Port O'Brien will be sailing into NYC behind brand-new album (photo by Joshua Caine)

PORT O’BRIEN

Wednesday, October 14, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston St., $12, 7:30
Friday, October 16, Union Hall, 702 Union St. at Fifth Ave., $12-$14, 8:00
http://www.myspace.com/portobrien
http://www.unionhallny.com
http://www.mercuryloungenyc.com
We don’t think it’s us, but too many of the indie bands we’ve been covering lately have suffered problems on the road. The latest is California band Port O’Brien, who recently noted on their blog that “our van was broken into in broad daylight in downtown portland. the thieving robber wasn’t very good, but still got some good stuff. there’s always more stuff, we’re getting over it.” They’ll be getting over it at two area shows, at Mercury Lounge on October 14 and Union Hall on October 16, playing with Sea Wolf and Sara Lov. Started in a bedroom in 2005 by salmon fisherman Van Pierszalowski and head baker Cambria Goodwin, Port O’Brien is touring behind their solid new CD, THREADBARE (TBD Records, October 6, 2009), which mixes their rollicking indie folk with harsh reality as Cambria deals with the tragic loss of her younger brother. The acoustic-based album features sweet hooks (“My Will Is Good,” “Sour Milk / Salt Water”), haunting ballads (“Threadbare”), gripping choruses (“In the Meantime”), pure pop (“Leap Year”), and at least one ode to Neil Young (“Calm Me Down”). Although the disc begins and ends with alternate versions of “High Without the Hope,” bright light does occasionally shine through, as on the sparkling, familiar-sounding “Oslo Campfire”: “Everything we have chalk it up to love,” Van sings, because after all, it all comes down to a matter of heart.

Sharin Foo will attack her bass at three area shows (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

THE RAVEONETTES / THE BLACK ANGELS

Tuesday, October 13, Maxwell’s, 1039 Washington St., Hoboken, $22, 11:00
Wednesday, October 14, Webster Hall, 125 East Eleventh St. between Third & Fourth Aves., $22, 8:00
Sunday, October 18, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 North Sixth St. , $22, 8:00
http://www.myspace.com/theraveonettes
http://www.myspace.com/theblackangels
Formed in Copenhagen and now based in L.A. and New York, the Raveonettes — Sune Rose Wagner, who loves goofy hats, and Sharin Foo, who could not look cooler hiding behind dark sunglasses and black outfits, her straight golden locks flowing — play an endearing brand of pure pop heavy on retro-1950s and 1960s rhythms; indeed, their name is a combination of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On” and the Ronettes. Their brand-new album, IN & OUT OF CONTROL (Vice, October 2009), is not a blast of Norwegian black metal, despite such song titles as “Bang!,” “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed),” “Oh, I Buried You Today,” “Suicide,” “D.R.U.G.S.,” and “Wine.” Instead, it’s their most ambitious record to date and should sound great live; the band played a solid, groovy set, as always, at this past summer’s Siren Festival in Coney Island.

The Black Angels were named after Velvet Underground song (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The Raveonettes are on tour with Austin band the Black Angels, whose name and look recall motorcycle gangs but play hard-edged psychedelic garage rock, as featured on such albums as last year’s DIRECTIONS TO SEE A GHOST and 2006’s PASSOVER. The Black Angels, named after the Velvet Underground tune “The Black Angel’s Death Song,” cite the Raveonettes as an influence on their MySpace page and will be opening up at the Webster Hall and Music Hall of Williamsburg shows.

Bob Mould is looking back at his life these days (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza

17 Irving Pl. between 14th & 15th Sts.

Thursday, October 8, $21.50-$28, 9:00

212-777-6800

http://www.irvingplaza.com
http://www.bobmould.com

Twenty years ago, Bob Mould left seminal postpunk band Hüsker Dü and recorded his first solo record, the intimate, acoustic-based WORKBOOK followed by the gruffer BLACK SHEETS OF RAIN. Mould then formed the power trio Sugar, which released such impressive discs as COPPER BLUE and BEASTER, before continuing his solo work. Currently working on his memoirs – which will detail, among other things, his drug abuse and homosexuality – Mould also turns back the clock on his most recent album, the unflinchingly honest and personal LIFE AND TIMES (Anti-, April 2009). “What the fuck, what kicked up all this dust / taking me back to the places I left behind / the old life and times,” he sings on the title track, preparing the listener for both a trip down memory lane as well as a peek into the future. “I rewind the interstate in my distant memory,” he sings to his signature guitar sound on “City Lights (Days Go By),” adding, “I hope you understand I need to find my city lights.”

Recalling the sound of WORKBOOK, Mould, who recorded LIFE AND TIMES in his current hometown, Washington, DC, with just a drummer and himself, opens up about anonymous, casual sex (the hard-driving “Argos,” the smooth, melodic “Bad Blood Better”) and the end of love (“I’m Sorry, Baby, But You Can’t Stand in My Light Any More”) while also bringing up memory and the past on “Wasted World” and “MM 17.” At forty-eight, perhaps Mould is a little young to be looking back so much, but as he says on the album’s final track, “What a lifetime we have.” He’ll be celebrating that life at Irving Plaza on October 8, playing songs from throughout his career. We’ve seen him several times over the years at Irving Plaza, and he always sweats out everything he can. Brooklyn singer-songwriter Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson opens the show.