FRIDAY, JULY 18 2014 >>>

1. Made up of looped samples of '60s soul and bubblegum songs, the music of the Los Angeles-based TV Girl then incorporates hip-hop beats and blissed-out indie pop vocals, creating what amounts to a kind of factory-tested ideal for summer soundtracks. Everything is nostalgic and new with TV Girl, with the result coming out as a neo-futurist ode to the cyclical nature of popular music. Oh, and it sounds really great. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's interview with TV Girl in the Music and Culture section., then catch the band with Brothertiger and Globelamp at 8 p.m. in Olympia's all-ages venue Northern.

2. As part of its 20th anniversary, Dick's Brewing Co. has brewed Dick's Midnight Ride, a robust, Northwest-style CDA bursting with Cascade and Centennial hops, and balanced with a rich dark malt profile. Think rich, dark and malty like a porter with a hop profile. Drink it today when it's released to the public. Dick's taproom is open from 3-7:30 p.m. at 3516 Galvin Road in downtown Centralia. 

3. Gleeful children dashing after saltwater taffy shot from a "candy cannon" is just one of the experiences in store during Fort Nisqually Living History Museum's Family Fun Night from 6-9 p.m. Families are invited to bring their own picnic dinner to the Fort, located in Point Defiance Park, and join in games, dancing, and relay races with the Fort's re-enactors. 

4. Wow, Laura (comma included) delivers breezy indie pop while also taking time to inject it with jarring shifts in time signatures and halting uses of stop/start dynamics. Catch the band with iji at 8 p.m. in the Half Pint Pizza Pub.

5. "Whip It," "What I Like About You," "Safety Dance" and you're-goddamn-right "Don't Stop Believin'" are a few of the songs on the Spazmatics' set list, so grab your skinny tie, brush up your Robot, and pull up your Members Only jacket sleeves. One of the hottest '80s cover bands in the country will play with Mr. Pink at 8 p.m. in Jazzbones. They are so choice.

LINK: Friday, July 18 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area