Are you a sci-fi kid who spent last night in Las Cruces Jail? Then saddle up and mosey down to the Middle East tonight as Two Gallants and Blitzen Trapper take the Middle East out west and down south for some down-home tunes that mix up AM radio, Old West swagger, and a modern hippie/hipster vibe to create loud and laid-back jams.

You can almost hear sixguns cocking behind the rough guitars of San Francisco's Two Gallants, who could also be called Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Take Acid and Play Music While Channeling Yoknapatawpha County. Ranging from fluid songs to screamfests, the Two Gallants catalog is at its strongest when it's screamiest; the slowed-down parts are most effective as counterpart to singer Adam Stephens' beleaguered bellows. They're a storytelling band without a ton of stories to tell, but that's fine--the ones they repeat are fundamentally fascinating. Definitely listen if you like old school blues and want to see it replayed by two scruffy, skinny white kids.

Portland's Blitzen Trapper sound kinda like they camp out in the wilderness with their guitars and come up with an equal number of songs based on long hikes, pine trees, sunshine, and peyote trips. The music is probably best enjoyed in a poncho while holding a pair of antlers whose origin is unclear. If you like Neil Young, The Eagles, The Dead, The Allman Brothers, and wish it were 1970, you should definitely check out Blitzen Trapper.

Two Gallants and Blitzen Trapper will be playing with Songs for Moms, a California group of gals with good voices and guitar skills. All in all, it promises to be an enjoyable show, particularly if you're feeling the need to be transported out of New England into the Old Southwest--we have been having some Texas weather lately, so maybe this is all that's needed to make the transition complete.

Two Gallants, Blitzen Trapper, and Songs for Moms
Middle East downstairs
Friday, October 5 (Today!)
8 p.m.
$12, 18+

Two Gallants image from flickr user Steve Hopson. Blitzen Trapper image from flickr user Pupkin.