Yelle (House Of Blues)
The fact that Yelle is kind of like the French version of mid-90's novelty-pop queen, Gillette, automatically launches her into the undesirable designation of "guilty pleasure." In fact, when I found a promo copy of her album for five bucks earlier this year, I figured it was perfectly priced considering my level of interest, and though I snapped it up, I then just as quickly hid it from my fellow record shopping companions, hoping they wouldn't notice. It's not that I necessarily care what they think, I just didn't want to get any shit from some folk/prog dork buying a Mellow Candle record, or some hardcore brat sneering at me while clutching a Cryptic Slaughter slab under her arm. Totally OOP, dude. Well, of course, I was then faced with the inevitable interrogation, "What'd you get, DL?" I sheepishly popped the CD into the player, yes I'm that old-fashioned, and I brace myself to be slightly embarrassed. But as it turned out, that Yelle record had many more good tracks than I expected, and everyone was actually into it, even the snobs. The record, entitled "Pop Up," is much more memorable than you'd expect for an artist played on "The Hills" or one that advertises for Reebok. There is the expected mix of 80's Pop, with the current dance music that relies so heavily on it, infused with sophisticated melodies worthy of a really good, obscure Belgian Post-Punk record. This is all topped off by some really tacky but wonderful rapping in French, with the kind of pacing that's ruled since "Rapture." Ticket price and venue aside, I would like to see if Yelle's live show is as surprising as her debut album.

Rahim | Curvette (Hailey's)

Bible Of The Devil | Blood Of The Sun | Broadcast Sea (The Lounge)
Man, a lot of this modern metal is really wearing on me. Some of these bands just don't rock as much as I want them to. Wasn't that the whole point of metal's resurgence in popularity? That some of it actually rocked this time? With a name like Bible Of The Devil, you had better be fucking brutal. Ironically, Broadcast Sea rocks more than the other two bands, and I wouldn't really consider them metal. Actually, there's nothing ironic about that at all. And what's with "ladies over 21 get in for free?" Come on, Dallas, I think you can do better than that. Let's not embarrass ourselves in front of guests.