Also this issue: Underdog Night DJ Cosmo Baker's hip-hop Remedy night turns 5. -Sean O’Neal Indie Blastoff -Ainé Ardron-Doley Beat Box Very Emergency Facing illness and boredom, The Promise Ring changes its pace. -Chris Parker Billy Bob Thornton -A.D. Amorosi

May 23-29, 2002

musicpicks

The Party of Helicopters

Crunchtastic Kent, Ohio, four-piece The Party of Helicopters mows down a bunch of disparate influences -- from space rock to metal to ear-splitting punk -- and pops them into an industrial strength chopper. So it's understandable that they give their songs darling names like "Bastard Motherfucker" and "Crushes Easy (Like the Human Skull)." TPOH finds themselves in one of those looking forward/looking back scenarios. Their new Space... And How Sweet It Was (Troubleman Unlimited) combines a disc of brand new stuff (and a new lineup) along with the sprawling, gorgeous, previously vinyl-only Tundra EP. It's a chilling encapsulation of the band's split-into-sixteenths personality, making room for fret-board gymnastics, mad tremolo and reverbed vocals, often in the same song. December saw the re-release of their debut LP, Abracadaver (Stickfigure, also previously vinyl-only; indie rock, thou art so exclusive), which showcases the band's formative, very ass-kicking period. Not quite as distinctive as Space or their previous effort, Mt. Forever (which scored the No. 9 slot on Spin's best of 2001), Abracadaver is a straight-up dose of the devil-horn metal they set out to deconstruct, as if they were a demolition crew saying, "Here's the building, and here's how it's coming down."

Sat., May 25, 9:30 p.m., $7, with Rabble Rousers, Pankration and Minus Tide, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888.

—Brian Howard