Monophonics @ ToST Lounge 2/05 | 9pm

The one word that describes the Monophonics’ sound is: tight. The songs off of their last LP Playin’ and Simple are these tight, retro-funk numbers that can get even the shyest in the room moving. Referencing Sly and the Family Stone, Booker T, and everyone in between, these are funk/afro-beat jams of the highest caliber.

For your funk fix, SSG suggests you head on over to ToST to see Monophonics and Kissing Potion.

Betsy Olson @ Sunset Tavern 2/05 | 10pm | $6

…And now for something completely different. Betsy Olson brings a gritty two-woman electric blues sound to Sunset Tavern that brings to mind the sound of early Black Keys and Jimi Hendrix. She’s got her guitar, Sera Cahoone’s got the drums, and what they bring to the table is some solid riffage, all the grit and dirt, and the ain’t-life-tough attitude of rock and roll. Check her out, along with the atmospheric folk sound of Molly Rose at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard.

Tony Sly @ El Corazon 2/05 | 8pm | $12

Tony Sly of No Use for a Name fame is doing the acoustic, punk/folk thing. He and Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters are on tour singing their hearts out and rocking the acoustic guitars. No Use for a Name is one of the most aggressive of the punk bands signed to Fat Wreck Chords, so it’s a definite change of pace to see him in this setting–never shouting and really getting mellow with a sound that is more akin to that of Dashboard Confessional than Pennywise.