Ike Shanaman benefit

THE FABULOUS WAILERS

Thursday, Nov. 19
We all know that as people get older their memories sometimes slip. Take my grandma, for example — by the time I was 12 she thought I was some strange neighbor boy soliciting TIME Magazine subscriptions every time I visited. Considering she was in a nursing home at this point, it made the TIME magazine subscription thing all the more bizarre. Age does this to people, but we’re taught to respect our elders — and we should. For this reason we won’t give Tacoma’s legendary The Fabulous Wailers a lick of crap for scheduling a CD release show, for the band’s latest effort, Rooster Rock, on Thursday at The Swiss — almost two months after the band’s first CD release show in September at Stonegate Pizza. Old folks are cute. They can get away with this kind of thing. — Matt Driscoll
[The Swiss, 7 p.m., cover TBA, 1904 Jefferson Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2821]

VALIS

Friday, Nov. 20
Van Conner is the big name in this band. With a resume that includes Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age, Conner brings a hefty plate to the table. Add the endowment of brother Patrick and rhythm section Adrian Makins and Matt Vandenberghe to the mix and you have Seattle band Valis. With this springboard of dedicated talent, Valis has catapulted into space and back creating their own brand of Northwest rock. Using a hybrid of heavy Trees and ‘70s stoner grooves, the Conner brothers work up a delicious psychedelic rock frenzy. Fast, rough guitar licks rub against tricky drumbeats and smooth, clever lyrics — creating a luscious listen for your hungry ears. Catch Valis Friday with Oly band The Hard Way and your night will be golden. — Nikki Talotta
[The Eastside Club, with The Hard Way, 9 p.m., $5, 410 Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.357.9985]

Saturday, Nov. 21
Think Tacoma’s music scene isn’t tight? Think again, bro. While there’s definitely the occasional schism, and scenes within the scene don’t always see eye-to-eye, there’s no doubt the predominantly punk leaning pillars that helped sculpt this town musically will always have each other’s back. Evidence can be found on Saturday at Hell’s Kitchen when My Life in Black and White, Neutral Boy, The Hollowpoints and Cody Foster’s Army rev it up to benefit Ike Shanaman — the tatted up frontman of Tacoma stalwarts Broken Oars. Shanaman recently endured what sounds like a hellish stretch of hospital stays and knife like stomach pain, inspiring his many friends in Tacoma to rally in support — specifically financial support, as we all know one night in a shitty hospital bed is more expensive than a week at the Ritz Carlton. You can take out a chunk of Shanaman’s small intestine (as the doctors did), but you can’t take the heart out of Tacoma. — MD
[Hell’s Kitchen, My Life in Black and White, with Neutral Boy, The Hollowpoints, Cody Foster’s Army, 9 p.m., $5 minimum donation, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

THE STRANGE BOYS

Tuesday, Nov. 24
What are your feelings on the recent rash of garage-rock revivalists? Hmm? The Black Lips … King Khan & BBQ … countless, faceless thousands of others? I think it’s all gone just about far enough. But, if you were to hear just one more of these bands, why not make it The Strange Boys? They lean a little heavier on the R&B side of things, which nicely balances the requisite fuzz clatter. Another nice touch is the singer’s indecipherable warble that sounds unreasonably soulful under the circumstances. All in all, it’s just about the most you can get from the garage rock revival: it’s fuzzy because it has to be, weird where you want it to be, and more soulful than you ever hoped. — Rev. Adam McKinney
[Northern, with Jettycats, The Drug Purse, 8 p.m., all ages, $6, 321 Fourth Ave., Olympia. Olympiaallages.org]