SAVE SIERRA BENEFIT SHOW

>>> Friday, Aug. 27

We take care of our own in Tacoma - or try to, at least. Last Wednesday, I was at The New Frontier when I heard that beloved Tacoma citizen, Sierra Venes, had just had her wallet stolen. She lost $400 in cash, and another $500 in checks. That's rent and then some, gone in a flash. Drinks were passed to her along with sympathetic pats on the back, and then Spencer Kelley of Basemint had an idea: a benefit show. And now - wouldn't you know it - that shit is happening. Friday night, get together in solidarity with a fellow Tacoman and watch as Basemint and Red Hex (and perhaps more guests) assemble to rock your pants off. Have fun, have a drink and help someone out - a win-win-win. - Rev. Adam McKinney

[The New Frontier Lounge, with Basemint and Red Hex, 9 p.m., cover TBA, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

LOWER DENS

>>> Saturday, Aug. 28

Music critic Mike McGonigal once compared the start of My Bloody Valentine's "Loomer" to the sensation he felt every time he got high back in the days when he was hooked on speedballs. And though Baltimore's Lower Dens share the shoegaze deities' affinity for graceful, diaphanous sounds, their music is hardly appropriate for binging on mega-potent drug cocktails. As with fellow Marylanders (and sound-alikes) Beach House, Lower Dens' vibe is deeply narcotic. I'm reminded of the over-the-counter cold medicines that came - in the days before litigation intervened - packed with mind-numbing Dextromethorphan, and the crust punks I knew who took it regularly and copiously. If you're feeling the need to zone out on sprinkles of mellow guitar, muted percussion and drowsy pop melodies (as if they were being broadcast, somehow, from the bottom of a swimming pool), this is your ticket. Highs like this are hard to come by anymore. - Jason Baxter

[Northern, guests TBA, 8 p.m., all ages, cover TBA, 321 Fourth Ave., Olympia, northernolympia.org]

MAXI RAD

>>> Monday, Aug. 30

Maxi Rad are a no-frills punk rock band from San Francisco and, besides having a delightful name, they seek to surprise and delight in other ways. From their unexpectedly sunny, galloping guitars to their strange obsession with Ronald Reagan, Maxi Rad have a way of approaching punk with a light touch that is most welcome. As has been said time and time again, there's just something about California. It warms and softens the brittle bones of punk rock, allowing a band like Maxi Rad to be hard and silly at the same time. A Tacoma native like me - so used to the gravel and gray skies - might not know what to do down the coast, where the sun shines all day and the night is made for rock ‘n' roll. - Rev. AM

[The New Frontier Lounge, with guests, 9 p.m., cover TBA, 301 E. 25th St, Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

THE MAKEUP MONSTERS

>>> Wednesday,�Sept. 1-Thursday, Sept. 2

The Makeup Monsters are one of a handful of barely-legal NW duos whose youngness seems to be just as attention-grabbing as their undeniably brilliant music (the notoriously spastic Herr Jazz are another example). With popular culture more youth-obsessed than ever, promising talents like TMM's Shayne Weeks and Isaac Solverson seem poised for great things - provided they aren't squashed by the weight of peoples' Great Expectations. If the Makeup Monsters haven't conquered the world yet, it's not for lack of trying. They were finalists in 2009's Sound Off! Competition - the annual large-scale Battle of the Bands organized by Seattle's Experience Music Project. Some are still scratching their heads over that sonic scuffle's ultimate outcome; Weeks and Solverson were overlooked in favor of the hip-hop collective Dyno Jamz, despite having material as well-wrought and habit-forming as "Rude Romantique" (from their '09 LP Clint Queen Original Dream). That track's combination of lurching, ska-fried rhythmic leanings, caffeinated tempo changes, Julian Casablancas-indebted vocal delivery, and killer lyrical barbs ("You suck dick while I'm sick in bed") remains virtually impossible to resist. - JB

[Fulcrum Gallery, with Takhoma, Motorbikes, Trevor Dickson, 8 p.m., all ages, $5, 1934 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2280. The Den, with Red Hex, Si Si Si and Colbalt Crane, Thursday, Sept. 2, 8 p.m., all ages, The Den, 1934 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2280]