Bob Mould is coming back to town, raising a ruckus with his latest electric trio (Jason Narducy on bass and Superchunk’s Jon Wurster on drums) and a solid pair of Marshall amps at Pearl Street in Northampton Saturday at 8 p.m. Ted Leo starts off the night.
Mould has never been a mellow performer, even during “unplugged” shows — I saw him play a solo acoustic gig at the Iron Horse in Northampton back in the early 1990s, and he played for three tireless hours, strumming his guitar with string-breaking force, singing his voice raw and fulfilling every request shouted at him from the club full of dedicated fans.
His passion has been high from the beginning. First with his trio, Husker Du, which combined ’60s pop and ’70s punk influences to make ’80s college rock classics like “Makes No Sense At All” and “Hardly Getting Over It.” Then with his second band, Sugar, which ruled the alternative airwaves in the early ’90s with many a song from their debut album “Copper Blue” (“Changes,” “A Good Idea,” “If I Can’t Change Your Mind,” “Hoover Dam”).
Mould’s had a busy and diverse solo career since those days, and his brand-new record, “Patch the Sky,” has both critics and fans praising its particular combination of intensity, hooks and heart (which some say hearkens back to his younger-day bands). “Hands are Tied” is definitely Husker-esque, over and out before the timer hits two minutes, the band roaring with cymbals crashing; “Voices In My Head” could be a lost song from the beloved “Workbook” record, both beautiful and bashing.
Recent set lists find Mould and his rhythm section blasting through songs from throughout his career, and with such a strong new album to draw from, the show promises to be a good one. (Especially if you wear earplugs! They’re cheap and you’ll be happy!)
Spring has sprung, so it’s the perfect time to visit the reopened-for-the-season Dream Away Lodge in Becket. The Ephemeral String Band plays the cozy restaurant/bar/meeting place in the hills Friday at 8:30 p.m.
Mark Sheehan once brought strong acts to the Sierra Grille for his “Reanimate the Bay State” weekly concert series, and now his CarrotNoise Productions is back booking local shows, this time at The 13th Floor Music Lounge in Florence. For his next showcase, Sheehan welcomes Whistle Jacket, one of his favorite Boston bands, back to the area to share a bill with locals Walking Ghosts, Beach Honey and onetime Northampton resident Hoonah (aka Sarah Smith), at the 13th Floor Music Lounge in Florence Saturday at 9 p.m.
Standup comic/actor/writer Tig Notaro – “a huge force that comes in this teeny tiny package,” says Sarah Silverman — is back in town by popular demand, this time appearing at the Academy of Music in Northampton Sunday at 8 p.m. Her calm, deadpan-ish delivery is refreshing and engaging. Recommended!
The Threesies is a project led by local bassist Paul Kochanski that only plays songs with a 3-related meter (3/4, 6/8, 9/8) — like Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression,” The Beatles‘ “Norwegian Wood,” “My Favorite Things” — and the ever-changing band of area stars returns with a new set of waltz-y tunes to the Luthiers Co-Op in Easthampton Thursday at 7 p.m.
Fruit Bats, the long-running performing/recording moniker of Eric D. Johnson, just put out its first new record in five years (“Absolute Loser”), and the clear-voiced singer-songwriter will share the bill with Horse Feathers at the Iron Horse Thursday at 7 p.m.
It’s fiddle fever when Alasdair Fraser — “the Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling” — and his longtime performing/recording partner, cellist Natalie Haas, return to The Parlor Room in Northampton Thursday at 7 p.m. The fiddle/cello setup was Scotland’s dance band of choice for centuries, “the wee fiddle and the big fiddle,” and Fraser and Haas, who have an encyclopedic knowledge of the music (and a sense of humor, too), will tear it up in town for listeners and dancers alike.