A LEAF

>>> Thursday, March 15

Drawing inspiration from the British folk-rock of the '60s and '70s, as well as the more bombastic elements of Britpop - and occasional dips into dream-pop territory - A Leaf's music is absorbing and soothing, while still carving out moments that surprise and delight in equal measure. This is music fit for listening to on a sunny spring drive, or alone, in a darkened room, as rain steadily raps on your windows. A Leaf is a band fully formed, clear of intent and vision, a continuing bright spot in Tacoma. - Weekly Volcano

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

STUMBLEBUM BRASS BAND

>>> Friday, March 16

The Stumblebum Brass Band is an entity that banks on novelty, but does its best to surpass it. The band succeeds in spades. Theirs is a collective of brass-band punk dudes, to put it bluntly. To incorporate marching/school assembly band elements into a punk outfit is not unheard of, but the Stumblebum Brass Band does well with making hay of the unlikely combination, and the band's recordings are lively fucking affairs. Having a gaggle of guys singing a rousing chorus in drunken unison, accompanied by belching tubas and squealing trumpets is something of a thing of beauty. One thing that the Stumblebum Brass Band can rightly be accused of is being more than the sum of its parts. Part of the band's M.O. is to melt your ears and brain, and they somehow manage it, in one gigantic swoop. - Rev. Adam McKinney

[Le Voyeur, with Vir, Levator, 10 p.m., no cover, 404 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.943.5710]

SOK AND THE FAGGOTS

>>> Saturday, March 17

Naming a band Sok and the Faggots is kind of the musical equivalent of setting a height requirement. If you're able to accept the name, you've passed the first of the many, deliberately offensive tests set by Sok and the Faggots. The Faggots are followers of a style set by G.G. Allin, the shock-punk weirdo famous for his unending envelope pushing and all-around gross-out live performances. He threatened, every year, to bring a gun to his Halloween show, with the intention of shooting as many audience members as he could before turning the gun on himself. People showed up every year. Sok and the Faggots may not take it to that extreme, but the band certainly does its part in upholding the wild and base Allin tradition. Saturday, join Sok and Co. at Hell's Kitchen for what's being billed as a "St. Paddy's Day Drink-A-Thon." - WV

[Hell's Kitchen, with Czar, Deathbed Confessions, South 11th, Bloodhunger, I earth Mother, Reptile Eurption, $5, 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

THE FUCKING EAGLES

>>> Saturday, March 17

Over the years, The Fucking Eagles have worked hard to make a name for themselves, not only in the supremely ubiquitous genre of garage rock, but in a city like Tacoma - where garage rock bands seem to fall from trees. While many bands in these parts skew toward the psychedelic side of the '60s, the Fucking Eagles make their home in the stomping, shuddering footsteps of the Sonics, our blistering rock forefathers. It's relentless, pounding rock 'n' roll - the kind that kids with crew cuts and horn-rim glasses had to find in underground clubs, far from the prying eyes of grown-ups. Catch the Fucking Eagles along with SweetKiss Momma, Mighty High, Ben Union and the Excellent Gentleman as part of the big-ass St. Paddy's Day celebration that starts at 3 p.m. - WV

[Doyle's Public House, with Blvd Park, Mighty High, Ben Union, SweetKiss Momma, The Excellent Gentleman, 3 p.m., 208 Saint Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.7468]

THE FUN POLICE

>>> Saturday, March 17

The Fun Police, it must be said, are one of those workhorse local bands that absolutely fucking brings it. They treat each venue the same, making sure the crowd leaves dazed, a ringing in their ears and smiles on their faces - because they've just seen a show. Through a dizzying mesh of styles including Celtic rock, punk, and reggae, the Fun Police have created a sound all their own. Saturday the band will be at O'Malley's Irish Pub, celebrating the beer-flavored holiday in quite possibly the most authentic place to fall down and get drunk (Irish style) that T-Town has to offer. - WV

[O'Malley's Irish Pub, with Shivering Denizens, Menace, Smoke Like Daddy, Firefighter Pipes and Drums, The Piping Duo, starts at 11 a.m., Mr. Blackwatch performs from 2-3 p.m., $5, 2403 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.627.9403]

MAKEUP MONSTERS

>>> Tuesday, March 20

Makeup Monsters (formerly the duo of Shayne Weeks and Isaac Solverson, now a trio including Jay Clancy) are a band that's frustratingly talented, handsome and widely beloved. They're also remarkably young - something that's been discussed to death here and elsewhere. MM's youthful energy is in keeping with their aural ancestry, which dates back to the distant year of 2001, when vibrant, fresh-faced sensations (the Strokes, et al.) helped re-legitimize FM "alt" radio with contagious, candied rock. But rather than simply regurgitate those millennial tropes, Weeks, Solverson and Clancy make them their own, infusing feel-good jingles with rhythmic restlessness and barbed, sometimes-prickly lyrics. Theirs is not your father's rock music, but it might sound a little like a revisionist take on your older brother's. - Jason Baxter

[The New Frontier Lounge, with Learning Team, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

SHROUDED STRANGERS

>>> Wednesday, March 21

Shrouded Strangers is a garage-pop band that stays true to the tropes and sounds of a band labeled garage-pop, while also incorporating deliriously psychedelic elements. Nominally, the band draws influences from the more experimental side of the Beatles, among other British invasion acts. When they get weird, there's always an undercurrent of pop that keeps the lunacy grounded. On "(Don't Look at the) Pink Lightning," even as the track is overcome with hazy reverb, a chant-along refrain keeps the song firmly planted within the boundaries of classic rock ‘n' roll. Other times, Shrouded Strangers teases the format of garage rock - paying tribute to the clichés, while also striving to make a unique strain. Despite the formalism that informs much of Shrouded Strangers, there is still room for controlled chaos, which the band uses to great effect. - Rev. AM

[Le Voyeur, 10 p.m., no cover, 404 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.943.5710]