[FOLK] + FRI, JUNE 7

What Tiny Tim was for Tin Pan Alley-era singers, Tommy Dean is for rambling folk of the '50s and '60s. Like Tiny Tim, Tommy Dean is a self-stylized revivalist, an encyclopedia of long-forgotten tunes. He's a jukebox - pop a quarter in him and he'll go. Armed with a six-string and a harmonica around his neck, Dean has traversed the entirety of the country, soaking in the dust and the highway hypnosis that defined the lives of those wandering folkies he so strives to emulate. Even when he's standing on a stage, Dean is unmistakably a busker, a man made to peddle his songs on the street, guitar case open and waiting for passersby to grace it with coins. This quality made him a natural protegee to Baby Gramps, who called him the "greatest songwriter in Seattle." High praise, indeed. {REV ADAM MCKINNEY}

TOMMY DEAN, w/ Tortilla Flat, RowHouse, 9 p.m., The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, cover tba, 253.572.4020

[DRONE ROCK] + SAT, JUNE 8

"Sitting down to write about Olympia's Broken Water, I'm tempted to get stoned first. Listening to the three-piece and their fuzzy, shoe-gazing drone-rock, I'm nostalgic for contemplative thoughts that roll with the crescendos and crashes of the music. But I don't have to get stoned. They take me there anyway. With mesmerizing vocals - both male and female - and sometimes heavy, sometimes sweet guitar riffs, Broken Water has an almost grunge-pop quality ... but not quite. They are too busy being their own sound." I wrote those words a year ago - almost to the day - and I still feel the same about Broken Water. And while last time I was reviewing their album Tempest, this time I'm writing about their homecoming show. After launching their spring tour April 22 at Dumpster Values in Olympia, the band has played a show every single day since. From Austin to New Orleans, from Ithaca to Calgary, Broken Water has been making waves. Celebrate the band's homecoming Saturday at an all-ages show at Northern. {NIKKI MCCOY}

BROKEN WATER, w/ Vex, Voices and Doctor Sleep, 8 p.m., Northern, 414 ½ Legion Way, Olympia

[POP-PUNK] + SAT, JUNE 8

Every so often, a band comes along that blows you through the flaming hoop of innocence and hangs you out to dry on the tattered trapeze of days gone by. Sweet Water is one such band. In June 2007, the band - under the disguise The Cupcakes - prepared for their big reunion show in Seattle with a tune-up show at Tacoma's Hell's Kitchen. Four chords into its first song, I was transported to Seattle's RCKCNDY in the '90s by these four guys fully in control of everything - the air, the audience, the sound, the unknown. Adam, Rich, Paul, and Cole ran through their pop-punk hits before a packed crowd. I found myself unexpectedly roaring and pumping right along, caught up in memories and rock star singer Adam Czeisler's dance moves. Sweet Water picked up on the crowd intensity and worked it like seasoned pros. I felt outside of myself, carried, nay, pushed along on opener "Cake And Strychnine," then "Feed Yourself," "Big Rock Show," "Win," "Slide," "Everything Will Be Just Fine," "Losing," "Sleep," "Superstar," "Head Down" and closing with "Crawl."  The band's shining ultra-hooky and supercharged show injected ecstasy into everyone around me. I fell in love with the audience and thanked them for taking me back to a place I had almost forgotten existed, a place of total immersion in the music and the moment, and fie on anybody who has a problem with that. I'm ready for a repeat Saturday night at Jazzbones. {RON SWARNER}

SWEET WATER, w/The Guessing Game, 8 p.m., Jazzbones, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, $9.99, 253.396.9169

[HEAVY POP] + THURS, JUNE 13

Upon first listen to Memory Boys, one gets the impression that they are practitioners of this sort of trendy, depressive songwriting, cloaked in darkness and murky with reverb. This is certainly the case, to an extent, but repeated exposure reveals a nifty knack for interesting twists and turns - unexpected bursts of sunshine that cast a relief over the rest of the proceedings. Most useful in this regard is the canny choices in instrumentation that break up the songs from being mostly march-like assemblies of guitars and drums. Every sparkly keyboard, chime, or vocal harmony that leaks through the din manages to create a depth and soulful dimension that elevates Memory Boys out of the deep waters of melancholy self-reflection. In short, though, Memory Boys create compelling music that lulls even as it defies expectations. {REV. AM}

MEMORY BOYS, w/ Humble Cub, Slushy, Half Shadow, 8 p.m., Metronome Coffee, 3518 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, cover tba, 253.301.2375

LINK: Live music tonight in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area