Tonight’s Dilemma: The Gold Sounds vs. Omotai + Side Arms

Fans of good, good music, you’ve got a difficult choice to make tonight (Thurs., September 16th). There aren’t a ton of shows going on, no, but there two in particular that should be cage-match battling for your attention this very evening. Here’re the contenders:

The Gold Sounds/Beetle @ The Continental Club (free!)
If you have yet to see {The Gold Sounds}, please, please trust me on this: Go. See. Them. As in, “right now, tonight.” Not only are they awesomely nice guys (don’t let the onstage swagger fool you), but they also happen to play some of the most flat-out, um, rocking rock going in town right now.

The Deer Park trio blazes through songs that are hybrid children of the Stones and Pavement, digesting slackerized indie-rock and bluesy rock-n-roll and spitting out something pretty amazing. Their most recent release, Seismic Love (see here for the review from early last year), careens in like the fun drunk at a boring-as-hell party and proceeds to dance on the table, and by about five seconds in, you never want it to end. Go check ’em out.

(If that’s not your thing, however, look behind Door Number Two…)

Coliseum/Burning Love/Omotai/Side Arms @ Walter’s
Okay, now I’m torn. I thoroughly love The Gold Sounds (as noted above), but I’ve also been blown away recently by {Sharks and Sailors} side-projects-gone-full-sized {Omotai} and {Side Arms}. Both bands are heavy, heavy, heavy without going completely down the road into full-on METÜLLL, which is always cool to see, in my book — just because you play heavy music doesn’t mean you have to sing about giants and torture and have long hair and tattoos.

I’m more familiar with Omotai, honestly, than Side Arms, mostly because I got a hold of the former’s debut EP, Peace Through Fear, back in the late spring (full review here), but I love what I’ve heard from both.

And hey, I hear headlining metalcore dudes Coliseum are pretty badass, as well; Danny Mee‘s got a review of their latest, House With A Curse, over on {29-95.com}, and as with pretty much anything that guy writes, I read through it and smack myself in the head, wishing I could write like that, dangit…

Whichever way you go, tonight’s going to be good, honest.