Phaser set on fun-fun

Back in the winter and spring of 1998, Deathray burst into full flower with a series of demos, a couple of cassettes worth, that were shocking in their colorful pop-art brilliance—the kind of tapes you found yourself making an evangelical idiot of yourself with when you played them for your friends. I had two of those cassettes, but the woman who is now my wife made an evangelical idiot of herself playing them for her friends, destroying them in the process and thus leaving a giant hole in my life. Deathray’s Eric Valentine-produced debut two years later was great in a different way, but it wasn’t the same thing. And the band is still around—with new songs and the occasional gig. One of them is this Saturday, April 10, at 9 p.m.; at Old Ironsides, 1901 10th Street; with Milwaukee and the Good Mornings also on the bill. It’s 21 and over, and $7 gets you in. And, one night earlier (that’s Friday, April 9) at the same venue, with the same start time and cover price, you can see the Skirts, the Knockoffs and the Riff Randals. Sounds like a great place to spend a weekend (and Dana, you know where to send the tape).