A few things have changed since in the decade and a half since neo-yippie agit-punks the Dead Kennedys were a going concern. For one thing, there are a few more dead Kennedys these days. Some things, though, have stayed the same: the group imploded in the mid ’80s over a legal action (their Frankenchrist album drew an obscenity beef), and the band’s resurrection has been mired in lawsuits. This time, though, they’ve been suing one another. Former frontman Jello Biafra lost a court battle over control of the DKs name and back catalogue, and he’s threatened to sue over the group’s current "reunion" tour, which features former child TV star Brandon Cruz doing his best Jello impersonation. Travesty, however, may prove to be its own worst punishment: the group play the Pond (617-661-8828) in Cambridge on Tuesday and then on Wednesday hit the Station (401-822-5483) in West Warwick, Rhode Island — a club frequented almost exclusively by washed-up hair-metal has-beens, Eddie Money, and Dio tribute bands.

Is there any more gold in the hills of Whiskeytown? Ryan Adams’s old foil Caitlin Cary sure hopes so. The singer-fiddler’s debut album, While You Weren’t Looking (which has a few leftovers co-written by Adams), is just out on Yep Roc, and she’s on a tour with fellow ex-Whiskeytown member Mike Daly that hits the Met Café (401-272-5876) in Providence on Friday and the House of Blues (617-491-BLUE) in Cambridge on Saturday. Meanwhile songwriter Walter Salas-Humara and his gritty band the Silos have been toiling in the indie- and major-label-rock salt mines for nearly 20 years, developing a close-to-the-bone playing style that touches on folk and country yet ranges far enough afield to dabble in sonic experimentation. Whatever the sound, the dependable anchors are the very human insights of Salas-Humara’s lyrics and the very dusty tones of his pleasing voice. See for yourself tonight (Thursday, May 9) at 608 in Somerville, Friday at the Narrows Center for the Arts (508-324-1926) in Fall River, and Saturday at Harry’s (413-586-9155) in Northampton.

We get both kinds of Celtic rock this week: alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The latter arrives in the form of alterna-rock holdovers the Cranberries, who play the FleetBoston Pavilion (617-931-2000) on Tuesday and the Oakdale Theater (203-265-1501) in Wallingford, Connecticut, next Thursday, May 16. The former, of course, is embodied by fermented barleyswain Shane MacGowan, who plays Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Sunday and the Paradise (617-423-NEXT) in Boston on Monday. Speaking of a little sauce in the veins: Shana Morrison, Van’s baby girl (can’t tell if those eyes are brown or not), has an album and a tour that hits the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton on Tuesday, Black Eyed Sally’s (860-278-7427) in Hartford next Thursday, and the House of Blues next Friday, May 17.

Issue Date: May 9 - 16, 2002
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