One wouldn't need to know the names of some of Hightower's songs - like "Wizardhawk," "A Minute in the Hour of Man" and "The Party's at Lightning Rock, Bro!" - to get a whiff of that most distinct combo of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Mountain Dew and weed. Hightower's grandiose thrash-punk should be the perfect accompaniment to all sorts of "raids," "ability rolls" and "chaotic good alignments." Rarely accompanied by lyrics, these songs are flecked with a fair amount of prog-rock flourishes - enough to firmly entrench San Francisco's Hightower in that certain demographic of high-functioning nerds and skater burnouts. In those rare moments, like in "Whirlwind of Pain," when the song descends into sludgy riffs, it's hard to imagine the band without being shrouded in an inordinate amount of smoke machine haze.

[The New Frontier Lounge, with The Narcs, Hands of Toil, 9 p.m., cover TBA, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]

 [BT1]I couldn't find a time for this...