Scary Monster

Sat., June 14, 6:30 p.m., $10, all ages, with Tullycraft and Surefire Broadcast, the Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave., r5productions.com, 866-468-7619.

by John Vettese

rock/pop/farewell

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It's a tragicomedy of poor timing. For a year and a half, indie pop romantics Scary Monster played bars and basements all over town, made old men dance on the boardwalk, shrugged off the twee, had fun and won hearts. Now that their debut full-length is ready to go, they're breaking up. The quartet's appearance at the Barbary on Saturday doubles as a record release for Makeout Party at Werewolf Club (Modern Soul Records) and a farewell show, since singer/guitarist (and CP contributor) Neal Ramirez is packing his bags and heading to L.A. as soon as it's over. On the upside, at least he's not moving to Brooklyn. And the album left behind is a great showing band-wide. You've got drummer/Philly Girl About Town blogger Carly Marcoux, whose playing is precise and whose dulcet voice totally owns one of the album's best songs ("Julianne Francis"). Bassist Steve Beach and guitarist Christian Elton fit tightly into the cozy chemistry. And for somebody who's been a part of Philly's indie pop scene for a decade, Ramirez sounds more confident and cheerful here than he ever did with the Snow Fairies or the Skywriters. A more upbeat Ramirez is tough to believe, but trust us. We'll miss the music and we'll miss the man. But we'll go dancing one last time like we used to.

Sat., June 14, 6:30 p.m., $10, all ages, with Tullycraft and Surefire Broadcast, the Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave., r5productions.com, 866-468-7619.