HELMS ALEE

Friday, May 29

Synesthesia is a condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a color. It’s within the sludgy math-rock, distorted guitars, and vicious wails of Helms Alee frontman Ben Verellen that you’ll see black. Helms Alee has taken the post-hardcore sound of Verellen’s former band, Harkonen, and tamed it just slightly to create one of Verellen’s best projects to date. Verellen sung-tunes like “Borrowed Wind” slowly infiltrate your head space and leave you hypnotized and a tad more dangerous. Whether singing for Harkonen, playing drums in These Arms Are Snakes, playing in Roy, or watching his older brother destroy people in former hardcore pioneers Botch, Ben Verellen has always had an influence on the local hardcore community. Do not miss this show. — Chuck Dula

[The New Frontier, with Prize Country, With a Bullet, 9 p.m., $5, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

ARTIFAKT

Friday, May 29

Seattle-based arts group and clothing design cooperative Artifakt was born two and a half years ago. Co-founder Jake Wagoner found a kindred spirit in Matt Eklund, musician, artist and entertainment promoter, recently naming him Artifakt’s Tacoma creative director. “We throw art parties,” says Eklund with a smile in his voice. Friday marks Artifakt’s inaugural event at The Robert Daniel Gallery. “We’re showing artists that haven’t shown a whole lot in Tacoma, including Blaine Fontana from Oregon,” Eklund elaborates. This multi-genre spanning art party features nine unique artists with styles that exhibit elements of the fantastical — cartoon dragon, snowy robot, howler monkey, purple hand-signs, deep-sea diver, antler-wearing man — and a well-captured animated sense of movement. Aural aspects will be headed up by Seattle’s DJ Eva, Tacoma’s own DJ Spice and Flat Black. — Jennifer Johnson

[The Robert Daniel Gallery, Artifakt Multi Genre Art Party with Eva, Dizzy Dave, DJ Hanibal, Flat Black, Spice, 8 p.m., $5, $7 after 11 p.m., 2501 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253.297.3869]

RACCOON COLLECTIVE’S WESTSIDE ARTS WALK

Saturday, May 30

The Raccoon Collective, a group of Olympia musicians and artists, has organized yet another night of free art showings and live music for the benefit of the local DIY community — adapting Olympia’s downtown Arts Walk to fit a crunchier, more politically-minded crowd, stemming largely from The Evergreen State College. All the Raccoon Collective asks in return is for members of the community to open up their homes for art displays, musical performances and benefit cafes. It seems that The Raccoon Collective is taking downtown’s bi-annual Arts Walk and simply moving it up the hill, and that’s true to an extent — but unlike the downtown promenade, the Westside Arts Walk offers an evening where music is as important as the art on the walls. More than eight houses on Oly’s Westside will be hosting shows in their living rooms and garages, making the Westside Arts Walk more interactive, intimate and exciting than its official counterpart. — D. Lucas Jewell

[Madhouse, Fingers Complex, Stump House, and other houses in Olympia’s Westside, 6-10 p.m., maps, house listings and locations available at Rainy Day Records, Quality Burrito, Danger Room Comics, Dumpster Values, Caffe Vita and Last Word Books]

THE PINK SNOWFLAKES

Saturday, May 30

Trip mushrooms and go to Bob’s Java Jive sometime. Walk into the coffee pot. Take a long hard look at that hamburger lamp on the bar. Stand under those hobbit-like ceilings and order a Coors from Gandalf. Play Tetris. Pee in a trough. Have a conversation with a dead antelope. Wait, bad idea. Get weird on Portland psych studs The Pink Snowflakes instead. Their extravagant, surreal, super-loud act will blow your mind almost as ably as the funny fungus. More than just another ’60s rehash, The Pink Snowflakes combine hippie-era acid rock with modern pop and sludge. No telling what they’ll pull at the Jive, but past Snowflakes shows have included bubble machines, black lights and unicorns. I’m thinking Smurfs. Huh, remember the Smurfs, dude? Dude. Dude? Whoa. — Mark Thomas Deming

[Bob’s Java Jive, with Nudity and Branden Daniel & Everybody Gets Laid, 8 p.m., $5, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]