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Cheetah Chrome is at Don Hill’s tonight.Some of the usual suspects and some very unusual visitors on the events calendar should liven up your weekend here in new yak this weekend.

Tonight we’ve got a 6(?!) band bill at Don Hill’s in Manhattan featuring Cheetah Chrome (ex-Dead Boys) and the Blackhearts, the Martinets and some other ’79-style punk bands. Sounds interesting and after the apparent death of the Cramps’ Lux Interior yesterday, feel free to demand covers of Goo Goo Muck or the Ultra Twist for that matter! Doors are 6:30 (!) and it should go up to midnight at least.

You’ll find me over at the Mercury Lounge tonight where Charleston(Summerville), South Carolina Harmony-Pop merchants the Explorers’ Club are playing midway through a bill of (less than stellar) indie bands. I think the Club is on around 9 or 9:30.On paper this band sounds like a must-avoid: they cling closely to the Brian Wilson/Phil Spector/Curt Boettcher formula of late 60′s harmony rock’n'roll, dress the part, and their album is a somewhat disappointing affair, produced in my opinion in the wrong way, smoothing out all imperfections and removing most of the good treble. But I’ve seen them before and LIVE, this band is a whole ‘nother cup of meat– treble aplenty, great guitar, they actually hit the harmonies perfect live, there are incredibly energetic covers of Chuck Berry and some songs have instrumental sections that take them closer to 60′s Floyd than the Beach Boys.

After that I’m probably headed over to Heathers, to investigate rumors of a long running soul night featuring ex-Empire State Soul Club DJs. This tiny bar is over at 506 E. 13th St @ Ave A, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume there’s no cover; their annoyingly designed website simply calls the night “45 rpm Especiale”. If this doesn’t pan out however, there’s always Jonathan Toubin at Beauty Bar with a soul night tonight as well as (we assume) some friends of NYNT djing at Enid’s in Greenpoint.

Friday things heat up a bit (although only figuratively– it’s going to be 35 degrees) with a great show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken– The Paul Collins’ Beat, Gentlemen Jesse & His Men from Atlanta and the Explorers’ Club. $8 in advance or $10 at the door.

Also tomorrow is the Anabolics at Don Pedro in Brooklyn and the Nouvellas are at Don Hill’s in Manhattan– they’re playing live and there are DJs ($5 cover on that one). Beyond that, we’ve got the usual suspects at Home Sweet Home (Jonathan Toubin) and Beauty Bar (Josh Styles/Smashed!Blocked!).UPDATE: SMASHED!BLOCKED CANCELLED THIS MONTH, BACK NEXT MONTH.

Unsteady Freddie stars Saturday at Otto’sSaturday I’m not seeing too much on the calendar– I have confirmed that Unsteady Freddie will be at his usual perch at Otto’s– all surf all night long. Also Lynne K & DJ Honky are in the Union Pool backroom after midnight doing all soul tunes. I believe both are no cover.

See ya round town!
SHIMMY

Tags: 45rpm especiale, cheetah chrome, don hill's, explorers' club, gentlemen jesse, heathers, lux interior, lynne k, martinets, maxwell's, mercury lounge, nouvellas, paul collins beat, unsteady freddie