The other day when I was out for a run I came across a dead grackle in the middle of the sidewalk. Dead birds seem pretty ominous, so I wondered what it was foreboding. Turns out it was probably this: a band called Grackles, and a band called Dead Bird, playing together, at Gooski's on Saturday night. They're opening for the Working Poor, and I'm not sure how that fits into my brief instance of prescience, unless of course I was the allegorical figure for that band name, which of course is possible.

Regardless, the Working Poor are always a treat, as Alan Lewandowski -- despite, or perhaps because of, the always-sloppy drunken celebrations that are his shows with WP and his other band Anita Fix -- is one of the finest outsider songwriters in town, and possibly beyond. It strikes me that, while he labors away at his clever wordplay and weirdo stage shows (mostly with the latter band), rarely leaving town to tour, he's building a body of work that'll likely someday be "discovered" by someone outside of town, and they'll rip us all to shreds for having kept him to ourselves.

And speaking of the Goosk, a band I wrote up about a year ago, Oxford Collapse, is back for more, appearing at the Polish Hill rock bar on Tuesday night (June 10). Work nights are a drag for good rock shows, but it promises to be a good time, with a few Centipede Eest side projects playing. Gangwish (Sam Pace) and Dark Lingo (Nick Falwell and Sandy Patton) open, along with a rumored short set by Plastic Idea, the brand-new band featuring Centipede bassist Caulen Kress along with local rock dudes Eli Kasan, Stacy Mackin and Taichi Nakatani. Should start around 9 (I certainly hope).