The wry Lopez on the Pretty Girls

Is it true that a hard swing up and down the Western seaboard will do wonders for an up-and-coming rock ’n’ roll band? Petrol fumes, sleeping on floors, the perils of what Ray Davies once called “motorway food”—what is it that turns some bands into squabbling squirrels and others into finely honed rock machines? If you’re curious, the Pretty Girls have been on the road for the past few weeks with Forever Goldrush; both bands return to town to play the Blue Lamp this Friday, August 2, at 9:30 p.m., with the Frenchmen opening, 1: e4, e6, 2: d4, d5, 3: N d2 … The Pretty Girls are a band that, ahem (clearing throat post-ironically), rocks. Cover’s $6, the Blue Lamp is located at Alhambra Boulevard and N Street, and sorry, chilluns, it’s 21 and over only.