In addition to the all that hot Jew-on-Jew action (on Rosh Hashanah!), here is a list of what else is happening on this busy Tuesday evening.

LAURA MARLING, JOHNNY FLYNN, MUMFORD & SONS
(Lola's Room, 1332 W Burnside) Laura Marling is not Lily Allen or Kate Nash, despite constant comparisons to both. She is a teenage, British, female singer with a ridiculous way with words, but that is where the comparisons stop. While Allen and Nash have more pop tendencies, singing with biting wit, Laura Marling is an old soul with a haunting voice, laying down mournful songs full of love, heartache, and regret with so much conviction it's ridiculous. To think that an 18-year-old already has more figured out than you is a bit unnerving, but Marling does, and isn't afraid to bare it all openly. And, though I love Lily and Kate, something tells me Laura Marling is the name that will stand out amongst the three in the future. RS

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AVERAGE WHITE BAND, COLIN LAKE & WELLBOTTOM
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) The late preeminent soul curator Jerry Wexler acknowledged the expert groovemanship of Average White Band at first listen, signing them to Atlantic Records in the mid-'70s. Not many years later, the collage artists of the burgeoning hiphop movement tipped their hat to the Scottish band by repurposing snippets of their indelible funk. Point being, Average White Band specializes in dance-friendly licks that original members Alan Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre still churn out with the aid of some capable recruits, as their most recent live album, Soul and the City, makes head-noddingly clear. JALYLAH BURRELL

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NOAH AND THE WHALE, LINDI ORTEGA
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) This is not music for those in need of an optimism boost, but it is a nice lulling accompaniment to the impending gloom. Noah and the Whale come all the way from London to woo you with dark themes and deep throaty vocals, paired immaculately with soft folk instrumentation. Sunny tracks are not Noah and the Whale's specialty; instead, songs like "Shape of My Heart" and "If I Die Tonight" display the band's way of weaving sorrow in with the lively. Their debut album, Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, came out in the States earlier this month, so snatch it up as your soundtrack to the long rainy months ahead. KAITLIN JOHNSON

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THE BUG, WARRIOR QUEEN, DJ E3, RYAN ORGAN
(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) In nearly 20 years of making music, Kevin Martin has never stuck to one genre. His past projects God, Techno Animal, and Ice range from industrial to jazz to hiphop to dub, with a list of notable co-conspirators and respectable record label affiliations too long to mention here. Under his current incarnation as the Bug, Martin is a founding influence in the London dubstep scene. Focused on the industrial and garage angles, his sound is about as severe and evil as the already menacing genre gets. A handful of outstanding, bass-driven singles from the extremely well-received London Zoo, recently released on Ninja Tune, have helped extend the reach of dubstep around the world and popularize Kingston-born emcee Warrior Queen, who joins Martin on tour. AVA

Just a few bad pictures from the last time the chain lightning that is Monotonix rattled through Portland at MFNW. The show was at Satyricon. Packed to the walls. After one song a garbage can got dumped on the drummer's head. Singer climbing on everything. Crowdsurfing. Moving the drums out deeper into the audience then finally out into the street. The crowd hoists the drummer up on his bass drum and he continues to play (why don't I have a picture of this?) while the singer swings from the trees. Amazing catharsis, as always.

Monotonix are paired tonight with the Silver Jews. Never sure what will happen, though I'd get close to the band as possible, as they won't play on stage. Get there early, that is, unless you want the Silver Jews to look really boring in comparison. Monotonix are a tough, if not impossible, act to follow.

Monotonix w/ Silver Jews Tonight @ Wonder Ballroom

After the Austin, Texas-based slowcore group Bedhead had run its course, the brothers at its core—Bubba and Matt Kadane—returned with the New Year. Since their 2001 debut they've made two more albums, their self-titled latest hitting shelves earlier this month. While much more upbeat than their earlier band, an air of melancholy and a powerful sense of focus infuses much of the New Year's music. It stops just short of heading into drone territory, but "resonant pop" might do in a pinch for a quick descriptor. And the group's name is just about perfect: It's less about the unabashed optimism one feels on January 1 as it is the sense of emerging into an unfamiliar world, defiant and bold and uncertain all at once. TC $12-13

As somebody who once found himself driving all the way to Seattle to see The New Year because they didn't make it Portland that year, I can assure you tonight's show is going to be pretty great. Especially the new material off of their latest self-titled record, which is quite possibly the most pop and straightforward they've been in their entire career.

And hell, the last time I saw them they played a Bedhead song in their encore. What more of a reason do you need to go tonight than the prospect of potentially seeing the Kadane brothers playing Bedhead songs live?

There's just no nice way to say this so I'll just do it quickly: Spectrum blows.

It was just about a year ago I got myself all hyped up to see the former Spaceman. The show was in September at Rotture and I think it was about $15 bucks. God was it a waste. I felt like I deserved a refund from Sonic Boom himself.

Along with some other yahoo, Boom basically did a hour-long guitar pedal solo. But it wasn't some shredding sort of thing, it was lackadaisical. Incredibly so. Hit a note on the keyboard, stop to smoke while it sustains, stand there, blow out some more smoke, twist a knob or two, smoke some more and there you have it--ladies and gentleman, Spectrum.

Seriously. The show nothing more than puff of smoke. Almost like having the smoke blown up your ass then being asked to pay for it. Really a waste of time and money. Awful pretension. No fucking way dude is touring on this shit if it weren't for his days in Spaceman 3. Which brings us to his former cohort, Jason Pierce, who played here just days ago.

Spiritualized was fucking brilliant. And here, restraint was used to fabulous effect. It seems ABUNDANTLY clear who had the talent in Spaceman 3.

Man, this is a little harsh for a former member of a band I hold as canonical, but harsh is how I felt after Sonic Boom fleeced me for fifteen bucks last year.

Word to the wise--this is not a rock show. It's not even really a show. It's like two dudes fucking around with keyboards in the basement, thinking their shit is sounding super profound but really they’re just fucking really high.

Thing twice before chipping in the next dime bag.

There should really be a category on this blog for shows that we forget to write about. Blame our chronic use of Barbiturates, or just our complete lack of skill and professionalism, but this week we totally spaced and neglected to cover the Godmakesmonkeys release show from Kaia.

Sorry.

You might know Kaia Wilson from her time spent in Team Dresch, the Butchies, and for holding it down as an iconic performer for over 15 years now. Released on local label Jealous Butcher, Godmakesmonkeys is not Kaia's first solo recording (that came way back in 1993), but the album is a natural progression for her, one that signals her growth as a songwriter alongside a restrained presentation throughout the album.

LISTEN:

Kaia - "Dogs/Trucks"

Kaia performs tonight at Backspace with Iris Porter and Paradise Island. It's all-ages.