm
Secret Twins, John Colvert & Brendan Murphy, Sam Reid & the Riot Act
at Milky Way Lounge/Bella Luna, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain (The Brewery Complex)
$5 / 21+

There's something really appealing about Secret Twins from Ann Arbor. They call themselves "DIY folk-punk", but it seems like they don't blend the approaches as much as they switch between loud and quiet from song to song. I like both of their angles.

They're joined by some local rootsy/bluegrassy acts.

FRI 7/9

9:30pm
Thick Shakes, The Numerators, Creeptales, The Human Tail
at House of Blues - Front Room, 15 Lansdowne St, Boston (Kenmore Sq)
FREE / 21+

How cool is this free show? We should really be paying for this gig, so think about hitting the merch table.

I'll generally give the thumbs-up anytime Thick Shakes are bashing out their dirty nuggets of classic garage-rock; they keep it short, sweet and fuzzy. I think you'll find the charm in the trippy, understated mess of The Numerators from Lubbock, TX. (Maybe they'll even give a nod to Buddy Holly?)

There's also the surfy garage of Brooklyn duo Creeptales and the new group from, I think, from guys that used to be in other local punk bands Home/Alone and Hospital Rats, if you saw them.

FRI 7/9 (and SAT 7/10)

Midnight
"Mad Max"
at Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline
$9.75

I'm not really following Mel Gibson's recent scandal, although it seems like he might be screwed professionally. Before we knew he was a nut in real life, Mel was post-apocalyptic bad-ass "Mad Max".

I'm not sure if I've seen the original "Australian dialogue" version (prior to the dubbing of American accents for US audiences) that's being screened tonight. You hear it the way it should be on the big screen. Or get the DVD...