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Rock: A couple weeks ago, the Weekly Volcano interviewed Cody Foster, he of sideburns and Cody Foster's Army (C.F.A.) fame. At the time, C.F.A. was celebrating the release of their new CD, Smoking Gun, as part of a Hell's Kitchen anniversary show with Zeke. It was the loud and blistering C.F.A. show you'd expect. Well, this week, C.F.A. will take a slightly different route, playing a free acoustic show at Top of Tacoma Bar and Café tonight, and billing it as "Disarmed." Saturday, May 15, 10 p.m., no cover, Top of Tacoma Bar and Café, 3529 McKinley Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.1502 - Bobble Tiki
Experimental Pop: Bellingham, famously, is the birthplace of titanic indie mopesters Death Cab for Cutie. In the years since those hometown boys made good, however, Bellingham has striven to cultivate an offbeat DIY music scene, encompassed by a plethora of rough-hewn genre-benders and the hush-hush house venues they frequent. In spite of - and in the midst of - this atmosphere of underground experimentalism, the pop-minded upstarts in Candysound have already found great success at home and in Washington state at large (they're competitors in this year's Sound Off! Competition). The band revels in their use of familiar indie rock chord progressions, arrangements, and structures, doling out sugary and characteristically Northwestern basement pop with a charming offhandedness. Which is not to say that they're slipshod musicians - quite the opposite: they're an aptly named and promising young band with admirably palatable instincts. With Shenandoah Davis, Saturday, May 15, 8 p.m., all ages, no cover, The Den @ urbanXchange, 1934 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2280 - Jason Baxter
Indie Rock: I tried my best, guys. I tapped on shoulders. I caught up to them in mid-stride. I pulled newspapers down from their faces. Not a single Tacoma citizen seems to know anything about the Squeak and Squawk 2 fundraiser tonight at The New Frontier. When I asked who was set to play, they blew their pipe smoke in my face and said, "Bah!" They were all in on it. Indomitably, I tied a hanky on a stick and set out for answers. Against everyone's vehement advice and wagging fingers, I decided to seek out the elusive Sean Alexander, founder of Squeak and Squawk. I found him on his porch, wrapped in the hide of a black bear, smoking a pipe. I said, "What's the deal with the fundraiser on Saturday night? Is it a secret or something?" His whispered word seemed to hang in the air: "Timshel!" His eyes closed and he slept. Go to the show Saturday night. Pay $5 and get a Squeak and Squawk sampler CD! Saturday, May 15, 9 p.m., $5, The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020 - Heather Loepp