Psych-Pop Band Givers; Pepper Rabbit; 1,2,3 Bring Awesome Night of Indie Pop To Stickyz; Win Free Tix!

Five-piece indie pop band Givers — a favorite at this year's SXSW Music Festival in Austin, judging by the long line to get into their show — headlines a great night of music next Tuesday, June 28 at Stickyz Rock N' Roll Chicken Shack.
And Stickyz is giving away a reserved table for four and four free tickets to one lucky winner! Read below for how to enter.
The show also will feature two openers, popular indie-pop-rockers Pepper Rabbit and 1,2,3.
Givers' upbeat "psych-folk, afro-delic" pop music thrilled a huge audience in Austin, but the Lafayette, La.-based band has impressed many more fans and critics before and since, as they continue to travel all over the country.
Said by critics to be similar in sound to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., the Generationals, and Cults, the group's single "Up Up Up" off its new album "In Light" has been making waves online.
And Paste Magazine — which named Givers one of its best new bands of 2010 — just this month gave even more high marks to the band and its new album, with their "dexterous instrumental attack, tuneful yet alien hooks, and a proficiency for squiggly, short-circuiting electric guitar fills," Ryan Reed writes.
"But 'In Light,' their official debut, fortunately transcends … the old-fashioned way: by twisting the nuances of their heroes into a pretzel, paying homage by developing taking others’ good ideas and going someplace new. … Givers constantly rise above their reference points because the songs are usually excellent," the critic continues.
"The five players alternate between fidget and flow — on one hand, they know when to let a good groove ride, content to bask in the sun-streaked guitar stabs and kick drum pulse of opener 'Up, Up, Up,' their most easily digestible moment. But elsewhere, their attention spans are shorter, attacking the restless behemoth that is 'Meantime' like surgeons huddled around an open-heart surgery, dissecting the song through a series of jarring (and wonderful) shifts in tempo and dynamics—a sprint from muscley, exotic pop to worldly funk and back again."
Reed calls the album "literally the brightest album I’ve heard in ages" but says it's far from slick. "On headphones, the adventurous details really cut through — 'Up, Up, Up,' in its four-and-a-half minutes, parcels out flute, a steroid synth-bass, handclaps, and glockenspiels—but this is music equally suited for a psychedelic dance floor."
Supporting the performance by Givers Tuesday will be Los Angeles psychedelic-pop duo Pepper Rabbit.
Pepper Rabbit's recordings, according to Jambase.com, "present a unique musical vision, with Xander Singh and Luc Laurent displaying an impressive mastery of their twisted but tasty pop. … A treat-filled introduction to a duo unafraid to pound around on a variety of instruments such as trumpet, banjo, and piano. Singh and Laurent seamlessly blend their influences into a unified sound."
Filter Magazine writes of Pepper Rabbit: "Singh and Laurent pack their layered orchestral pop with ambitious arrangements, endless instrumentals and echoing harmonies born out of experience. … (They play) songs that manage to be happy and haunting all at once.”
Also opening Tuesday will be Pittsburgh rockers 1,2,3.
Last year, The Guardian of London was highly impressed with the band: "1,2,3 are a terrific new band whose 70s-tinged rock, sung with rasping intensity by white soul wonder Nic Snyder, reminds you of some of the best stuff from the pre-punk era. … You can certainly hear echoes of the pre-punk era in their debut U.S. single, 'Confetti,' a solo Lennon-esque chant with a twist of Bolan boogie and Big Star guitars. 'Can't Bribe God' is lovely slow white gospel, Snyder's cigarettes-and-booze vocals offset by the sweet soul melody. Two minutes in, gorgeous ELO harmonies emerge, before the song changes direction again, this time adding a classic Motown beat. Their first UK single, 'Going Away Party,' has a 'You're So Vain' bassline and a guitar motif redolent of 'Band On the Run,' before it, too, switches to Bolan-bopping-with-Big-Star mode. Now that's what we call music."
After their performance at SXSW this spring, The New York Times wrote of 1,2,3: "(They) play songs that put cantankerous twists into taut rock structures. During its brief set, songs hinted at lurching roots-rock, Talking Heads’ new wave funk, the keyboard filigree of progressive rock and the slow roll of a soul ballad. Lead vocals had a wry, scratchy edge, even as they delivered scrappy, snappy choruses: 'I’m scared,' went one, 'but not that scared.'"
And in April, Nylon Magazine had this to say about its "Band Crush" on 1,2,3 — whose new album "New Heaven" was just released this week: "Sugar and spice, sweet and salty, dark and light. Whatever you want to call it, Pittsburgh band 1,2,3 is a total contradiction- which in our opinion, makes them all the more interesting. Within the past year alone, these guys have already won over critics and a cult following alike for their melancholia-tinged tunes. '70s-inspired tracks like "Confetti" switch off between tight guitar riffs, booming choruses, and brooding lyrics ("Undertaker take me under oceans of oil/ I'll be under 20,000 blades of grass through the soil"), giving this brand of pop a split personality that we just can't resist."
Sounds like all in all, Little Rock won't be able to resist Tuesday night's show at Stickyz!
Music begins at 9 p.m. and tickets, available online now at www.stickyz.com, are $8 in advance or $10 day-of-show.
To enter the drawing for the reserved table for four and four free tickets, just go to the Facebook event page at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=190585574323064 and RSVP "Attending" AND post something on the event wall saying you want to enter the drawing. A name will be randomly drawn from the comments at 8 pm Monday evening, June 27. The winner will be notified via Facebook immediately and MUST reply back within two hours in order to claim their prize or it will be given to someone else.
For more information or a look at Stickyz' restaurant menu, visit www.stickyz.com or call 372-7707.
Stickyz is at 107 River Market Ave. in downtown Little Rock.

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Follow me on Twitter (@KstarKristal) this weekend as I post regular mini-reviews and descriptions of the dozens of shows I'll see at Wakarusa Music Festival, which officially begins tomorrow!
Some of the musical acts I'm looking forward to seeing include Michael Franti & Spearhead, My Morning Jacket, STS9, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, North Mississippi Allstars, JJ Grey & Mofro, Shpongle, Umphrey's McGee, These United States, Ghostland Observatory, Galactic, Zoogma, Dirtfoot, Mumford & Sons, Frontier Ruckus, Grupo Fantasma, Truth & Salvage Co., Perpetual Groove, EOTO, Bassnectar, Lotus, Infantree, Ryan Bingham, The Heavy, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Split Lip Rayfield, Dark Star Orchestra, Thievery Corporation, Hot Buttered Rum, and Big Sam's Funky Nation, among others.
While I don't promise to Tweet reviews of every show — it will depend on my signal strength up on the Pigtrail in the heights of the Ozark Mountains — I promise to try!
And watch my blog over the weekend for at least one lengthy review of what I've seen so far, and then early next week, a final review of WAKARUSA 2011.
Love Live Music, y'all!