- Dan DeLuca
Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison at the Tin Angel, 18 S. 2d St., play at 8:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets: $25. Information: 215-928-0978, www.tinangel.com.
Parquet Courts at Making Time
My favorite record of 2013 so far (which actually came out under the radar in 2012) is Light Up Gold, the debut album by Brooklyn-based Texas-born quartet Parquet Courts on the What's Your Rupture? label. The Andrew Savage-fronted band deal in stripped-down rock that at once recalls the forward-momentum minimalism of the Strokes and '70s forebears like Jim Carroll, Wire, and Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers. The songs are tight, jittery, and shot though with deadpan, drolly amusing observations. Start with "Stoned and Starving," and you'll soon hunger for more. Saturday, the band plays a "Valentime" edition of the Making Time dance party at Voyeur along with Los Angeles electronic band inc. and more DJs than you can shake a stick at.
- Dan DeLuca
Making Time with Parquet Courts, inc., plus DJs Dave Pak, Mike Z., Dave P, Sammy Slice, Holly Sue Allen, and others play 9 p.m. Saturday at Voyeur, 1121 St. James St. Tickets: $12, $10 in advance. Information: 215-735-5772, www.igetrvng.com.
U.S. Girls
The noisy, stormy U.S. Girls has long had a Philadelphia presence. Meghan Remy is a local lass. Her first recordings (the abrasively moody Introducing of 2008, and Go Grey from 2010) were released by Philly's Siltbreeze label. That pair of albums sounded like a missing harsh soundtrack to Eraserhead, a film famously inspired by David Lynch's time in the City of Brotherly Love. But like so many great artists who develop and leave the city, Remy's U.S. Girls grew up, turned tape-hiss into luxurious samples, made her usually-FX-driven vocals louder, and lovelier, and created weirdly romantic melodies with expansive arrangements for her most recent album, Gem of 2012. That aptly named collection contains 10 coolly complex songs whose every moment sparkles.
- A.D. Amorosi
U.S. Girls, Birds of Maya, and Slim Twig play 8 p.m. Friday at PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St. Tickets: $7-$10. Information: 267-519-9651, www.philamoca.org.
