LAST SLICE OF BUTTER

>>> Thursday, June 10

In terms of ferocity alone, Seattle duo Last Slice of Butter is some kind of champion. Despite consisting of only bass and drums (the Death From Above 1979 formula, if you will), they're capable of stirring up more racket than just about anyone in the 206 area code. Their music is punk, technically, but you can tell there are some canny pop and grunge instincts under all the dirty, deafening distortion. If you're not already sold, know this: TSLOB drummer Travis Coster is insane. Lightning fast and furiously forceful, he needs to be seen to be believed. - Jason Baxter

[The Squawk Box, with Humble Cub, Emperor Moth, Girls From the Moon, 6 p.m., $5, 745 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma]

THE PICA BEATS

>>> Thursday, June 10

There are some bands that cut straight to the quick. The Pica Beats are smart enough to put lead singer R. Barrett's voice front and center. Listening to the Pica Beats, it's almost as if Barrett is sitting on the opposite end of a campfire with you, singing right at you with uncomfortable eye contact. It's intimate pop music that avoids being maudlin or sleepy and boring. The band's childlike interest in the insides of bodies and the threshold of human emotion lend quirkiness and peculiar sadness to the whole. - The Rev. Adam McKinney

[The New Frontier Lounge, with Basemint, Santee, Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside, 9 p.m., $8, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

LAKE

>>> Friday, June 11

LAKE is five K Records cuties from the mystical Isle of Whidbey and the natural springs of Olympia.  The primary songwriters are Eli Moore and Ashley Eriksson - a golden-haired couple who look like Muppets and sing like sunshine. Their music is so special and impossible to force into any genre. It's like trying to grip a big, slippery beach ball. OK. I'll try. It's like R&B/jazz/calypso/indie-folk. No, that's not it. Imagine forest elves who listen to nothing but Motown. Actually, don't try to crack this coconut. Just let it sing for you and be happy. - Heather Thomas Loepp

[The New Frontier Lounge, with Myths, Paris Spleen, People Under the Sun, 9 p.m., $7, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

MYTHS

>>> Friday, June 11

I think it's safe to say Myths want to fuck your minds and leave them feeling dirty. Myths make confrontational music that leans toward art rock but never displaces its ambition of alienating its audience. The band is made up of two women who perform to a backing track and scream in syncopated bursts of crazed fury. Though it may not be for everyone, Myths do make arresting music that borders on performance art, and it's worth witnessing in the flesh. To be attacked by music every once in awhile is equal time in my book. - The Rev. AM

[The New Frontier Lounge, with Lake, Paris Spleen, People Under the Sun, 9 p.m., $7, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

PEOPLE UNDER THE SUN

>>> Friday, June 11

James Jenkins played a big part in initiating me into the world of Tacoma music and Team Unicorn. His now-defunct band, Mama Loves Daddy, was and still is one of my favorite bands to come out of this city, and long nights spent at the "Gloom House" served to throw me head first into the deep end of cigarettes, Carlo Rossi and vintage vinyl. Mama Loves Daddy eventually dissolved, and Jenkins moved down to Portland. His triumphant return to Tacoma with his freshly assembled People Under the Sun outfit will be paved with flicked cherries, hazy binges and smoking guitar amps. - The Rev. AM

[The New Frontier Lounge, with Myths, Paris Spleen, Lake, 9 p.m., $7, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

TERRORDACTYLS

>>> Saturday, June 12

Two super nice guys play super cute music with super dark lyrics. I lived with one of them for a while in an insane house full of frogs and turtles. We ate frosting and rode a tandem bicycle. It sounds cute, but it was actually a depressing and lonely time in our lives. Now take that story and apply it to Terrordactyls' music. While the guys play ultra-friendly toy piano and kazoo, songwriter Michael Cadiz's lyrics reveal more subterranean complexities. You will adore them while they sing about two friends who murder each other because the summer ended. - HTL

[The Squawk Box, with Typhoon, Makeup Monsters, Xylophones, 6 p.m., all ages, $7, 745 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma]

REPORTER

>>> Saturday, June 12

Unfortunately I missed the days when one could smoke in a bar or club. Shortly before the law was passed to ban smoking indoors, an underage me snuck in a smoking session inside a local lounge. It was grey and candlelit, and it felt right to feel so bad. It took much longer before I could dance in public. It's still a rare occurrence. Reporter makes dance music as smoky and sinful and longing as my earlier crime. In all its caged-in smolder and swagger, it may be enough to make me reconsider the dance floor. - The Rev. AM

[The New Frontier Lounge, with Strength, 10 p.m., $8, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

TINY VIPERS

>>> Sunday, June 13

Seattle's diminutive Jesy Fortino (Tiny Vipers) will surprise you. When people see a solitary girl with an acoustic guitar they think folk music. What is folk music but telling a story?  With ghostly melodies over seemingly disparate guitar work, Fortino isn't trying to get you to understand her story. She takes you on a somewhat uncomfortable journey where you're left without a discernable ending - just more road. I am so impressed with her integrity and indifference to pop music. She's traveling inward instead of out. It's brave, and it's a little scary. No refrain? No hooks? No hand claps? Ahhhhh! - HTL

[The Squawk Box, with Kusika, Takhoma, Mega Bog, 6 p.m. all ages, $8, 745 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma]

GRAND HALLWAY

>>> Sunday, June 13

Do you like things that appear to be epic? Are you into feeling swept away? Were you ever in drama club in junior high? Did it make you cry when you beat Final Fantasy? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Grand Hallway is for you. With eight handsome members who are seriously skilled instrumentalists, the sound delivery is really something - I'm sorry - GRAND. How can you help but believe that everything is going to turn out all right when there are violins coaxing optimism in such a shrill manner? The Grinch would hate this music. - HTL

[The New Frontier Lounge, with Trevor Dickson, The Kilcid Band, 9 p.m., #7, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]