Pet Rock Training Manual

Gayngs, Tape Deck Mountain and more San Diego concerts

Wednesday, June 1

PLAN A: Thick Shakes, Mother’s Worry @ Tower Bar. There’s plenty of garage-rock bands out there these days, but hardly any of them are as exciting as Thick Shakes. No, they’ve never gotten buzz from Pitchfork or BrooklynVegan, but this Massachusetts band’s fuzzy, organ-drenched rock is fast, scrappy and catchy as hell. PLAN B: Mattson 2, Zombie Surf Camp, The Secret Samurai @ Soda Bar. Mattson 2 and Zombie Surf Camp are two of the city’s best bands that use surf guitar, but definitely show up early for The Secret Samurai. Their new CD, Zanshin, is an instrumental powerhouse with circus-y breakdowns, oodles of reverb and slippery guitar licks that would make Dick Dale proud. BACKUP PLAN: Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra, Sleeper Agent @ SOMA.

Thursday, June 2

PLAN A: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., TV Girl, So Many Wizards @ The Casbah. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.’s dreamy indiepop might be catchy (you can read about them on Page 27), but they had better make sure they don’t get upstaged by TV Girl, a red-hot local band that puts on an incredibly fun live show. PLAN B: 14KT, Kas One, Medi, G Rocka, DJ Cleancut, DJ PWC, Mike Gao, eLan, DJ Pound @ Kava Lounge. 14KT’s laid-back boom-bap beats are all well and good, but the guy I’d be here to see is eLan. This local beatsmith is celebrating the release of a 12-inch brimming with the kind of chest-caving bass lines and off-kilter beats that would fit right in at Low End Theory, the beat-scene showcase in L.A. BACKUP PLAN: Fractophone, Young Heel, Gloss, Djiipu @ Tin Can Ale House.

Friday, June 3

PLAN A: Tape Deck Mountain, Woodsman, LesVilles, DJ Rob Dylan and Pet Rock @ Soda Bar.