Arts Devo

Ultimate playlist Dang! How is it that most of Arts DEVO’s favorite bands are touring California in the next few months? It’s an embarrassment of riches, and I ain’t got enough riches to see more than maybe one of these shows.

Sebadoh and FIDLAR already passed through, and the coming months things get crazy with And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (June 22-June 23, Berkeley and Sacramento), Mogwai (Aug. 29, Sacramento), Die Antwoord (Sept. 15, S.F.), Explosions in the Sky (Sept. 16-17, Oakland and Sacramento), Titus Andronicus (Sept. 20-21, Davis and S.F.), Vampire Weekend (Oct. 1, S.F.) and Nick Cave (Oct. 13, S.F.).

If I could choose just one, I’d have to go with Cave, a songwriting hero of mine and someone I’ve always managed to miss when he’s come to the States. The tour is called Conversations With Nick Cave, and though I’d rather have the full Bad Seeds experience, the intimate Q&A/song-request setup sounds pretty amazing as well. It’s sold out, however, and tickets on the secondary market are stupid expensive. Time to jump on something else before nothing is left.

There are some really impressive-looking shows coming through Chico this summer worth considering as well. On the calendar as of now:

• June 16: Dwight Yoakam at Rolling Hills Casino amphitheater

• June 19: Antibalas at the Sierra Nevada Big Room

• June 24: Okkervil River at the Big Room

• July 4: Howard Jones and Men Without Hats at Feather Falls Casino

• July 23: Bob Log III at Duffy’s Tavern

• Aug. 27: Shannon and the Clams at the Big Room

• Sept. 5: Black Flag at Senator Theatre

• Sept. 12: Howlin’ Rain at Argus Bar + Patio

More tunes! More tunes! If local bands GravyBrain and Lyfecoach were the ones featured in the “Die Hippie, Die” episode of South Park, the former would be the Phish-like crew laying down the crunchy grooves onstage at the music festival, and the latter would be the Slayer CD played over the sound system that causes everyone to “bail on this whole angry scene.”

The beautiful thing about that analogy (and about Chico) is that both groovy funksters and screaming heshers attract and repel, yet at the end of the night, all the dudes would share a beer after the show. Dance all night. Thrash all night as well.

Also beautiful: Both bands are releasing new music this week. GravyBrain will be sharing its latest album, Goes to Your Head, at the City Plaza during its Friday Night Concert gig (June 14, 7-8:30 p.m.). For $20, you receive a thumb drive with the new album, plus all of the band’s previous releases, a copy of the just-completed GravyBrain-produced film, The Nibiru Chronicles, plus a ton of random videos of live performances and other shenanigans.

Lyfecoach just released a two-song teaser demo for the 14-track debut that the trio is recording with local engineer Chris Keane. Go burn your eyebrows off at lyfecoach.bandcamp.com