Things to Do

Listen Up!

Listen Up! brings you songs of bands and performers coming through town in the next week. Listen up, then go check them out live.

This playlist is no longer available. 

Wednesday, April 23:
• Minnesota band Tapes ’n Tapes stops by the 9:30 Club tonight. The band recently released a record, Walk It Off, and is touring the East Coast alongside White Denim.

•UK post-punk band Foals has picked up major buzz with the release of its debut album, Antidotes. We’re intrigued by the band’s sound, but also by lead singer Yannis Philippakis, who comes across in interviews as both preternaturally wise and insufferable at the same time. Foals play at the Rock and Roll Hotel.

Thursday, April 24:
French Kick’s Nick Stumpf will be chatting with us tomorrow, and we can’t wait to check out the band live at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Its album Swimming was released only a couple of days ago and already tracks like “Abandon” and “Said So What” have become fixtures on our iPod’s playlist.

• We can’t pinpoint exactly what it is about the band Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin that we like. Perhaps it’s because “Modern Mystery” sounds a bit like a Deathcab for Cutie B-track, or maybe it’s the paradoxical sunny beats and guitar strings in “Think I Wanna Die.” In any case, the band, playing at the Black Cat, is well worth checking out.

Friday, April 25:
• Local band The Sketches, fronted by Charlie Bernardo, plays at Iota in support of its new album, Secret Alphabets.

Saturday, April 26:
• Sixteen years after releasing Good Stuff, the B-52s are back with brand-new material. The band plays the 9:30 Club with Eagle Seagull opening. The show is sold out, but you may find tickets on Craigslist.

Monday, April 28:
• She’s collaborated with Mandy Moore and will be opening for Sara Bareilles at the 9:30 Club, but don’t hold that against Rachael Yamagata. Unlike the work of her contemporaries, the raspy-voiced singer’s songs are sentimental without being overwrought.