LIVE MUSIC WE DIG TODAY IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Ben Moore's Cafe Olympia - Downtown. Saxophonist Steve Munger every Thursday. 21+. 7:30-10:30pm. NC.

The Den @ urbanXchange Tacoma - Downtown. SEACATS, the Masques, Safe and Easy. All ages. 7 p.m.

• Tacoma has a problem developing bands like SEACATS. It seems like if you want power pop you have to leave Tacoma, and probably even pass by Seattle. You have to hit Kelso. Or Bellingham. Or one of many other Washington towns that's unselfconscious enough to nurture a Weezer-esque pop rock act - a band so much more concerned with fun and sun and young love than our comparatively dour locals. In the middle of a typically bouncy SEACATS song, the band even finds time for a buzzy guitar solo. That should tell you something. SEACATS is a young band - and former Sound Off! Competitors - and they sound like it, in the best way possible. Their future's so bright they gotta wear shades. Optimism like that is a joy to listen to. - Rev. Adam McKinney

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. Jucifer, Sleeper Cell, Mahnhammer. 21+. 9 pm. $5.

• In 1998, when the partners-in-love-and-rock duo Jucifer first broke out of the dark, sludgy Athens underbelly that gave birth to bands like Harvey Milk and The Martians, audiences took an immediate interest in guitarist/vocalist Amber Valentine and drummer Ed Livengood's loud - very loud - fractured art-metal. It didn't hurt that Valentine, with her flaxen hair, heavy black eye-makeup and mini-dresses, has all the makings of a modern-day Russ Meyer vixen. But they had the chops to back it up - deliberate sludge, backward loops and gigantic riffing. Now married, and performing tonight at Hell's Kitchen, the duo are touring on their April 2010 release, Throned In Blood, on their own label, Nomadic Fortress Records. Yes, there's a bit of cheesecake still there, but so is their perfected noise rock/sludge metal combination. – Michael Swan
  

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Marian Call. All Ages. 7 pm. NC.

Mary Baker Russell Music Center Tacoma - Parkland. Jazz Under The Stars, with Gail Pettis. All Ages. 7 pm. NC.

O'Callahan's Pub & Grill Key Peninsula. Tim Hall Band Blues Jam. 21+. 7 pm. NC.

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Billy Stoops acoustic open mic. 21+. 9-11 pm. NC.

The Swiss Tacoma - Downtown. Revengers, Phil O'Sullivan, Parlor Hawk, The Dirty Changeup. 21+. 9 pm. $5.

Tempest Lounge Tacoma - Upper Tacoma. Come Out And Play Open Mic. Hosted by Kim Archer and Nick Sandy. All Ages. 7-10 pm. NC.

LINK: More live music and DJs in the South Sound