TUESDAY, SEPT. 4:
Apparently you can Google an off-shot word up to nine or ten times before the website finally gives up on you. Just ask front man Will Sheff, whose band Okkervil River I spent the most infuriating ten minutes of my life trying to spell out phonetically online. English errors aside, my search proved two things for certain: a) Yahoo is more forgiving than Google, and b) we’ve found ourselves a goldmine, fellas. The folk-punk Austin sextet derive their name from Tatyana Tolstaya’s short story “Okkervil River,” and the story’s theme of loss and despair takes on an even deeper meaning for the group’s fourth full-length album Stage Names (Jagjaguwar), which is a self-deprecating look at suicide and the concept of over-staying one’s welcome. Fear not, though—these heathen Texans are more than yet another batch of SXSW hobos ready to submerge into a rising tide. They’ve since been featured in papers and glossies like the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and the Austin Chronicle, and rumor has it that the boys’ April opening slot for Lou Reed at New York’s Highline Ballroom was set up by Reed himself. The band’s August 28th performance on Conan added even more notoriety to the boys’ ongoing journey toward indie fame. I guess even awkward spelling cannot keep a good thing from happening. (JG)

WITH DAMIEN JURADO AND WESTERN KEYS AT THE TROUBADOUR, 9081 SANTA MONICA BLVD., WEST HOLLYWOOD. 8:30 PM / $12-$14 / ALL AGES. WWW.TROUBADOUR.COM.